Tag Archives: wine tasting

St. Emilion

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A little belated but here it is:

Four days. The business game is over and we have four days to get ourselves into trouble. The majority of us are new to Bordeaux (let alone France) and we only know a few people. The school hosted a party on Wednesday. Thursday we recovered. Friday we ran important errands – picking up bank cards, selecting internet providers, etc. But what were we going to do with our remaining two days. It was supposed to rain so the beach is out. Bordeaux isn’t that big and there are only so many tourist sites within the city limits. So the American, the German and the French girl piled into a car and drove to St. Emilion for a day of exploring and wine tasting. At least that was the plan…

In preparation for the adventure we visited the Bordeaux tourism office on Friday and picked up a information book about St. Emilion. We asked about visiting the Chateau and tastings. We were told that it shouldn’t be an issue and that we could easily visit several different locations on Saturday afternoon.

In actuality, tasting rooms aren’t quite the same in France. It’s not like the lovely, welcoming tasting rooms of California. A lot of the Chateau require reservations. And just as many, if not more, aren’t even open on the weekends. So after our arrival in the city and a lovely lunch at the town square, we tried to visit a couple of different tasting rooms. And only had a little luck. It was partially my fault – when looking at the map I failed to realize that most of the tasting rooms were within walking – let alone 2 minutes driving – distance. But we did manage to find our way into a lovely cave and then to an even lovelier chateau.

We also walked around the very quaint medieval village. Complete with steep cobblestone streets, forts and stunning churches. To kill a little time before our second appointment we went exploring and found a lovely grove of trees, a quaint stone bridge and some lovely grape vines. (No grapes were harmed in the making of this post.)

All in all it was a lovely day and a great adventure. Visit the St. Emilion Photos page to see the proof.

How NOT To Woo Potential Customers

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This past weekend my parents and I decided to do a little local wine tasting. After scrapping our initial plan of spending two plus hours in the car to head to Sonoma we decided to visit some local Santa Cruz Mountain wineries. Obviously we are a family that enjoys wine and we like to support local businesses so this was the perfect opportunity to indulge in both.

Our first planned stop was Ridge Vineyards. One of the largest and most well know Santa Cruz Mountain wineries Ridge is know for big bold red wine. Again, for those who know us, an obvious choice in our household. And one we have often enjoyed. In fact at a family birthday fete on Saturday my parents opened two different large format bottles of Ridge Zinfandel. With a tasting room buried in the picturesque Santa Cruz Mountains we decided to make this our first stop. And we (ie the parents) had plans to buy.

After a windy, twisty, stomach-churning long drive to reach the Montebello location we were informed by a rather snotty attendant that the tasting room was closed for a wine club event and that we should have checked the website before making the drive. ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND.  Yes they chose to close their tasting room on a holiday weekend. Since then I have investigated the website and see no mention of upcoming events or even tasting room closures. Anywhere. And more importantly why was a sign not placed at the bottom of the hill before we waisted our time driving to the top.

I understand that club members are always a winery’s priority. They are typically your best customers and your best advertising. And wine club events are a great way to keep people engaged, interested and up-to-date. Ridge should absolutely be celebrating their club membership and providing them with unique opportunities. However, not at the expense of other potential customers. Hold events after hours. Or at least have the courtesy to give people a little more advanced notice (ie the sign at the bottom of the road).

All in all that day Ridge was ultimately the one who suffered. We went on to visit two other local wineries – Cooper-Garrod and Savanah-Chanelle – where we bought not only lots wine but craft products sold in the tasting room.

So my advice to Ridge Vineyards: you might want to work on your customer service skills.