Wine Tasting

Evie was bored. She was bored with her job -- a marketer for a household name in tech. She was bored with her city -- Boston. She was bored with her boyfriend Miles -- pretty and narcissistic about it. She was bored with sex -- meh. She watched the city flow by on her train ride home and had no idea what to do about her boredom. She had no idea what the hell she should do about any of it.

When she got home Evie poured herself a glass of wine and stepped out on her balcony. It was early October in New England, but the last warmth of summer had decided to hang on for one more week, so it felt nice out. As she sat down and took a deep whiff of the cabernet her parents had sent her from their last trip to California and thought, "This is not boring." She loved a good glass of wine. After the first glass, she poured a second and called her mother back -- she had missed a call earlier that afternoon.

"Hey Mom."

"Hey Baby, how are you doing?"

"Ugh. Bored. How are you?

"Well, I am good, your dad is traveling on business again, so I am a little bored too. But you brother is coming home at Halloween so he can take Bryce to Mr. Farland's."

"The pumpkin place? He's coming all the way back to Georgia for that?"

"Well, yes... they don't get much of a 'Fall' in Orlando, and you know they want to see me and your dad..."

"Okay, point taken. Sorry."

"It's okay baby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just what I said. I am bored and don't know what to do about it."

"Why don't you and Miles come down in a few weeks too?" her mom asked. "It would be good to see your nephew, right?"

"I don't know Mom. I am bored with Miles too." Evie said.

"Ouch Baby. He's...?"

"No, no, he's... I don't know. Just not that interesting."

"Sounds like you just need a break."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"Either way, you know you are always welcome here."

"I know Mom."

From there the conversation drifted across topics, her mom was just calling to check in. Twenty minutes later Evie hung up the phone and returned to her glass of wine and her balcony.

--

Friday was on her and Evie was trying to figure out how to avoid spending time with Miles this weekend. It was not that she had something else to do, she just did not want to spend time with him, did not want to listen to him talk about his workouts and eating routine, and she did not want to have sex with him. Evie picked up her phone and started a text to Miles.

[Hey Miles]

Almost right away Miles responded.

[what's up?]

[I have some stuff that I need to take care of on Saturday and Sunday morning]

[we might be able to hang out Sunday night]

A longer pause this time.

[cool]

Okay... well, that was taken care of. She would not text him again, but if he asked about Sunday, she guessed she would need to meet him.

--

After a weekend of reading and lazing around, it was Sunday evening and no response from Miles. Good. Evie decided to take a bath. Her apartment was small and a little dumpy, but it had a balcony, and it had a great bathtub -- the real reasons she had picked this one over some nicer places. She was only 27 so it was not like she had a ton of options in the city, even with her solid salary for someone her age.

As the tub was filing up, she poured herself a third glass of red wine. She was a little buzzy already, but she had nothing to do for the rest of the evening, and no one would care if she rolled in at 9:30 on Monday. This was a really great bottle too; so there was that. As she walked back into the bathroom, she sat the wine glass down and slipped her cotton pants off -- no panties, why bother? It was just her. As they fell to the white tile floor, she crossed her arms slipping her fingers under the edge of her t-shirt and hooked them under her sports bra as she came to it, pulling the whole bunch over her head. She glanced over as she dropped the clothes and could see her naked body in the full-length mirror.

Evie was pretty enough, she had yellow-blonde hair with a bit of curl, especially at the tips. Her eyes were a blue-gray color, a small nose, and medium lips with the slightest bit of pout. Her belly was flat, flatter now that Miles had been pushing her on her workouts.

She slid her hands up her ribs and cupped her breasts -- they were more like b-cups at this point with the more intense workouts. She had been in c's, now it depended on the fit. They were super perky for 27 -- defying all of gravity's attempts to change that. Very light areolas surrounded firm, small nipples which meant that despite them being mostly flush, their firmness gave her two options -- either wear a padded bra or have perpetual pokies. Evie turned her head from the mirror and looked down her body, tipping her head so she could see her vagina and legs past her boobs. Tone legs led up to a triangular patch of blonde curls, though since she had not shaved this week, she was getting a little fuzzy in a big patch around the triangle.

