San Francisco Vintner's Market

Last month, Colorado sales rep Casey Wright spent a weekend in San Francisco helping out at the “Try it, buy it” Vintner’s Market. Around 6,500 people attended the two day event at Fort Mason. People wandered through the crowds trying wines from hundreds of different vendors and buying their favorites on the spot. Casey was joined by North California sales rep, Jeanine Mack-Velez, and winemaker, Tony Wasowicz.

Here’s what Casey had to say about the experience:

The event gave me a great opportunity to see what the California market is like and experience the great responses to our mission at Cru Vin Dogs. There were about 4,500 attendees the first day – it was wall to wall. We spent the day with a “five deep” line, talking about our wines, tasting consumers and connecting with dog and wine lovers.  The day was fun but intense and, boy, did it go by quickly.

Sunday was a bit calmer with only 2,000 people. It gave us a better chance to really explain our mission to each person and get more quality time with our supporters.

Tony, Jeanine, Oahu, Casey, and Debbie

We were also lucky enough to have Canine Companion for Independence volunteer, Debbie, join us with the beautiful service dog, Oahu. CCI is local to California, so it was wonderful to have them present at the event. Debbie and Oahu spent a lot of time wandering around the crowd telling people about Cru Vin Dogs and CCI. The sight of Oahu brought so many people over to our table, including some other CCI volunteers. The attendees were excited to see a dog at the tasting and it helped them to understand how Cru Vin Dogs gives back.

The weekend gave me the opportunity to spend a lot of time talking the actual Cru Vin Dogs consumers, which I don’t always get to do on a day to day basis. Hearing their feedback, how much they love our wines and our labels, and listening to them share their stories about their dogs reminded me of why I am so passionate about Cru Vin Dogs and the work that I do.

The whole weekend was a fantastic experience – it gave me the chance to see a different part of the sales world. I hope to participate in more events like this one in the future!