Clos LaChance

Smart. Beautiful. Skinny.

2010-03-09T11:41:41-08:00

Our Office here at the winery is comprised of all women—and 1 token male (my dad). There are 7 of us, and we are all pretty tight. We eat lunch together on most days and chat about all kinds of things. We have this silly thing that we do when someone does something well…..we will say to each other “You are so Smart! And Beautiful! And Skinny!”

One out of three ain’t bad (just kidding ladies). A study came out yesterday that wine can actually be good for our waistlines.

A quick summary: A hospital in Boston followed about 20K healthcare workers over 13 years. What they found was that those that drank alcohol in moderation (1-2 glasses per day) on a regular basis gained about 3 lbs and those that did not gained 8 or more.

What I found really interesting is that women who drank alcohol and gained less weight over time appeared to ingest more calories than those that didn’t. Hmmm, I can drink AND eat more?? Sign me up!

I drink a glass or two of wine almost daily. I think it actually helps me to eat less. During the week, I give myself a choice—wine or dessert. Umm, wine ALWAYS wins, despite my sweet tooth. If I compared the calories in a few glasses of wine vs. dessert—then the compromise is healthier with the wine anyways so YAY.

One thing in the study is that it followed women that drank all kinds of alcohol (wine, beer and spirits). “Consumption of red wine showing the strongest link with lower weight gain, and white wine showing the weakest, but still a significant association.” Bummer. I drink white wine during the week…red on the weekends. I find sometimes that red wine makes it harder for me to sleep. Maybe I will switch to red during the week and try to build up my tolerance slowly. I do love a good Pinot or Grenache, but sleep is way too important at this point in my life.

I look forward to the study that proves that wine makes us smarter and prettier.

Now that you know, buy some wine.

2010-02-11T12:48:00-08:00

Sorry about all my distributor ranting lately—but I just get so frustrated sometimes with how this business works. I feel like as the little, family owned and operated supplier that we sometimes get taken advantage of because of how we do business. My dad worked for HP for years and years. He taught me, based on his experience, that in general—people are good. They are not out to screw you, they will follow through on commitments and they will treat you with respect if business doesn’t work out. Because, after all, it’s just business. And to do good business, it needs to be a win-win situation for both parties.

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.

Just don't lie

2010-01-29T15:37:46-08:00

In recent months, we have changed distributor partners in a number of states. The reasons are many, which I won’t get into. But it boils down to one thing—which is pretty much why any winery leaves one wholesale partner for another: our former distributor was not making any progress with our brand. In fact, we were going backwards. And not “the economy is bad backwards.” We were slowly being becoming officially out of the market.

So, to make a long story short, we were fortunate to find new wholesale partners in a couple of states. One in particular was where this “funny” story originated.

We left our wholesaler in Any State, USA the last day of November. We started with our new wholesaler the first day of December. Inventory was in place and ready to go with New Wholesaler. However, it was December. Anyone who works on the supplier side or the distributor side of the wholesale industry is very cognizant of the acronym that is OND (October-November-December). In the last quarter of the year, wholesalers buckle down and just sell. They don’t present new products (for the most part), they don’t do supplier ride-withs, and they very, very rarely launch new brands. So when we started in December, we knew that a kick off would be several months later. They were just taking orders if existing accounts needed wine.

One of the reasons that we informed our wholesaler that we were leaving only the day before we started with a new distributor is that we wanted to have a chance to protect our placements. When a winery leaves a distributor, it is pretty common practice for the reps at said wholesaler to go and replace all your shelf and list placements as soon as possible. It makes sense—the wholesaler wants to keep their share of the business at accounts. If a move to a new wholesaler is planned, it must be done with precision. Timing is everything—otherwise all your placements can vanish overnight and the new wholesaler is starting off at square 1.

However, if said account wants to continue carrying the brand—some distributors have been known to not provide the account with any information about the new distributor that is carrying the wine going forward. And this is where our story gets interesting.

