Something SO COOL happened this past week, that I couldn't NOT record a podcast episode about it!

Without giving away too much... You'll hear about:

• 26 years of consistent passion and enthusiasm for ONE THING
• How being patient paid off this week
• My curiosity of how YOU think it went and what you would have done differently!

Song lyrics referenced in the episode:

Oh, how it happened, blew the lid and got a taste, it's some kind of magic

It could happen like it did, Like we awoke, we were still dreaming

When it happened like it did , If I wasn't there, I wouldn't believe it-DJM

This week's Sip Spotlight wine is a Blast from the Past!

If you'd like to Support the Podcast, you can buy me a glass of wine and get a shoutout on a future episode.

Our tiny production wine/passion project, 2021 Sollevato Sangiovese , just received a Gold Medal and 92 point rating in the Orange County Wine Competition! Order online and Use code PODLISTENER for 10% off your order.

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Questions, suggestions and guest requests? nikki@sipwithnikki.com

After I called every one of my family members in the park and told them that story, then I had to walk back to the house where my friends were and, uh, I walk into the, the RBO and I lay down on the floor of the house and I go, I'm dead.

And they're like, oh my gosh, are you okay?

Like they were actually worried.

I'm like, no, no, no, no.

I have a really cool story.

And then of course I told them the story.

Hello friends, welcome to another episode of sip with Nikki.

I am your host Nikki Lamberti if you are a Faithful listener.

I just want to say hello I see you especially if your name is Michelle Reynolds and you are listening in early mornings during your workout in Orlando Thank you for your support Michelle And if you're new to Sip With Nikki, welcome.

So in all honesty, I had other plans for this week's episode and then something pretty freaking cool happened to me this week.

So I took a little detour and I wanted to share with you a little bit about what happened.

Not only because it's a cool and I, I think entertaining story because I also feel like there are some pretty specific takeaways from what happened, how I reacted.

I'm curious how you would have reacted if you were in the same situation, maybe what you would have said or done.

And it does have a very cool tie into a very surprising wine that I'm going to feature in this week's Sip Spotlight.

So pour yourself a glass.

This is a bit of a roller coaster, but I'm really excited to share with you what happened.

It could happen, and it did happen just this week.

So anyone who has known me for any length of time, whether it's In person or through being a listener on the podcast, you probably know by now that I'm a pretty strong fan of the Dave Matthews Band.

Now you may or may not have the same enthusiasm for this band that I do, but we all have our things and this has just been my thing since college.

So in 1998, a dear friend of mine, Kim, shout out to Kim in Virginia.

She was going to James Madison University in Virginia.

I was at Rutgers in New Jersey, and I remember her saying, Hey, you have to check out this band.

They're local here in Virginia.

They've been playing the college bar circuit, and she turned me on to Dave Matthews Band at that time.

And then I graduated in 98 and moved to Orlando.

And it was either 99 or 2000 that I went to my first concert in Tampa, the tailgating thing.

And that just became what has really been a lifelong obsession with this band.

And I don't like to use the word obsessed, but I go to very few other concerts, but yet this is something that I do yearly.

This band tours every summer.

With the exception of 2020 where Dave did live stream from his house during COVID, which was so cool.

And I've pretty much seen them once a year for the last 26 years and some years it's been twice or even three times.

Every Labor Day weekend, they actually play at the Gorge up in Washington, and at the time of recording this, it is Friday, August 30th of Labor Day weekend, and uh, they're actually going to be kicking off their three nights of concerts in about two hours, and I'm not there.

It's hard for us to commit to that now because Labor Day is always getting very close to our harvest of our Sangiovese grapes.

So we were able to squeeze in a concert earlier this week.

So on Tuesday of this week, we were in Bend, Oregon.

Michael and I road tripped it up from here.

It's about an eight hour drive, beautiful drive up through Northern California and over the Oregon border.

And this was to be my second concert of the summer.

So last month I was in my home state of New Jersey.

