How to enjoy travel, good wine
and food – and get paid for it.by Chuck Blethen, DTM
A few years ago, I began to get more serious about my hobby of making wine. We had purchased a wonderful old home in Scottsdale, Arizona, solely because it had a basement (a rare thing in this part of the country), a wine cellar and a vineyard to provide stock for the cellar bins. But making wine does cost some money even if you grow your own grapes – items such as yeasts, MLF inoculants, energizers, sterilizing solutions and corks are but some of the required ingredients for the wine-making process.
So I decided to combine my speaking skills with my hobby to see if I could earn some extra money to help offset the costs of making wine. I was making annual trips to the Hunter Valley in Australia’s New South Wales to work with several winemakers there to improve my craft, and I had shared my interest in teaching winemaking with them. I had developed more than 250 PowerPoint slides and they reviewed them for technical accuracy. I had the background knowledge in place.
My first step was to make up a few calling cards announcing to the world that I was a winemaker and a speaker. That was soon followed by bookings with the City of Scottsdale Parks and Recreation Department to teach winemaking for the city. The rules of using government property for classes posed a challenge: Alcohol was not allowed on any city premises. You can not learn to make good wine if you do not know how to evaluate wines – that requires some training by actually drinking it and using the training tools that I planned to provide as part of the classes. I finally solved this dilemma by teaching the wine tasting/methodology in the city classroom, and, after class, continuing at a local wine bar where we could look, swirl, sniff and sip all we wanted without breaking any rules.
I started by teaching winemaking classes four times a year. Soon I was also teaching wine classes for the Scottsdale Community College Adult Education Department. The college winemaking course required three classes of about 2.5 hours each evening. My classes involved using PowerPoint slides that I generated on my Apple PowerBook G4 and projected through my own high-resolution Sony digital projector. Speaking non-stop for 2.5 hours – with a 10-minute break half way through – was a real challenge. It made my Toastmasters club speeches look easy!
After a while, my former students started asking if I would offer a class in wine etiquette. I spent about a year researching that topic and then approached the City of Scottsdale about introducing the wine etiquette class – a one-night, two-hour session followed by a trip to a local bar where we would practice with real wine. It was the most popular class I have taught so far! All the classes have been full – some even had a waiting list.
I began receiving phone calls from various organizations wanting to book me as a luncheon or dinner speaker. They paid me, fed me and provided me with a whole new speaking venue. My Toastmasters skills were put to the test. Each club and organization had a different makeup of people. I tried to learn as much as possible about each group before I spoke, so I could tailor my comments to add spice and flavor relevant to that group.
Some places offered microphones. Others had none, so I really had to project my voice.
My newfound avocation took a very interesting turn in February of 2005. My wife had suggested I send my wine experience/resumé to several cruise lines to see if they would consider hiring me as a lecturer for a Food & Wine Cruise. I was immediately hired by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company to be the wine lecturer on its bi-annual Food & Wine cruise up the Mississippi. What fun! Imagine – a week on the river on the American Queen paddleboat with 450 people who love good food and wine. I was able to share a billing in that venue with several well-known chefs and restaurant owners. It was a wonderful experience.
That one cruise led to others: In the past year, I have been the guest lecturer for four more cruises. I also published a book called The Wine Etiquette Guide, which has led to bookings by corporations and banks to present special wine events for their premier customers.
I am grateful for my Toastmasters experience and all those speeches I gave in my club – they were excellent preparation for my new speaking venues. My wife loves my hobby even more now that I can travel, drink good wine, and enjoy great food – and get paid for it! Thank you Toastmasters International!
Chuck Blethen lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, at his vineyard and personal winery. Reach him at chuck.blethen@azwinecru.com.