PROTOCOL Wine Studio

Monthly Archives: October 2012

The Elephant in the Friend Camp

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Driving through Virginia wine country with a fellow professional, our conversation turned to friends and how they may feel awkward and even hostile toward a new business.  My driving partner is Cindy Rynning. By day, she’s an Early Childhood Special Education teacher from one of my newest favourite cities, Chicago, by night, she’s blogging all things wine at Grape Experiences. Cindy has a wine path for her future self and with an Advanced WSET certificate and a carefully nurtured wine network she’s begun the journey on the wine-coloured road.  As … Read more →

Here’s What I’ll Give You for $1,000 a Night

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The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) posted a story earlier in the year titled, “What $1000 a Night Gets You.” This piece highlights how clients with sufficient means are willing to pay for intimate and exclusive service at boutique hotels.  Keep in mind $1,000 is the cost for a basic room in this new breed of lodging.  That price doesn’t include the myriad of extra fees and charges that is sure to accompany this type of hotel experience. Sure the high prices are shocking to most (including us) but the ratio … Read more →

The Wine List—Are we just “peeing” the Highest?

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“The problem of besting your friends at wine talk becomes increasingly difficult. It isn’t enough to drink wines—you must be able to talk about them, if not intelligently, at least at length.” Alexis Lichine From time time immemorial we’ve held onto the notion of “going back home.” By any means possible we leave the proverbial nest, grow up elsewhere and inevitably we realize “home” was pretty damn good, we just needed the maturity to see it. So possibly too for wine—the end all may not be about the newest, most … Read more →

Ranting Cape Monologue sans Cape

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Hokey Pokey and a Dosey Doe We take a step back, make that two, turn around a few times, then charge full steam ahead, into the fray, into today’s modern melee: Small Business Ownership. The challenge will make you long for the days of desk-work with a steady paycheck and benefits. Yet we start each day anew with a clear head and specific intensions, only to be spun around by a whirlwind of activity, steaming to the end of the day, reeling from the dizzying array of responsibilities. Sometimes while … Read more →

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