After a year of pursuing my dream of a career in the wine business, I officially accepted a sales/marketing position today at Benchmark Wine Group in Napa! The decision is not without some sacrifices, but with the support of our family Lauren and I decided to seize this opportunity. We’re excited, scared, apprehensive, and just about every other emotion in between!
Now we have to start process of moving and finding a job for Lauren in the area - which stresses me out more than my interview ever did. If anyone knows of a possible opportunity for an interior designer in the Napa/Sonoma/Santa Rosa area, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
BTW - one interesting note on all of this, a significant factor that put my resume at the top of the heap was my activity on wine forums such as this. It was a great way to demonstrate my passion and knowledge of wine, even though I have no full-time wine industry experience.
Congrats…so you will really be near the Napa Airport which is much further south than I thought you would be. In that case Fairfield wouldn’t be a bad option…although it can get very hot in Fairfield in the summer.
Heck - you could even live in North Oakland and still make it there in 45 minutes most of the time. Or even Albany, which would put you on the border of Berkeley…easy into SF, Oakland, Berkeley and easy to Sonoma Cty/Napa
Thanks guys! Tony - yeah we considered doing the East Bay thing, but I think we’re pretty set on wine country in one form or another. I’m actually finding the most attractive stuff in our price range in Petaluma. It would be a bit of a drive, but we would be much closer to the city and Santa Rosa wine country. The final decision will be made when Lauren finds something, and there seems to be a lot more opportunity in Santa Rosa for interior design.
Mike - you would also be close to Mill Valley/Larkspur, etc., if you chose Petaluma. There’s a fair bit of money and I would think opportunity for interior design in these areas as well.
Petaluma would be a good bet. Weather is good, lots of open land, close to the coast, SF, Santa Rosa/Healdsburg.
All I can think of is the joys of Highway 101, when you mention those locales - definitely not what I would want to deal with on any regular basis - never.
Merrill - I wouldn’t either but Mike has mentioned he has no problem with doing it. After driving from Oakland to Howell Mtn for nearly a year, I am a big proponent of living close to one’s workplace.
I currently have a 30 to 35 minute commute - half of which is right through the middle of the worst traffic in our area. I can live with an extra 15 to 20 minutes - NPR is my friend!
Man Tony - I didn’t realize that you were living in Oakland while you were at Outpost… What was that commute time??
No worries Mike, I think I already have it covered. According to CT - 69% of my cellar is from California, and of that 70% is from NorCal (Napa/Sonoma/North Coast). 22% of my entire collection is Sonoma County Pinot. The toughest part of this will be keeping myself from visiting tasting rooms on a whim - which always has a negative effect on my bank account.
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