So, one of Clos LaChance’s regional mangers went into a small, local chain restaurant in Any State, USA (we will call it Jo’s Grill). Jo’s Grill had been a great customer of ours for a couple of years—having one of our wines on the regional corporate list. When we switched distributors, the wine buyer at Jo’s Grill asked our former distributor where he could buy the wine. It was on his list, his menus etc. To change the wine would be an expense to the restaurant. The distributor rep told the Jo’s grill buyer, his customer, that Clos LaChance had gone bankrupt and was no longer selling wine in Any State, USA .

Something I learned in my Public Relations career—always help a journalist out when they ask you a question—even if they are working on a story that is not about any of my clients. If you can point people in the right direction, it builds trust and a stronger long-term relationship.

I know sales can be a little more cut-throat then PR because there are commissions and actual dollars involved (i.e. I have to feed my kids now, vs. build this relationship and feed them later). But in my humble opinion, downright lying to a customer is not smart.

Well, karma is a bitch. Because I heard that the wine buyer at Jo’s Grill called our former distributor and tore them a new one when he found out they had lied. And, in that same phone call, the buyer returned a bunch of wine. And bought a bunch of our wine. And put us back on the list. And the trust he has with his sales rep from our former distributor (and really the company as a whole) is G-O-N-E. Is it really worth the small amount of dollars received by replacing our wine? Potentially losing all your business in an account if dishonesty is discovered? And it is pretty easy for someone to figure out if a winery has truly gone out of business or is no longer selling in a particular market. The Internet has provided everyone with information at their fingertips. In addition, most local ABC’s have online lists of brands and what wholesalers represent them.

I have only worked on the supplier side in this business, so I do not know the pressures of working in a distributor. I see it in the faces of the salespeople I know—it’s a tough job. But I believe honesty and a code of ethics are important in any business relationship.

Don’t think that I am bashing on distributors here—because we need them. They work hard and they are able to do things that we can’t. And I find that most distributors are honest. I just thought this was an interesting story—and a lesson to accounts…especially if they have a good relationship with a particular winery. If, all of a sudden, the wine you love is not available, or the winery is not longer selling in your market….double check. Give the winery a call or drop an email (I would say that most wineries these days have a web site with contact info).

The demise of our private label business?which leads to our kick ass sale this weekend

2010-01-22T11:24:02-08:00

As any winery that does a majority of their business via the wholesale channel will tell you, business is tough. The number of wholesalers is shrinking due to consolidation while the number of wineries and brands continues to grow (there are over 6,000 wineries just in California now, did you know that?) The Clos LaChance brand has been growing continuously, however not as fast as we would like. The grapes are here, we have to pick them. It would be a giant waste if we didn’t process them and make wine.

So what do you do when you have a lot of wine, but can’t sell it through your existing brand’s channel? You put it under a different brand and sell it. To create a new brand and try to sell it into stores and restaurants would be counter-productive—the same wine would be competing with Clos LaChance for distributor attention. So we had the bright idea to pitch private labels to larger accounts. They get the Clos LaChance high quality wines, but under an exclusive label.

For about a year, this was decent business. And then we realized we were definitely not the only game in town doing private labels (so much for bright ideas). And frankly, larger wineries could do it cheaper and more efficiently then we could. New customers were scarce and existing customers were either not taking the wines they had promised or going with other wineries that could do it cheaper.

So, as quick as it started, we pared down our private labels —just a few select, very reliable customers/partners that take large quantities at a time.

Where did that leave us? Well, we have inventory to move. Inventory of labels that are not ours. The majority of the wine in the bottle is ours (outside of some California Merlot we bought in bulk and bottled for a large client). We have no channel to move it wholesale, so we gotta go direct.

So…if you are a fan of the Clos LaChance Chardonnay, Merlot, Meritage or Cabernet Sauvignon—these wines are a great deal. They are at least half off, some up to 75% our retail price for the SAME exact wine in the bottle.

We will ship as well. Prices start at $2 a bottle.

Here is the link online to the wines (we can’t put up what the brands are in order to protect our former customers). We are updating these wines in real time as we sell out. Call or come down. Fill up your cellar with interesting conversation piece labels. And help us clean our cellar!

www.closlachance.com/cellarsale

You can call to place an order….or you can come to the winery and taste. There are a few wines we have limited inventory of—and they will be sold out pretty quickly.

