Most of my musical heroes are individuals who can’t be simply typecast 
or categorized. I was reminded of one such artist during a conversation with Ian Becker, wine guru for Arlequin/Absinthe wines, in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. Ian was recanting a television interview with Duke Ellington shown in Ken Burns’ excellent PBS series called Jazz. The interviewer recalled that Ellington had once said he made music for “my people,” and proceeded to ask Duke to expound upon that, to which Ellington replied:
“Let’s see. My people. Now, which of my people? I mean, you know I’m in several groups, you know, I’m in…let’s see. I’m in the group of the piano players; I’m in the group of the listeners; I’m in the group of people who have general appreciation of music; I’m in the group of those who aspire to be dilettantes; I’m in the group of those who attempt to produce something fit for the plateau; I’m in the group of what? … Now, oh yeah- those who appreciate Beaujolais. Well, and then of course…..I’ve had a strong influence by the music of the people. That’s the better word- the people, rather than my people, because the people are my people.”
I was going to apply this perfect reasoning from one of the greatest Americans ever to our wine making philosophy, but that would only trivialize Duke’s response.
MU
One of the places I’d never been before for Passport was 
The featured food item at Unti was sliders. Not only where they delicious they also paired wonderfully with the 2007 Zinfandel. There are certain things that are meant to enjoy together. Grilled, tasty meat and Zinfandel are two of those things. Several other wines were also poured during Passport including a couple of Syrahs.
Basically we are offering “futures pricing on presents.” How’s that for a clever double entendre. FIF
