Epic wine tasting that started as total mess

Anything that could go wrong that day went wrong.

It was October - the busiest month of the year for wholesalers. All the holiday buy-ins, all the discounts also meant brutal push to make sure we bring in 50% of the yearly revenue (that usually falls into the last quarter of the year).

Only an idiot would plan a complex wine tasting during that period. 

I was that idiot.

In my defense, we worked on it for months and talked about it even longer. I put an enormous amount of work into it.  It was also the first time I let go of some production control and half an hour in, I already regretted it.

The owner of the wine shop I was organizing it with, was in charge of the venue, and the invitation list. I selected the wines and prepared everything else for a smooth event. What was supposed to be a maximum of 40 people, (selected guests only), turned out to be 80.  

The venue he chose couldn’t accommodate the demand, despite assuring us it’s not a big deal. Guests attacked the buffet and then waited an hour or more for a refill. It was not up to my standards and I was embarrassed.

We kept running out of wines. Tried to stretch each bottle as far as we could. The wine shop owner couldn’t be bothered to purchase any sample bottles himself, he expected me to supply everything. Guests' complaints, of course, were addressed to me.

This wasn’t an ordinary public wine tasting. A carefully selected portfolio of high-end Spanish wines was presented to a handpicked, long time clients of my favorite wine store. I knew what they liked; I knew most of them personally. Demetrius (the shop owner), and I both knew if we pull it off before Christmas, we’ll give them a unique opportunity to do their holiday shopping with us.    

His clients were wine-loving judges, lawyers, doctors, investors, business people – but most importantly; they were friends for years. They were with him since Demetrius built that shop. They loved the guy. They were there when he needed a hand, they were invited to his home for a Greek Easter - they were like a family. The fact that they included me in their daily rendezvous in the wine store (OK, they called it tasting, I called it getting wasted)… meant a lot to me.

This wasn’t the first tasting we organized together either – but it was the only "intentional" one.

I picked wines I knew they’re going to love.  Demetrius intentionally picked those clients who BUY (if they like the wine) cases for gifts and their own collections.

In other words, this was a carefully produced and curated event.

I spent several nights and $$$ to prepare and print a personal catalog for each guest with the page devoted to each wine.  Tasting notes, labels in color, a little history about the wine, family, soil, ratings … etc., and a space for their own tasting notes. Those catalogs weren't cheap. Every guest received one to take home.  The wines I was pouring deserved special treatment.

Due to the number of people, I also knew there will be a limited opportunity to tell them what they taste. I didn’t want it to turn into a “let’s get wasted and have fun” kind of evening (which was quite easy with this crowd).

We dragged in a large board with all my pictures from Spain, the vineyards, the soils, the winemakers, so those who were interested can relate to individual stories. These wines were personal to me. I knew the people who made them, and I was passionate about them myself.

One hour in, I was losing my grip on the entire event.

Knowing the invited guests could be a great advantage - and a curse. Dan, an orthopedic doctor, noticed I tasted each wine before it starts, making sure nothing is corked. He demanded I pour him some too - so he “doesn’t have to wait dry”.

Then another came to me wanting to taste just the most expensive wines – because Demetrius already gave him the ordering/pricing sheet I prepared to hand out at the END of the tasting. There was a reason I never print prices in the catalog before people taste the wines. They make up their mind based on the price. Especially those who care about brands, ratings, etc. have a tendency to dismiss high-quality wines when they think their price doesn’t reflect that.

Hot mess.

The room was getting louder and louder, and I gave up on trying to present anything anymore. A few people from my own wine club approached me to say they will never again come to my wine tasting/dinner if it’s with this crowd. I was losing it. In the meantime, Demetrius sat at the table, enjoyed food and wine, having a great time.

When it was all over I had no idea if we even sold anything. Demetrius went home holding all the ordering sheets himself. There was no reason to push any sales right there – they were all his clients and if they liked something, we knew they’ll order.

I left exhausted and disappointed. What if it was all for nothing?  You never have huge expectations with a wine tasting.  If you sell a few bottles, it’s OK. Few cases, it’s a huge success. Usually, tastings are a “necessary evil”, a social event, nothing less, nothing more. In this case, we did expect results.

The next day Demetrius called. He’s got the orders added up. I answered his call while driving so he asked me to pull over. At that point, I fully expected to hear that all that effort was wasted.

But he said:” Do you want to take a wild guess what we sold?”

“I don’t know - I'd rather not.” I was still kind of pissed at him for how nonchalant he was with the whole thing.

“Well, so far I've 36 cases, about $9,580 total in a sale – and I don’t even have all the orders in yet.  Everybody loved it - we did fucking awesome!!!”

With all that end of the year stress, I felt tears of joy pushing through. All that work - it was damn worth it, it was epic! Those wines were top notch. But if it weren't well known Bordeaux, Silver Oak, Plumpjack, or Caymus Special Selection - it was a tall order for many of those guests to appreciate it. I thought I didn't have a chance to show them how stunning these wines are in comparison, how they age gracefully in the cellar - but, unlike Bordeaux - were also ready to be enjoyed right now. 

Once again, I was assuming the worst based on my own personal feelings.

Yeah, yeah, I lost control. So what?  We delivered. And it paid off for both of us.

I was so excited I called our wine director. We both had a soft spot for that Jorge Ordonez's Spanish portfolio. And we both were extremely stressed because … the season sales.

“Hey Bob, you want to hear some good news?” I said.

“Oh yeah, I could use some good news right now.”

“You better sit down.”

And I told him the whole story. How we planned this, made this happened, in the middle of the craziest time – and then, what we got ordered so far. He was stunned and honestly thrilled for me.  He asked me if I could bring him one of those catalogs I created when I come into the office for Friday’s sales meeting.

The ending was the best part of the story. For my ego :)

Bob came into the sales meeting and threw my catalog at the first table – to the veteran salespeople who were at this for decades, their noses couldn’t be any higher, and some wouldn’t even acknowledge I existed then.

“Look how you can run this fucking business,” he said, asked me to stand up and state how much I sold out of that one tasting.

If you were ever asked to stand up and brag about yourself in the middle of guys – half of which hated your guts and the other saw you as a blond bimbo with accent and boobs that have no business doing what they’re so good at … you can imagine how I felt.

But I didn't care. I stood up and proudly proclaimed the number.

Those faces...

That's the moment you see who your friends are. Some pretended they didn’t hear anything. Some just ignored the whole thing. A handful turned around, and said – “Shit, congrats girl! That’s awesome!”

I felt like I arrived that day.

Except, I didn’t need to prove anything to any one of them! I proved it to myself. And to the owner of the company who gave me a chance knowing well I'm new to the wine biz. 

Don’t underestimate the power of great wine.

And the power of intention, preparation, and leaving nothing to a chance. Even when things seemingly spiral out of control.

We prepared, assess the crowd we're selling to, made every move on purpose. We totally rolled a red carpet for our guests and for those wines. The rest took care of itself. And it paid off!

Even if you're not the world's biggest wine expert, you can kill the sales with your people skills, compassion, understanding of who your client is and what he reacts to. You can compose a special event based on that knowledge that will cater to people who you want to sell. 

When you do that, you have no competition. You're not thinking outside of the box, you create the box.

You're immediately in an exclusive 1% group of salesmen who have the X-factor no matter what you sell.