I (Cheryl) am answering phones all day today (everyone in the office is) . If you know me, I am extension 101…call and order and say hi.

Amazon.com out of wine

2009-12-07T12:11:27-08:00

Last week, Blake Gray wrote a blog about exactly why Amazon.com pulled out completely of wine sales. It got me thinking about the long road that Amazon has gone through to come to this point. I first remember hearing about this well over a year ago….

I believe it was late last summer. I was contacted by the administrators at the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association regarding Amazon.com. Amazon had called them and was doing field work with local associations about what their plans were to sell wine on their site. I personally was intrigued about Amazon’s entry into online wine sales. I am a big fan of Amazon and buy a ton of stuff from them annually. I am an Amazon Prime member as well, which means I get free two day shipping on things that come from them (vs. a third party retailer). This is a HUGE convenience for me. I do a ton of gift shopping on Amazon (last year, my husband and I sent a generator to his parents in new Hampshire who had been out of power for a week!) and even purchase a few things in bulk, like a certain kind of recycled paper towels I like. When my kids have a birthday party to go to on Saturday, I can buy something on Amazon on Wednesday and its at more door by Friday. A working mother’s dream, I tell you. Anyway, I digress. When I heard about the wine thing, I was excited. As a Prime Member, I would get free shipping on wine too! And they were planning to have a huge selection of wine. Any winery that wanted to sell on Amazon could, was what I was lead to believe.

The initial meeting with the Association and Amazon.com was canceled because the main guy missed his flight. I was a little irritated by this because I left the office and drove to Aptos for the meeting. And they cancelled like half an hour before they were supposed to be there. But my love for Amazon is bigger than a missed afternoon in the office—but hey, I got to go to the beach that day instead. Maybe they did me a favor.

A few weeks later at the Annual Dinner for the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association, I met Thomas, a very nice gentleman from Amazon.com who had come to network with wineries and tell them about Amazon’s plans. We chatted, exchanged cards and that was that.

A few days later, Thomas was in touch with more details. At this point they were reaching out to all the Associations and everyone was buzzing about it.

After looking at the marketing proposal, we were excited about it too….however the logistics were kind of a pain in the ass. We would have to re-register all of our wines with the TTB so that we could use the fulfillment house. I also believe that we would have to re-register in certain states as well. I think the total cost per wine in licensing and set up was about $450. And the margins were a little slim. But having access to Amazon’s customer base, wow, the potential could be huge. Our plan was to proceed slowly, test it out and see how things would go with one or two wines on the site. As it turned out, through another online retailer we worked with, we already had a wine registered with the fulfillment house (the now defunct New Vine Logistics). So we decided to start with that one and see how it goes.

And then the waiting game began. Every few weeks, we would get a nice email from Amazon, keeping us in the loop…but never giving us an exact launch date of the site.

And then New Vine Logistics went down. I figured that had to be a huge set back to Amazon—fulfillment of wine is the most important component to their involvement in the wine sector—and it is such a giant pain. 50 different sets of laws, licenses to obtain, taxes etc. Every state has a different direct shipping law.

But as it turns out, the Amazon thing was delayed by something much bigger than the wine industries own regulatory nightmare. Internet taxes, specifically in California. Since Amazon does not have a “bricks and mortar” shop in California, they do not have to charge taxes on products shipped to the state from Amazon.com. To sell alcohol in California, the regulations are such that a retailer needs to have a some kind of retail presence in the shape of a retail store in the state (even if it is just an office with a cash register). However, if they opened a store here, then state taxes would have to be collected on EVERTHING Amazon sold in California. Yikes.

This is even more interesting to me because my husband—who worked at eBay for years and was a media consultant for NetChoice—is very passionate about this issue. I forwarded him Gray’s blog and he had a lot to say about it in terms of e-commerce in general. He was very articulate and intelligent, however I can’t recall anything he said about it specifically besides that it is very bad for consumers and e-commerce and free trade etc. etc. (sorry honey!).

