Just a shout-out for two wineries (of a number) that represent to me what class acts there are in the wine biz:
TablasCreek: They always send out a Christmas gift to members of their VinSider club. Something wine related. I always look forward to it cause I wonder what the heck kind of gift they’re going to come up w/ this year. So it arrived ystrday…it is a heavy-weight wine btl stopper (I think) w/ TablasCreek inscribed on the top.I say “I think” because it is accompanied w/ a baggie w/ a rubber crenelated sleeve and two O-rings…the purpose of which escapes me. And the interior of the stopper appears to be able to be removed…for whatever reason. Alas…no instruction manual accompanies the stopper. Jeez…the TablasCreek must think I’m a rocket scientist or sumthin. I’ve got an inquiry in to Darren on operating instruction. But…anywho…TC is very thoughtful to take such good care of their VinSider members.
LimerickLane: I get a Christmas card every yr from any number of wineries. It’s a thoughtful gesture. But this one this yr from LimerickLane was most special. Jake, in a hand-written note, thanked me for my interest in the LL wines and my business. Well & good. But the really special touch…on the other side of the card, in this barely readable kids scrawl, is a special note from Jake’s son, thanking me for buying their wines and identifying himself as Jake’s son. He is, I believe, the one I met several yrs ago when I did a tour of GibsonRanch and his son was obviously a world-expert on tractors. I can imagine the poor kid being tasked by Jake to write these thank-yous and complaining mightly “Awww, Dad…not another thank-you to write”. But, anyway, it was such a special touch that it deserves to be acknowledged and illustrates why LL (who I have followed from the very start) has a special place in my heart.
Tom
I got my first card ever this year from a winery. Dirty & Rowdy! With a handwritten note too (I think). Made my day. It’s pretty amazing how a little gesture can influence one’s opinion. Many other board favorites choose not to send anything. That’s ok. It still makes you wonder if these businesses feel that they are doing you a favor by selling you wine. However, D&R just set themselves apart.
It doesn’t hurt that I haven’t had anything but great wine from them so far. Reallocation time.
Yup, Chris…it’s those little acts of kindness like that from Hardy that can make such a huge impact.
And amazing how so few wineries there are that figure that out. A lot of my favorite wineries will scrawl
a “thank you” or something on the shipping paperwork…wineries that don’t feel like they’re doing you
a favor by selling you wine.
When I taste a particularly good wine from someone I’ve not tried before, I’ll often send them a kudo
and a copy of the TN. Most are pretty good about responding, if only a simple “thank-you”. Those who
don’t bother to respond…I’m not too inclined to try their wines again.
Tom
Tom, we also have a strong affection for Tablas and LL. The stuff in the bag from Tablas is an extra sleeve and two extra seals. Agree that it appears the seals go instead the stopper but I’m not sure how to open it up and I don’t want to put it on my vice and scratch the hell out of it. The CFO says she likes the Tablas dish towel the best (so far).
I’m glad I’m not the only one who wasn’t sure exactly how to use that Tablas Creek gift. I look forward to someone posting the directions/explanations. I agree, they are a class act!
I too was puzzled by the gift that arrived from Tablas Creek. Upon closer look, I believe it is a combination stopper and no drip spout.
The trick is separating the stopper from the spout. I did it by pulling on the stopper with a considerable amount of force in a rocking motion. You have to break it loose. To me, it appeared that the assembly lube that was used set up, and along with the close tolerances of the O rings, made it very hard to remove.
Once you have it apart, the no drip spout pours very nicely. The stopper will slide in and out as long as you wet the O rings with water to lube them.
Hope this works for you too.
Hi Tom,
I’m glad you and others appreciated the Christmas cards. I am incredibly appreciative that I get to lead the life I do and without our customers that wouldn’t be the case. It was my hope that writing cards would convey that. You are correct, it was Cruz who you met at McDowell a couple years back. Probably my greatest point of pride however is that I didn’t say a word to him about writing cards. -he came over and asked what I was doing and immediately picked up a pen and started writing. I’ll freely admit that his interest in vineyards and the ownership he takes in our wines makes my “dad heart” swell with pride. That being said I’m very careful to not place any expectation on him. That card was from Cruz and those words were his own… I love that he knows who he is and while it is great that his interests align with mine, I’d be just as proud if he was infatuated with the trombone.
Jake,
Good for Cruz…that he took the initiative to write his own “thank you” w/o Dad twisting his arm.
Very/very few kids would do that.
I sent him a postcard today thanking him. Make sure he gets it.
Sorry to miss you up in Taos. Skiing there is fantastic this year…at least ystrday…according to a friend.
Tom
These small efforts do make us feel even better about buying the wines. I remember Morgan’s handwritten notes back in the early days of Bedrock.
No handwritten cards for me, but the MacDonald bothers are definitely a class act. Always responsive, send personal thank you emails, and now also Happy New Year emails.
Btw the Limerick Lane Zins are simply stupendous, it’ll be exciting to follow this winery in the future.
Our Tablas Creek pourer/stopper arrived recently. These look like some of their pourers in the tasting room. I gave the stopper a good twist as I pulled it out and it seemed to work well. As Roger stated, the baggy holds some replacement o-rings and a rubber sleeve for the pourer. Feels extremely durable and is probably one of their best gifts so far. The drying towel didn’t really fit the decor of our kitchen, but I saved it anyways.
A Note on Your Holiday Gift
We’ve received a handful of inquiries about the stopper that we sent you that suggest that there’s some confusion as to what it is and how to use it. Please let us explain. It is a two-part no-drip pourer and stopper, the same as we use in our tasting room. They come connected. The no-drip pourer can be inserted into the mouth of an open bottle. The stopper can be removed from the pourer (it may take a bit of a tug at first) and then reinserted whenever you like, creating a solid seal should you want to save a bottle for later use. Both parts are mostly brushed stainless steel, but with rubber rings around the stopper and a rubber gripper around the part of the pourer you insert into the bottle. In our experience, these can wear out long before the stainless steel parts, and so we included replacements on both which you can put on should the ones it came with fail in a few years. No need to assemble anything right now… they’re for a possible future problem. If you have any other questions, please just ask!
