Let the glow be your guide

On doors, windows and darkness. And the delicious power of storytelling.

When I parted ways with The News-Press and Naples Daily News in December, it was not a decision I took lightly. I consulted friends, family, colleagues. I ran it by my agent and my editor.

I even went full ‘90s sitcom and made a pros/cons list.

Pro: No more daily deadlines.

Con: No more free meals expensed to the company.

Pro: More time with the kids.

Con: MORE TIME WITH THE KIDS :/

I went back and forth and back again. But the advice I received was often the same: You’ll never know what else is out there until you let go.

Or, as one friend not-so-succinctly put it, “What’s that saying about closing a window to open a door? You have to shut the window before opening the door? When one window closes, the door opens?”

I nodded, knowing what she was trying to get at, even if she was George W. Bush-ing it a tad. And I’ve thought long and hard about that analogy ever since.

New author headshots! Thanks to the brilliant Kinfay Moroti

I don’t think it’s that you HAVE to close/stop/end anything to start something else.

I think it’s about the darkness.

Sometimes you need to shut all the doors and windows for a second. You need to pull down the shades and let your eyes adjust to the inky black. You need to get comfortable in the dark — at least for a bit. You need to let your pupils dilate and grow, take in what they once could not.

Only then can you see the cracks and fissures still filled with light; the tiny sparks still glowing deep within. Forget the doors and windows. Let that glow be your guide.

Restaurant (and winery!) of the week

Jordan’s Wine Bar — Cordant Winery

Among the doors/windows to have opened for me recently, one framed the opportunity to do some wine writing.

I won’t kid you, I am not a wine connoisseur. In my early “Jean Le Boeuf” days, when I could write under that pen name and assume its many privileges, I would have faked it. I would have been like, “Blah blah blah, terroir, and yadda yadda, notes of stone fruit, and so-on-and-so-forth, minerality. Cheers!”

I’ve grown to learn there’s power in acknowledging your ignorance. In accepting the fact we can’t know everything, but we can and should be willing to learn.

So, when I met Evan Taylor of Cordant Winery at the new Jordan’s Wine Bar & Cellar in Fort Myers last week, I went with an open mind.

Gloria Cabral-Jordan, shown here with Evan Taylor of Cordant Winery, owns the new Jordan’s Wine Bar & Cellar at the Bridge Plaza in Fort Myers.

First things first: I love chef/restaurateur Gloria Cabral-Jordan with all my heart, and I truly believe she can do no wrong. Am I biased? 100% yes. But to know Gloria in any meaningful way is to adore her.

Gloria is the me I hope to one day be. She is style. She is grace. She is eight shots of rum, three cigars, and still partying through the streets of Havana as her young(er than her) tour group tries mightily to keep up.

The Gloria story — escaping Cuba under the pretense of studying architecture in Europe, only to abandon that goal to pursue her passion for food — is as admirable as it is remarkable. And her restaurants (the new Jordan’s joins the almost 20-year-old La Trattoria Cafe Napoli in her portfolio) have proved to be fantastic outlets for her boundless creativity and passion for all things deliciously beautiful.

Unlike La Trattoria, the menu at Jordan’s is far simpler. It’s shorter with a much heavier Cuban accent — like its owner. Jordan’s walls are a brilliant kelly green (“I call this Gucci Green!” Gloria told me one night). They serve as a verdant backdrop for colorful layers of local art, and for a black-and-white bar stocked with interesting, small-batch and boutique wines from around the globe.

New among those wines are bottles from Cordant.

I joined Gloria, Gina Birch (a bona fide wine writer and true connoisseur), and Cordant’s Evan Taylor for a tasting last week. While I am but an ignorant wine faker, I think the bottles we sampled were delicious, as were the stories behind them. Stories of chance meetings at bars and airports; stories of artists and winemakers, of surfers and passions.

Being a “Brand Director,” as is Evan’s title, is more like being a storyteller. Many ignorant fakers such as myself see most wines as wines. But tell me a good story and all of a sudden those notes and nuances open up … as do purses and pocketbooks.

Cordant, which is based in Paso Robles, offers limited distribution. But Evan said Florida, and Southwest Florida in particular, is one of its hottest markets. I could go on about the distinct terroir of Cordant’s pinot noir, and the subtle minerality of its Resolution (a blend of 37% Grenache blanc, 30% viognier, 22% Roussanne and 10% picpoul blanc). But what do I know?

Not much. But more than I used to.

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Learn more about Cordant’s story and wines here. Find Jordan’s Wine Bar & Cellar in the Bridge Plaza, 12901 McGregor Blvd. No. 14, Fort Myers and at facebook.com/jordanswinebar.