I feel bad for the winery liaison Thomas. He was a pretty good communicator about what was going on—and obviously he got caught up in a much bigger issue. I hope he is still working there with a different department. There was obviously a ton of money and resources spent on Amazon’s entry into wine sales.…and I am sure Amazon had most of the site built before it all came crashing down.

I wonder how many wineries registered all their products and are out some $$?

What I think it all comes down to is that alcohol laws + Internet taxation laws = a complete sh*tshow.

For more information about Alcohol Direct Shipping regulations, please visit www.freethegrapes.org.

Ranting

2009-11-18T14:29:00-08:00

Ugh, i just have to post this because it is so unbelievably frustrating.

Don't get me wrong, I love distributors. Certain distributors. Basically any distributor that PAYS.

As you can imagine as the economy gets tough, the small distributors are really getting squeezed. I understand that and can be somewhat sympathetic. But we are also a small company. And when we don't get paid on time, it effects our business as well.

Said distributor is in, lets say South Dakota, since I don't have one there (even though I am mad, I am not ready to call out the accused). We have a multi-state account...a chain of really great restaurants. And we worked HARD to get that account. They have several wines By The Glass and they have a couple of our higher end wines on the lists. Several of these restaurants are in South Dakota. In order to sell to them, I have to sell to my distributor who then sells to the restaurants. This distributor has owed me money since July. And has been a notoriusly slow pay for several years. The check is always "in the mail."

If I stop shipping to them, then the account doesn't get their wine and will most likely drop it off their list. Which could effect my business in the other states as well. Wine that WE sold to them....wine that the distributor in South Dakota is just collecting their mark-up on. The business was done in another state with someone our South Dakota distributor doesn't even know. It's FREE money if they just deliver the wine on time and to the right place. And pay us on time.

Normally, if a distributor doesn't pay me on time, i will not ship to them. But I need to to keep this account. And finding another distributor is very, very difficult at this time of year....well, really at all times of the year. The number of suppliers continues to increase while distributors consolidate.

And it is against the law to ship direct to an account outside of the state.

So basically, to keep my account, we have to continue going into the red with this distributor.

Oh, and WE got a bill from said distributor this week for samples. Are you kidding me??

The three tier system is great when winery-distributor-account all do their job. But when one of the parts is broken, the whole thing collapses.

You heard it here first: 50% off sale

2009-11-02T16:18:21-08:00

We are having a big sale. November 12-15. Online and at the winery.

Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Petite Sirah
SSS Meritage and Rhone Blend
Late Harvest Semillon and Zin Port

and MORE.

50% off, online and here at the winery. Certain varietals are really limited...so its while supplies last.

Thursday the 12: sale preview for Wine Club Members Only. We will be open till 8pm that evening. Friday-Sunday, 11-5pm.

Stock up for the holidays at half the price!!

Oh Sh*t

2009-10-12T15:07:00-08:00

It's going to rain tomorrow. Actually, its going to storm tomorrow.

As of last week, our harvest was still under 50% complete.

What happens to wine grapes when it rains? They get wet. If the rain only lasts for a day or two, the grapes will dry out and the harvest can continue. However, it the rain lasts for more then a day or two, the grapes are susceptible to rot. Also, the ground is wet and the tractors carrying the picking bins can't get into the vineyard.

This one looks like a 2 day storm. That's what we are banking on here. So we will be back in the fields collecting the grape bounty on THURSDAY.

My dad, typical of the high tech executive that sees a problem and wants to come up with a resolution, sends an email to one of our winemakers this morning saying "It's going to rain tomorrow. What's the plan?"

Our winemaker's answer? "Pray."

New Stuff

2009-10-02T12:56:47-08:00

New stuff is fun. A few of the new things we have going on around here this month:

-New Web site header....we finally changed it to a little cleaner, more modern look. What do you think?

-New events: Time for Wine Live is coming to a close next week. We will have two more Time for Wine Happy Hour events this year, but with a twist:

October 15--Time for Wine Raw, featuring Bill the Oyster Man. You guessed it...live and bbq oysters for $1.50 each. We will also have special wine flights that pair well with oysters and Bill's amazing sauces.

