Hear & Taste
THE MUSIC
HEAR
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
TASTE
After a career spent working with wine, I rarely taste without analyzing.
I look for balance, structure, texture, and finish. I think about the vineyard, the vintage, and whether the wine in the glass delivers on everything it was intended to become. It is an occupational hazard. I’m always tasting partly as a wine lover and partly as someone responsible for getting it right.
I have tasted our 2023 Oakville Cabernet throughout its journey—from its early development through the final blend and into the bottle. Each time, I was looking for something: what it needed, what had changed, and whether it was worthy of becoming the first Whiteboard wine.
Soon, you will taste it without any of that history. You won’t know every decision or every version that came before it. You’ll simply pour it into a glass and discover it for yourself.
I hope you taste what first drew me to Oakville—the depth, structure, polish, and unmistakable sense of place. But more than that, I hope you have your own reaction to it. Because no label, story, or amount of explanation can determine what ultimately matters… what happens when the wine reaches your glass.
Eric 🍷
