#ps people who decide not to transition are also valid

[noonachronicles]

Planes

Choi Seunghyun/ TOP X Reader

Words: 2.7k

Genre: Angst/Fluff

Warnings: Discrete mention of sex.

Every Friday right after school the two of them would take the city bus to Gimpo International Airport. The ride took a little over an hour. She would spend the ride doing homework while he spent the time writing poems and ideas for raps in his notebook.

There was one last stop just outside of the airport itself that they always got off at. They would run into the convenience store on the corner to stuff their bags with soda and snacks. Once they were fully stocked they walked together through the long grass on the side of the road to a dirt trail that lead them around to a field just outside of the airport perimeter. A blue pull-string bag was tied to a large bush and inside it was the blanket that they kept there to set out.

They laid together on their backs staring up at the sky, watching as plane after plane took their load of people up, up, and away. A lot of the time she wondered if the planes she saw that day were the same planes that she'd seen the week or month before. A lot of the time he wondered what she would do if he slipped his hand over hers.

“Where do you think that one is going?” She asked after another plane had taken off above them.

Too far away from you. He thought, but what he said was, “Bora Bora.”

She laughed, “Why Bora Bora?”

“Why not?”

“Hmm, I guess that's a fair.” She said watching another plane elevating. “I bet that one is going to Paris.”

“And everyone aboard is drinking the most expensive wines and eating smelly cheeses.”

“And smoking thin cigarettes.”

“And the whole plane is in dull shades of black and white like those movies you love so much.”

“One day I'll be on the black and white plane to Paris. Just wait.”  

She laughed not really believing her own dreams and moved her hand over his, linking their fingers together. They didn't talk about it. They talked about the next plane, the one going to America.

Sometimes on the bus ride home she would fall asleep with her head on his shoulder and it was those times when he perfected his stoicism. He wouldn't move or speak, he rarely allowed himself to breathe for fear of waking her up and ruining the moment. She was soft and warm and he was desperately in love with her. He thought anyone that could look that beautiful under the florescent lighting of public transit had to be an angel. Once he was bold enough to angle his face towards hers in such a way that allowed him to kiss her forehead, when he looked back down at her he swore he saw a small smile.

They shared their first time together on that blanket, in the field. Under the sky and under their airplanes. She initiated, grabbing his cheeks in her hands and pressing her lips eagerly against his. They were so young then, it had been so awkward when they touched. Neither of them was quite sure what to do. He'd watched videos before, sort of. The man that lived in the apartment across from the one he grew up in would sometimes watch them on his living room television. So he would strain his eyes through the windowpane and across the street to catch a glimpse or two of the actors fitting themselves together like puzzle pieces made of flesh and pubic hair. She had only read about it in books and wasn't sure how to handle it when he took off his underwear and his member wasn't throbbing. Thinking that she'd done something wrong already she broke down into tears. He held her then, the both of them half naked, in a dirt and grass field in the early evening on a Friday.

She kissed him again and he squeezed her breasts with both hands. When she took him into her mouth he almost cried himself. He didn't come in her mouth, he wasn't sure he could and he didn't want to anyway. She laid down on the blanket, spreading herself open for him and he gulped down years of nerves and anticipation of this moment and of her.

His heart almost stopped when he pushed inside of her because she winced. He thought she hated him in that moment, but then she smiled encouragingly and slowly lifted her hips up taking more of him in. He came, she didn't, but she didn't mind. They put their clothes back on and laid silently on top of their blanket, under their airplanes. They spoke at the same time.

“I love you.”

“I'm leaving.”

They shared three more Fridays together at the airport. Two of them were spent on the blanket, sometimes kissing, sometimes crying. The third Friday he sat on the blanket alone and watched her plane take off without him. He didn't have to wonder where that plane was headed.

A dozen years passed and everything had changed. He never went back to the airport, not for the reason he had gone before anyway. He had been on plenty of planes that took him plenty of places, but he never sat and watched them any longer. He never wondered where they were headed because by the time he thought of her voice asking “Where do you think that one is going?” he was on the plane that was taking off. Sometimes he wondered if the blanket was still there, in its bag tied to the bush. Once he imagined that wild dogs had tore it apart savagely, hungered by the smell of their sex that had never been cleaned off.

