July 2009 Archives

My head is still spinning. Just when I thought I'd gotten the hang of this blogging thing, I attended the 2009 Wine Blogging Conference.

Next year's conference is June 25-27, 2010 and is moving to Walla Walla Washington. Learn more at www.winebloggingconference.com.

While it's been over a week since I got back, I'm still pinching myself. We actually saw the Pope. That's right, the big guy himself. Not only did we see him, we got to attend a private mass at the Vatican. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Oh, and having a pretty teenager in tow, didn't hurt our odds for getting in either. While I'm not Catholic, I must admit it was an awe-inspiring experience and one I'll not soon forget. You could even call it divine.  Of course, daily ingestion of truffle pasta, red wine and gelato wasn't hard to take either. I will be forever grateful to my dear old Dad for making this trip possible.

It's a rare thing to go away as a family and leave the business completely behind.

It takes trust and a terrific staff, both of which we're fortunate to have. The customer quotient is important too. Without loyal friends and fans for our wines, none of this would be possible. I'm particularly grateful for our wine club members who are among the most loyal and diehard customers we have. Just the folks you need to thank from time to time.

So, once a year, we throw a party at our home that is exclusively for our Vintner's Select wine club members.  It's our way of saying thanks and getting to know people on a more intimate level. I run around trying to hide all the dust bunnies while the kids promise to be on their best behavior. Then it's show time. And I mean this quite literally, since my daughter and I were part of the live entertainment!
 

 
This year's theme was “all things lobster”.  Fresh Maine lobster was flown in from our good buddies Captain John and Brendan Ready of Catch a Piece of Maine. You have never seen lobster prepared in so many ways… lobster rolls, lobster shooters, lobster crostini, lobster salad, and lobster bisque. To top it off, we gorged on my Aunt Mary's famous blueberry slump, a favorite family recipe from Maine. For many club members, this was a repeat performance (last year we threw a wild boar pig-out party) with a new lobster twist. For others, it was a whole new experience and the first time attending a Dry Creek Vineyard wine club event. In both instances, friendships were forged, relationships cemented, and not a single word was uttered about the troubles of the world.

Now this is my idea of a nice welcome home.
 

So what do public relations, wine sales and softball all have in common?  Answer: Absolutely nothing.  

When I first started at Dry Creek Vineyard almost 5 years ago (gulp!), Wilma brought me aboard to be the winery's communication conduit.  Writing, interfacing, schmoozing – call it what you want, but when it comes to communication and public relations outreach, Wilma relies on me.   Well, in the past six months, things have changed a bit – check that, they've changed a lot.

With the economy sputtering along, Wilma and The Husband came to me in January with one simple request – help SELL wine!  Not that I was surprised.  Everyone in the wine industry is in the same boat.  When times are tough, businesses need all hands on deck (pun intended).  Hey, I'm a team player. Why not?  This sales thing is a piece of cake, right?  Uh, no, not exactly as I would come to find out. 

Over the past six months, I've been knee deep in the sales world, working with sales people, attending distributor meetings and trying to keep my positive glass-half-full attitude.  Not easy.  That being said, it's been really rewarding work.  I've met lots of very talented sales people, who spend their days out working the streets.  I'm not sure there is anyone I admire more than a distributor salesperson – these people are some of the hardest working professionals I have met.  Sometimes their job is totally thankless and yet most of the time they manage to still get their job done with a smile.  I've learned about sales reports, business reviews, and how wine is sold in the real world.  I have to admit – I think all wine industry PR people should be required to do this kind of work.  Sometimes we PR people get caught up in our lofty PR ideals and forget that there is a certain reality to how the market works.  Being in sales over these past few months has taught me a ton about how I need to think and look at the big picture as a PR person. 

And so, as we continue to fight the good fight, selling one bottle at a time, I have this to fall back on – the winery softball team.  Yep, that's right.  Every Wednesday night we Dry Creek Crushers lace up our cleats and head to the diamond, with just one thing on our mind – okay, two – kick the stuffing out of the other winery team and then enjoy an icy cold beer at the local pizza joint after the game.   After all, it's the little things in life that keep us happy, right?  That and beer.  Okay, and a W – we won 9-6 last night, defeating The Sexy Wine Bombs!