Wine for a cause...Aaaawww

I was wasting time online (I know, let's all pretend to be shocked) reading TMZ last night, and I came across this article about the dogs rescued from Michael Vick. Some marketing genius decided to come up with a wine brand featuring the (happy, touchy-feely) painting of the dog and their life story on the back of the bottle. According to this site, only 10% of the money made off of the ($40 a bottle) red wines goes to the Best Friends shelter in Utah, where the dogs are being taken care of, and funding for fighting dog-specific breed laws and to (hopefully) bring an end to dogfighting.

As I was researching the wine, I came across an even more bizarre website, the Dog Lovers Wine Club. They've also got a cat and horse club, in case dogs aren't your thing.

Am I the only one the finds this odd?

Things I've (so far) learned from working in a wine shop...

I've only been working there for about three weeks, and most of my work involves me getting someone more qualified, but here are a few of my lessons.

1. Box cutters should never be placed in the front pocket of one's pants in a vertical position. EVER! Trust me...
2. Wine boxes get heavy after the third case... Prepare to get sweaty. Invest in a good deodorant/antiperspirant. And some good shoes, significant others aren't always in the mood to rub said sore painful sweaty tootsies!
   
3. The vendors aren't half as sleazy as you'd think they would be. Most are pretty funny.
4. The sale of wine relies more on memorization of wine tags and reading the bottle than actual taste memory. MOST of the time...
   
5. You will taste a lot of wine, a LOT. Write this shit down, it's easier to remember. Then you won't have to read so many shelf tags. ;)
6. Rainy days make for busy wine selling days, weird, huh?
7. There are ways around almost every wine shipping law, it just depends on one's creativity and brazenness.
8. Being short sucks, really sucks. Stepladders are your friend.
   
9. Wine bottles aren't as fragile as one would think. Saying this, keep in mind it is still glass, and can find most interesting times to break..
10. Old people buy a lot more wine than young people. I see this as an abomination. Why do they get to have all the fun?!?! (If you're an old person reading this, I am accepting applications to be adopted)
    
11. Australian wines are losing ground, South America seems to be picking up the slack.
    
12. Wine shops can almost always special order something for you, don't be afraid to ask. Most of the time they enjoy the challenge, and if they get enough special requests, they might be able to sell it in the store and cut you some good deals!
13. If said wine shop is offering a tasting, GO FOR IT! You get to meet some crazy characters, and it's really interesting to watch people have vastly differing ideas about the same wine.

Stay tuned for more (not so) insightful revelations!