Two years ago, my New Year’s wine resolution was to promote
wine and wine-centric businesses in the Black Hills, Wyoming, and South
Dakota. In order to do this, I have
traveled to different liquor stores, wine shops, restaurants, delis, kitchen-specialty
stores, bars, wineries, and breweries. All
of these have been stops made on my own, many times without the business even
knowing I was there or that I would eventually blog about my experience. I have often teased what a “tough job” I have
roaming the area to taste wine and eat food.
Many times, others have agreed with me, sometimes with a slight envious
grin, sometimes tagging along with me on my journeys. However, as another wine-loving
business (that I liked to frequent) closes, I realize I do, in fact, have a
tough job!
First, Manchego, on downtown Rapid City’s square, closed and
reopened as a Mexican restaurant. I
liked the idea of Manchego’s tapas style food, and I absolutely loved the idea
of Machego’s automatic wine machine allowing customers the option to taste many
different wines from the Enomatic. Granted, I know that running a restaurant
efficiently is difficult, and something I know absolutely nothing about; I also
know there were some problems with Manchego’s food, service, and prices that
the new restaurant (under new ownership), Que Pasa, has overcome. I never found the time to blog about Manchego
before it closed, and always felt badly that I hadn’t done what I could to
promote an establishment that promoted wine in the Black Hills. (I have yet to blog about Que Pasa, only
because now as a Mexican restaurant, it is a tequila bar, and other than my
trips to Mexico, I am not a tequila expert…wink, wink!)
Now, Dakota Thyme, the backdoor neighbor to Machego/Que Pasa
on Rapid’s square, has closed its doors. I did blog about Dakota Thyme and
ranted about its great ambiance and wonderful food for breakfast and lunch. It had a great revolving wine menu with the
opportunity to purchase bottles for home consumption. I really thought that it was a wonderful addition
to downtown Rapid City and a wonderful addition to the wine community as
well.
Again, I realize I know absolutely nothing about what it
takes to run a successful food-service business, but I do know I want to do
what I can to help these businesses be a success. I am sitting here wondering what I can do as
a wine-lover to help other wine-lovers keep their favorite places alive and
well. I can be a good customer, I can be
a good blogger, but what else can I do?
I will keep spreading the word, but I really am looking for
suggestions. If you have any, I would
love to hear them. You can leave them via
this blog, my Facebook page (The Sweet Sommelier), or my e-mail (sweetsommelier@hotmail.com). Promoting wine in a predominately rural area
sounds like a fun job…and it is!
However, it is proving to be a tougher job than I thought.
