Marcus and Todd are notorious hot heads in these parts.
Megan,
I’ve reread the posts. At no point did I denigrate Marcus or your process. That certainly was not the intent. I pointed out that I thought the way he spoke about help was a shame, and having been treated as such in the past, I though that was in poor taste. I’ve made clear I don’t think that is how you or he treat employees or people. I’ve made arguments for the value of good employees in the winery, and pointed out that if it’s a priority for you, you can build with the vision of providing good jobs. Having been there, I don’t think there’s any glory in doing everything start to finish, and in my experience, the premise that stretching yourself in that way somehow makes your wine better is false. In our operation and in those I’ve watched grow, the addition of strong hires has improved quality and consistency across the board. Like I tried to make clear, this is a very different place than the Willamette. It’s as silly a premise as the idea that small wineries inherently make better wine, or that more expensive wines are somehow worth more. Pointing out a false premise is in no way denigration, it’s a point of debate. You and Marcus should be proud of what you built. I’ve had your wines. They’re very high quality. That doesn’t mean I have to fully endorse everything you do, and it doesn’t mean you have to give a shit what I say. But if I see something silly, I’ll call it out. I thought that post was silly.
Specifically, you should look back to where I spoke about ‘artificially boutiquing’ our project. I never said that in reference to what you do. Marcus took that as if I was referring to him, but if you read the post, I was talking about myself. In general, I was offering my narrative as a contrasting positive, not indicating that what you’re doing is negative or wrong, just that you shouldn’t assume that your model is the only best way. And no one should be referred to as ‘that body’ or ‘some low wage temp’, no matter how realistic Todd thinks that is.
Ian
Yeah. I’ll note that on my clipboard.
And, being in California, housing in the Salinas Valley is still around $400,000 for a house. How do these people live there?
Your mother.
You got your wish!
I fart in your general direction.
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.
The same way people live all over the world, on the edge. California is an amazing place, not always in the positive sense.
Hamina, was this you?..
I remember my first Berserkerday. I ordered from Todd, I think, or maybe Fritzsche. I call the phone number and it a mobile. I want to say you were at a bar getting a local cold beer, or something like that. Anyway, you got all of my info, hopefully on a drink napkin, called the next day and the rest is history. Not exactly sexy, but cool as hell.
Guilty as charged Mr. Carnes. You ready for another reorder?