News and Views From High Above Dry Creek Valley

Welcome Jim Morris!

As the General Manager of Michel-Schlumberger, I am often the guy behind the scenes trying to connects the dots linking the vineyards, winemaking & commerce of the Estate.  In theory, my job is to do this profitably, sustainably, efficiently & seamlessly.  In reality, the first thing you learn in a job like this is that you simply can’t do it alone. 

What is needed is a strong team – one that is galvanized, inspired, motivated & communicates well with each other.  There are a lot of moving parts & one person simply cannot micro-manage every element.  When you find people who just ‘get it’ — you are blessed.  I gravitate towards people who, even though they do not own the company, act as if they do.  And at Michel-Schlumberger, we truly do have a ‘human terroir’ as I’ve called it before, that is unparalleled, and one that complements our distinctive physical terroir.  We have people here  who create a ‘flavor’ to the place as much as the land creates a flavor to the wines.

And every once in a while, even a blind pig can find an acorn  — and this blind pig (me!) just found an acorn.  Allow me to introduce to you the newest member of our family, Jim Morris.  Picking up on my exceptionally corny habit of creating acronyms for just about anything that moves, Jim created one for himself — he is a self  described ”ACORN” (Absolute Customer Opportunity Recognition Numerologist).  Or more simply, he is The Director of the Consummate Guest Experience (also known as the Director of Consumer Sales & Marketing — but thas sounds so…corporate).  Jim is responsible for all Retail Operations, Wine Club, Events, and anything related to ”Having (the) Ultimate Guest Experience” at Michel Schlumberger (’H.U.G.E.’ – sorry I couldn’t resist!). 

I first encountered Jim in the wild world of social media.  For those of you new to social media (aren’t we all!?), it is those strange unknown worlds hosted by Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace among others.  We met through the Wine Bloggers Conference in 2008 and the activities therein that involved his winery and Michel Schlumberger.  He ran a small winery located in Dry Creek Valley owned by a friend of mine, Paul Dolan.  Our paths would cross on occasion and I always enjoyed our interactions.  When a position opened up at the winery recently, I was contacted by Jim who found himself in an underemployed state.  Once we met and the rest of the staff had a chance to get to know him, we realized it was a great fit and brought him on board. 

As a member of the team, he will now also be a contributing member of the Benchland Wine Blog (named the Best Winery Blog in the Country by the way by people who know winery blogs) and an invaluable member of the Michel-Schlumberger family.  Should you find yourself at an event or the winery, make sure you welcome him aboard, and enjoy the latest ‘flavor’ in our human terroir.

“GM Judd”

{ 5 comments }