I wrote about this before—that we have had a couple of big distributor changes in this past year. When you move distributors, one big negotiation point with your old distributor is the buying back of inventory they have in stock. In this situation, we took back most of our inventory from our old distributor—including splitting the cost of the onesie/twosie cases of very old stock (1997 Nebbiolo anyone?) that they had laying around in their samples warehouses (a whole other topic about having to manage our own inventory at our former distributor because they kept “finding” things from many years ago).  But one thing we refused to take back was 350+ cases of dry 2007 Rosé that they asked us to make specifically for them and one particular account.  Actually, they asked us to make 1,000 cases of that particular wine and only took 400. And then they wanted us to take back the 350 cases that they had been sitting on for a year and a half.

It’s really frustrating that they still had all this wine in inventory in the summer of 2009 when we made the change over.  One thing we know about Rosé is that it only sells well during the summer months.  So after they asked us to make it for them –and they bought it—in early 2008, they just sat on it until mid 2009, almost two Rosé selling seasons had gone by. They sold less than 40 cases of the 400 bought, never mind the remaining 600 cases of the total 1,000 they asked us to make for them. Why they didn’t sell it to the account that wanted it, I have no idea. Because again—they ASKED us to make it for them.  This is why I am still selling 2008 Rosé (which I only made a couple hundred cases of). I had to move over 600 cases of 2007 Rosé last summer.  Anyone remember the sale here at the Tasting Room??

So I see this week that our 2007 Rosé is stacked in a couple of Safeways for $2.99. I happen to know that is a huge loss for the distributor, they bought it from us for $5 a bottle. So when you put Safeways margin in there, the distributor probably lost at least $3.50 a bottle on the wine.

So why does that bother me? Well, it is not great for our brand to have wine under $3 in the stores. But since I am not making Rosé anymore it’s not that big of a deal.  But if they were doing that to an older vintage wine that my current distributor was trying to sell the current vintage of, there can be a big problem with consumer perception of the brand.

So what does that mean for you, Mr. or Ms. Wine buying consumer? Go to Safeway and stock up on Rosé for the summer.  It’s a deal. And you are the one that is winning big cause the regular price of that wine is $14 a bottle (usually around $8 or $9 in the high end grocery outlets). The wine is still really good and it will be great for summer BBQ’s and beach days.  And keep an eye on wineries that switch distributors. Because inevitably there will be some kind of inventory dispute and the distributor will “dump” some perfectly good wine in the marketplace at their loss.  Don’t let it reflect badly on the winery in your mind. Think of it as the deal of the century, stock up—and then continue supporting your favorite brands at the regular price.

Thank you—that is my rant for today. And that is all.

PS: For the record, the no Rosé thing makes me very sad because I personally love a dry, crisp Rosé in the summer. It’s the best thing ever. But I can’t sell it. And my 2010 New Year’s Resolution is to only make things that SELL.