The Happy Winemaker
I am convinced that some of the happiest people on this planet are winemakers. Talk to other business professionals and small business owners and you’ll probably never have the same upbeat, energetic, interesting conversations that you would with a winemaker / winery owner.
For example, I just got off the phone with Mike Lamborn of Lamborn Family Vineyards because of a little card mix up on an order I placed online yesterday. Mike is one of those guys that you instantly make a connection with. He’s very personable, attentive, passionate, and genuine, and I got all that from a five minute conversation with him on the phone. There’s a long list of others who are like Mike, like Jennifer Lamb at Herb Lamb Vineyards in Napa Valley, Steven Mirassou from The Steven Kent Winery in Livermore, Matt Trevisan from Linne Calodo in Paso Robles, and Bernard - formerly president of Darioush in Napa, just to name a few.
Why are they this way? Certainly the stress of running a small business, meeting deadlines, marketing, production issues, etc., should all multiply creating a frazzled individual sluggishly taking care of daily problems. But it doesn’t. I believe sanity in their position comes from the passion for the product. As Mike Lamborn put it, ‘wine is just one of those things in life you can’t live without’. This mentality permeates their very being.
You can learn a lot by talking with these folks. Their knowledge of wine is staggering but remains tempered with humility. A few minutes of their time is freely donated to those willing to take an interest. It’s worth every second.
