November 2011 Archives

It's that time of year again.  I know what you're thinking...the holidays. Wrong!  It's the dreaded season of budgeting.  While most people are enjoying this short week, looking forward to quality time with family and friends, I am knee deep in our annual fiscal planning for the winery.   Oh joy!  As someone who generally loves her job, the budgeting season is more like a painful trip to the dentist.  Endless meetings, haggling over this and that and presentations to our Board of Directors are pretty much how the budgeting process goes.  And while it's obvious this is not my cup of tea, I do appreciate the process and understand its importance to our business.

You see, 2012 is an especially important year for our family winery.  As the calendar turns to January 1, 2012, it will mark our 40th year in business.  That means we have big plans that are going to require some significant marketing and sales investments.  In putting our budget together there are a lot of considerations - how much wine do we think we will sell?  What is our selling strategy?  How does our Direct-to-Consumer business look for next year?  All of these are key questions - after all, we don't have a money tree in our backyard from which we can pluck marketing dollars.  Everything needs to balance out and come together like a big puzzle.  It's a system of give and take, pros and cons, and ultimately doing what gives us the most bang for our buck.

So, I'm off again to yet another budget meeting.  There is light at the end of the tunnel though.  Come Thursday, I'm shutting down, grabbing a glass of Heritage Zinfandel and putting my feet up by the fire.  Even this wife, mother, marketer, business owner, and blogger needs some R&R!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

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For weeks, I've tried to sit down and write a blog post. Really I have. But, something always gets in the way-meetings, emails, phone calls, budgets, project management, family business BS-blah, blah, and blah. Frankly, by the end of the day, I'm just too darn tired and it's the last thing I feel like doing.

But, today something came across my desk that is just so darn good that I simply had to share it with you!  It's one of those unexpected gems that makes me feel really good about what we are doing here at the winery. It's the culmination of a lifetime of work that spans two generations and a team of dedicated employees. And it highlights one of my all time favorite wines, Zinfandel. I hope you'll take the time to read it here:

http://www.vinography.com/archives/2011/11/2009_dry_creek_vineyard_herita.html

What's special for me is that the article and accompanying review on our 2009 Heritage Zinfandel was completely unsolicited. It appeared out of nowhere. Yet, it tells the story of our early days along with our vision for the future in a way that makes me proud. And to my way of thinking, it's a sign that we're finally turning the corner and making a name for ourselves with a completely new audience. It sure is exciting to be on the radar screen of one of the most prolific and successful wine bloggers in America, Alder Yarrow of Vinography.

Thanks Alder. You just made my day and inspired me to write!

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About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from November 2011 listed from newest to oldest.

October 2011 is the previous archive.

December 2011 is the next archive.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

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