The Times They Are A-Changin'

I am a wine merchant in the UK, and I heartily agree with all of the above! We see hundreds of new wines come through our offices every week, most of which are discarded with little thought to the attention someone has given to making this wine. For me it is both a blessing and a curse that there are so many wineries out there. For one it is great to announce the arrival of a new wine to my customers who might well be getting bored of the range and want something new, but on the flip side, the amount of wine we don't take either because its not tasting good that day, or whether we just cant decide how to market it, or any one of a hundred reasons we don't take a wine, it must be tough for any winemaker to get their products to market.
Thats why it is good to see winemakers out and about getting to know their accounts. Some of my favourite wines with us are by those whose winemakers take the time to come over, do a tasting with the guys on the sales floor and occasionally invite us to go and visit them! (As a matter of fact im going to Bordeaux next week to visit one.) I still believe this is the best way to sell wine because people dont necessarily buy into a brand but into a person... but with the amount out there and the little amount of time people have in their busy lives now, youre right! Its getting harder!

Keep up the great blog and the photos! By the way the early morning vineyard shot is now my desktop background at work!

Bryn

Wow Kim, what a challenge it must be to sell your wines. I hope one day I will be able to help. Have you & Don considered creating a labeling/branding service where merchants could sell your wine under their own label? This kind of program is currently being done at Windsor Vineyards & Rutherford Ranch winery. The tasting room manager at Rutherford Ranch informed me they have a person employed who runs their program, and the participating merchants are required to buy a minimum amount of cases of wine. The merchant puts their brand name on the wine & sells your wine as though it's their own. I've seen the performance theatre show here in San Fran “Teatro Zinzanni” feature its own wine at their theater. They may be apart of a branding program.

Thanks to both of you for the thoughtful comments. Ironically, I'm leaving in the morning for New York to do just what you speak of Bryn, spend the week visiting stores/customers/clients, etc. As you say, it's the personal touch that makes the difference. Hopefully I'll have good success and create many more loyal fans.

Chuck I'd like to know more about your custom branding idea. I'm only familiar with the Windsor Vineyards model, not the Rutherford one, which intrigues me. I'm hoping to take my tasting room staff on a field trip soon; maybe we can pay them a visit. In the meantime, the old fashioned way of selling wine is best--feet on the street and all hands on deck! Boating pun intended:)

There are some wonderful boating-centric demographics along the eastern seaboard. How about emphasizing the already successfully branded boat themed label for the fine Dry Creek Wines in those places, too, as well as NYC proper. I think of some of the inland waterway communities in central NJ, CT along LI Sound, the adventursome and independent cities of the MA cape; this is starting to sound like a vacation again, instead of innocent marcom.