One of the plenty of planes he'd been on took off from Gimpo and he stared out of the window and imagined what the two of them would have looked like to peeping passengers. Just flecks, he'd decided. Not human, not anything special. He'd been to Paris a dozen times and he always laughed as he sat in his seat, thinking about the expensive wine and stinky cheeses. Wishing he could indulge in a thin cigarette so badly that his hands shook with anxiety until the plane landed or the Xanax kicked in.

“Seunghyun!!”

“TOP! Over here! TOP!”

“Oopa, please smile for us!”

“Tabi!”

He pressed his earbuds into place and tapped the play button on his phone, letting the sound of the record of the week overflow and drown out the sound of a hundred screaming strangers. He dropped his phone in the pocket of his heavy black coat smiled and gratefully to his assistant as he took back his passport and ticket with his newly freed hand. He watched in front of him as Youngbae and Jiyong ducked their heads together chatting secretly as they often did. Behind him he knew that Seungri was flashing smiles at fans and Daesung was politely prodding the maknae forward.

“Bonjour! Welcome to Paris Air, here are a few tips to make sure your flight is safe and comfortable.” The petite blonde woman on the screen in front of his first class seat was on her second round of airplane protocol when he finally decided to mute her.

“Mr. Choi, thank you for flying Paris Air this afternoon. May I offer you some complimentary champagne or perhaps a glass of wine?” The stewardess bent, just slightly at the waist and he wondered how uncomfortable her job really was.

“Champa-” he stopped himself and chuckled, “Wine, please. Whatever is most expensive.”

As she left to get his drink he looked over at Jiyong who was already curled up in his chair with a face mask over his eyes. On his other side Seungri was typing away on his phone, the screen illuminating his face.

It was her laugh that caught his attention. The laugh he had thought he'd heard so many times by now that he usually ignored it, but this time it was too real, too near. When he peeked around his seat he could see her smile, it was exactly the same. He ducked back into his seat and took a deep breath. His mouth and throat felt dry.

Peeking around his seat again he noticed the man she was with. He was lifting her bag up into the overhead compartment and she rubbed his forearm as they laughed together. Seunghyun already felt sick to his stomach. He hated himself for being jealous about it. It had been a dozen years, how was he not over her yet?

“Tabi-hyung!” Daesung called causing Seunghyun's face to snap forward, a brochure staring back at him. “I saw this and thought of you, there's a pretty big gallery opening in two days, we’ll be free that night.”

“Thanks, Dae.” He smiled gratefully. When he turned back around she was already in her seat and all he could see were her smooth tan legs peeking out from the cream colored leather seat.

He drank his wine slowly, slower than normal, trying to decide what to do. All he knew for sure is that he had to say something. What he would say and when he would say it was the question at hand. Three hours had passed and he had finished two and a half glasses of rich red wine. His cheeks were flush and he closed his eyes as he listened to the gentle beats coming from his earbuds.

He didn't think it was more than a moment but it could have also been several hours. A soft brush against his fingertips brought him back to the world, and sent an electric current up his arm. His heart stopped momentarily in his chest, it was her. When his eyes opened there was no one there, nothing out of place. He turned his head to peek at her again. Her legs were covered in a plush beige blanket and a book sat open on her lap.

Immediately the thought of their rides to the airport, how she'd sit on the vinyl cushion of the bus, a decade ago. A school book would be propped open on her lap, their bodies pressed together on the seat they shared. It was one of the only times he'd ever not minded being heavy. He could touch her with a valid excuse.

When he turned back in his seat he saw it. A bright white piece of paper with the Paris Air letterhead in the top left hand corner. Beautifully written, by hand, it said simply,

I missed you. Xoxo

PS- This should go with your expensive wine.