The bath was nearly full, so she climbed in and sat her glass on the little table beside the claw-foot tub. She leaned back and let the water cover her body with its warmth. It felt good, though she still felt the tenseness that had been hanging around her for the last weeks. Maybe an orgasm would help.

She tried to think about Miles, again pretty, but well... boring. Then she tried an old boyfriend from college who had been just mad about her. It had felt good to be so wanted. Nope, that was not doing it either. And now she came to why sex had been so meh. She could have an orgasm, and she enjoyed them -- they just had never happened with one of the guys she had been with. Evie had only had five partners in total. The first was a boy in high school, but he was a virgin too and it stayed awkward for the few months they dated. Evie got bored and moved on. The next guy was in college -- the one who wanted her so bad. It was too much. It was smothering. And he had learned how to have sex from porn. It was all fever and fast. He would ram his dick in her as hard as he could every time they were together. Since that guy she had a couple of one-night-stands with guys from bars -- drunk sex sounds fun, but the first one reminded her of her college boyfriend with his frantic sex, and the second guy made about ten strokes, came, and fell asleep on top of her. Then she came back to Miles. He was so in love with himself. Sex with Miles was all about positioning them to see himself in a mirror. He liked to 'fuck' her, but he mostly got off on watching himself fucking her.

Ugh. Okay, she closed her eyes and started rubbing slow circles around her clit. She just tried to clear her mind and focus on what it felt like. Within a couple of minutes and an intensifying of her motions, Evie came. It was not so much good as functional. She leaned back against the tub again and picked up her glass in one hand and her phone in the other. As she took another sip, she was again stuck by the quality and flavor. This was another bottle her parents had sent her after a trip to the Central Coast of Cali this summer; Monterey for this bottle though. Hmm.

Evie went first to a travel site to see what tickets to California would cost, then to Airbnb to look at houses. It seemed like she could go out for a few days and it not cost her too much. The wine was the most interesting thing in her life lately, so... Why not chase that down for some adventure? She really liked where this idea was going. She should invite Miles. No, she shouldn't. He would probably not want to go anyway -- too many calories and carbs in wine. Fuck him -- she would rather go alone anyway. Okay, so when. "Probably depends on when I can get a place to stay," she said aloud.

Evie spent an hour in the bath and found a couple of places she liked after researching the area a little more. Napa was so expensive that she opted to be close to Monterey -- it was the Monterey wine that had inspired her anyway. She could stay in Monterey where there were a bunch of tasting rooms, but when she found Carmel, she knew she had the spot -- cute downtown, access to a valley where there were also a lot of tasting rooms, right on the ocean -- yep this was it. She found a little cottage one row back from the ocean that had a peekaboo view and a good bathtub; she emailed the owner right then.

After her bath, she heated some left over boxed Chinese food and sat down on her couch to watch a movie. About an hour into the movie her phone pinged with an email. The movie was kind of boring, so she checked her phone to see the mail. It was the Airbnb owner confirming that they did indeed have a long weekend available at the end of November. They had added a little note that asked if she might be interested in next weekend. They had a cancellation and apparently the area was really nice in October. They were even offering a 25% discount off the normal price.

Next week? Um. Well she guessed she could get a Friday and Monday without too much trouble at work. She had projects, but nothing with a looming due date. What about plane tickets? She checked out the tickets -- they were more expensive, but the discount on the house was more than enough to offset the increased cost. Well... it looked like she was headed to California next weekend. She felt excited for the first time in a while.

--

Getting the time off proved to be no issue at all. She had lied to Miles and told him it was a last-minute work trip; she did not want to explain she did not want him coming. This was about her finding a bit of adventure in wine country.

Evie reclined her seat as they hit "Our cruising altitude of 36,000 feet." This was a longish flight from LaGuardia to San Fran -- she booked the flight from New York because it was both cheaper and got her there earlier. It was Friday morning, but her flight back was Monday afternoon and she wanted as much time in California as possible. The long flight did not bother her though; she could sleep off some of that 3:00 a.m. wakeup call she had to do to catch the train into the City.

