“Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.” -Amy Poehler

One of the most important elements of a successful team is acknowledging and appreciating the different personalities, skill sets and experiences everyone brings to the table. That’s why E29 hosts a quarterly summit where all team members come together for a two-day offsite. Time out of the office gives us a chance to reflect on our clients and internal processes, and to enjoy the company of the people we work with on a daily basis.

This fall our summit was held in Napa Valley in the heart of wine country. We began the day with a team building exercise centered around reflecting on the past quarter. In order to succeed as an organization and move forward, it’s important to look back and reflect on what we’re doing well and where we can improve. Our moderator did a wonderful job of helping us better understand team dynamics and identifying areas for growth.

After a leisurely team lunch, we moved on to our next adventure…wine making! What better way to spend an afternoon than blending, tasting and creating our very own E29 Wine?! The staff at Judd’s Hill did an excellent job educating us about the fine art of blending grapes and balancing flavor profiles. All of us had a chance to mix and match different varietals in an effort to create the perfect red blend. Much like the makings of a good team, we learned it’s critical to appreciate the subtle nuances that come together to make the wine work. After several attempts, lots of tasting (and a lot of spilled wine!) we all agreed on the blend we liked best.

Once we finished creating our wine it was time to bottle the final product. We shared a lot of laughs learning how the wine gets in the bottle (hint: it involves a siphon!) and corking the finished product. After all the bottles were filled we had one final job – coming up with a name for our first vintage. Everyone on the team threw out ideas and we ultimately voted and agreed to name our first vintage “29 Reasons.” After a momentous year, we figured we have at least twenty-nine reasons to open a bottle and celebrate. Everyone took their bottle of wine, added a label, and wrote down their reason to enjoy a glass.

Our gift to clients, family and friends this holiday season is our very first E29 vintage. It may be the first, but it definitely won’t be the last as we plan to make this an annual tradition. We hope everyone will enjoy drinking a bottle as much as we enjoyed creating it! Interested in getting your hands on your very own bottle of “29 Reasons?” Drop us a line!