He wanted to frame that note and hang it in the Louvre. When he lifted the letter from the small table he saw beneath it a cheese plate wrapped tightly in cellophane. A smile spread warmly across his face, he couldn't and wouldn't stop it from being there. His whole body felt lighter, his shoulders pulled back and he sat confidently. He took a deep breath, blinking rapidly as he planned the next move. His leg shook anxiously as he waited for the most opportune moment. It came when the guy she had been with walked passed him to the restroom.

He got up and walked casually over to her seat, he wished he'd had a suit on, he always felt more confident in a suit. She looked up from her book with a bright smile.

“I was worried you didn't remember me.”

He didn't say anything. He was at a loss for words. All he did was blink down at her, soaking her in. She was here, she was real, he didn't make her up in his head this time. The two of them existed in that moment just to look upon one another. He thought she looked exactly the same but also completely different. She had aged beautifully like all of his favorite wines. He fought the urge to kiss her, to tell her he loved her still. That he had never stopped.

He watched her eyes gloss over and tears rim the bottoms of her eyes as she looked up at him. When she blinked, several tears slipped down her cheeks and she turned her face away with a small laugh of embarrassment.

“I'm sorry.” She mumbled as she wiped her cheeks. He bit his lip, silent and stoic as ever. “Say something, Seunghyun, please. So that I know you're real and that I'm not going crazy.”

“I could never have forgotten you.”

The bass of his voice reverberated through her whole body. Her soul was awaken once more.

She blushed deeply, “You look… phenomenal.”

Seunghyun smiled his small, embarrassed smile, his cheeks forming perfectly rounded domes. “You loved me when I didn't.”

“When you didn't what?”

“Look phenomenal.”

“I've always thought you were beautiful.” She admitted truthfully.

“Won't your boyfriend mind that you're flirting with me?”

A mixture of confusion and amusement played on her face, “What boyfriend?... What flirting?”

He nodded his head to the empty seat across from her.

“Oh, Wonseok? No, He’s my assistant and you’re definitely more his type than I am.” She laughed. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”

“I am actually seeing someone right now.” He bit his lip again as he saw the disappointment cross her face, “I'm seeing you, right in front of me.”

She covered her face with her hands as she laughed, “My forever bingu. I'm so glad to see that fame hasn't changed you, Seunghyun.”

“Ah, so you heard about that? The fame thing.”

“I did. A couple of times, just in passing though.” She said sticking her tongue out playfully. “I'm really proud of you, of who you've become.”

“Who have you become?”

She eyed her seat curiously and then scooted to one side, “Sit with me, I will tell you all about the woman that I am.”

It was a tight fit even in the oversized seat, but neither of them complained. As she told him all about her life he thought about how they had been so comfortable with one another years ago and how amazing it was that after more than a decade it took a split second for them to be that way again. After she felt like she'd talked his ear off for far too long about herself she asked him about the parts of his life that couldn't be learned from a tabloid.

They sat squished together in her seat for the rest of the flight. As she asked him about his life and he answered she pulled her knees to her chest and burrowed into him. They didn't talk about it, how comfortable they were together. They didn't talk about it when they were young and they didn't talk about it now. It's just how it always was and they accepted it. With only an hour or so left of the flight she had fallen asleep tucked under his arm.

Youngbae who had been over to see Jiyong walked past them with a more than surprised look on his face finding his hyung in such an intimate position with someone he could only describe as a stranger. Seunghyun only had to mouth It’s her for Youngbae’s face to light up. For a decade he had heard about her. Seunghyun and him had spent countless nights talking about true love, soulmates, fate, and missed opportunities. Although they could have been talking about anything and Seunghyun would always find a way to bring the conversation back to her.

As the tiny plane on the screen in front of them got closer and closer to its destination Seunghyun felt both relief and anxiety.

“Do you remember when we would ride home together on the bus from the airport and you would kiss me on the forehead because you thought I was asleep?”

“How long have you been awake?” He asked.

“Not long.” she shifted finally, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Do you remember?”

“Of course.” He smiled, brushing away the few strands of hair that had gotten stuck against her rosy cheek.

“In twelve years no one else has ever done that.”

“Maybe you were just actually asleep when they did it.”

“I don’t usually like to sleep too close to other people. It gets too warm and I get uncomfortable.”

