By the Time I Get out of Phoenix…
… I’ll be older. At least it seems that way. I’ve never been good with handling delayed or cancelled flights. The passengers are here. The plane is here. Our pilot is not here, however. He’s coming in from somewhere else on a flight that is, of course, delayed. Oh well…
In the meantime, it was a great first trip through Phoenix – we just started distributing our wines here a few months ago, and it was a pleasure to come in and meet with the sales team and a lot of top sommeliers and retailers throughout the area. I was continually amazed by the amount of money people have put into their restaurants here – every place we went seemed like a page out of some food-porn magazine. Literally millions of dollars have gone into decor and design into lots of these places, not to mention a sizeable commitment to maintaining large, deep wine programs. Which reminds me to remind you to please go out and eat and support your local restaurateurs if you can. Share small plates, order wine by the glass, skip dessert – you don’t have to break the bank to dine out – and most operators these days are offering some great deals or $20 three course meals.
Like small wineries, these are mostly small, locally-owned family businesses, and we need them to survive the tough times. We need a strong, local, food & wine culture going forward.
On another subject entirely -we’ve just announced our special event coming up on May 27th for the Champions League final – we’re joining our friends at Portland’s Storyteller Wines for a private event at The Agency on W. Burnside in Portland from 11-2. Reservations a re required, as we’re limited to 30 people in our private room – it’s $35 a head, which covers food, beer & some good grape juice, and what could be the most exciting game of the year (Arsenal-United and Chelsea-Barcelona are the semi-final match-ups – big action to come!)
They’re finally boarding my flight – I’m off to NoCal…
