It’s taking me longer than I planned to write my next wine related article. I will be reviewing a whole bunch of new wines soon that I am excited about.

But in the mean time, why is it taking me so long? Well, my wife and I had a baby boy recently. Cru was born in late May and time has been flying by ever since.

Before his birth my spare time was spent prepping the house, putting the crib and rocker together, watching Youtube videos about car seats, helping the wife waddle around, and other soon-to-be father duties. Once he was born, I supported my wife with whatever tasks needed to be done including yucky diaper changes, driving to doctor visits, etc.

My fellow oenophiles probably spotted something familiar about his name right away. Yes, it is that Cru. For those of you who don’t know the meaning of the name, here’s the back story behind Cru’s name.

My wife and I both made separate lists of names we liked. My list had some fairly typical names and then a few more unique ones that I was pretty sure she would never go for. It’s become pretty popular these days for people to give their children very unique names, including celebrities. For example, actor Jason Lee named his child Pilot Inspektor . While I didn’t want to go that far, I still thought I’d include some unique names I like.

We finally showed each other our lists about a week before the due date. We narrowed the final list down a little, but she really wanted to wait to see his face before making the ultimate choice. After hours and hours of labor, our new baby boy came screaming into the world. The moments were quickly passing by and we really needed to come to a decision on his name. She did ALL of the hard labor that night, so I only felt it was right to let her make the final choice.

I was surprised when she chose one of my unique first names. I had liked Cru because it’s use in connection with the classification of top tier wines and vineyards in France. Grand Cru and Premier Cru are legal titles awarded to the highest caliber wines. The term has always stuck out to me. Maybe seeing it next to Grand and Premier so much made me feel it was elegant and regal. I also see it utilized on beer, cheeses, cigars, and chocolates too around the world.

My wife was born in Cambodia, but grew up here in the US. She also liked the name because it had a meaning when spoken in her first language of Khmer. Cru គ្រូ means master or teacher in Khmer. So Grand “Master” Cru had a double meaning.

When I was younger, I wasn’t sure I wanted children. It wasn’t until I was able to see more of the world and had a better understanding of who I was as a person that I felt this was something I could consider. The thought of having a legacy to continue on after me actually made me happy.

Whether our parents named us after their favorite movie character, musician, actor, athlete, relative, city, hobby, or something else entirely; we are all somehow forever connected to our chosen namesake. It’s another piece of our parents that they gave us. Why we were each named this has it’s own story, and can possibly tell us about something they may have liked when we were born.

Wine is obviously something I enjoy, and now he will always be connected back to his father’s love for it. I don’t expect the same from him, but I will certainly introduce him to it if he wishes.

Cheers to you Cru. May your roots grow strong and your vines branch out far and wide.

With love,

Your Daddy.