I actually think I can see the finish line! We’re praying that the electricians and carpenters all show up this week and get 106 Pine to the point that we can get our final inspections and begin to bring in the wines and start putting things on the shelves! Yes, I know, we didn’t make the New Year’s Eve deadline for opening the story. My ploy didn’t work with our subs. Maybe I should have tried plain old cash!!
This past Saturday afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00, we had our first “dry run” of our Urban Wine Tour. Just a few of us went on the tour, along with wine blogger Clive Pursehouse of The Oregon Wine Blog who was extremely helpful with his feedback. The tour is naturally still rough … the winemaker partners are great and have a lot of energy, but we all have a bit of work to do with our presentations and we still need to script the content to reflect our mission: pairing wine and food. But the essence of the tour is very, very cool … and when word gets out (somehow)—“Katie bar the door!”
The moment during the tour when I tasted some fresh Rollingstone goat cheese (I normally don’t like goat cheese) along with a glass sparkling white wine from Masquerade Wine Company in Kennewick, the entire reason for our store’s concept and this tour exploded into my brain! I liked the cheese! The combination of the wine and the goat cheese created an entirely different experience. Wow! I think we’re on to something.
Now I’ve got to figure out a way to get the word out without spending the arm and leg we don’t have. Thus is the frustration of the under-capitalized entrepreneur! The Tour de Chocolat’s exposure on Evening Magazine was a direct result of spending tons of dough with our PR firm. Can I take that chance with 106 and the wine tour? You tell me.
Michel Brotman
Advertisement
