Cheers,

Farley (winepoet)

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Helping make wine several times. Here is one of them…

When my mom and my brother came to visit, BK made us a great meal. Good times!

A very successful Open That Bottle Night

When my rubber chicken came along for a day at the winery and got into a barrel of trouble

Christmas morning with blueberry & ricotta pancakes and mimosas

Marching in the Pride paradewith Rosenblum and Diageo

And some great winery visits:

Lazy Creekwith all its charm, though I hope (as do my fellow wine bloggers) that things won’t change too much now that they sold

Patz & Hall, where we got the red carpet treatment and some delicious wine

Some expensive Cabernet at Robert Mondavi, with good friends

And more that happened before I came to Behind the Vines…. Cheers!

Image source: Farley Walker

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2005 Novy Parsons’ Vineyard Syrah

2006 L’Aventure Rose’

2003 Sky Saddle Twin Oaks Vineyard Zinfandel

2004 Escafeld Petit Verdot

2004 Avignonesi Rosso di Montelpuliciano

2006 Maximin Grünhäuser Herrenberg Kabinett feinher

2006 Bonfire Vineyards Shyne Chardonnay

Some were had with wonderful meals and some by themselves.  All of them stood out, and it was fun to “retaste” them, if only in my memories….

Image source:Farley Walker

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But the most important thing, other than forcing me to write almost daily and keep track of my tasting notes more thoroughly, was the feedback. Family, friends, and people who have become friends over time. Even the occasional visitor. Everyone. You.  Kind comments, encouragement, questions, ideas, e-mail exchanges .  Granted, the occasional free wine for review wasn’t bad either.  But I want to thank you all for joining me on this ride.  For following me from one blog to another, from one winery to another.  You’ve been there for my journey, and it’s more significant due to your companionship.  Whether I’ve met you in person, or only online, your presence has meant so much.  And I especially want to thank you for the support during these last few days.  The caring comments here, the ones on Twitter, and in e-mails. It makes me less sad.

This is not my last post.  There will be a few more.  But I wanted to make sure you had time to read this one before it’s gone. I hope you get to read my toast, my cheers! to you all.

Image source: BK

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You have exactly one month from tomorrow to get your read on, so don’t wait too long.

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That money you save on gas will get you a nice bottle or two…

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Over the past few days, Bay Area news has been abuzz with the discrepancies in men and women’s salaries, with about $10,000 separating the median incomes, in favor of the males.  I just spent more time than I should have searching for figures specific to the wine business.  While I did find that there is such a gender gap in Ireland and New Zealand and that more men are in management positions in the restaurant world, I couldn’t uncover the numbers I was really seeking. 

Though I can make a few guesses. 

Some of the better-paying jobs, according to Wine Business Monthly’s 2007 Salary Survey Report, are winemakers, vineyard managers, marketing higher-ups, and the vice president of sales (sign me up for that one, please!).  From what I’ve seen, heard, and been around, men fill those positions more often than women.  So I think it’s safe to say the wine business isn’t much different than other careers, in how much less women are paid. Besides, we all know which wine critics get the most attention. And that writing skills might not always coincide with the number of readers….

The aspect of the survey that really shouted out to me was about tasting room salaries. Dave Blevins feels that wineries need to do more–much more–for their tasting room managers and employees. “I think [tasting room salaries are] a tragedy,” he said. “Tasting room staff is the first line of defense in the consumer experience. That environment makes or breaks that consumer experience.

True that! I also remember reading somewhere that tasting room staff are most easily burnt out, so there can be higher turnover.  Which is easy to believe of any job in customer service, despite that so many folks out there think we have the best job in the world.  Often true, but some days can be especially hard.  It’s the whole “Keep employees happy, so they keep customers happy.”

So, here’s to paying tasting room staff and women more!

Image source: random nice customer in Rosenblum’s tasting room

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EDIT: Also, a bit of good news after this very long day is over. When one of the ABC guys for View From the Bay called to get a blurb about Rosenblum and remind me to watch tomorrow (I don’t have a DVR, and I’ll be at work), I got to ask about our segment.  It’s split up with other East Bay wineries, which I knew, but it’s really not that long, with all the other segments. It’s only four minutes or something.  Which means I have less chance of not making sense…though I hope the bit about our Open House made it. 

Cheers!

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Okay, here it is.  We’ll be on ABC’s View from the Bay this Wednesday, at 3 pm.  And by we, I mean too much me.  Even though I pointed out the presence of an actual Rosenblum after the tasting room footage, Nick and the gang had me follow them downstairs.

It was all so fast and furious, I am still kicking myself for a major flub (our club members are locally…located) and the fact that someone told me later my new glasses–that I’m still getting used to– were transitioning in the incoming sunlight.  The whole thing lasted maybe twenty minutes.  Fairly painless, and yet, I’m cringing at the thought.

Then again, this is the second time I’ve been taped talking about wine, with no idea as to what I was going to say before I said it.  The other haunts me only occasionally. So, I guess nothing’s that bad.

Image source: ABC

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