Allez Suisse!

We have spent the past three days in a negotiation workshop run by CM Partners. It was a great experience studying frameworks for analysis of one-on-one and multi-party negotiations. These frameworks are useful for advance preparation as well as mindfulness in the moment. The goal throughout our simulated negotiations was understanding each party’s interests in order to reach a wise decision for mutual gain. Of course understanding wasn’t enough; we also practiced many communication techniques to keep dialogs moving in a positive direction, even in the face of “difficult” circumstances or people. We wrapped up the session this afternoon by tying it in with other IMD course themes: principled negotiation can be a great tool to help us make the world a better place.

Today is also Swiss National Day. It was celebrated with a brilliant display of fireworks over the lake, which I could see very well from my window. Now that the official fireworks are over, the private fireworks are going off with loud booms and occasional flashes in the distance. I think I’ll sleep with earplugs in tonight as the “wild and crazy” Swiss get their celebration on!

Crisis Management

Today we finished a day and a half of training in crisis management. We began with a simulation. In each group we were given very little information about our company, told that we were in charge, and then BAM, the crisis started. We began receiving telephone calls from employees about chemical leakage from our plant. Before we could get a handle on that, news reporters burst into our offices asking accusatory questions to which we really had no ability to respond intelligently.

We spent the next several hours trying to gather information from our employees, the media, the townspeople, and the authorities. All the while the phone was ringing off the hook, the reporters were beating down our doors, and we were trying to figure out what to do given our limited understanding of the situation. By the end of the exercise we had a full-blown environmental catastrophe on our hands and our share price had fallen 50%. Our attempts to communicate via the media were amateurish at best and may only have exacerbated the situation. What a failure!

What a learning experience as well. We spent the next day analyzing what happened during the crisis and how best to prepare for/execute crisis management. This included a significant amount of time focusing on how best to give interviews, hold press conferences, and deal with the media. Our practice interviews were taped, replayed, and analyzed, which helped us understand what we need to work on–especially in situations featuring high anxiety and low information. This was a very good, eye-opening exercise.

In between the crises, we have had a few chances to catch up with one another about our vacations. It’s kind of funny; all the girls are showing off new clothes purchased over the break. All the guys look pretty much the same. Three of the guys were married in July. One of the guys had a baby–wild and crazy times!

Our next day will be spent on career strategy/search, followed by two and a half days of negotiation training. Welcome back to school!

Back in Lausanne

After three glorious days in San Menaio, a small town on Italy’s Adriatic coast, I am back in Lausanne. San Menaio was wonderful, as it always is: no Internet, no work, just peaceful beach life with my Italian cousins.

The Italian side of my family is always incredibly welcoming and accommodating in their little beach house. We spend the mornings and evenings at the beach, separated by lunch and a siesta. Then, after dinner, we travel to nearby towns at night to “fare la passagiata,” just walk around a bit. The food is always prepared fresh from little carts that travel by the house in the morning selling fish, fruit, vegetables, etc. Life is good in San Menaio.

I read some of the first Harry Potter book in Italian while I was there. It was slow going because my vocabulary of magic-related words is pretty deficient. By the end of the trip, though, I was reading much more quickly than at the beginning. Now that I’m about to recommence the torrent of IMD activities, we’ll see if I can finish the book by year’s end.

It’s great to be back but there is much to do before we begin a mini-course on Crisis Management tomorrow. I wouldn’t mind another week of vacation!

Hiking

Today was a simple day in Piemonte. We woke up late, had a huge breakfast at the villa, then went hiking around vineyard trails in Monta’, not too far off. We had gelato for lunch (still too stuffed from breakfast for anything more) and pizza for dinner. The evening is cool and the sky is clear for stargazing. I will miss Piemonte.

Tomorrow we leave for Puglia to meet the Italian side of my family at their house by the sea and I will be cut off from the Internet for a few days. The next time you hear from me I will be well fed and incredibly relaxed. Ciao, a dopo!

