So, last year I told you about Shelby, who had been in the wine industry for all of 2 weeks and already knew more about wine, and her products, then about 75% of the Okanagan tasting room staff. If you didn’t read that blog post last year, you can catch up on it here if you like.
She made such an impression on us that when we booked this year’s tasting, we specifically requested her, if she was still working there.
She was not. And, in fact, she’s left the industry entirely. That’s quite a loss for the industry, IMO.
How do we know this about her? Well, let me introduce you to Emma, who we quickly dubbed “new Shelby”. Emma started at Road 13 around the same time as Shelby and they are friends (in fact, they had lunch together a few days before our visit). Emma knows her stuff, and took excellent care of us. She was the only full-time tasting room staff member who stayed on during the pandemic, and Road 13 was smart to do whatever it took to hang onto her.
When we received the wine that we had purchased (we never take wine with us into the car, we always have it shipped), we received a lovely hand-written thank-you note from Emma. The little touches……
Of course, none of this would really matter much if the wine sucked, would it? But since we come here every chance we get, there wasn’t much chance of that. Let’s get to it!
Honestly, it’s tough to imagine a tasting, top to bottom, being much better than that. It was so good (this year AND last) that we joined the wine club – and we have actually been working to get LESS wine in the door, not more – the first new club we have joined in years.
That’s it for today. Next up: A fabulous Cabana tasting at Black Hills, where we get to taste all the new releases, including the 2019 Nota Bene!! Stay tuned!
Confessions of a Huge Wine-R 