Wine Club Sundays and Our Current Normal
With the pandemic still impacting what we can do here at 4.0, our newest catchphrase is “Every day is a new day.” Balancing the Governor’s recent decrees with TABC’s expectations and what we hear is going on in the tasting rooms around us means that we are constantly evaluating and adjusting what we’re doing in our own tasting room. How many people can we have in our main tasting room at once? Can we sell glasses of wine yet? How many people are allowed to gather in a group? Are we at 50% capacity or 75%?
These seem like simple questions, but we take them very seriously. And I’m proud to say that our management has been both responsive and responsible from day one. They’ve put staff members’ health and the health of our customers first. And while this has caused some pretty significant changes to our normal operating procedures, it’s also given us the opportunity to rethink how we do things and consider new ways of operating that may become permanent (you never know!). And, hey, if nothing else, this pandemic is teaching ALL of us to embrace flexibility…with varying degrees of success…and 4.0 has been quite successful with it.
Take our Club Sundays, for example. Missing our April Club Sundays was tough. Our club members are quite literally like family to us, and not being able to see them for many months was hard. So, as our June Club Sundays approached, we knew we had to find a way to make them work. But we also knew things would be very different from previous Club Sundays.
To minimize the number of people on our property at one time, we’re limiting attendance, and club members RSVP to attend either the 11:00-1:00 time slot or the 2:00-4:00 time slot. This gives us time to clean and sanitize between groups.
Because we're considered a bar and can’t have people standing around a bar yet, our main tasting room is designated for free glasses (with your ticket!) and bottle purchases only, and we’re doing seated tastings in the Wine Club Lounge and the Event Center and on the Event Center pavilion.
Are we bummed that our club members can’t bring their friends with them to Club Sundays this month? Absolutely. Do we wish we could pour tastings in our tasting room? Yep. Would it be nice for our members to stay longer than two hours if they wish? Sure.
But are we glad to be able to see old friends and serve them good wine? YES! Has it been great to catch up with everyone and share news? YES! YES! On the road back to “normal,” is this a pretty good stop? YES! YES! YES!
Who knows what the future will bring? (If you know, please pass it along.) Who knows when (and if) we’ll be back to “normal”? Who knows when this craziness will end? Despite all this uncertainty, I do know this: We’re having a great time seeing our club members again.
If you’re a member and you haven’t yet RSVPed for our next Club Sunday on June 21, do so ASAP to ensure you have a spot. And if you’re not yet a member…well, you might consider becoming one lickety-split.