12/19/2025
Right now I'm listening to my partner Jose Diaz, in Diaz Communications. Since 2002, when I (Jo) started Diaz Communications, after my gig at Mondavi Winery and then Ironstone Vineyards. Jose joined me a few years later and we've had over 70 clients in these 23 years.
I never dreamed we'd get to know so many people in wine, at this PR/marketing capacity. And there's a whole lot more that we know not as clients, but as connections.
My Point: while my bailiwick is relationships; Jose's strength is engineering, and this segues into the internet.
He was at Bowdoin College, in the early 1970s, where their computer was one ENTIRE room. Now it seems to be a pin prick, with Dick Tracey watches. He's seen it all; not just on the front end, but in the background on the technical side.
Yes, he builds sites, too; however, he also teaches clients to help themselves at whatever capacity they're capable. And, this is with their own sites. Still, he spends hour on the phone with other IT people, helping where it gets into needing site help.
Clients come to me for wine PR, but I can only take them so far. Jose takes them to the heart of it. He combines the marketing, while teaching others to go behind the curtain through education, creation, and problem solving.
It's been a great ride, starting with Foppiano Vineyards, which led to Petite Sirah I Love You, the initiation of Association of African American Vintners ~ and having Mac McDonald as its founder. And then, everything else has happened in between and over time.
Still, you can think of it as Jose building the home, while I've filled it with doodads and fooferettes.
Have great holidays, as we continue to serve the business of wine, well into 2026.
