Walking into the modern, high-ceiling Visitor Center of Artesa Vineyards and Winery, you might overhear a cheery, British-accented “Hello Love” from Anne Salazar as she greets guests. As VIP Specialist and Wine Educator, she is more likely in one of the private event rooms in the back doing a sit-down tasting or downstairs in the cellar conducting a tour for trade representatives or other visitors needing that extra attention and a quiet, intimate experience at one of Napa’s premier wineries.
Essentially, Anne can and does meet anyone from business executives to a group celebrating a birthday to a couple marking an anniversary. In the process, she consistently displays an uncanny ability to make each of them feel important and valued. That innate skill is ingrained her personality and rooted in her rich experience. She has lived in a dizzying succession of places throughout her life and met a wide variety of people, each an opportunity to inform her vibrant and unquenchable mind.
After living in a dozen places in England, Canada and the United States as part of a military family, Anne started a new life in Napa Valley three decades ago and worked at Domaine Chandon, Conn Creek and Franciscan wineries, among other places. She was wooed by Artesa in April 2008 by Director of Hospitality Linda Champagne, who regards her as “legendary” and one of Napa’s best assets. “She has boundless energy surpassing those half her age, loves her job everyday and is extremely knowledgeable,” attests Linda.
What drives her? “The product is so interesting, you never learn everything there is to learn,” Anne responds, providing a window into her insatiable appetite to discover new things. Moreover, Anne finds the industry fun, each day furnishing her a chance to meet interesting people from whom she can learn something new.
The sheer joy Anne gets from making people feel important, from the time they are at Artesa to the time they leave, also greatly motivates her. “Life can be frustrating and tough sometimes,” she says. “So for an hour or two, I can make you feel valued and leave Artesa feeling good about yourself and the experience you’ve just had.”
Though she humbly declines the distinction, Anne Salazar is one of Artesa’s VIPs – for the inimitable way she makes everyone feel like a VIP. Her trademark “Hello Love” greeting and warm embrace are the quintessential currency of hospitality she has honed from decades of work and life experience and shared regularly at Artesa with wine lovers from all over the world.
A cold, wet spring pushed back bud break for three weeks this year and we are now finally experiencing a full bloom everywhere in the Napa Valley. With the current vine growth, the 2010 harvest may start very late and will likely be very hectic.
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