Hello America & Total Wine & More fans!

I am Jean-Hubert Fabre. I will spend the next six months in the USA and this is my first blog post of many on my experiences during my internship here at the headquarters of Total Wine & More in Potomac, Maryland.

I come from France and my parents run a winery in Bordeaux. They sell a part of our Chateau’s production to Total Wine and More.  Maybe you know Château Landat or Château Lamothe-Cissac in Haut-Médoc’s AOC? These wineries are owned by my family!

This past weekend was full of events. On Friday night, the fantastic Toast of the Town, organized by Wine Enthusiast, took place in the beautiful National Building Museum in Washington, DC. The event was an awesome evening of wine, food, and music; the ambiance was very convivial. Many elegant wines could be tasted with delicious hors d’oeuvres. I really like the Kona coffee rubbed beef tenderloin from The Capital grille! During the evening, I met Hank Rosen, the President of Wine Enthusiast. What a great guy! Here we are:

(L to R) Greg Tuttle, product education manager; John Jordan, CCO; Hank Rosen, President Wine Enthusiast; Jean-Hubert Fabre

This week, another big event will happen for Total Wine & More. On Thursday, June 28th, we will open our first store in Washington State located in Bellevue, a suburb of Seattle. The opening of this store is a big deal for Total Wine and the residents of Washington State, who recently decided by referendum that the state should privatize all liquor stores. So, if you are in Washington this week, do not hesitate to come over and see our newest store!

I have greatly enjoyed my time in the country thus far. The weather here was wonderful this past week and it was a beautiful weekend to discover more about life in the USA. I went shopping and sightseeing in Georgetown, a small historic neighborhood in D.C. along the Potomac River, and it was a lot of fun. I’ve been working on improving my English, and at the same time I am teaching my new friends some French! I was really surprised when I asked a saleswoman to try on a casquette, which is pronounced as “casket”. She was very surprised!  In France, a casquette is a baseball cap. Funny misunderstanding, eh? After five minutes of explaining, I got to try on the hat and I ended up buying it. I had the same problem with another word; someone asked me about my studies and I said that I would be a bachelor in one year. A little embarrassing! I did not know that in English bachelor means “single”. We use it in France to mean “graduate”.

During the upcoming weeks, I will continue to report back to you about news and events at Total Wine and my stay in the United States. And, of course, my funny language experiences!

Bonne semaine,
Jean-Hubert

Hello America & Total Wine & More fans!

I am Jean-Hubert Fabre. I will spend the next six months in the USA and this is my first blog post of many on my experiences during my internship here at the headquarters of Total Wine & More in Potomac, Maryland.

I come from France and my parents run a winery in Bordeaux. They sell a part of our Chateau’s production to Total Wine and More.  Maybe you know Château Landat or Château Lamothe-Cissac in Haut-Médoc’s AOC? These wineries are owned by my family!

I study at an engineering school and my major is manufacturing and quality control within the food industry.  My goal is a Masters degree and part of my final study program is an internship. That’s why I’m here at Total Wine. I’m also excited to learn more about American culture, here “outside the beltway” in the Washington, D.C. area.

I arrived last Saturday and already I’ve discovered much about the fantastic world of Total Wine. For me, it is very new because in France, there are no wine Superstores like Total Wine and More. We have many wine merchants but it is not comparable.

My internship has started by working with the Customer Experience Group. There are three pillars here at Total Wine, these are service, selection and price, and I’m working on projects that touch on each of these areas.

Currently, we are searching some new products in order to enhance our food selection to add products unique to an area, in Italy as an example, that will pair well with an Italian wine. I understand that we will have some new wines from Sicily in a few months, so I’m researching food products from Sicily that would be desirable to our customers.

Work here starts early in the day, and continues until the evening, but it is not all work. I have found that Americans work and play hard.  For what I have seen so far, I can just say – wow! It’s a big change for me compared to my life in France, but it’s fantastic! During my first week, I went to the Verizon Center to see Neil Diamond and then last night I saw the Washington National’s baseball team – the American pastime is a great time!

Regularly over the next 5-months, I will tell you more about my internship here at Total Wine and my adoption of American culture.

A bientôt!

Jean-Hubert