PINOT AND PLANS: Some might say that we've become a society of chronic wafflers. That sounds semi-nice at first glance -- after all, the word "waffle" can be detected -- but what it ultimately means is this: None of us, or very few, anyway, will commit to a date months ahead of time. We're ruled by FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, and we hedge our bets and await last-minute texts until the day-of before finally saying "yes."
CLEARLY... this has to stop, or at least be curbed. People didn't used to be quite as flitty, but then we didn't have 18 different ways of being contacted with new, attractive offers. One way to break the flitty habit is to purchase something good, something wonderful, actually, that will make us anticipate a handful of dates that are rather far ahead. A wine country season pass fits that bill. Say, like the Wine Road's Annual Season Pass. Nope, it doesn't work quite like a theme park season pass, but it will nab you discounts on some of the Northern Sonoma group's biggest to-dos through 2014.
LIKE... the Winter Wineland in January and A Wine & Food Affair in November. The deal? You'll buy admissions to those events when you buy your pass -- some of them are good for two tickets, some for one -- and you'll score lower-priced entries. You can do it, right? Block out a couple of Saturdays or weekends next year for the pleasurable pursuit of wine-tasting and countryside-enjoyment? Won't one of your resolutions be to feel less swayed by every new message you get and more swayed by those things you've always loved? Yes. Let it be that.
THE WINE ROAD 2014 SEASON PASS... is $149. (Value: $205.)