--

Bing. "We have begun our decent into San Francisco. We should be on the ground in about 25 minutes. The weather is foggy and 62 with a light wind. Flight attendants please prepare the cabin for landing."

Evie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched. Well, at least that was fast. She had one more short flight to catch, but she only had just under an hour until she was in the air again. So she had to hustle; part of the price of getting there quickly.

Evie had to change terminals, but her second flight was right at the beginning of the next terminal over, so she even had time to grab a real cup of coffee from the Caribou place -- Starbucks was overrun.

The plane lifted off and was above the fog in less than 30 seconds. It looked like she was already above the clouds, but as the plane banked south to her left she could see the fog play out to the East. Evie stared out the plane window the whole way south. Brown hills, farms, back into the fog again -- and she was on the ground again.

"... and welcome to Monterey." the flight attendant finished as they taxied to the terminal. Evie felt a little thrill. By most people's standards this would be a rather tame adventure, but she had been so bland feeling lately that Evie was nearly bouncing out loud to get off the plane.

Monterey was a tiny airport, and she found the taxi area right away. There were however, no taxis... Being near the back of the plane meant that she got to the taxi pick up spot after everyone else. So... Uber or wait. She decided to wait, it could not be long. And it was not -- within a few minutes a black sedan with a taxi sign pulled up. She leaned her head down as the car pulled up to the curb. It was a fat man with two days of stubbly growth on his tan face. "Hi," she said "can you take me to an address in Carmel?"

"Sure, do you need help with your bag?" he asked.

"No, I just have my carry-on. Thanks." Evie climbed in and gave the driver the address. As the driver pulled away from the airport and into the city of Monterey, she found it quaint -- maybe a little rundown, but that seemed to add to the charm. They crested a hill, and the ocean filled the windshield of the car. "Wow" she said out loud.

"Beautiful here." The driver added.

"Yeah, I live on the east coast, but it looks very different here. And it smells different too."

The driver chuckled a bit "I bet. Here for vacation?"

"Yeah, just for a few days to get away."

"You picked a great spot, that address is right by the ocean and Carmel is a cool little town" he said. "Are you here for the ocean? "

"Actually, I am here for the wine, the ocean is a bonus."

"Ah. There are some great places in the Valley."

"So, you recommend going to Carmel Valley versus staying in town and doing the tasting rooms?" she asked.

"How long are you here?"

"I leave on Monday" she answered.

"Then, yeah. I would start in the Valley because there are so many wineries to explore. There are some great wines in Carmel BTS, but they are just little storefronts."

"BTS?"

"Sorry, there is Carmel by the Sea which is where your address is, and Carmel Valley."

"Got it" Evie said. "Any of the wineries that you recommend?"

"Well... that kinda depends on your tastes. Do you prefer red or white?"

"Both" she said. This time he laughed out loud.

"Good answer. If you don't already have a driver, then I would recommend getting on one of the tours. They will take you to some great places, and you will learn a lot. That way on the rest of the days, you have a lay of the land and can go places you missed, or that sound interesting."

Evie thought that sounded like a great plan. "Is there one that you recommend?"

"Sure, when we stop I will give you a couple of cards of good tours."

Evie thanked the driver as she got out of the cab and looked at her rental. It was cozy and cute. She went inside after she got the key from the lockbox and found what she had seen in pictures. A tiny kitchen, a small living area with a single couch, and a well decorated bedroom with French doors to a great bathroom with a soaking tub.

After she unpacked, Evie dug out the two cards that the driver had given her and looked up both tours. One showed availability for this afternoon -- that was perfect. She quickly booked the slot with her credit card. Now she needed some food. She had a couple of hours before the tour picked her up downtown. She was close to the pickup spot so she decided to walk that way and look for a place to eat on the way.

She found a bright, open little spot and had a slow lunch. She ordered a glass of white to go with her lunch of a salad with salmon. It was good enough. She had to remind herself that she would taste a lot of okay-ish wine in her trip. Not everything out here was going to be amazing.