And got to take my nephew Aiden to his first Matthew's concert, which was so cool.

So, if I was a truly obsessive fan, I would know my number.

A lot of times when you meet other day fans, they're like, you know, 96, 104, like they know their concert count.

I don't.

I don't know exactly, but I've done my best to try to count.

It's somewhere between 40 and 50, I believe is where I'm at.

So we met our dear friends, Hobie and Justin, Hobie of episode 13, Dr.

Hobie Wedler.

If you have not heard that episode, go back and listen.

Hobie and Justin are even bigger fans than me.

This was show like a hundred and something for them.

So we have started making this yearly tradition of going to Bend, Oregon.

And this year we rented a VRBO.

And so we arrived on Monday, the day before the concert, drank a lot of wine, had a great dinner at the house.

And then Tuesday morning, I always wake up like the morning of the concert.

It's kind of like Christmas morning for me.

It's that level of, um, excitement and anticipation.

And usually a little bit of hangover, like Christmas morning, because we have a lot of lovely wine on Christmas Eve.

Well, this Tuesday was no different.

Was feeling a little, a little slow to rise in the morning, but got up, made breakfast for everybody.

And then I was like, I'm going to go for a walk and I just needed to get some fresh air.

So the VRBO was in a beautiful little quiet neighborhood in Bend.

And I just walked out the front door and I was like, I'm not going to pull up a map.

I'm just going to walk.

I don't think I'll get lost.

This is a pretty small neighborhood.

And I just started walking through the streets, looking around at the beautiful pine trees around me.

And as I get to the end of the street, I can see sort of a block away.

There's like a school with kids playing in a, in a big field.

So I kind of felt drawn to go that way.

Cute little kiddos playing soccer.

So I start walking that way.

And that led me to then notice there was like a wooden bridge.

Going up and over the river.

So the Deschutes River, like Deschutes Brewery, was very close to our neighborhood.

I knew it was close.

I didn't know it was that close.

So I see the entrance to this park and this big wooden bridge that goes up and over the river.

So I'm like, oh perfect.

There's a park.

Let me walk in there.

So I walk into the park and it's this beautiful big park.

And there are all kinds of rolling hills and pathways and people biking and walking their dogs, people picnicking.

It was probably about 1030 in the morning.

It's a beautiful day.

And as I was walking, I just felt great.

I felt grateful to be there and to have just found this beautiful place.

I'm usually a planner.

I'm not super spontaneous with some things.

So I didn't map out where I was going.

I just, like I said, I just started walking and kind of took the next step.

Turn.

And that led me to the next place.

So as I'm walking, I'm like, man, this is so great.

The weather is beautiful.

The sky is blue.

It's not hot.

And I'm just making some laps around this beautiful park saying hi to different dogs.

And as I'm about, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes into my walk, I have this thought and I'm like, you know, it probably wouldn't be that crazy to see Dave Matthews in this park.

Because I've heard stories over the years and yes, I'm a different fan, Facebook groups and things like that, where people have shared stories of, Oh my gosh, like, I saw him the morning of the concert in the city where we were going.

He was riding his bike and all these different things.

And side note here, I've been very patient as the fan for 26 years.

I meet people all the time at concerts because that's one of the things I love is the Dave Matthews band family and community and the fans, the audience are just always like super chill, super happy.

Everybody takes care of everyone.

Just joyful.

It's just always very positive and so you always wind up talking to people and meeting people.

Before the show, and, you know, everyone's like, Oh, yeah, I met him this year because I got, you know, You know, the random number came up in the, in the fan club, And I met him this time, and I ran into him at the hotel lobby, And so on and so forth.

And I've always just been like, I've been very patient.

And I've always said that any way that I can meet him, Like, I will be so grateful.

But I am also a little greedy with my bucket list, putting it out there to the universe.

Cause I've always said I don't want to just like wait in line and take a selfie with him.

I mean, that'd be cool and I'd be grateful, but like, if I'm going to go for it, I want to drink wine with Dave.