“This was okay though? This was comfortable?”

“This has always been okay.” she blushed.

“Do you want to have dinner with me when we land?”

“No.” she said with a straight face before letting a grin slip. “It will be about eight in the morning when we arrive. I’d love to have breakfast with you however.”

#kpopwritingnet #choi seunghyun scenario #big bang scenarios #kpop scenario #top scenarios #choi seunghyun

[legendary]

The New Frontier of Gaming

A Conversation with Cyan’s Rand Miller

Rand Miller has been on the frontline of innovation in video gaming since the 1980s. Founding Cyan in 1987, he and his brother, Robyn, set the stage for a full-on revolution in the computer gaming space. Six years later, Cyan released Myst, which soared past every boundary of what could previously be possible in computer gaming, taking full advantage of the CD-ROM’s massive storage capacities (at the time). Over 15 million sold units later, Myst held the honor of being the best-selling PC game ever for almost a full decade and Cyan became recognized as a video gaming icon, known as game-changers for their innovation in both the franchise and their other subsequent endeavors. Today, it was announced that Cyan is continuing their tradition of pushing the envelope into the next frontier: console-based virtual reality. In partnership with Legendary VR, Cyan is releasing to console to their critically-acclaimed game, Obduction, with exclusive all-new content for Playstation 4 and PS VR. Legendary Backstory got the opportunity to talk to Rand Miller about this exciting next step for Cyan, his thoughts on virtual reality, and the future of the interactive gaming medium. See the full interview below!

Q: Talk a little bit about your time before Cyan. Where did your passion for game design come from and how did you develop it into what Cyan has become? What games inspired you growing up?

RM: I had my first encounter with a computer game in 5th or 6th grade, and it was like magic - like I now had access to magic. The game was simple (a text based lunar landing game), but it set me on a path. I wrote my first game shortly thereafter, and I’ve been creating games ever since. The inspiration for the games have always been related to what media I am consuming. After watching the Starsky and Hutch TV series I wrote a game about driving a Ford Torino with a bomb in the trunk. After reading the book, The Swarm, I wrote a game called Swarms about saving the US from an attack of hybrid bees. After playing D&D I designed an adventure that I could take others through.

Q: Myst, in many ways, was a revolution in the computer gaming space, igniting the CD-ROM as a legitimate gaming platform. What was it in the early 1990s that drew you towards CD-ROM vs. the popular consoles coming out at the time?

RM: My brother Robyn and I had been building worlds for children (The Manhole, Cosmic Osmo, Spelunx). In many ways, we practiced our craft with those early children’s games - testing the water, and seeing what was possible. When the opportunity to build Myst came around, we decided that CD-ROM’s massive storage capabilities (at the time) would allow us to build an adventure large enough to not require starting over. The player would have so much to explore that they could be entertained for hours without the need to build in “friction” that make them start over. It was the size of this new technology that allowed us to provide an adventure that had a slower pace, puzzle based friction, and a rich storyline - and we tried to design the game around the new medium.

Q: Give a brief rundown of what the story of Obduction is for the fans who don’t know. What does the idea of it being a “spiritual sequel” to the Myst/Riven saga mean to you?

RM: For us, the spiritual sequel aspect of Obduction means that it’s not the same story as Myst, but it reaches back and embraces the idea of being thrust into a situation that is completely foreign and perplexing. There is something so appealing to that original Myst feeling of being dropped into the middle of a story and gradually uncovering the details of what went on in this strange world - and realizing that you are now part of the story. Obduction re-creates that feeling better than any Myst sequel can, because it’s new. A strange alien artifact whisks the player away to some crazy alien world that has chunks of Earth scattered around. It’s perplexing, evocative, and mesmerizing - we love that feeling!

Q: Cyan has built an incredibly loyal and passionate fan base over the years and Obduction feels like a true celebration of the fans, as it was kicked off via a very successful Kickstarter campaign. What was it like to bring the fans together and make them part of the process to create a new game?

