Napa
Spring 2010
The other day the first buds appeared on the grape vines, a
week early, usually it’s April Fool’s Day that heralds those little bursts of
life. As I traveled around the valley I realized that my perspective of the
valley is rather unique because of the diverse rolls I fill in the course of
the year. During the warm weather I serve as a tour guide, and my
recommendations affect which wineries will get my client’s business. In the
winter I see the valley as a researcher and author as we put our Amicis Winery
Guide tour books and Smart Phone Apps together. Then in the Spring I see the
valley as a salesman as I visit the wineries that sell many of our titles.
I have to tell you, being a customer is much easier than
being a salesman, but when you are asking people to part with their money and
buy books for their gift shops you get some great insights about their current
fortunes. There are two levels of opinion at work here in the valley. Among the
employees there is some nervousness. Just weeks after the financial meltdown
some of the largest corporate wineries eliminated their mid-level management
jobs and last fall other large corporate wineries followed suit leaving the highest
paid and lowest paid workers to bridge the gap.
It has to make one nervous never knowing when some corporate
edict is going to eliminate their position, but without a team there isn’t a
tasting room, so once again flexibility is the greatest asset. Meanwhile, these
past three years have seen considerable capital improvements at many properties,
so the owners who are scrimping in the short term are optimistic about the
future.
One of the biggest tasting room managers told me that their
January and February were 40% higher than last year, even while their nationwide
distribution was down by 30%. A couple of premium tour guides also reported
better than average winters. Visitor center and hotel staff has reported that
the numbers of inquiries from potential visitors is might higher than last year.
So for all of the worries, Napa and Sonoma are still a great deal for the best
kind of adult entertainment.
Meanwhile I’ve got head back out and sell our books and tell
the hotels about our wine tour apps because people are going to want to know how
to get to those wineries, and what to expect when they get there, and that’s
our job.
Ralph & Lahni de Amicis are authors of the Amicis Winery
Guide Books and iPhone Apps, and owners of Amicis Tours and Cuore Libre Publishing.
They are authors of over twenty books on health, design and travel. Their
products can be found on the sites http://www.amicistours.com
and http://www.spaceandtime.com
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