It’s been a week for correspondence …

Yesterday, I had an email from Claire-Lou, the manager of our shop in Windsor. She was passing on a note entitled ‘That’s why we work here’ from Grisha, one of her Wine Advisors.

I love it. Of course I love it. That’s why I work, too.


Dear Tony,

This is a little story about a customer Grisha had in the store yesterday evening, and as he was asked to pass the message on to you, please see below. (Perhaps we should have a blue plaque on the wall to say this is where it started, if we are going to be getting tourists coming from California that is!)

Kind Regards

Claire-Lou



Early yesterday evening a middle-aged man came in asking the question we always love to answer: “are you Laithwaites, as in Tony Laithwaite?”

“Yes sir, that’s us” I replied, unable to contain my smile. (For those few seconds I felt famous, as we always do whenever anyone asks such a question). The man, it turns out, is a HUGE fan of ours back in the States.

While we were casually chatting away over a glass of Showstopper he explained to me how hard it was for him to find good quality wines in the States. He said everyone drinks either whiskey or beer and not much 'good' wine is sold in shops.

He read an article from (he thinks) the Wall Street Journal about this Brit called Tony who has a knack for finding really good wine. Intrigued, he signed up to the wine club straight away and was hooked after his first case.

He said he was wooed by the range of delicious wines that he received, and that having tasting notes with them was a real plus. He is in England for the first time visiting family and so he jumped at the chance to come to Windsor and see where it all began. We greeted him with open arms.

After tasting a few wines, some small talk, some serious talk (we like to take our wine talk seriously), and a few photos later (he loved Claire’s sign “you can’t buy happiness but you can buy a great bottle of wine” and absolutely had to have his picture taken with it) he left - a rather happy chappy - with a few bottles to keep him stocked up while he’s visiting.

As we were saying our goodbyes he shook my hand and said: “tell Tony one of his fans from across the pond popped in to say hello.” I assured him nothing would make Tony happier than to hear that someone from halfway across the world likes his wines, and so here I am passing on the message.

We sure like to be a part of people’s dreams here in Windsor, especially to someone who is on their first trip to the country. Just a big candy shop for 'big' kids, I always say. And everyone is always welcome!

Kind Regards

Grisha
Wine Advisor