On this day ahead of the election, I wanted to make a statement about diversity. I have devoted a good deal of time towards the study of this subject. I have made it a cornerstone of my thinking for as long as I have been in business and I think that it has been something that has given back in an exponential way for every dollar that I have ever invested.
I believe in diversity in most everything I can think of. I believe in diversity of flora and fauna to keep the environment healthy. I believe in diversity of economic actors in the marketplace. I believe that despite its challenges, ethnic diversity maintains us as the great American melting pot. I believe in diversity of team and intellectual specialties when uncovering a new approach to cracking a problem and I believe in diversity in the political arena. It should follow then that I especially believe in the diversity of thought. It is therefore important to support this idea whenever we can, so every year since 2011, we have donated all the wine to support Bend Film Fest and its numerous receptions, films and parties. We also enjoy the independent films that appear each year, since they tend to stretch our opinions, frames of reference and preconceptions about the world. We come out better for the experience and that is the point of this entry today.
In 2011, the same year I produced and directed Boom Varietal about the tremendous explosion of the popularity of Malbec wine, I diversified our company to include wines from Europe. Why did I do this? Because I believed and continue to do so, that a diverse selection of imported wines is how we will sustain our hard fought success. This fall season, we are launching more great wines from Europe than ever before. We believe that the world’s wine drinkers are pivoting back to Europe after many years. The days of ‘freedom fries’ and dumping Bordeaux out in the streets is over (we hope) and the ‘old world’ is more vibrant and interesting than ever before, just as the prices in Euros are as good as they have been since the currency’s inception.
So join us in supporting diversity today and especially tomorrow. Without being too obvious about my personal choice for who will be the best future president, I am supporting the candidate that supports diversity and I hope you will too! Go vote Nov. 8th and be sure to explore our great new selections. They are sure to put a cheer in your heart, whatever the outcome. Thank you!
