Who couldn’t love Florida’s Gulf coast? I can’t even imagine who. It’s just paradise.
Having a job assignment… What cold be better? Although I do have really fond memories of working in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and knowing that I got that “heaven” assignment, too. Hawaii’s on the easy side of the work list. There’s a lot to be said for swaying palms, humidity with a salt air breeze, gorgeous blue skies and tropical flora and fauna.
Day one, at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, the trade tasting… set against a background of turquoise Gulf Stream waters.
I’ve jammed a lot of images into a small space, because I always have a feeling of guilt as images I put into one of my blog postings make anyone scroll down the page forever, so these are just composites of each event, against one of my bird shots…
- Judie Monnich (Silkwood Wines) – Upper left
- Nils Venge (Saddleback Cellars) – Upper middle, left
- Paul Mattison (Mattison’s Restaurants) and guest attendee – Upper Middle, right
- Stuart Bryan (Pride Mountain Vineyards) – Middle left
- Jeff Miller (Artisan Family of Wines) – Bottom left
- Greg Lint and Jeff Herinckx (Oak Knoll Winery) – Bottom center
- Tony and Jo Ann Truchard (Truchard Vineyards) – Bottom right (This year, Tony’s the Honorary Chairman for the Florida Winefest & Auction.)
Day two, the consumer tasting, and The Spirit of the Night Dinner Dance. Jose and I tore up the floor (we were told), but we thankfully don’t have any pictures of that one…
Day three, the Spirit of Giving Grand Brunch & Charity Auction. Vintner images include the following:
- John and Judie Monnich (Silkwood Wines) – Upper left
- Walt and Joan Flowers (Flowers Winery) – Lower left (under Silkwood)
- Jeff Miller (Artisan Family of Wines) – Center
- Jose Diaz with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars winemaker Nicki Pruss
- Christie and Mike Phillips (Michael~David Winery) – Far right
When it was all complete, we (Oak Knoll’s Greg Lint and Jeff Herinckx, Jose and I) had time to visit with our Longboat Key friends that we had met last year, Lucien and Ada Levy… We watched the sun go down and then had dinner. The next morning Ada, Jose and I had a final beachcombing moment before flying back to San Francisco, after another spectacular Florida Winefest & Auction… 2009.
Murphy-Goode winery in Healdsburg, CA has announed a job opening for $10,000 a month for 6 months. Check on my website for more details.
I thought about not posting this above comment, because it was off message. I kindly let Barry know, and also told him that I’m in the middle of writing a story on today’s wine marketing, and the content would be valuable for that, however.
He apologized, because he didn’t want it to be a solicitation, but did see how it originally sounded to me, as a reader. Barry doesn’t even work for Murphy-Goode. He was just passing along an opportunity.
I’ve reconsidered not approving this comment for the same reason. If it helps someone sooner-than-later, have at it. There are so many Wine 2.0 types out there looking for how to monetize their skills that time is of the essence.
I’ll write more later, but you can visit http://www.areallygoodejob.com, and get started. You can also thank Barry Wu if you get the job through his being considerate, through any of these avenues! — jo