Friday, August 13, 2010

Travel East, Travel West

So I've been back from my much anticipated trip home for a few weeks now. Being back east was fantastic. I spent time with my parents and went to my favorite haunts; took a quick jaunt to South Carolina to see June, Sean and Aiden; spent some time in Brooklyn with my brother and his wife; finished the whole trip off by celebrating my Dad's birthday and going to the track. 18 days was not long enough, but at the same time when I got off the plane in Oakland I was glad to be back. I missed my apartment, my room mate, my friends, and honestly my jobs.
On the note I'm going to switch gears, because my winery job just took us on the most fantastic company trip I ever could have imagined. We loaded up in a caravan and headed down south to monterey county. With our winemaker leading the pack we visited 6 of our vineyards. The viticulture side of wine is one of my weak points. In sales it isn't usually something you focus on. At a winery however, you have wine club members who come in once a week and spend unimaginable amounts of money on our wine. They want to know EVERYTHING about it, and they expect you too. Out winemaker is an extremely knowledegable guy and he drove the car I rode in, I don't know that I've ever learned so much in one day about clones, grafting, trellising, soil, and watering techniques. He's a huge a proponent of organic farming and I feel like I could win an official debate about organic vs. conventional farming.


After our educational tour, we went to stay the night at an inn at the top of the valley. It was beyond breathtaking. We ate great food, drank great wine, and just took a break. The whole thing made me truly appreciate what an amazing company I work for.