Barbaresco

Today was full of Bacchanalian goodness. We began in Barbaresco at Bruno Rocca. We were pleased to be greeted by Luisa Rocca, Bruno’s daughter, who led us into the tasting room to begin. No tour, just right down to business–we didn’t object! We learned about the vineyards that Bruno Rocca owns throughout the region and all of the different wines that are produced. Then we tasted three of them: Bruno Rocca Dolcetto d’Alba Vigna Trifole’ 2007 (unrated), Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Coparossa 2004 (93), and Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Rabaja’ 2005 (unrated). The Dolcetto was a wonderfully balanced value wine and the Barbarescos were divine. The day had started off right.

We then made our way into the little town of Barbaresco itself for lunch. We ate at a little trattoria in the shadow of the town’s main tower, wandered around a bit, then headed back to Barolo for our afternoon appointment at La Spinetta. La Spinetta held special significance for me since its mascot is a rhino and only a few weeks ago I was being chased by a rhino in Kenya. We arrived early and were offered a glass of champagne while we waited–off to a good start!

We toured the Barolo Campe’ winery then tasted six wines, beginning with the La Spinetta Barbera d’Alba La Gallina 2006 (unrated). We then tasted the three single-vineyard Barbarescos: La Spinetta Barbaresco Starderi 2005 (92), La Spinetta Barbaresco Valeirano 2005 (unrated), and La Spinetta Barbaresco Gallina 2005 (94). The one from the Valeirano vineyard was my favorite as it was spicier than the other two, which were lighter and showed wonderful finesse. Our final red wine was the La Spinetta Barolo Campe’ 2004 (95), one of the few La Spinetta wines without a rhino label. Its label featured a lion instead, because Barolo is the king of wines. And wow, what a king this was–all hail! We wrapped up with the La Spinetta Moscato d’Asti Bricco Quaglia 2007 (unrated), which was a light, refreshing way to finish.

Finally, we met the La Spinetta guard puppy, a border collie who chases tennis balls and nibbles on low hanging fruit (i.e. helps out with the green harvest!) all day. Adorable! After a day of such great wines, we didn’t even go out to dinner. We made it back to the villa early and I am heading to bed a super happy boy.

Barolo

As today is Sunday, all the wineries were closed and we were unable to book any appointments. All of the local enoteche, however, were open, so we took a leisurely drive around the Barolo valley, stopping every chance we had to taste Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera, Dolcetto, and even Moscato.

Some of the views on our meandering drive were absolutely spectacular. We were particularly fond of La Morra, on the valley’s northwest ridge. One of the aspects of Toscana I always loved was how its hills were a patchwork of different colors and textures. Here in Piemonte, every parcel is planted with vines so they have a more uniform color and texture. However, the color is a beautiful, rich green and the texture is a consistent, horizontal striation made by the rows of vines on steep slopes (Grapes are all harvested by hand here because machines couldn’t handle the grade!), so there isn’t much to complain about.

The enoteche in the castles of Barolo and Grinzane Cavour serve as the official tasting destinations for local varietals. What could be better than sipping on great wine in old castles with such beautiful vistas in all directions? La dolce vita.

We stopped in the city of Asti for dinner, settling on a restaurant with many local specialties on the menu, a nice wine list, and no English speaking staff. We weren’t disappointed. Our waitress offered to select antipasti for us then we just chose first courses, thinking we would have a light meal. But oh were we wrong. The waitress brought plate after plate of antipasti so delicious would couldn’t help but finish it. By the time my risotto with hazelnuts in a moscato cream sauce arrived, I could barely touch it. If that’s the worst problem I have, though, life is good.

In Italia!

After a long, beautiful drive along the Mediterranean coast, we arrived tonight at our B&B just outside of Asti in Piemonte. Our home for the next few days is Villa Sampaguita, a charming estate owned and operated by two ex-pats. They served us a multi-course dinner upon our arrival. Everything in it was grown and made here at the villa–including the several vintages of Barbera d’Asti that we drank. Our hosts are gracious, the grounds are beautiful, and we are prepared to take on the wines and castles of Piemonte . . . after a good night’s sleep.

Last Day in France

Today was a travel day. We began with a poolside breakfast then toured Chateau Figeac in the St. Emilion AOC. We were part of a larger group here, but our guide was excellent. We finished with a tasting of the Chateau Figeac St. Emilion 1988 (84), which was still as youthful as the day it was bottled–very impressive!

We then spent the rest of the day on the road en route to Marseille. About half of this time was spent in traffic once we had already entered the city! For dinner we returned to Le Miramar, where Cox and I had dined two weeks before. Once again we all had the Bouillabaise and once again we were not disappointed.

