ENTRY #8
Debut & Allocation
THE MUSIC
DEBUT
You would think that after releasing as much music as I have, debuting a new song would feel familiar.
It doesn’t.
Every new song introduces who you are at that particular moment—not necessarily who you were on your last record or who people expect you to be now. “The Beginning” feels especially different because it isn’t simply the debut of a new song. It will be the first sound of Whiteboard.
That gives it a unique responsibility. It needs to introduce this new world Eric and I have created together, while leaving enough unwritten space for everything Whiteboard might eventually become.
A debut is not a conclusion. It is an opening statement—a way of saying, “This is where we are starting. This is the beginning of our story together as a business.”
Soon, “The Beginning” will step into the world for the first time. People will hear it without knowing all the earlier versions, the decisions we changed, or the moments that shaped it. They will simply hear it as it is.
I’ve released many songs throughout my career, but only one could ever be the first Whiteboard song.
Mindi 🎶
THE WINE
ALLOCATION
“Allocation” is one of those wine words that can sound more complicated—or more mysterious—than it really is.
At its simplest, an allocation means there is less wine than there may be people who want it, so its release must be handled thoughtfully.
For Whiteboard No. 1, that scarcity is real. The entire first vintage consists of just 50 cases of our 2023 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. A portion will remain in our library, and the rest will be offered to those who have joined us on this journey.
Beginning this small was intentional. We wanted the freedom to make every decision ourselves, protect every detail, and refuse the compromises that often appear when scale becomes more important than substance.
On September 26, the allocation will officially open.
Until now, you have followed Whiteboard as an idea taking shape—through the vineyard, the music, the design, and all the decisions that brought it here. For the first time, some of you will have the opportunity to make Whiteboard part of your own collection.
There will be other Whiteboard wines in the years ahead. But there can only be one inaugural vintage—and only one group of people who were here at the very beginning.
That is what this first allocation means to me.
Eric 🍷
