GRATEFUL

PEOPLE.  It is one of the single most beautiful parts of my job.  One would think it the wine, the scenic vineyards you visit, or the amazing culinary experiences you’re constantly indulging upon on as a person of the wine industry.  While these are all A-MAZING perks to the job, my favorite part is still the people.

We all get into the hospitality industry for one reason or another.  You work it as a way to get you through college.  Or, like myself, you have a parent or parents that forced you to grow up in the industry, owning some type of restaurant establishment that stole away a majority of your ‘after school memories’.  The majority of college aged kids working the field eventually move on, taking their stab at making a real go of their college degree.  Some get in and get out, working hospitality as a means to quick and easy cash and well others, continue on, moving through the different facets of the industry.

As a kid, held to slave ‘restaurant’ labor, I swore to my mother that I’d leave the industry forever once I had broken free of her restaurants.  But, just a year after leaving home for college, I found  myself back at the mercy of hospitality.  Inevitably, I went on to manage restaurants, world-class wineries, a slew of fabulous staffs and finally on, to owning my own hospitality business.  From restaurants, hotels, and all the fabulous positions in between, we all eventually come to find, that if it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood.  Without denying it, it’s a part of mine.

All of these thoughts were swirling amidst my mind on my drive home tonite…

The wine industry, yes…full of unbelievable moments: wine, vineyards, wineries, food and unparalleled life experiences.  But really, none of them complete without the people who make it, the team that manages it, the farmer that yields it, the chef that creates it or the clients that eventually buy it.  In my world, I don’t necessarily ‘sell’ wine, but I offer wine experiences.  From teaching, writing, consultation to training, I offer my expertise, energy and passion to those who are open to be a part of it.  And although I may go into a ‘job’ (if you want to call it that) thinking I’M the one offering the experience, almost nine times out of ten, I’M the one that comes out of the experience with something more than what I walked in with.

Tonite, I drove out to a lovely home in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities.  Amidst the cold and ice, I was actually thrilled to brave the elements with the initiation of this project.  A cellar consult.  Many of which I perform, are initially quite a bit of work – organizing, programming, slotting and designing for new wine.  Some of my consults involve at most two meetings and some, are ongoing relationships with families.  From the initial consult to the ongoing process of cellar procurement and more, the process, as I explained tonite to this family, is a personal one.  I am evaluating not only your wine collection, but for many, their palates as well.  Generally all clients ask me the specifics: how to organize, how long are my bottles good for and when is the peak at which they should be consumed.  But then, folks become enticed with adding to their collections, which will eventually take me in the direction of analyzing: their palates, their personal use of wine (when and how they like to consume it) and how much they actually DO consume, collect or gift.  It becomes, if you will, a very personal interview process to say the least.  The best part, I almost always initiate, continue or fulfill each ‘cellar consult’ project feeling the exact same way…grateful.

I am constantly amazed at the free giving of people, the kind open hearted relationships I have built with clients as they offer up their energy, their enthusiasm, and most of all their generosity of spirit.  This family did just that for me tonite.  Sharing their very personal and loving relationship with wine as it related to the passing of a member to their family who adoringly built the collection I was there to access.  When all was said and done, I left their home WHOLE HEARTED, full with their loving generosity, and grateful.  Grateful, knowing that no matter where my career takes me – from dirt to glass – the most unbelievable and one single thing that will hold me tightly bound to this career, I call WINE, is the collection of people I meet.

#ENTIRELYGRATEFUL