After lunch she walked down to the pick-up point and was surprised to find there were probably a dozen people all there waiting. She walked up and joined the group. Over the next few minutes a group of three women and two more couples joined them. This was going to be a big group. The charter van pulled up shortly after that. This was a group of twenty going to six wineries up and down Carmel Valley. The first stop was a place called Seagull - not that creative, but okay.

The tour guide explained the brief history of the winery, that it was under relatively new ownership and that most of the wines would be "young," but they would "lay down well." The guide seemed really excited because there was a well-known wine maker that had been brought in to select the grapes and blend the wines.

There were some really good wines in the mix. Her favorite had been, surprisingly, a sweet Gewurztraminer. Evie did not usually go for sweet wines, but she liked this one. She had committed to herself that on her first day she would not buy anything though, unless it was phenomenal. The grounds were amazing with flowers in bloom everywhere, and it was kind of warm. It had been so foggy and cool at her rental that she had dressed in a long-sleeve blouse and cotton skirt that went to mid-calf. But now that she was into the valley, she found it was a bit too much for the temperature. She undid the last two buttons on the blouse to catch more of the breeze on her chest.

The tour bus was loading up again after about 30 minutes. The next winery was going to include a light lunch for the tour members. That did not sound super appealing to Evie since she had lunch right before the tour; her internal clock had not caught up to the three-hour time change. That was okay, she was here for the wine anyway. As they pulled up to the next place, she was really impressed by the location. The sign said "Triomphe Winery" and there was an old-looking house that had open doors all the way around the bottom floor. It was a completely open except for a large tasting bar in the center and several standing-height, round tables.

The tasting offered just five wines, three of which were excellent. Each of the tour guests got to pick a full glass after the tasting to have with lunch. Evie picked a red blend of Cab Sav, Cab Franc, and Syrah, it was rich, and oaky, and reminded her of leather and something gummy. It was incredible. Since she was skipping the lunch, she wandered outside the house and found a man sitting at a solitary small table just off the porch. He had about a half a glass of red himself and was looking at a tablet. She did not recognize him from the tour group, but there had been other tasters at both of the last two wineries. She walked over to where he was sitting and asked if she could sit in the other chair. He glanced up at her and pulled his glasses off and stuck them on top of his head in his sandy brown hair. "Sure" he said and smiled. When he smiled, she saw small lines crinkle at the edges. He was maybe early-to-mid forties and handsome - much more so when he smiled. His look lingered on her face for an extra beat and then he looked back down at his tablet.

"I'm Evie."

He looked back up at her. "Hi Evie, nice to meet you. Is that short for Evelyn?"

"Ugh. Yes. It was my grandmother's name, she died shortly before I was born, and my dad really wanted to name me after her. No one really calls me that though, not even dad."

He gave a big smile again and said, "I like Evie, nothing wrong with Evelyn though." He went back to looking at his tablet.

Evie could not help herself, when she got nervous, she talked. A lot. "What's your name?" Wait... why was she feeling nervous? His smile. That was it.

This time he sat his tablet down on the table and turned off the screen. "My name is Jose, Evie."

"I have not heard that name before."

This time he laughed. "You have, well kind of anyway. If I spelled it for you, it is J-O-S-E."

"Like Jose?" she said using the Spanish pronunciation. "But you pronounce the "J" as a "J" though?"

"Just so" he said. "My grandparents immigrated here from France, so it is the French pronunciation for me. They worked in the wine industry in France, and when they got to the U. S., they made their way to California and started working for this winery."

"Oh," Evie said.

"They worked for the winemaker here, but he did not have children and he ultimately sold it to my grandparents before he passed. My dad ran the place for a while, but it was never his passion. I grew up here, always on Gran Pop's heels. The winemaking just worked its way into my blood over those years I guess."

"Wait... so this place is yours?"

"It is indeed" Jose said.

"Oh! Oh... I am sorry. I did not mean to interrupt, I thought that you were just here to taste. Sorry." Evie was stumbling over her words now trying to get out her apology. She felt silly for some reason for interrupting this man.