After reading Jamie's blog and hearing the name mentioned a few times, I decided to swing by and check things out for myself at Liquid Assets. I'm not familiar with the world of wines but I was willing to explore and take the risk of stepping out of my comfort zone. 
Liquid Assets is on the edge of the plaza right at the turn around when you cross over the bridge next to Pucks Doughnuts.
I visited in the late afternoon with the sun setting over the mountains shining right into the shop, sparkling off of all the bottles and lighting up the nice wood floors. I had an immediate feeling of being in a very nice space, clean, light and airy not to mention well designed.
I wasn't really planning on doing an interview, but you may know how it is when you start talking to someone and a little voice in your head starts saying.. I wish I had a picture of this or I wish someone else was hearing this. That's your Inner Citizen Journalist speaking, so I grabbed a pen and paper started to jot down some notes.
When I got home the notes didn't make sense to me at all… but this is what did.
I really enjoy going out and about and meeting people and listening to their stories.
Who they are and how they came to be. Its especially interesting when they have some
sort of unique passion which they are able to articulate in a way that others can really understand it.
Their ability to capture and express their experience enables me to essentially see "What the Big Deal Is" from their point of view.
And regardless of how articulate a person is or is not, if you pay close enough attention you can probably get some glimpse into their world. If they are masterful in their articulation then you are being given something equivalent to a free ticket to a movie or concert.
Something really cool is going on when this happens because there is an inclusiveness and connection occurring which allows for my point of view to move and experience life from a different angle. An angle which I might not be interested in experiencing myself, but an angle none the less which is of valid and is of course interesting.
Wine is interesting to me for two reasons.
One, I like the lables…Two… simply because I just don't get it.
I have even worked in a vineyard after I dropped out of college and pruned miles and miles of vineyards. All I can remember thinking about was anything but wine. I think they may have gone out of business after they discovered my special slacker pruning technique.. but thats a different story.
On the day I visited Liquid Assets I ended up speaking with Jim who with his wife Denise own Liquid Assets.
I figure you'll never know the answer until you ask (CJ Rule Number 1) and so I figured I had to take step towards overcoming some of my ignorance and phobia about the world of wine.
Jim and I ended up talking for quite some time and what it really boiled down to was that this guy was really interesting and could explain things in a way which engaged me and made sense to me. I even tried to stump him by asking what type of wine he would suggest for one of my favorite dishes. He proceed to explain how and why effortlessly… for about 2 minutes I might add.
Jim was essentially telling me that wine, wine tasting, wine appreciation and the culture of wine is so much more than just what it might appear to be.
By the end of our conversation I was seeing the wine experience more as an unending journey of discovery and appreciation. One in which you you can enter the experience from any direction and become enraptured in the hundreds of details from how its crafted to how it's stored, how its aged, how its served, where its grown so on and so on.
So I had this idea. What if Jim could take 14 people off the street and turn them into a wine lovers. I mean you see this stuff on TV all the time, why not in right here. Put it to the test and give the public at large the opportunity to get involved in learning and celebrating this art. Of course Liquid Assets offer classes and to the public on this already but part of the mission is to get people involved who otherwise would not have been interested.
So here is the deal. We need 14 Volunteers with little to no experience in the world of wine.
All that is required is a willingness to try and open mind that you might end up liking the label more than the wine once its all over.
We are still figuring out how to structure this event, and it will be more defined in the next print issue. So stay tuned. More than likely we are going to have a ton or response to this.. so Lets Just call this a reality test one.
