Drink Charitably!

I used to work with an amazing group of people.  As any ex-Mondavi employee will tell you, ‘back in the day’ there was no finer winery for which to work.  There was a true sense that nothing was impossible and when an idea came up, the response was ‘how can we make that happen?’  In later years that changed to ‘we’ll never be able to do that’ which is unfortunate, but company cultures change and we all move on. 

But it remained that there was an extraordinary cast of characters working there — and some of the most memorable personalities.  One of my favorites (no names will be disclosed) was a sales rep working in the South who worked for the chain grocery division of Robert Mondavi.  I spent a great deal of time with him, calling on grocery store headquarters and individual key stores – and we were in the car together quite a bit – just chatting and bonding.

One day as we were tooling down the highway to yet another identical grocery store, he told me that we’d really score big with XYZ grocery chain if only we had some certain materials (not important now) customized for that chain.  I told him that it would be no problem – let’s work together with that buyer to develop exactly what he wanted.  The rep turned to me with absolute glee on his face and said:

“Judd, if we could do that, it would be a real pheasant in our cap!”

Now this particular Southern gentleman was renowned for his malaprops, and I always respected him, no matter what he said.  But this one completely caught me off guard and I busted up, responding with “You mean not just a feather — the whole pheasant?   That must be worth a truckload of wine!”  He stared at me blankly…sort of like a pheasant.

The wine industry is filled with wonderful characters & personalities.  And there are a wealth of stories.  I don’t know if it is because the product lures the colorful people, or if they become colorful after joining in on the fun.  Either way, if you keep your eyes & ears open, you can witness some serious humor. 

So keep your radar up and share with me your wine stories.  And as always, drink charitably!