I work very part-time for a winery in Napa Valley helping with private tastings and sales. As a professional fundraiser in the nonprofit sector for going on 17 years now, it was a natural fit for me. Instead of spending 12-18 months getting to know a potential donor for a $25,000 scholarship, I present food and wine pairings among Cab vines over the course of about two hours. The guests purchase what they like – hopefully to the tune of $1,000+ per couple.

For this privilege (I’m not being sarcastic here), I get paid $17 per hour plus 5% commission on the food and wine I sell. It’s barely grocery money really, but I get so much enjoyment out of making fast friends over wine. People come from all over the country. We hang out, drink, shoot the shit, they have fun, I have fun, they buy, they leave.

Since I started working four days a week back in fundraising, I don’t work there but 2-3 times per month. I’ll plan to share noteworthy stories of guests as they occur, but they won’t be as frequent as those in the other categories.

Of particular interest, I think, will be the story of the Texan. Not sure whether to put him in Wine or Sex – lol!

Nevertheless, I hope you’ll enjoy the adventures!