RM: Having the fans be part of the Obduction creation was a special gift - we’ve described it as having 20,000 additional cheerleaders who stood with us as we created the experience. We’ve always felt a strong obligation to provide wonderful experiences, but crowd-funding seems like it removed a layer of abstraction and allowed the fans to see a bit more of the process - cheering us on and supporting us along the way.

Q:What was your first experience with virtual reality? What was it about Obduction itself or the current VR landscape to make you think that the time was now right to adapt one of Cyan’s games into VR?

RM: I was able to try VR many years ago when it required a file cabinet-sized computer, was pretty grainy, and used a tether as thick as a boa constrictor. It was really intriguing back then, but it seemed so far off. Then when I tried the recent iterations - it blew my mind. There was suddenly a sweet spot that had been hit - of course VR was now within reach of the masses, but there was also a visual quality that passed some kind of threshold, and the hand controls added an almost tangible intuitiveness to interacting in these worlds. All of those things are what we have always been excited by.

Q: What challenges did designing the game for VR present to you compared to your past games? Did anything surprise you?

RM: Performance is always a challenge with VR - especially with our focus on rich visuals. VR requires two high-res screens to be refreshed at a high rate - there is a lot of horsepower driving things. Because our games are visually stunning and not twitch/reaction based, we felt like we could push the quality of the visual bar higher - even if it meant a slightly reduced frame rate. We pushed hard in that direction - and managed to keep the frame rate high enough to provide a comfortable experience for everyone. One thing that surprised us was just how much VR provides a sense of scale. Objects and spaces that we built, that looked fine on a flat screen, would suddenly seem too large or small in VR. Because you’re fully immersed in the 3D VR worlds you are able to gauge the size of things like never before. It’s that intense immersion that provides such a sense of presence.

Q: Do you have any favorite easter eggs hidden in the game?

RM: We have a crazy Russian control panel at one point that is a bit of a red herring. In fact, it’s used to enter into an “easter egg” mode where some of our Kickstarter backers were able to add their own “eggs” to the game. But the number that is used to enter easter egg mode is a fun little easter egg itself - it’s actually a phone number from the British TV series The IT Crowd, - a 20 digit emergency phone number that has a song to help people remember it.

Q: What are you most excited about in the present VR gaming space and what are you most excited about for the future of VR games?

RM: The present space is exciting as a transitional phase - game creators (including us) are starting out by moving what they’ve done on 2D screens into the VR space. But with every product that comes out, VR starts to take on more and more of a life of its own. The exciting aspect of the future of VR is the fact that it’s so wide open to be defined - the things we’ll see as the medium begins to mature on its own will be mind blowing.

Q: One of the hallmarks of Cyan’s games as well as Legendary’s properties across multiple mediums is a love and passion for world-building. Cyan’s worlds have always been expansive and intricate and leave fans wanting to discover more, a tradition that continues with Obduction. Where does your approach to world building come from and how are you able to approach each new game to do the story world justice?

RM: We love rich worlds - games, movies, books, TV - doesn’t matter. Those rich worlds are what help us believe. The details we put into our games are meant to give it authenticity and credibility, so that even tiny aspects support the storyline and draw the player in. We don’t just put a skin on a game-play mechanism - we weave the story, the environment, and the friction in ways that feel valid and real - that support each other. Good, convincing, world-based entertainment should always feel like the story is so much bigger - that the experience you're having now (whether game, movie, book, TV) is just a small window into that much larger story world.

Q: In the way that CD-ROM was a new frontier for gaming in the early 1990s, what do you see as the next evolution or frontier in gaming? Is it virtual reality as it exists now or is it something the public hasn’t seen yet?

RM: I feel very much with VR like I felt with CD-ROM. It’s a technology that at first we adapt our old experiences to - but then learn what new tricks the new technology can bring to the table and begin to take full advantage of it. I’m not sure how the hardware will evolve, but VR has crossed some kind of magical threshold that convinces our brains, more than ever, that we’re actually living these experiences. That’s powerful!

Q: What’s next for Cyan? Are you looking to continue pushing more into the VR space in the future?

