Today’s Monday Musings post is about what the next phase of our industry looks like. I took this photo in 2017 in Oregon at an outing with a whole bunch of people I don’t know. We went to the Dundee Hills on a bus from Portland and met a group of wine makers in one of the wineries. People attended this conference from all over the country. I barely knew them but happily shared a bus, my thoughts, the sea next to me, and clinked glasses while sipping and spitting wine nearby with all I encountered.

I wonder if I would do this again and will other people. I wonder when if ever I will take a press trip with a group on a bus. It’s hard to imagine today yet the idea that it is all just part of the past is too depressing to contemplate. I don’t know what the future holds but I do know this seems like a different lifetime. It will be interesting to see what modifications are put in place and the choices we all make going forward. I hover between looking at this photos in horror and envying those carefree days at wineries. Mostly I cringe at the notion that this disease does and will continue to make us wary of others. In our business, wine unites, let’s hope it comes back in a new form in person. While I am not anti-Zoom, I do miss seeing people and hearing their ideas in person. Let’s see what the next months will hold.