So today marked a milestone in my career as it’s the start of my first official Sales Trip!  This trip is for my new brand Emma Pearl however the day so far has been less than pearly.  I decided for reasons that still escape me to not leave out of the tried and true San Francisco Airport in order to avoid the dreaded Chicago O’Hare figuring that if I was going to be delayed that would be where it would happen.  Apparently the plane that was assigned to my flight out this morning didn’t have working radar which is an essential part of airline travel.  Five hours later they had us board, de-plane, wait in line, and had flown a plane from San Francisco to pick us up.  Now I sit in Washington/Dulles sipping a nice Pouilly Fuisse by Louis Latour (Zesty and Fruity).  I can’t see the vintage as it’s on a shelf high above the bar itself but the youthfulness of the nose indicates a more recent one.  The wine is evolving nicely as it warms a bit with aromas of chalk and fresh pears.  A lower oak profile as typical of this price point but a super creamy mouthfeel which is lovely.  Just what I needed.

I’ve constantly met passengers from the same flight today and one even remarked “you know it’s been a bad flight when the flight is like a class reunion”.   I still love traveling though.  Even with these bad days.  You get to meet so many interesting people like the preacher from Jacksonville who is spending September and October this year in Asia, or the business woman going to Syracuse who decided it wasn’t worth it, rescheduled her meetings, called for her bag and left the airport in SAC.    It’s amazing how empty the airport seems on a Monday night. The halls are deserted save for a few employees waiting for someone to help.  The escalators were sparsely populated as well. It was an eerie feeling for someone used to traveling at peak times.  Perhaps this is how every Monday night is at Washington/Dulles.

Now I’m spending part of my three and a half hour lay over sitting at one of the airport bars typing out a new blog post.  My hope is to take diligent notes as to what is going on this week and update everyone with a post next week! In the mean time I’d like to take a moment to explain my “catch wire” reference from the last post. 

If you could call to mind the typical vineyard trellis that you see on wine labels or movies, you may remember that there are typically lots of posts in a row with three wires strung along them at different levels.  This is known as a Vertical Shoot Position system (otherwise known as VSP). The bottom wire is called the fruiting wire as it supports not only the vine itself but also the fruit as it grows throughout the year.  The top two wires are typically four wires in reality; two at each position.  These are the catch wires.  The wires are adjustable and are used to guide the growing shoots upward to catch the most light as well as expose the fruit to dappled sunlight which is essential for flavor and color development.  The wires are moved up as the shoots grow to create (theoretically) one long wall of vegetative growth with the fruit hanging at the bottom. They “catch” the shoots and keep them in line.  Remember, grape vines are like children.  The ones that have the best guidance will create the best fruit and you can’t make the best wines without the best fruit!  There are multiple ways of training grapevines but the VSP is one of the most used throughout the world due to the fact it’s easy to explain to workers, easy to mechanize and it’s very easy to recognize in the vineyard.  Next time you’re in wine country look at the vineyards and see if you can find any vineyards trained like this.  My bet is you’ll be able to. 

In the meantime, I’ll be touring around South Carolina introducing people to Emma Pearl!  If you’re in Greenville, come by Bin 112 in Greer, March 23^rd at 5:30 to taste the wine.  There’s a $10 cover for food and I hear it’s fantastic!  See you there!