Because what you may or may not know is that Dave Matthews owns a vineyard and winery in Virginia, in Charlottesville, where he lived for a long time, where the band got started.

And then he also is the partner in Dreaming Tree Wines, which you know I had to buy a bottle for today's recording.

I am drinking the 2021 Crush Red Blend.

Also, the name of the last song that they played at the concert on Tuesday.

I digress.

So, I've always said, I just, you know, I want, I really want that special time to, to drink wine and talk about wine with him.

So, back in the park, I'm walking, I think, it wouldn't be so crazy to see him.

He's been seen, you know, running and walking in, in places before the show.

And as I have this thought, I look up, and this is far away still.

This is probably at least 50 yards.

I always measure by football field.

At least 50 yards, maybe 75.

There's a guy by himself jogging on the path in a black shirt, black shorts.

And he's, he's jogging and he's crazy.

jogging towards me.

And I go, well, now my brain is playing tricks on me and my eyes are playing tricks on me because now I've convinced myself that that guy looks like Dave Matthews coming towards me.

And then he's coming closer and he's coming closer and I'm like, Um, holy shit, that is Dave Matthews coming towards me.

So, I'm walking, he's running, and I have, you know, after confirming that it was him, I don't know how many seconds, going through my mind, and I've always said like, if I ever did have an encounter, I would not be the person to like, interfere or interrupt.

I was, you know, I want to be respectful and not be like, can I take a picture?

Even though that's how I'm feeling.

So I did not stop him, and right as he is running past me, here are the words that came out of my mouth, not planned.

I said, Hello, sir!

I know you.

I'll see you tonight.

And he looks me dead in the eye, Dave and I, eye contact locked.

And he smiles and he says thanks and he gives me a little wave and he keeps running.

So, first of all, what are the odds that I would be on that path and he would be on that path and all those things had to happen for that interaction to organically happen, right?

I mean, that in itself is crazy.

But the fact that moments before, I was thinking, It wouldn't be so crazy to see him here.

Now, I am not super woo woo hippy dippy, You know, I'm probably a little more spiritual than religious these days, But I always do kind of believe that the universe is doing its thing.

But I truly feel like I manifested this.

Take it for what it is, you may think I'm crazy, but I have been replaying this in my head since Tuesday.

Today is Friday.

And just the fact that I had that interaction with him, but also the fact that I thought it was going to happen before it happened.

Gives me goosebumps and then it makes me emotional because it was pretty freaking cool, right?

So then he's run past me and I'm like, holy crap that just happened So I turned to like watch him keep running and I did take a video Kind of at his back as he's running away just to have proof because I did not stop

him and take a selfie But then my knees got really Jelly, and I got like emotional like I am right now telling the story So I was like, I gotta call my mom.

So I sit down, there's a little park bench.

Right there on this path along the Deschutes River where I passed him by shoulder to shoulder and I sit down on this bench And I call my mom and of course mom.

Love you.

Shout out to you little Sue in New Jersey I call her and she answers the phone on her Apple watch which sometimes people do right when your phone's not nearby But she answers on her watch and I'm like, hello

mom, and she's like, you know, I hear like Hold on, I'm looking for my phone and kinds are rustling and I'm like, Mom, Mom, I have to tell you something.

So it felt like it took forever for her to actually like get the phone to her ear.

And then whenever I am joy crying, which you guys know happens often, joy falls out of my face.

Especially if I'm calling like my mom, I have to start off the conversation like everything's okay because, you know, I don't want her to worry that something's wrong.

I'm like, everything's okay.

But I just had a really cool story.

And then I told her what happened.

And I'm sitting here, still in the park on this park bench.

And as I'm telling her the story, I look up and he's coming back around, like he's coming in the opposite direction towards me, like he's done another lap in the park.

So I'm like, Mom!

Mom, I gotta go!

He's coming back!

So now I have like a little bit more time, and of course it feels like an eternity that I'm having this debate in my mind like, Okay.

