Winery weekend

If last weekend was a trial by fire of sorts, as I spent my first two workdays at the winery training during a time of unprecedented, huge crowds, this weekend was exactly the opposite -- much slower than normal weekends are.  But the lull gave me time to work on things -- learning more about the wines our customers taste, and sampling some myself in order to be able to describe them.  This is not casual drinking; it's being able to describe to customers the difference between Rousanne versus a Marsanne-Rousanne blend, or the difference between the '09 Cabernet and the '10 vintage year.

I also got to spend time visiting with each customer a bit more, and chatting with them about what had brought them to the area for the weekend and what else they were planning on doing.  Last weekend was all about bussing tables, delivering plates to the kitchen to be washed, and making sure glasses were filled on time; this weekend was about chatting with customers, answering the phone, and lingering over the counter, polishing glasses while giving people directions to good area restaurants or other wineries.

I realize you need to have a fair amount of busy weekends in order to have a successful business, but I have to say that the slow day was heavenly.  Some jobs are boring when they are not hectic, but a slow day at a winery really lets you take a breath and appreciate where you are and how lucky you are to be there.

My life is in a nice balance right now, where some days I hang with my chickens, my livestock and my plants, who aren't really chatty, and other days I am at the winery, where it seems like I'm always talking to someone.  You need both in life, I am convinced.  If you have either one of those things exclusively -- hermitdom, or constant company, with no balance between the two, and a person will go mad.  

Seen it happen, not going there.