RM: We’re aiming to create more and more VR experiences. We are so excited by the possibilities that we already have almost a dozen ideas at various stages - with different degrees of interaction and storytelling, but all of which are meant to transport players to whole new words. Exciting times!

Obduction launches today on the PlayStation® Store on PS4™ with a PS VR update coming soon. The PS4™ purchase of Obduction includes the PS VR update. Obduction PS4™ demo is playable in the PlayStation® kiosks at GameStops, Best Buys and Walmarts worldwide, and will be playable with the Cyan dev team at PAX West in the PAX IndieMegabooth, September 1-4, at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Stay tuned for more updates at www.obduction.com.

#Worlds

[topochinesvino]

We lived in Napa for nearly five years and did our best to visit wineries across all of the far-flung American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) that make up the larger Napa Valley AVA.  Of course, we tasted on the valley floor at many wineries on Highway 29 . . . along Silverado Trail . . . on the mountaintops (Howell, Spring, Diamond, Veeder.   But somehow, there is one location that we had not visited:  Pope Valley.   Sure, we were aware of its existence, nestled on the other sound of Howell Mountain on the way to Lake Berryessa.  And we had had several wines made from fruit grown in Pope Valley.  But it wasn’t until a fortuitous introduction to Thomas Wargovich, the vintner at Gratus Vineyards in Pope Valley, that we had occasion to make our way there.

In fairness, there are some valid reasons why we’ve not visited any tasting rooms there.  First of all, Pope Valley is somewhat remote and not really on the way to or from anywhere else that we typically visit.  Second, and more important, there really are not too many tasting rooms there open for visitation.  This might be the reason that Pope Valley is not at AVA yet, but we expect this status will come at some point as vineyards there produce most of the grapes that go into Napa Valley-designation wines.

So we set out one Saturday right before our Europe trip to visit Thomas at Gratus Vineyards and taste the wines that we had been hearing quite a bit about from wine bloggers over the previous several months.  Seemingly, Gratus wines had become a bit of a cult hit with wine geeks of late (and for good reason we would soon learn).  The drive from our home in Mare Island to Pope Valley was about an hour as we took the back way through Green Valley and Suisun wine country, eventually crossing into Napa and taking the beautiful winding roads to Thomas’ property.  We knew we were in for a visual treat as we entered the Gratus Vineyards’ gate and made our way up the stunningly picturesque driveway winding its way up to Thomas’ home.

Now this is a nice driveway!

Once we got to the top of the hill and parked we could see that a great deal of landscaping and planting had been done over the years, which Thomas confirmed for us when he gave us the tour of his property.  Since purchasing the estate in 2001, Thomas has planted over 300 different types of trees and other plants; on the Fall day we were there, the explosion of color was eye-popping.

After our tour, Thomas took us down to a quaint tasting room on the property where we settled in to get a taste of some of the wines we had been hearing so much about, and to learn more about Thomas and the Gratus Vineyards story.  I have to say, the wines really are special and I understand what all the fuss is about: Gratus makes elegant, balanced, creative wines that capture the essence of the terroir but also have an Old World sensibility that I always appreciate.

We kicked off the tasting with the one white wine that Gratus produces – their 2018 Rhone White Blend ($29).  Most of the wine tastings we attend in Napa Valley seem to kick off with one of two white wines – Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.  While I enjoy both varietals when done well, I am getting bored with them lately, especially the trend of making 100% stainless steel versions that produce wines with little to no body or mouthfeel.  By contrast, the Gratus Rhone White Blend was a lively, interesting, luscious white wine, a blend of  Grenache Blanc (50%) and 15% each of Marsanne, Rousanne and Viognier, and 5% Picpoul Blanc.   This wine was aged in neutral oak for seven months which contributed beautiful color and texture and flavor.  The wine balances fruit and acidity nicely and is excellent quality for the price.

We next tried a rose wine, a 2016 on Gratus’ new label L’ovey.  Thankfully, this was not another rose of Pinot Noir but instead an intriguing blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot made in the saignee method.  This wine has a vibrant salmon color, intense floral and strawberry notes on the nose, and on the palate more strawberry.  While this is a dry  wine with nice acidity, there is some sweetness on the palate and lots of body.  Nicely priced at $23.