The universe is bringing him back in front of you for a second time.

Does this mean it's your time to, like, stop him, put out your hand, shake, take a picture, tell him you make wine?

Like, and I just keep going back and forth and back and forth.

And the super respectful, amiable Nikki still took over in that moment.

And as he jogged by me, he obviously acknowledged that he had just seen me a minute and a half ago, two minutes ago, whenever it was.

I don't know, the time is all jumbly.

But he just kind of looked at me again, waved to the side, smiled, and kept running.

And I did nothing.

So I'm so in awe and grateful that this happened like in such an organic way.

First of all, he was by himself, no security, no hat, no glasses, like not trying to hide in any way.

And that's one of the things I've heard over the years of people that have interacted with him is that he's just super down to earth and super cool.

And that was really cool.

And the fact that I was alone, Michael was playing golf that morning and I was by myself.

And it's just like, holy cow.

Right.

So in the last couple of days as I've retold the story and then I was like, oh my gosh, I have to record this as a podcast.

And replayed it, like when I get into bed at night, it's like a real running in my head and sometimes when I replay it, it's exactly as it was and I, I don't stop him and I just say, Hello, sir.

I know you.

See you tonight.

And then sometimes in my head, I replay it and you know, and you would probably do the same thing, whether it was Dave Matthews or your idol that you want to meet.

And I'm like, Oh.

What should I have done?

And you know, one of my friends, Heather, Heather from the wine haters episode, Heather, who does not like wine, go back and listen to that episode.

She's like, you should have started running alongside of him.

I'm like, Oh yeah.

Cause that wouldn't have been a hot mess.

Right.

So I'm curious, I would love your reactions and your thoughts to this.

Send me an email, Nikki.

It's Supewithnikki.

com.

Let me know what would you have done in that situation when, whether it's him again, or replace Dave with your idol and they're jogging?

Would you have stopped them?

Would you have fist pumped?

Would you have put your hand out?

Would you have run alongside or would you have just left the phone in your pocket and just had that beautiful organic moment that the universe clearly orchestrated?

So, After I called every one of my family members in the park and told them that story, then I had to walk back to the house where my friends Hobie and Justin, the even bigger Dave fans, were.

And, uh, I walk into the living room of the VRBO, and I lay down on the floor of the house and I go, I'm dead.

And they're like, Oh my gosh.

Are you okay?

Like they were actually worried, like, no, I have a really cool story.

And then of course I told them the story.

So anyway, we went to the show that night on the river, it was phenomenal.

And I truly believe that that was just a bonus interaction.

I'm still going to be patient for my opportunity to truly meet Dave, to introduce myself, to talk about wine and to drink wine with him.

Felt was the universe just saying, way to be patient, here's a little crumb, very cool crumb, and it just was really, really special, you guys.

Again, here we are three days later, and I can't even talk about it.

Without getting emotional, so I just wanted to share that with you.

And of course, as always, there is a Sip Spotlight.

Sip Spotlight!

Or a wine tie in, of course, because as I mentioned, Dave is a partner in Dreaming Tree Wines.

Now, Dreaming Tree, the label, and the wine has been around for a long time, but they just recently changed, I believe, where they make the wine, the winemaker, and a real focus on sustainability.

And they even changed their packaging.

So I bought a bottle today in preparation of this recording and some concert venues will sell it at his show.

Like when we were at the show in New Jersey last month.

They actually will sell you like a full bottle in a carafe and buy the rosé and then just drink it throughout the show.

So that's the one time I will typically enjoy it.

But usually it's something that I drank earlier on in my 20s, early 30s, before I was really, really a wine nerd and then just have gotten away from it drinking other things.

So it was fun to go into the store.

I actually found it in Target here.

This is the Crush, which is the red blend.

It was 13.

99.

And I love the new packaging.

So one of the things I notice and I appreciate is they've gone away from the foil capsule on the top.

