Peeping Carr Winery

Once upon a time, on a delightfully warm (if uncommonly swampy) weekend night, a very talented young winemaking couple invited the public at large to swing by their downtown digs to enjoy a three-vintage flight of their prized pinots, straight out of their no-longer-for-retail library. And this wasn’t your average library; while, like my own, this one featured gems worthy of visitation and re-visitation, slightly different and uniquely satisfying each time, in this library, Dewey and his decimal system are nowhere to be found. The only numbers here, at Carr Winery, came courtesy of Wine Spectator.

Yes, Ryan and Jessica Carr know how to throw a party, and, luckily for us grape-loving locals, they do it pretty regularly. The event in question, which went down last Friday night, was the second in their three-part Friday Night Flights series, the last of which goes down tomorrow (Fri., Aug. 22) and will feature cabernet francs. But, to my pinot-adoring palate, last week’s pinot noir fest was the winner, starring three amazing Turner Vineyard-born selections. And, though the tasting obviously was worthy of feature billing, that portion of the entertainment amounted to the proverbial Introduction, an (incredibly delicious) appetizer. Which is to say, for many of us, the party got going after tasting the goods-and once we realized that bottles were for sale, and being uncorked at the bar.

The sauce flowed, the crowd grew, and the mild-mannered mingling of the early hour gave way to a couple of really happy hours, with peeps spilling out of the awesome, made-for-a-party space and onto the Salsipuedes Street patio, where we found, much to our surprise, that the sun had yet to make its descent. Sure, this tale may sound like fiction, but it’s a true story-and bound to become a classic.