Several years ago, we met a special man, Serge Hochar, at TexSom. Serge had traveled from his homeland of Lebanon to do a special vertical tasting of his Chateau Musar wines. That tasting will undoubtedly be etched in our memory forever. But more importantly, the defining and most special part of that TexSom meeting was the beginning of a treasured friendship with Serge Hochar, a beautiful man.

On New Year's Day, 2015, we learned of our friend's passing. As we tried to deal with the grief and the loss, we began to hear and feel Serge's words and wisdom. It gave us much comfort. When Serge spoke, it was not really about wine, but life. He had an innate way of cutting through to your core and teaching the importance of living life at its best and to its fullest. He did not mince his words when he spoke. We are holding on to his beauty as a man and a friend.

We were fortunate to share Serge's wisdom about wine and life on several of our #SommChat sessions, which are archived here and here. When we asked him about how he likes to spend his personal time, Serge said:

KeeperCollection ‏@keepercoll Q. @ChateauMusar Serge, what do U like 2 do with UR personal time? #SommChat

Chateau Musar ‏@chateaumusar @keepercoll Be by myself and dream #SommChat

Serge, thank you so much for touching our lives and for helping us to dream. You, your smile, and your faith in others and life, will be with us always.