All though the FIVB beach volley world series is going on here right now, we won’t have a chance to stop in for a match before we depart for Italy. Oh well, maybe next time!

Sauternes

Today we departed from the usual Bordeaux tasting plan by spending the day in Sauternes. We began at first-growth Chateau Guiraud, where our private tour was an excellent introduction to the Sauternes-making process. In contrast with most Medoc tours, this one was much more informal and it was clear that the chateau wasn’t really set up for guests. This was A-OK with us as we were able to poke around all we wanted and have all of our questions answered.

We finished the tour with a six-vintage vertical tasting of the Chateau Guiraud Sauternes: 1996 (unrated), 1998 (89), 2000 (90), 2001 (96), 2002 (89), and 2003 (95)–what a way to start the day! The complexities and differences between each vintage were astounding. Guiraud uses exclusively the natural yeast on the berries which, when combined with the varying levels of sugar each year, makes for radically different fermentation durations each year. They also vary the proportion of semillion to sauvignon blanc depending on the quality of each varietal each season. Accordingly, the differences in style, taste, nose, and body between many of the vintages were tremendous. I was also amazed by how rich and dark Sauternes become as they age. The 1996, with the same varietal composition as the 2003, would not have been recognizable as the same wine.

After six glasses of wine and no breakfast, we really needed some lunch to sober up! We found a little restaurant near the town center and sat out on a terrace overlooking the vineyards. The food was wonderful and we took a nap in the car afterward. Refreshed and ready to go, we then made our way to the legendary Chateau d’Yquem, the only Bordeaux winery to receive the Premier Cru Superieur designation in the classification of 1855.

The Yquem tour was in French and was shared with three other small groups so I acted as translator for the rest of our motley crew. Unfortunately our guide really, really loved the sound of his voice and went on and and on, motivating us to zone out and discuss on our own.

Apparently Yquem uses exactly the same vinification process as Guiraud (and all the other first growths), so the question was raised, “What distinguishes Yquem to make it ‘Superieur?'” The answer was typically French: terroir. It was not just the quality of the terroir, though, which is shared by the other first growths. Yquem is the largest land owner in Sauternes by far and their parcels are spread throughout the region. This gives them significant soil variety, enabling them to choose the best grapes from different vineyards each year. So, if the year is hot and dry, they can favor grapes from vineyards that do better in hot, dry weather. If the year is cool and moist, they can favor grapes that thrive in such an environment.

The proof is in the pudding, or rather in the Sauternes. We tasted the Chateau d’Yquem Sauternes 2004 (97) and it was delicious. It was clearly very young but showed layer after layer of balanced complexity. Given the bottles of Yquem from the early 1800s lying around (and I thought 1996 was dark!), which are apparently still very drinkable, these wines are seriously built to last.

So, although the tour was much longer than it needed to be, the estate and the wine were beautiful. We then wound our way through Bordeaux to St. Emilion, where we would stay the night. Our B&B was a gorgeous chateau just outside of the city. It sat on a large property that included several windmills, one of which could be climbed for breathtaking views of the area. After some walking around the local vineyards, a refreshing dip in the chateau’s pool, and dinner in St. Emilion, we slept very, very well.

Margaux

Ron wasn’t feeling too well this morning so we skipped our first appointment at Chateau Palmer. We did manage to make our afternoon appointment at Chateau Margaux, though, and I am certainly glad that we did. The estate was beautiful and, again, our guide was very knowledgeable. This time we shared the visit with a group of four Germans and tasted the 2004 vintage of their first label (93) at the end. It was young and tight, but you could tell that there was a world of complexity waiting to come out over the next decades.

For dinner we met the John/Natalye clan and many of their friends in the architecture community at a restaurant in Saintes. Dinner was delicious and was followed by a tour of Charlotte’s (another Houston friend of ours through John and Natalye) new house in Saintes. To be accurate, it wasn’t a “new” house per se, rather the renovation of four adjoining houses into a single one. It was beautiful and we celebrated with cognac from 1964. We also had some Richard Hennessy cognac, Hennessy’s ultra premium brand, which was soft, smooth, and spicy. It was a wonderful way to wrap up our last night in/around Cognac.