While we definitely enjoyed the white and rose, the “wow” moments of our tasting came when Thomas transitioned us to the Gratus red wines.  Our first red wine tasted was the 2016 Gratus Malbec, a deep and dense purple color filling my glass.

Even better than I was expecting

I have had Malbec wines from France and Argentina and this 2016 Gratus Malbec resembled neither – or perhaps, more accurately, it had the best attributes of each resulting in perhaps the best Malbec I have had yet.  There was lovely black fruit on the palate without being excessively fruit forward; there was nice acidity and integrated tannins that make this a wine perfect for food but easily consumed without.  At $55 a bottle we think this is a steal for such a high-quality Napa Valley red wine and it makes us wonder why more vintners aren’t planting this varietal in the valley.

Our next red wine was the 2016 Gratus Red Blend – 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Malbec and 5% Petite Sirah.  This is a big, bold, tannic powerhouse of a wine that begs to be consumed with a slab of meat.  Intense and bold aromas and flavors, a beautiful and long finish.  At $80 a bottle, it is still a bargain compared to 3-digit Cabernet-driven wines from other Napa wineries; a very nice wine.

We moved on to a single-varietal Cabernet, the 2016 Gratus Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, another big, bold wine.  In some ways I would consider this a classic “Napa Cab” – beautiful fruit, powerful aromas, nice tannin, silky texture.  However, there is more to this wine than just the fruit:  the wine is elegant, structured, and, like the rest of the Gratus wines, there is a strong backbone of acid that balances the fruit.  This wine is $120 a bottle and is as good a Cab at that price as we have tasted.

A classic Napa Cab

Our final Gratus wine of the tasting was perhaps my favorite – the 2015 Petite Sirah.  While this is not the most commonly-grown varietal in Napa Valley, we have always enjoyed the three Petite Sirah offerings at Vincent Arroyo.  The Gratus PS was as good as anything we have tasted in Napa Valley.  When Thomas poured it into the glass, I marveled at the dense, inky color and spent several minutes just savoring the aromas – spice, earth, stewed meat, dark fruit.  A beautiful wine and, at $50 a bottle, one to stock up on before it is all gone.

Delicious Gratus Vineyards wines

  After tasting through the entire portfolio of Gratus wine, I was having such a good time getting to know Thomas and learning about the winery’s history that I canceled by lunch reservation.  Perhaps in part because of our somewhat shared family histories (I was born in Ukraine, Thomas’ ancestry is Czech and Polish), we really hit it off.  He even showed off by speaking in Russian, a language that he studied in college.  Instead of leaving to eat at Cook Tavern in Saint Helena, we proceeded to Thomas’ wine cave under his house where he keeps his personal collection of wines.

This is what I want to have when I grow up – my own wine cave

Thomas was so gracious with his time – and his wine, sharing a few bottles of his personal collection with us (and a couple of friends who popped in to join us).

We chatted all afternoon and I feel like it was the start of a real friendship.  It is always a treat when the people making the great wines are also great people.

Thomas was a cardiologist by career until the fateful day a medical convention brought him to the Bay Area and a side field trip to Napa Valley.  He fell in love with the Valley and decided to buy a spread and, as the old saying goes, one thing led to another . . . One day, he scrapped the medical career and decided the wine business would be his full-time vocation.  Partnered with winemaker-extraordinaire Robbie Meyer, Thomas is producing wines he can be proud of.  Visit the Gratus website and pick up some of these beauties before they sell out. Production is limited.  To buy wines, go here:  Buy Gratus Wine.  To learn more about Thomas or the Gratus story, go here:  About GratusAbout Gratus

  Irene Ingersoll

November 29, 2019

  Grateful for Great Wine at Gratus We lived in Napa for nearly five years and did our best to visit wineries across all of the far-flung American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) that make up the larger Napa Valley AVA.

#cabernet sauvignon #California #malbec #napa #Napa Valley #Napa Valley wine #petit sirah #Pope Valley #red blend #red wine #white wine #wine