Clos LaChance Wines

Had a little April Fool's Day fun with the Clos LaChance team this morning. However, it "may" become a problem with my sales channel later today.

A little background: when we get a good score or media write up on a wine, Sean from Benson Marketing Group (our long time PR agency) sends it out to the CLC team. So yesterday I typed this up and forced poor Sean into sending it out first thing this morning:

"Just wanted to give you the heads up that Clos LaChance 2004 SSS Meritage has received a score of 97 points in the April 15 issue of Wine Spectator, due on newsstands next week. This is a huge, huge score for the winery. In fact, this is the highest score I've seen for a US Cabernet Sauvignon blend that is not from Napa Valley. The review reads:

"A tour de force. Rich, opulent, powerful and very well-structured for a Meritage blend. This wine is packed with a lot of ripe, intense currant, spice, blackberry, earth and loam flavors framed by spicy, cedary oak. Ends with a firm wall of tannins, yet the berry and currant flavors push through. Best from 2009 through 2025. 680 cases made."

We'll send over the hard copy version once it's printed later this month.

Also, just a heads up (and I don't want you to get too excited in case it doesn't happen), but we received a call from an editorial assistant this morning and they are considering Stephen for a cover shot—albeit with some other winemakers as well—the story they are considering him for is “The Central Coast’s Hot Young Winemakers.” We trying to get more details on this photo shoot and will be back in touch with you soon.

Congrats to the entire winery team!"

My father immediately called Sean....and then called me. He was a little miffed at both of us. Stephen our winemaker comes into the office all puffed up with pride. It was a shame to have to bring him down (although I don't doubt that we will certainly get there some day...Stephen's wines are just getting better and better. The first vintage of our SSS Meritage got 92 points in Wine Enthusiast). Paige replies to the whole team with congrats.

And then the rug is pulled out from under me. Both my sales managers tell me they already sent the news out to our entire distributor network in hopes of selling the wine in.

Whoops. That's about 40 distributor contacts across the country that now think we got a 97 on our Meritage from the Spectator. A score like that would catapult our brand into cult status. Hopefully they will have a sense of humor about it when they discover the prank.

Or are my clever sales managers Kevin and Cher messing with me? Have the tables been turned and now I have been hit with a cruel April Fool's Day joke? Has the "messor" become the "messee?" I have to admit that I am a little worried.....so already the joke's on me.

Stay tuned....