October 29: Time for Wine BOO, featuring the Harvest Zombies. Who says adults can't have fun on Halloween too? Come in costume and prepare to be judged for the costume contest. Flashlight tours of the winery--be prepared to be scared. And wine flights paired with your favorite Halloween candies.

-New cool tool on our bottling line: this may not seem like a big deal, but to us it is the best thing ever. We got a case printer tool for our bottling line. There is certain information that legally needs to be on the outside of a case....(same that is on a label). We were printing one extra label per case for all our wines. In addition, there are certain distributors, accounts, countries that need what is called an SCC code on the outside of the case as well. Ugh...it was a giant pain to put labels on these cases just for these customers. SO, the investment in the case printer made sense. And it makes things a lot easier for everyone.

Harvest is still underway. The crew is getting really busy since it was so hot last week. But it is supposed to cool down this weekend. Interesting, long season this year.

Dinner tonight

2009-09-21T14:39:00-08:00

Its our Annual Investor's Dinner tonight. This is what we are eating, thanks Le Papillon (www.lepapillon.com).

Clos LaChance Investor’s Dinner
With Le Papillon Restaurant
September 21, 2009

……………………………

Roasted Tomato Gelée with Parmesan and Balsamic Caviar
Lobster Tartare on Brioche
Minced Quail Tart with Tart Apples and Truffle Glaze
Gougeres
Cucumber-Elderflower Water
&
Clos LaChance Tasting

……………………………

Slow Poached Alaskan Halibut with Toasted Milk Puree, Preserved Lemon and Confit Grapes
&
2007 Liebeler Chardonnay

……………………………

Duck Ravioli with Sour Cherry and Duck Skin Brittle
&
2006 Biagini Pinot Noir

……………………………

Berkshire Pork Tenderloin with Hibiscus Reduction, Smoked Maple and “Chicharones”
&
2006 Lila’s Cuvee

……………………………

Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Coffee Jus and Meritage Braised Plum
&
2005 SSS Meritage

……………………………

Gorgonzola Dolce Soufflé with Poached Figs
&
NV Zinfandel Port

……………………………

Fresh Peaches with Jasmine Tea Custard and White Chocolate Torte
&
2006 Nectar

Harvest Update: 9/1/2009

2009-09-01T15:58:36-08:00

Wow, its September 1 already. After a few drips and drabs of Sauvignon Blanc that came in last week, the heat this past weekend (106 in San Martin...yikes!) made everything jump about 2 degrees brix. Now all the Sauvignon Blanc is perfectly ripe at about 23.5 degrees Brix. We should have it all in the winery by Saturday.

We think there will be a bit of a lull until the end of next week. Then we should be picking the Viognier and Muscat Blanc. We think a few of the smaller Pinot Noir vineyards will be ready to come in as well. We will probably be crushing and pressing all at once! We expect the harvest crew will be going full force starting next week. Time for the office to bring you guys/gal lunch, no?

In terms of yield, the Sauvignon Blanc came in exactly on target at 5.5 tons per acre. And "on target" almost never happens. Go figure. Are we in for that "normal" vintage that we keep waiting for?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with a visiting wine writer and her photographer husband from the UK (remind me to come back in my next life as a wine writer. She has been all over the world...drinking wine. That is my kind of life). We tasted the fermenting (almost done) Sauvignon Blanc juice we brought in last week, straight from the tank. Really great flavors and incredible acidity. I asked Jason about it today and apparently that block is the "acidity" component of our Sauvignon Blanc. It came in around 20 brix. The grapes we are harvesting this week are the Musqué clone, which is even more aromatic and flavorful then the grapes we brought in last week. I can't wait to try it.

Fire and Smoke Taint in Grapes

2009-08-19T11:38:00-08:00

The Lockeed Fire in the Bonny Doon area of the Santa Cruz Mountains has me thinking about smoke taint in grapes. The fire has been raging for over a week (it’s close to being contained, thankfully) and even though we are located more in the valley, the skies are smoky. I am certainly not worried about our Estate Vineyard—the fire is definitely too far away. However, our Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vineyards in the Mountains may be affected.

