The Media lives on bad news. Its a sad fact of life. Even sadder is that we buy it and tune into it – without demand for bad news the media would need to change its tune.

It’s not gonna happen – human nature seems attracted to knowing about the suffering of others.

So, here is a TRUE GOOD NEWS STORY that happened recently at Ascension Wine Estate.

Probably no one will read it, being good news and all.

Recently I was asked to contact a guest by phone after a visit to Ascension.

When I occasionally get these requests, 99% of the time I am phoning somebody who was not 100% satisfied with their experience here. Fair enough, we appreciate the opportunity to put things right.

So, I phone Fran as requested. A bubbly voice answers and I introduce myself.

AND THEN I AM BLOWN AWAY! (more…)

When was the last time you praised a complete stranger?

With the Rugby World Cup here this year ‘hospitality’ in its various forms is a big topic. Regardless of the year, ‘hospitality’ is a major employer and contributor to the NZ economy.

As owners of a wine and ‘hospitality’ business ourselves we take a special interest.

The NZ ‘way’ is not to make a fuss and this also means that compared to many other cultures we are less likely to ‘complain’ – at least directly to the person or business you aren’t happy about (we will of course tell as many other people as we can).

This was the topic of what I believe was a very disappointing NZ Herald editorial recently that encouraged NZ’ers to ‘get out there and really complain about bad service’.

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As a small business we can’t afford to take out full page ads in the Herald or 30-second TV commercials. Their days are numbered anyway.

Like most enterprises we need to make every dollar really work.

‘Marketing’ is not rocket science (which is just as well for me). Instead a lot of it is actually ‘doing’ something as opposed to ‘thinking about doing something’. Doing something, even at 50%, achieves more than not doing something at 100%

Here is an example of how I recently turned a $35 bottle of Ascension wine into what will end up being worth over $300,000 to us, plus even more for our local economy. That is $9,000 for $1 invested!

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Doctors have been known to ‘prescribe’ a glass of wine. The health benefits of moderate consumption of red wine in particular have been scientifically demonstrated.

That is not what this post is about, but it IS doctor related and I believe it’s the MOST IMPORTANT post I have written to date! (more…)

Going back a generation or two, dinner time was family time, a time of conversation and togetherness.

Being a family that worked hard on the land and with a winemaking tradition going back to the Adriatic Sea, this time took on even more significance for my family.

Skip forward to today with microwaves, pre-packaged meals, TV and the general pace of life, and meal times in the traditional sense have all but disappeared for many families.

Earlier this year, Bridget & I decide to ‘make a stand’ for our own family, and I thought I would share this with you quickly because it has been great for us.

To begin with, (more…)