Beyond the Vine: Paige LaBue

Our team here at Whitehall Lane Winery is filled with experienced individuals from all sorts of backgrounds. Every single member of our staff is crucial to helping the winery run smoothly, produce great wines and provide an unforgettable experience to you, our biggest fans. Paige LaBue, Wine Club Manager at Whitehall Lane, knows that no two palates are alike and works hard to make sure that all of our wine club members are satisfied. We had the chance to go beyond the vine with Paige and learn more about her history. Keep reading to learn what makes her tick.

Hi, Paige – Give us some background on how you ended up at Whitehall Lane. How long have you been in the wine industry?

I received my B.A. in English Literature and went on to do study Merchandise Marketing. My career pursuits led me to customer service and restaurant hospitality management, which is where I got my feet wet in the wine industry. From there, I moved to my current position with Whitehall Lane, where I will have been for two years this coming May.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in this industry?

Who wouldn’t want to work in the midst of Napa Valley’s beautiful vineyards and sell wine for a living? Kidding aside, while I loved restaurant management, that career is a more turn- and-burn environment where you mostly interact with customers one time and never see them again. I wanted to work in an industry that afforded more time to establish personal and life-long relationship with customers.

What is the favorite part of your job?

Oh my, I have several “favorites”. Wine is such a social component to life. It is something to share and enjoy with friends and family to commemorate and celebrate joy, so I love when I get a call or an e-mail from a Club Member/Customer telling me how much they enjoyed sharing our wine with their family and friends for a special occasion. I especially love when people share pictures of themselves enjoying our wine. I actually keep a folder on my computer with those pictures. Another favorite part of my job is the social interactions with Open Houses, private dinner events and winery events where I get to talk to our members about their daily lives.

What is one aspect of your job that might surprise people?

It would surprise people to know how much credit card fraud affects the wine club. I would say at least 30% of customers experience a change in cards between each club shipment. It requires a tremendous amount of time in order to obtain new credit card information, but also provides me the opportunity to call my customers.

What do you wish people knew about Whitehall Lane?

I wish people knew how hard the Leonardini Family works to make such high quality wine. In an age where more than half the wineries in the Napa Valley are now corporately owned, the Leonardini family still works hands-on to ensure our customers the highest quality wines possible.

What trends are you seeing for the upcoming year?

As the market shifts more towards millennial purchasers, I am starting to see more diversification of wine choices and more young people joining wine clubs. They like to be adventurous in their wine choices.

Being adventurous is always a good thing, but after a long day it’s nice to lean on reliable favorites. Do you prefer red or white wine? Why?

This is a trick question, right? Both! White to start and red to finish! It really depends on the time of year, occasion and what I am eating, but it is rare to see me say no to a glass of wine whether it is white or red wine. Like most people, I prefer to drink white wine, rosé, and sparkling wines in the warmer months of the year and with lighter food dishes. In the fall/winter, I love juicy and high mineral red wines with a hint of pepper like our Millennium MM Vineyard Cabernet or Zinfandel.

What is the most common question you receive about the wine club?

How much does it cost to join your club? For the record, there is no sign-up fee. The only cost is the per bottle price of the club shipment.

Share your elevator pitch to encourage our readers to become a Whitehall Lane wine club member.

Whitehall Lane Winery has three clubs: Select, Crimson, and Elite. The Select club receives 3 bottles of a mix of white and red wine three times yearly. The Crimson club receives 4 bottles of red wine three times yearly. The Elite club receives 6 bottles of red wine four times yearly.

The greatest feature of our wine club is that we allow our members to customize their club shipments. We want our members to receive their favorite Whitehall Lane wines each and every shipment. We share what we are releasing and offer our members a few weeks to advise us if they would like to make alterations to their shipment. There is no fee to join the club, just the price of the wine, which is charged at the time of shipment. The length of membership is as long as the person wishes. Joining the wine club gives people access to small production wines that we make specifically for our members such as Petit Verdot, Zinfandel, and Malbec, as well as gives them access to older vintage wines.

Well, you can’t argue with that – sign us up! Be sure to thank Paige when your next shipment arrives and share a picture of your friends and family enjoying our wines with her. If you’re interested in becoming a Whitehall Lane wine club member you can find the club that is right for you here: http://bit.ly/2kauAbq