Whoa, where did we go?!? Well, lets start by clearing the air on what happened to this blog.
It started as a "Fueled by Vivac" blog about training for marathons. The winemakers were running a lot of them and I was painfully being drug along. As readership built up, and we stopped running so much, I started to include other things we did. Our Annual Gourmet Raft Trip with New Mexico River Adventures, our staff float trip, our owner trip to Napa, or simply drinking wine on our porch. I must admit, with all of us so busy, it became harder to find "Fueled" material and I turned to my personal life to keep a voice. It is hard to separate the business from my personal life, after all they are forever intertwined. The blog had always been from my personal experience and viewpoint so it didn't feel strange to lean into other aspects...even if it meant following my health issues or travels. I mean isn't EVERYTHING I do "Fueled by Vivac"? Well, not everyone on our team thought it was what the winery should be blogging, it was more appropriate for a personal blog. I got it, made sense. But as I tried to shift the blog to be more in keeping with an appropriate business feel, I also lost my inspiration to write. I became the editor in my head, always asking if it was "too personal" and suddenly I had zero to say. Ya, I know that is wild, the lady who won't shut-up suddenly has nothing to say! I asked others to write for us, but the tone was completely different (as it would be) and the natural, honest, openness that took the blog from 0 to 800+ readership was lost. It seemed more natural to step away, let it organically bubble up as I had things to share and to explore other ways to connect with all of you.
Then 2020 happened. I think it is safe to say that everyone had a meltdown of one kind or another that year. Mine was a creative one. 2019 had been one of the most successful years of events for the winery and myself and then suddenly... nothing. Our Tasting Room has its own draw and people seek us out on their own by simply driving by, but events and PR are a huge component to encourage people to get up off the couch and come see us... in the middle of nowhere. Now there was nothing happening. People weren't leaving the house! We had crazy state mandates to close and then some amount of open and then close again... it was incredibly stressful and all I could think of was "how can I get people to stay connected with us???". I was also going stir crazy so I do admit that it was as much for you as it was to give me a project. And that is how The Fern Between Us; Emotional Sanitizer Wine Show was born.
The Fern became a way for you all to taste wine with us virtually, something that most of the time isn't a possibility since we are rarely at the tasting room ourselves. It also became a way to stay relevant. I booked guests via zoom that had interesting stories or input on our insane situation surviving the pandemic. It made sense to connect on many levels, let's learn about Merlot... and talk to a Doctor about how to stay safe. Let's taste Tempranillo and talk to a teacher about how to help our kids learn remotely. Let's Rose all day and learn about great facial products to help us deal with the stress breakouts. It was instantly successful on our FB live platform and as the lock-down stretched on...and on...and on, it became a coveted moment of connection for many. Then slowly the world started to open back up, we started to leave our houses and go back to work, what a bummer for our show!
I also started to return to work. I had been working for the winery of course from home, in fact conducting tastings and classes via zoom and pre-shipped wine, but I returned to wine judging in person. Being flown around the world felt dangerous especially with an autoimmune disease and medication whipping out all immunity, but that world is focused on your sense of smell and protecting that meant mandatory masks, PCR test before, during and after competitions. Vaccines were mandatory and we all carried hand sanitizer around like it was a wine glass about to be poured into... as in the most valuable possession we could hold. But this travel and additional work was exhausting and while I tried to motivate the show into a new world, filming while on the go, it started to feel "old". People got busy with their lives again. I couldn't think of inspired content. It was feeling like the blog.
Now, as I sit in the Seattle airport returning from teaching Master Classes at the American Wine Society National Conference, having cancelled several weeks of the show (I also flew to Italy for an Extreme Wine Competition recently), I wonder if the blog is once again the way to connect.
It won't be the end of the show, the show is simply too fun! People are less likely to tune in live, but it is clear they are watching after the fact as they find time. But I write this blog today as a HOWDY and reconnect! So, what would you like to hear about? I'm an open book, ask away!