Last year there were a ton of fires all over the state. We even had the Hummingbird Fire right here on property. Thankfully, nothing was damaged and the wines so far show no smoke taint. The wind was blowing the other way…and there was very little smoke in our valley here.

Others are not so lucky. I was talking to a winemaker from a Mendocino winery (Mendocino was hit with fire pretty hard last year) a few weeks ago and he is basically considering throwing out an entire lot of 2008 wine. He said that it smells and tastes like an ashtray. He was trying reverse osmosis and all kinds of other flavor profile types of things to try and fix it, but was not seeing much success. That is scary to me. Because if you throw away the wine you lose the vintage. Of course the revenue is important as well, but if the wine is something that is sold in the broad market—and all of a sudden the winery is out for a year? What do you think happens to all those wine list, byt the glass and retail shelf placements? GONE. And then when the next vintage actually becomes available—it’s like starting all over. However, on the other hand, if the subpar wine is bottled, the damage to a brand could be catastrophic.

The fires in 2008 were definitely more substantial then they have been this year. Last year, it felt like the whole state was on fire for 2 months. The fires this year seemed to come later in the growing season (post verasion and closer to harvest vs. prime time cluster development in 2008).

In any case, fire is devastatingly scary…..and our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by the Lockheed Fire this year. I remember the long night our family had last year when the Hummingbird Fire was burning through the hills right across from the winery. We had no information and the roads were closed. Tom, facilities manager to the stars, actually got past the road block and hiked in around midnight to check on the building. We were very fortunate.

The Grapes are Coming

2009-08-12T14:08:15-08:00

A quick update from Jason, one of our superstar Assistant Winemakers.

We think harvest is going to start with Sauvignon Blanc grapes coming in maybe as soon as next week (if this heat holds up).

Jason is discussing here what the production team is doing now and until the grapes start coming in.

PR Back in the Day vs. Now

2009-07-17T10:41:00-08:00

Last night I had the opportunity to meet up with a couple of wine bloggers at Nectar Wine Bar in San Francisco. It was one of those nights where when you go out in the city at first its summer...and by the end of the night it was winter. But I miss SF and cool places like Nectar (lived in the city for 7 years pre babies). However, I digress....

My PR agency, the awesome Benson Marketing Group, suggested that I do a meet and greet with some local wine bloggers....to get the CLC name and wines out there (really an ongoing, never ending quest to build a brand). I have been working with my family winery for over 10 years now, but prior to this job (not really a job anymore as it is a LIFE), I used to work at a PR agency. Up until last night, I felt like I had a handle on how the media and PR works. Granted I was an Account Manager for software, networking and other high tech stuff that I really didn’t care at all about. And wine is much more fun. But it got me thinking about how different things are when working with journalists and writers then it was “back in the day.”

-Liza (from wwwbrixchicks.com) was tweeting and posting pictures throughout the evening. So basically, we were broadcast live via her twitter. Melanie (from CLC) and I also posted pics and tweeted. Sarah, our fearless PR rep from Benson tweeted too. Back in the day, the meeting would happen, I would follow up with said writer and then we would wait. And follow up. And wait. Weekly pubs were good, cause the client would see immediate (within a week or so) results from the meeting. But monthly long leads. Ugh….3-4 months later sometimes before we would see anything. Twitter has changed all that, making everything LIVE. And ANYONE can tweet, not just the journalist. And immediately after the meet and greet, Amy from www.cookingwithamy.com posted something about us on her Twitter.

-A full story about the wines, me, the winery, with pictures was posted by midnight last night by Liza (http://www.brixchicks.com/2009/07/nectar-and-hummingbirds-review-of-clos.html). Back in the day, I would follow up, a photographer would come out (if the story was slated to run) and then we would once again WAIT. There is no waiting anymore! It was kinda cool to wake this morning and see the Google Alert on my Blackberry about Liza’s story.

