Customer, or Participant

Several weeks ago I was ringing up a customer's order of two cases of wine. When I told this very regular and loyal customer his total, he hesitated a moment and said that the total sounded too LOW...he was expecting it to be much more. I happily told him that the total was correct and that we don't overcharge any of our customers. He looked at me with a little grin and followed with this remark: "Well, I'm not a customer...I'm a participant."
I love telling that little story, and here at Anytime Wines I love calling our many regular customers "participants." Of course it goes without saying that any customer who buys wine makes this a successful independent wine retailer, but there is something deeper than mere purchasing which makes you all "participants."
After the last "Mega-tasting" in September, a number of our distributors mentioned how many folks at the tasting were truly excited about the overall exploration of various wines and wine styles, the history of certain wines, their growing regions, the terroir, etc. This, of course, confirmed what Jennifer and I already knew: that Anytime Wines customers/participants appreciate the many-faceted aspects of wine...an agricultural product; the perfect companion for meals; an elixir which brings together both friend and foe in convivial harmony; an artisitic expression of the earth; something that tastes good. All of the above, and many more, are the reasons our participants explore wines.
Another interesting dynamic we observe in our shop is the interaction between our customers during our wine tastings. It's amazing how many new customers tell us how "at home" they feel in our shop, how comfortable and inviting Anytime Wines can be. Of course, Jennifer, Dani, Susan, Bernadette, Denise and I would like to think that we have something to do with that, but in reality I think most of it is because our customers/participants enjoy meeting new people, and of course a good bottle of wine is always a good ice-breaker and conversation starter.
The last thing I want to mention in reference to our participants is a fund-raising event we had here recently for ARC of Wake County. At that event we had a representative from Anderson's Conn Valley pouring and discussing their fine wines. Two of our good-hearted customers/participants offered to donate, from their personal wine collections, large format bottles of Anderson's Conn Valley Cabernet Sauvignon to be used as auction items in Arc of Wake's upcoming Gala on November 3rd. If you've been in the shop recently, these bottles are on display, and I'm always proud to point to those bottles as two examples of how amazingly generous our "participants" are.
As always we thank you for your patronage and your participation in support of our community, and in exploring wines with your independent wine retailer, Anytime Wines.
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Our latest wine dinner

Friends,
This past Friday night (9/28) 34 folks gathered at the Capital City Club in Raleigh to enjoy our latest wine dinner. You may think that my use of the word "enjoy" is a bit boastful since we (Anytime Wines) were the hosts of the wine dinner. However, I know folks were having a good time because I am happy to say that whenever Jennifer and I needed to give our talk on the wines we had a hard time quelling the laughter and jovial conversation around the dinner tables. All of the free-flowing conversation and laughter were music to my ears. It just goes to show what good food and good wine will do to foster good feelings and fun times in people. Actually describing the food and the wine is almost an anticlimactic exercise after experiencing such a fun and delightful evening. Yes, wine was discussed, the chef came out and answered questions about his food, and the food presentations were a work of art, but none of it compares to the joys of making new friends.
Thanks to all who participated in this great evening. I hope others will join us at future wine dinners to experience fine wines, fine dining and fun times.
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