If you're reading this, you've most likely happened upon Greg's blog and inaugural post already. It essentially outlines this wild wine thing I proposed we undertake months and months ago. Certain elements of our pursuit have recently kicked into high-gear, and at this stage, it's pretty clear that the concept has grown legs and is coming to fruition (did you catch all of those lame wine puns?). Of course, my part of the journey wont be as straight-forward as Greg's...
I'm now in another state of (what I hope is) temporary career flux... A seemingly perpetual line of great successes followed by spectacular burnouts. I suppose the perfect storm of non-ideal job situations, my lack of patience, and desire to finally do something tangible, pleasing, rigorously-demanding, and most of all, for myself (and not at the behest of and benefit for, say, an emergency room's accounting department or Ford Focus payment), has lead me to this path of resigning from my current role and taking yet another job within less than a year's time. If you know me, and chances are you do, and have already heard my endless litany of complaints relating to the outgoing career, I'll spare the gory details from this posting. In any case, it's my goal to make this latest and greatest position work to my benefit just as much as it will for the corporation. Just attempting to do my best at not giving 200% all of the time without expecting some reasonable compensation or benefit in return.
But besides all of that, my eyes are still on the prize. Breaking into the wine industry with what amounts to outsider status. No degree from UC Davis... No familial ties to a vintner... Just hard-ass work, dedication, the willingness to be flexible to learn the craft, and a whole ton of discipline. Something I tend to lack in a more long-term perspective.
Mine and Greg's successes and setbacks in the application process over the past couple of months have been a great learning experience. We now know where we'll need to go, what we'll need to know, and what it will really take to make the first dents in what I consider the most important element of the career goal: understanding the viticulture and oenology REALLY well. It's not something that can really be done outside of a formal education at Davis or Cornell, or working harvest internships at the actual wineries.
Whereas Greg is on the clear path to California and the hotbed region of the industry, I'll be hanging back in Milwaukee for now to pursue this mysterious new job for a bit (if you haven't noticed, I'm not leaving any opportunity for former or current employers to find this blog to chance, thus the lack of details there). It's a great opportunity to rebuild my reserves, continue to do research, and potentially keep a close tie to the region where we may decide to operate one day... This fabulous Midwest.
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