Retreats: Teams of the Vine

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At these corporate boot camps, there's plenty of 'wining.'

By Jennifer Allen

Image by © Jose Manuel Ribeiro / Reuters / Corbis 2006

Running out of team-building ideas? Find out how a crush on the vine can turn into better communication, higher profits and plenty of fun.

Do your eyes roll when someone swirls a glass of wine, inhales the aroma deeply and after a long and obviously oh-so-thoughtful pause, proclaims: "Ah, this Pinot Noir's bouquet is redolent of cherry and strawberry nicely balanced with a just a whiff of cinnamon."

You sniff it and think, "Hmm. I smell wine."  Well, Barbara Drady, founder and chief wine evangelist of Affairs of the Vine, is here to help.

A former school teacher turned wine sales rep turned trainer for sales teams in the wine industry, Drady creates wine education events for individuals and businesses. She and her husband John own Sonoma Coast Vineyards in Sebastopol.

"I got tired of sales -- it became about fighting for price rather than quality," says Drady. "My husband said 'find your passion,' which is what's in the bottle."

Through Affairs of the Vine, she shares her passion, educating people about wine through programs designed to foster team communication, collaboration and leadership, sharpen negotiating skills, strengthen interpersonal relationships and develop new ways of thinking and interacting as a group, among other goals.

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