Do you believe in fate?

It's official, I finally have a job at a winery here. I had my first "trial" day yesterday (to see if _I_ liked it for some reason, as if there would be any question) and had a great time. My main job is conducting tastings for winery visitors and placing wine orders, which means I have to taste every bottle I open or pour so as not to pour any "off" wine (a real hardship). The job is part-time for now, but I will work more as the tourist (spring/summer) season approaches here.

Now here's the fate part. The winery is Craggy Range (www.craggyrange.com), which is fairly new here but already has built a great reputation (the winery's restaurant is one of the top winery restaurants in the world). I actually went to the winery on the recommendation of a sommelier at a fancy NYC restaurant. But after I interviewed with them, I learned I had other connections.

When we had our first meeting with the minister who married us in Geneva and told him we were moving to New Zealand, he told us to beware of kite surfing there because the son of one of his friends and parishoners was recently killed in a freak kite surfing accident there. Fast forward a few months and I find out that the winemaker at Craggy Range died in a freak kite surfing accident in Oct. Sure enough, he was the son of a former Geneva mayor who moved here a couple years ago. Also, the French winemaker at Belhurst, where we had our wedding reception, trained as a vintage winemaker for a season at Craggy Range. I guess the world isn't so big after all.

p.s. For any of you wondering where the winery got it's name, below is a snapshot taken from the driveway leading out of the winery complex.