Confessions of a Tasting Room Server.

I got to thinking today what got me into marketing. That enlightened moment when I realized; "Yes. This is what I love and what I could definitely see myself doing 30, 40, maybe even 50 years down the road."

It all started as a server behind a local winery's tasting bar. As a server you meet people from all over the world. You get to be surrounded by wine all day and get to talk about it with customers. Let's face it guys. This is not a bad gig. You laugh and share stories with customers and if they enjoy the experience and the wine enough, a bottle will go home with them. To me, if a customer bought a bottle of wine, it was like they were choosing to share that same feeling they had with me, with the people in their life. The kicker is you get PAID to be the tour guide for this wine experience. Awesome right?

I realized through years of experience in this position, that I loved the wine industry. There are amazing people who love wine and want to share that passion. They realize they aren't just promoting a product like stainless steel cookware where you use it, put it away and forget about. The people of the wine industry...wine makers, business owners, servers like myself.. we realize that you sell the wine but it's after that sale is where the magic happens. People come together to appreciate that wine. Conversation happens. People have fun with wine. They take the time to truly enjoy and appreciate what is in their glass. As an observer of this, I wanted to make it my personal mission to become a marketing professional in this amazing industry. With encouragement and the phrase "You'd be awesome at this JR" from my winery's owner I changed my major to marketing.

Now as I continue down this path I realize that I was extremely lucky to get my foot in the wine industry door. If I'm going to promote a product I'd really like it to be something that I'm passionate about. Wine and FLX wine country gets me passionate. The people in the wine industry are passionate. We love coming to work every day and in a lot of ways we're like a big communal family working towards all the same goals: Promote this area and our wine. Passion is what takes a good marketer. Speaking about your product and lifestyle is key, as well as taking the time to listen to your most important asset, your customers.

I hope everyone finds this kind of passion in their life and their career. Up here...we just call it: "Living life...Finger Lakes style."

Cheers!

Oh the weather outside is frightful.

Tonight ladies and gents, is FREEZING in the Finger Lakes. Not figuratively. Literally. Last I checked it was a frosty 22 degrees outside. For us Finger Lakes locals winter can be tough. It's gray, it's cold, and sometimes can get very lonely when everyone is curled up bundled in a blanket on their couch vowing they won't step foot outside their door. Well the weather doesn't stop this Finger Lakes chick. Weather is a challenge. Myself being ever the lover of a challenge, I laugh in it's face. HA! With that in mind I have decided to embark on an epic journey. That journey is known as GIRLS NIGHT.

Despite the frost and the dark and cold, my friends and I are gathering in the ever mysterious and magical event known as girls night. I know that among the varying circles of female friends world wide this phrase, "girls night" takes on a wide array of definitions. Though I have seemed to catch on to at least a couple similar themes in the wake of listening to "girls night" stories. I suppose one could say that there are certain secret ingredients that make up a good girls night. I'll list them accordingly:

Secret Ingredients:
#1. Laughter

Laughter seems to be the fundamental reason to get a bunch of girls together in a room. Maybe it's because people love to laugh. Maybe because us chicks realize that every time you laugh you burn 15 calories. Either way, laughing is great and everyone's life should include more of it.

2. Good Food

Good food is not an essential ingredient for a great girls night, but like a secret ingredient it seems to just add that special something to the mix. Ooohing and ahhhing over great food just leads into great conversation. That and food just brings people together. Never a bad thing.

3. Local Wine

Ok. I'm gonna go there. Girls night just screams wine. You never hear about a bunch of guys sitting down and Joe saying to Frank "I've had a rough week at work. Tonight I wanna get off my Red Dog kick and sip a lovely Chardonnay." Not that I'm at all making a male sterotype that men can't enjoy wine. I just think there's something about a good glass that brings out the best in a woman surrounded by her friends. She's daring, and brave, and completely eloquent (if even only to herself on her 3rd glass.)

With all those ingredient whipped up and plunked down into one central location, something magic happens. Girls have fun. They enjoy great food. They possibly even discover a local wine they never tried before and absolutely love! Good friends, good food, good wine. This is living life...finger lakes style.

And with that. I'm off to face the elements!

Cheers!

California Dreaming. Then Getting Real.

Today I got thinking about what it means to live in Upstate New York. As the snow starts to fall and the holidays are quick approaching it sounds cheesy and cliche but I guess it really is a good time to reflect and find out what you're thankful for.

I guess my reflection should be premised by the fact that this summer I spent about 4 months in the Sonoma Valley of California. I was located in a quant little town in the Russian River area called Healdsburg. Being a warm weather girl I was in heaven with temperatures for the day ranging from 70-90. Not to mention the plethora of abundant wine at every corner. It was a wine lovers dream, and hey, the perks of saying I was a NoCal girl didn't hurt much either.

I took the experience for everything it was worth and to be honest, felt extremely brave that I moved 3,000 miles from the home, family, and friends that I knew and the security net that having them close by entailed. But ya know what? I made it work. I moved out to California with no job, no prospects, and took one of the biggest leap of faiths in my life. I made it work. I found a job working for a wonderful winery with wonderful people and learned a lot about marketing, customer service, and myself. Being young and ambitious, I couldn't ask for much more at that point in my life.

After 4 months, life got in the way as it usually does. The tough California economy got the better of me and I made my move back East. People always told me when you move away "you can't go home again." Who ever believes that must not be from the Finger Lakes. You can come home. You may not look at home in the same way as you did when you left, but you can for sure come home and have a much greater sense of appreciation for it than when you left.

Coming home for me was seeing GREEN. For those of you who have never been to California in the summer let me describe it to you as my Dad put it best when he visited me in the middle of July. "Everything just looks so.... BURNT!" California in the summer is a land of rolling golden hills. But yes, like Dad said, it's because it really is..burnt. No rain for 4 months will do that to a landscape. Coming home my parents laughed at me constantly when I kept saying, but it's so GREEN guys! The green, the lakes, the farm land and flowers; that's something you don't get in California and when I came home I appreciated it like crazy. Wine country, we have that here too. Warm weather..psh. I learned that boots and long underwear are a girl's best friend post a warm weather experience. Friends and family, those are life's greatest blessings you miss the most when away from home.

The moral of this long story kids, is that home in the Finger Lakes we really have it made. We have a beautiful scenery, hand crafted boutique wines at our finger tips, and most importantly amazing beautiful people; family, friends or both, who we can call up on a whim to appreciate all of that splendor with us.

That's what I believe is living embodies living life...Finger Lakes style.

Cheers!