Bidding 2011 Farewell

This will be my last post of the year. Like the grapevines that surround me, I need to go into dormancy mode!

What a year it's been. When I look back on what we've accomplished this year, I'm amazed. First, let me explain the "we". It's a group of likeminded, fabulous folks with a passion for wine and a dedication to the success of Dry Creek Vineyard. Some are old timers like Abe and Gary, who are pushing 54 years of service between the two of them. Some are 'tweeners' like Dru and Sally, and Cheyanne and Ramiro. And, some are newcomers like Sara and Michael, and Tim and Joe. We even have some return groupies like Matt-who flew the coop to expand his wings elsewhere and have now come home to nest at Dry Creek.

Each one of these people, and many more, worked diligently to help support our vision for a better winery, a better wine, a better customer experience. Whether in the cellar, in the tasting room, or in the offices, they gave their best.

Our accomplishments in 2011 are impressive. We have a wonderful new banking partner--not insignificant in these times when financing for small businesses can be uncertain. We partnered with a new national sales company, V2 Wine Group, who not only took over the responsibility for the wholesale distribution of our wines in all 50 states, but also hired several of our longtime employees giving them exciting new career paths. We laid a new foundation for our consumer direct business, and restructured related marketing efforts. We completed the replant of our oldest vineyard, DCV3, and harvested our first crop off of an exciting new experimental Zinfandel vineyard located directly in front of the winery. We launched a new package for our flagship Fume Blanc and redesigned the Meritage label too. We remodeled our aging tasting room and continued to upgrade and improve the grounds and facility to better serve our visitors in the coming years. We proselytized, we preached, we powered along, all with an eye toward continuing our pursuit of making wines that over deliver on quality and knock your socks off in terms of value. The list goes on and on...

Along the way, we traveled relentlessly (The Husband alone racked in 77 days on the road!) and we spread the gospel of Dry Creek to legions of wine buyers, wine lovers and industry gatekeepers. In short, we survived another year during the worst economic period since the Great Depression. Am I proud? You bet. Am I exhausted? You bet! And am I grateful to the dozens of dedicated staff and loyal followers of our brand around the world who helped us steer the boat in the right direction, YOU BET!

To all of you who helped us accomplish these important milestones, THANK YOU! May you have a joyous and restful holiday season.

Cheers!

By Kim on December 21, 2011 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1 Comments

CHUCK JOHNSON said:
December 23, 2011 11:57 PM

Merry Christmas to you & the DCV family Kim!

Bidding 2011 Farewell

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