I love telling the story of how we named our wine, Trueheart Petite Sirah.

Me and our wine’s namesake, Tess, in ’96.

It all started with a redhead.

Tessie, in all her golden glory.

Me and my girl Tess, sharing one of our countless moments.

A redheaded golden retriever named Tess, to be exact. I was living with a roommate in San Rafael, and we were hanging out on our front porch when a young, beautiful red dog came running down the street, up onto our street and into the house where she started lapping up water from the dog bowls. My roomie had a big, beautiful dog, Meiya, and I had my sheltie-mix rescue, Tara. I’d had dogs my entire life, but I went through a horribly rough patch after I moved to California, and was working a full-time job at a PR agency in San Francisco, and four nights a week at a restaurant as a waitress, so I gave my dog Tara away to a young family I knew.

Me and Tara taking a nap.

I had recently taken Tara back and my life was just starting to settle down again when Tess ran in. She had a collar, but no tags, and was vibrating with life and love. We called the Humane Society to report a found dog, but shortly thereafter, we realized she had been abused, and I decided to keep her. I named her Tess because it sounded Irish and it fit with her brilliant red coat. I also loved that Tess Trueheart was known as Dick Tracy’s independent, loyal and brave red-headed love interest.

Tess Trueheart, and her love Dick Tracy

Fast forward a few years, and Tara passed away, hubby and I got married, and we purchased our little plot of heaven in Sonoma. From the moment we stepped foot on this property, Tess was its official guardian and mascot. During the early years of building, planting and harvesting, she stood watch. And so, when it came time to name this special vineyard, we chose to honor her, and thus “Trueheart.”

Beautiful Tess at our wedding.

How did you name your pets? Did you ever name anything after one of them? Tell me your stories!

A few links from around the web I hope you enjoy:

The Plumed Bird of Paradise puts most everyone else to shame when it comes to attracting a mate.

We will be pouring our Trueheart Petite Sirah ’10 at next Friday’s annual Dark & Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting and Food Pairing in Alameda’s Rock Wall Wine Company. It’s fun and we’d love to meet you, so get your tickets HERE.

For Valentine’s, we are going to go see the movie Nebraska. It’s been nominated for several Oscars.  Have you seen it? What did you think?

Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Eggplant and Gorgonzola – a lovely meatless appetizer or entree that goes well with our Petite Sirah.