We hope you'll enjoy another tale from our knowledgeable wine specialist Sean King at Michael's Wine Cellar. It began on Friday night about 48 hours before Sarasota was predicted to be hit (punched really) in the gut by hurricane Irma. Lots of Sarasota had left town including many of the Michael’s On East staff. With a great deal of the restaurants around being closed, we were quite busy and I was able to step away from the Wine Cellar to the Restaurant floor and help with wine. Around 7:30 pm, I began to notice a trend. DChampagne Glassesiners from the bar to tables were asking about and ordering what I would call “ special occasion” wines. As I opened a bottle of 2006 Veuve Cliquot La Grande Dame Rose for a four top in the Lounge and knowing that I still had a 2009 Colgin to open, it occurred to me that this was a special occasion. Everyone in this Restaurant wasn’t sure what our city was going to look like on Monday. This was quite literally the calm before the storm. Most of the guests were regulars and two different tables said the exact same thing to me “ I have always wanted to try this wine.” As the evening ended, I believe I said “ good luck” or “ be safe” more than I ever had.

As Saturday went from morning to afternoon Robin, Michael and I were in the Wine Cellar putting stuff away and talking about the craziness of it all and what we were going to drink since we were going to hunker down at home. I asked Michael if he was going to open up anything special and he slyly smiled and said “Bordeaux'. (We all had some Champagne.) As the afternoon turned to evening, I began having multiple conversations via texts with friends, winemakers and sommeliers from around the country asking me what I was drinking and what they would open from their cellars if they were in a similar situation. One of our team members texted me around 5 pm on Saturday: "Wines I’m consuming way too young tonight because they may not make it through the storm….2014 Turley “Ueberroth” and a 2008 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux. What about you?”

I, taking comfort in my heritage (thanks to Rebecca, one of the bartenders in the restaurant whose mother brought me back a big bag of Taytos from Ireland), enjoyed the bag of Irish crisps, a cold beer and my companion Clyde the dog at our local pub. I am not sure who loves Taytos more Clyde or me. (By the way - Taytos is definitely worth Googling! Here I sit in Michael's Wine Cellar asking you what if anything special you drank? Please email me (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and let me know. We will happily post your responses in part two of this update….because like hurricane season, this story isn’t over yet.