Can I just tell you....

I love owning a wine shop.

There are pros and cons to all businesses. And owning a shop of any kind is no joke. The bills associated with a liquor store (be it a speciality shop like mine or not) are tremendous. Overwhelming. Suffocating. You get the picture. And January is an exceptionally difficult time of year. It's the slowest time of year with regards to sales; it's the heaviest time of year with regards to bills. See, all of your bills from what you ordered for the holidays are due; in theory - you should have money to cover what you bought. Sometimes you do...sometimes you don't. Fortunately - we will. But this is a time of year that alot of liquor business really struggle. And they spend all year catching up to get ahead just in time to have it be holiday season all over again. The liquor industry is a tough, tough one to be involved in; we're so very fortunate that we are a niche store otherwise we may not have fared so well over the years.

January is also one of the most fun months in this industry. It's time for the Boston Wine Expo! This is the time that we get to mix and mingle with all the distributors and other store owners in a closed arena (prior to it being open to the public) and tasting all the fantastic wine that is out there that we may not necessarily have in our store. It's hard to not drink what you sip...but there is so much, that unfortunately - it makes sense to spit (so unladylike!) - so that you can keep on tasting. It's very difficult to not be plastered within your first half hour there; so I try to eat as much as I can before I go and while I'm there. Another temptation that's hard to resist is not drinking everything I love....the point for us should truly be to sample wines that are unfamiliar - that would be worth bringing into our inventory.

I don't get to be involved in alot of the day-to-day operations of the store, and it really bothers me. I do all the wine parties, the newsletter, website, marketing, PR, etc; so I really enjoy this event because it's the one time I really get to taste product and make strong recommendations on what I think we should bring in. Women tend to taste and describe wine differently than men do; I don't mean better, necessarily...but different. My husband will often bring home a wine for me to sample that he's unsure of; I usually make the final decision if he's on the fence. I think there may be a reason why America's top sommelier is a woman.

I, am the lead female sommelier in my corner of the world. And I love it!