And that is something that a lot of producers are sort of examining just because it's an extra piece of landfill and, and carbon footprint.

And is it really necessary to get a wow packaging?

But on the old packaging on the foil, they had the lyric from the song Dreaming Tree printed on it.

And now they've just replaced it with like just a little sticker around the neck.

And it says, Long before these crowded streets, here stood the Dreaming Tree.

So again, that's a Dave song.

And when I was looking on their website today, figuring out what one I wanted to buy, this 13.

99 red blend.

I actually got 90 points from Wine Enthusiast, which is a very reputable publication that I follow for scores and ratings.

So I just thought I would pour myself some and enjoy it while I shared this story with you.

So cheers, I'm taking a sip.

It's very fruity.

It's very ripe.

When I look on their website, DreamingTreeWines.

com, which of course I will link in the show notes, There's a note from their winemaker, his name is Grayson Stewart, and he says, Crush is a special blend, hand selected from some of the best grape varieties California has to offer.

Rich and decadent, with delicious jammy flavors of raspberry, dark cherry, and a long, thick, Soft finish, a truly versatile wine.

It pairs well with friends and great conversations or podcasts by almost 48 year old women who had a personal interaction with David.

I added that last part.

It does have a quote from Dave though.

And in pure Dave fashion, it's kind of abstract and interesting.

And this is actually the same quote that's on the back label.

And it has some artwork that I'm going to guess Dave drew.

He does that and it says two hot dogs in a pickup.

A hot day, two dogs chase a stick thrown into a pond again and again.

The older, slower dog never gets the stick and moans at the effort, but always goes in, quote, maybe this time from Dave Matthews.

And I thought, is that me?

Am I the older, slower dog who's been waiting and waiting and patient and thinking maybe this time.

So just a lot of synergy and a lot of cool things happening.

One last thing, just a note to the title.

So Dave on his newest album has a song called it could happen and I like the song but like of all the songs on the new album it wasn't one that really resonated with me until he sang it on Tuesday night and I'll share the

lyrics in the show notes talking about just it could happen and it's like we awoke from a dream and as he was singing this hours after I I had interacted with him.

Notice I'm very, very specific to, to not say, after I met him, I didn't meet him.

I had interaction with him.

After that happened and then hearing him sing that song, it took on a whole new meaning of like, it could happen, it really happened.

So there we have it.

I just wanted to share a very special thing that happened to me this week, pair it with a very special, lovely, and very affordable wine.

Check out Dreaming Tree.

You can get it in most local retailers, Total Wine, Wine.

com, all of the above, but put on some Dave and enjoy it.

And I hope that you get to have your moment one day.

It could happen.

So I play the song for you right now, but you know, music rights and podcasts and all of that.

And I got to keep in, in good spirits with Dave and his people.

So that are.

Real and true wine filled meeting happens one day.

And one of the things I always love, P.

S., about Dave lyrics is they, it reads like poetry.

Oh, but it happened and you did.

Everyone laughing and dancing.

How it happened.

What a trip.

And when we woke up as if we were dreaming.

How it happened.

Everything fit.

Looking back, it's hard to believe it.

I mean, goosebumps.

So I'm serious.

Send me an email.

Nikki, N I K K I.

at sipwithnickey.

com.

What would you have done?

Did I do the right thing?

I would love to know what people think.

And also check out DreamingTreeWines.

com.

Today's sipper was the Crush 2021 Red Blend.

Yummy, fruity, jammy, spicy, delicious, with cheese especially.

If you have a Dave fan in your life who you think would get a kick out of this story, or just enjoy something fun and entertaining, please share this episode and, and any others.

It's super easy to share when you're listening.

There's an arrow that will literally allow you to create a text message if you're listening from your phone and share it with someone that you think might like to listen along.

And finally, if you'd like to be an angel and support the podcast, I would be ever so grateful, and that's helpful to cover the operating cost of putting out this magical, emotional content for you every week.

Thanks so much for listening, and as always, sip well.

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