The Cherry Tree

One of the many pleasures of my job as a wine sales rep is the one-on-one interaction with my customers, or customers-to-be.    I enjoy getting to know the buyers at wine stores, restaurants, and bars - sometimes they are tough nuts to crack, other times we'll get on great on our first meeting.    Some customers I'll just sit down with for long tastings and talk wine;  one customer recently, a chef and restaurateur in Brooklyn, sat me down at the bar and sent out food and wine, and came out and told me stories of his life as a chef, and how he'd gotten 4 stars in the New York Times as a young man;  I've sat in the kitchen of another restaurant, a small restaurant in Brooklyn, as the owner did the prep for the evening's service; I've even been asked to develop a full wine program for one bar, where I also bartend a couple of nights a week as the program is launched!