We are approaching the one-year anniversary of lockdown, when in mid-March 2020 we retreated to our homes.. and stayed there much longer than we’d anticipated. Those of us who could work at home or weren’t essential workers stayed home in quarantine, suddenly working at home, cooking more meals than we’re used to, homeschooling or virtual schooling our kids, and not seeing any of our friends, family and acquaintances in person anymore (except virtually).
Our local restaurants and wineries were shuttered for months; reopened under limited capacity, shut down again, and reopened on short notice and subject to even more capacity limitations. Frustrating and emotionally draining and exhausting times for all.
Here at Woodinville Wine Blog, we have watched from the sidelines as all of you in the local and state-wide wine and restaurant industries despaired, cried, pivoted, innovated, celebrated when possible, learned and adapted, grew and endured.
We wanted to give you a shout-out for all the awesome things you have accomplished during this difficult time.
- You learned how to find, set up and secure tents, and make them cozy and attractive.
- You learned how to source, and set up, and use, fire pit tables to keep customers warm outdoors.
- You learned how to source, order, use, troubleshoot, and return propane tanks in massive quantities.
- You measured your indoor and outdoor space, learning how to maximize your options while social distancing.
- You learned how to obtain licensing and petition for permission to take over parking lots and sidewalks for tables.
- Several of you pivoted to immediately produce hand sanitizer (notably Goose Ridge and ANCWine)
- You learned how to use Zoom and other video chat platforms, and you ramped up quickly.
- You learned how to host virtual wine tastings, and went on to learn from your mistakes and improve your videos.
- You learned to create and implement QR codes for touch-free menus for customers.
- You learned how to connect with your wine club members and fans from a distance, and stay connected.
- You posted more often on social media; updated your blogs; reached out online more often.
- You learned how to design and acquire logo branded masks for your employees to wear.
- Those of you who hadn’t yet embraced online ordering, ramped up, redeveloped your websites and started selling wine online and shipping.
- You developed signage that politely, but firmly, reminds customers to wear masks, distance and sanitize.
- You already knew how to smooth over irate customers both in person and online, and perfected it with mask refusers, Karens, tattletales and mistake-pointer-outers
- You supported your co-workers, mentally and emotionally, and helped keep them safe.
- Wineries stepped up to collaborate and support restaurants, and vice-versa
- You created new take-home foods and to-go tasting flights, sourcing boxes and mini bottles and working to get licenses approved quickly
- You worked fewer hours here, and longer hours there, keeping your wineries and restaurants afloat
- You immediately helped us when we started our temporary local industry food pantry, giving us the help we asked for and helping us get the word out
We’ll never forget 2020, and the pandemic isn’t over yet. We’re cheering you on from the outskirts of the industry, and so proud to know so many of you here in our local Washington wine industry. We’ll help you whenever we can in our own small way!
Cheers, and looking forward to meeting up again in person, safely and happily!
-Carrie, Jen and Kaiti
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