Your team has busted their humps for you all year and now it’s time to recognize them with a bottle of wine. There’s a bottle for every occasion so just don’t buy based on a pretty label. Put some thought into what you’re buying and show that you care. You’d want your employees to do the same for their customers, right?
First option: If you’re running a larger shop, celebrate your employees hard work with a bottle of bubbly, but most especially if you work in the marketing/advertising space.
No wine region has quite the history of branding as Champagne does. Before “brand” was even part of the zeitgeist, Champagne had it down. Sparkling wine is produced around the world, but there is nothing that screams CELEBRATION quite like a bottle of Champagne. It’s time to celebrate the hard work your employees have done all year long.
To celebrate the accomplishments of a larger group, stock up on the Taittinger Brut Reserve, but if you want to recognize the phenomenal performance of a particular individual, splurge on something decadent.
Second Option: If you manage a team in a family-owned and operated business, gift wines from a family-run winery. Makes sense, right?
Most can appreciate the hard work, passion, and dedication that goes into running a family-owned and operated businesses. There is something massively unique there that I’ve seen first hand in both my family’s wine business as well as in that of my agency, VaynerMedia. In the wine world, where the vines and barrels have been tended to by the hands of generation after generation, there’s an inherent commitment to longevity; a hope that the current operators can pass the business down from generation to generation. That fulfillment can only be guided by true passion and an earnest effort and that’s most certainly reflected in the wines produced by family operations.
Year after year, the Bello Family Estate in California has continued to impress. For the white wine lovers out there, I suggest trying out their Chardonnay, but for those sticking to the reds, the must-try is their Megahertz Cabernet.
And if you’re really looking to suck up to some key employees, you’ll make quite an impression with this magnum of magnum of Cabernet from the Catena family, named after founder and father Nicolas Catena. Dr. Nicolas Catena pioneered Argentinean premium wines and his children are following in his footsteps, working at the Catena estate and starting their own special projects in the region.
Third Option: For those of you running a startup that boasts a ping-pong table in the break room and a section for employee boasted boards to be parked, your employees might be looking for something a little less mainstream.
Look no further than orange wine because orange is the new white. Before there were high-tech, temperature-controlled steel tanks and pneumatic wine presses, all wines were made pretty much the same way, whether the grapes were white or red. Orange wines were the original white wines and are made from white wine grapes but in a manner more similar to red wines. They are making inroads in the modern wine world, particularly with the new age sommelier.
So if you’re looking to surprise your employees and let them know you’re cooler than you might lead on, go Orange. Try the Cotar Vitovska. According to Decanter, this bottle “pairs wonderfully with Chinese seasonings.” Perfect for that late night in the office order of lo mein and mu shu. Heck, throw in a gift card to Seamless while you’re at it.
By: Gary Vaynerchuk
***Grabbed from: http://www.inc.com/gary-vaynerchuk/the-last-minute-wine-guide.html