My husband, Jeff, and I were bitten by the "wine bug" on a trip to the Napa Valley in the Fall of 2004. Since then, we've been to hundreds of wine tastings, including several on our honeymoon to Washington and Oregon wine countries. We truly value the experiences we've had along the way; building lasting friendships, all while learning about and enjoying fabulous wine!
A friend told me about The Traveling Vineyard, saying she thought it sounded right up my alley - she was right! I looked into the opportunity and jumped at the chance to build a career in the wine industry. I make my own hours, getting paid to do what I love - build friendships and hold Wine Tastings!
Bob Lackman, branch manager of Beisser Lumber, 415 Westcor Drive in Coralville, was in a bit of a conundrum.
His boss, Kim Beisser, was hosting an Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce party Sept. 28 and wanted Lackman to put together food and drinks for the event.
Beisser loves wine. Lackman didn't know anything about wine. Completely by chance, he sat at the same table as Penny Fitzgerald at a different Chamber of Commerce event. Each person at the table told the group what they did, and Fitzgerald said she was a local wine consultant with The Traveling Vineyard, a company based out of Canton, Mass.
It was a perfect fit.
"I said to myself, 'This is awesome. I don't have to deal with this, I'll grab her after the meeting,'" Lackman said.
Before Sept. 28, Lackman and Fitzgerald tasted wines for the party, and she paired different wines with the hors d'oeuvres the company would serve. Lackman ordered five cases of wine.
"It was a hit with my boss," he said, adding that his boss ordered two more cases of wine from Fitzgerald the night of the party.
Fitzgerald, 42, a resident of Newhall, said she has been a wine consultant since last spring, although she has loved wine for a long time. She used to work in sales with Kable Media Services, in Mount Morris, Ill., but said she realized her heart wasn't in her job.
"I liked what I did, but it really wasn't as exciting as wine," she said. "I wasn't as passionate about it."
She read about the Traveling Vineyard in a newspaper article and knew it was for her.
"Wine is romantic," she said. "People love talking about it. It's an exciting product and an exciting process."
The Traveling Vineyard, conceived in 2002, is a division of Geerlings and Wade, a retail-based wine distributor. There are about 1,800 Traveling Vineyard consultants in the country and fewer than 40 are in Iowa.
Traveling Vineyard wine consultants host tastings in customers' homes and market wines that come from all over the world.
People shouldn't feel overwhelmed by wine, she said. She shows up to each party with five different bottles of wine and wine glasses. At parties, she teaches people about different kinds of wines, how to taste and store them and what to eat with them.
"It makes it a little less intimidating," she said.
Lackman said that is the way he felt after he got help from Fitzgerald for the Beisser party.
"She actually lets you be a little bit more intelligent about it," he said. "She's very good at what she does."
A lot of the wine she markets can only be found through The Traveling Vineyard, she said, and the types of wine change with the seasons. The average price-per-bottle is $14.99.
"(The company tastes) premium wines from all over the world," she said. "They taste 200 wines for everyone that goes into our inventory. I tell people to stock up if they find one they really like."
Traveling Vineyard wine consultants make 20 percent of what customers buy at parties and online. The company reimburses consultants for the five bottles of wine they bring to the party. Consultants don't "sell" the wine because only the company has a liquor license.
Rather, they market it and get paid on a basis similar to a commission. The average party sells $650 in wine and accessories, she said.
Fitzgerald said many of her party customers come back to her for more parties and wine.
"I was amazed," she said referring to the amount of repeat customers.
Fitzgerald said she is the only Traveling Vineyard consultant in Eastern Iowa. She is mostly booked for tasting parties through December, with 11 in October. In her calendar, she marks the days she has parties in green and interviews with potential new consultants in orange. There are hardly any days in October with no color on them.
Eventually, she would like to work her way up to a director in the company, which means she would have her own team of consultants to manage.
"So much wine, so little time," she said. "I can't cover all of Eastern Iowa."