Welcome to the joyful Christmas season when everybody starts to run around like headless chickens, a panicked look in their eye, insistent on their assumption that one more gift is necessary to buy to show their love (sorry about the cynicism).

As wine industry professionals, we have a few duties during this upcoming week of alarms and emergencies:

You have a duty to yourself and your family to not ignore them. Plan the time you will spend shopping, plan the time you will be with them, and don’t let the job get in the way. If you have a hard time turning off the phone, at least put it in a drawer somewhere with the ringer off. You can check it every hour if you insist.

You have a duty to your best customers to bring forth joy and thanks for the year. Reach out, identify them, say thank you and let’s catch up after the chaos of the week.

You have a duty to your job to build in enough wiggle room during the week to deal with the inevitable wine emergency. The last second will call will happen. The last second out of stock will happen. Knowing it will happen, you can plan ahead.

You have a duty to the wines you represent to make sure they are being shown in the best light. Get to your retailers, dust those bottles, make sure the displays are good. Offer a free bottle to your restaurants to pop with the staff as a thank you. Send out an email to your favorite winery and import reps making sure they know you are thinking about them.

Keep an eye on the duties and you’ll have a great week!