NAPA VALLEY DAZE

Robert Smith

Published by Robert Smith at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Robert Smith

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

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A series of vignettes drawn from the author's experiences working in the tasting room of a small Napa Valley Winery. Inspired by actual events and characters, all names have been changed in hopes of keeping his job...

CHAPTER ONE: NEVER GIVE UP ON A SALE

"Thank you very much, George," I said to the man standing across the register from me. "I would start with a bottle or two of the Charbono, that's the softest one of the bunch." There were two of us working the room. It was nice to get the first big sale of the day even though, unlike many tasting rooms, Scott and I split all our commissions, no matter who made the sale. George Shapiro had come into the tasting room about an hour before. He seemed knowledgeable about our wine and a favorable review in the Wine Connoisseur had prompted him to visit us. George was a thin, frankly mousey little man with a balding fringe around his ears, sort of a Friar Tuck look. Around his neck was probably the last bow tie in Northern California. At least he was wearing a Harris Tweed Keeper jacket. I had the same jacket, bought on my first and last trip to Scotland. It is still tall, rigid and unwrinkled in my closet, too heavy and scratchy to wear. I took a liking to him immediately.