Last month the secateurs were drawn, wielded, stripped down and re-holstered ready for the 2010 harvest.  The 100,000 or so casual harvesters who descended from all over Europe have moved on to their next project and the Champagne region regains an air of normality.  The focus is now on getting supplies prepared and shipped to cover the Christmas peak demand.

October sees the first fermentation occur under temperature controlled conditions and in stainless steel tanks.  The wines are stored individually according to grape and in the case of exceptional plots of land which give a unique flavour to the wines, by village or plot (cru).  I an visiting at the end of this month with one of my daughters and may have the opportunity to taste the still wines from the tanks …  looking forward very much to that and to learning what youthful “exceptional” tastes like.

Great news for us is that personalised champagne through Parklane online grows in popularity daily.  We actually receive positive feedback from customers regularly - which is a surprise but a nice one - and an overwhelming comment has been our efficiency.  Apparently this is not sufficiently emphasised on the internet site.

I puzzled over this comment with Nick but the reality is that we didn’t see a need to emphasise efficiency, or politeness, or next day delivery, or tissue wrapped bottles or helpful employees - because that comes as standard.  So because those traits are the norm for us we didn’t see the need to explain it!  Still, with expectation management in mind I think it is best to appear average but actually deliver well above average so everyone gets that warm and cosy feeling.

Fortunately any negative comments have been minimal!  Constructive criticism has been great to receive and all of which we have incorporated into the beta version of the site coming this month.

As the nights draw-in and the clocks go back, our pace builds to frenetic to ensure all customers get only the best service.  And that is the bit that worries me;  normally with our traditional clients, demand is planned in advance.  In the online world, demand arrives at the press of a mouse and without any warning so I am quite sure that there will be moments when we need to hold onto our hats, or more.  I am just hoping that the “new for 2009″ night shift does not need to run for too long!

So, much like the X-Factor hopefuls, we are having an interesting (or is it amazing?) “journey”!  Ours started somewhat earlier than the class of 2009 and is likely to go on for longer.  There is lots to learn and we are improving all the time so I suppose we might need to get the teeth whitened soon… or at least the champagne equivalent of.

Bon voyage.