-This is comparing apples and oranges—but the wine industry is so much more fun than high tech was back then (although with social networking, Apple and other cool companies, I think high tech is a lot more fun now then in 1999). We sat around at a fun wine bar, drank wine, ate truffled popcorn and cheese and just chatted. There was no powerpoint presentation, no demos, no stress. Having a glass of wine with other people that also like wine. That’s pretty much how the evening went.

-One thing will always remain the same…..never count on the media to show up until they walk in the door. As a young PR pup, I would schedule meetings for press tours with clients, invite them to various events and schedule phone interviews. Inevitably, people would be no shows. Last night, we had 6 people confirmed to come and 2 showed. I know how it is…things come up (I have two kids….things are ALWAYS coming up). But in PR, at least one thing will always remain the same. No matter how much I or my PR folks follow up, there will always be media no-shows. Once, when I was on a press tour in New York with a networking client (back in the day), my client was so excited about a meeting with a big wig at Fortune Magazine. And I was psyched to even get the meeting! We schlepped all the way to midtown from an analyst’s office in Soho. Got up to the office and turns out he was on vacation. Ugh, that was not fun. And then we had two hours till our next meeting. So I got to go sit at coffee with my pissed off client trying to explain what happened (I still don’t know what happened). I think I fu**ed something up big time. Probably explains why I am no longer employed by such agency.

PR is a never ending process. Someone on the agency side once told me that Public Relations is like a garden….you plant the seeds and watch them grow. But it always needs careful tending. Sounds kinda cheesey, but it resonates a little. It’s a never ending process and one that has become a lot more work lately. If I can make every meeting like last night—fun, laid back, quick (positive) results—then I am happy to take care of the garden.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

2009-07-13T15:55:00-08:00

As the old song says, breaking up is hard to do. We recently broke up with a distributor. For the last 8 years, we have been distributed by Regal Wine Company in the state of California ( huge portion of our overall business). In July, we made a change to Southern Wine and Spirits—the American Wine and Spirits division.

There are a number of business reasons why we made the change at this time. But what I have been thinking about is how changing wholesalers is really like breaking up with someone. Over 8 years, we made some great relationships with the sales people and management at Regal. And when we made the decision to leave….well, there is a strange awkwardness now with our former pals. Some won’t even talk to us—which is understandable, since some of the salespeople’s livelihoods comes from selling our wine. But business is business….it’s never personal. And we had to do what we did in order to keep Clos LaChance’s brand sustainable and growing according to plan.

The wholesaler-winery relationship is a weird one and hard to understand unless you are in the business. When I first started with CLC 10 years ago, there was much more of a “kiss up” mentality from the wholesaler to the supplier (winery/me). I was wined and dined and told all these wonderful things about what said wholesaler (I’m talking about wholesalers in general, not Regal or Southern at this time) could do for our brand. Sometimes their promises were fulfilled, sometimes not. But the love was there. Always.

These days, the tables have totally turned. There has been so much consolidation of wholesalers across the country—and a huge boom in the number of wineries and brands—both in California and Internationally (competition…at lower price points!!) Before a wholesaler will even consider taking on our brand there needs to be proof in the pudding. Numbers, media reviews, sales incentives, winery sales people and sales dollars available. We are fortunate to have a top-tier private golf course right next to us…which has been a draw for wholesalers and accounts (they ALL play golf…. I need to get better at that game…..would love to spend the day outside golfing vs. at my desk, well blogging.) But now we need to show the love. Which I am happy to do—it’s just an interesting dichotomy to ponder.

I will miss a lot of the people we have worked with at Regal. They were a good company and helped us a lot. But the future looks bright. I look forward to all my new soon to be friends at Southern and American. We have been there only for two weeks so far—and the sales people are genuinely excited to be working with the Clos LaChance brand.

Yep, breaking up sucks. But new relationships are exciting, thrilling and something to look forward to.

Social Media and Friday FUN

2009-06-03T15:03:00-08:00

So the big buzz word in the wine world these days is Social Media. Everyone is curious, everyone wants in, some people get it….and some people don’t. Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, MySpace, Snooth….there are a ton of social media outlets to participate in on the wine side of things. But these things all take time and resources, so CLC’s strategy has been to pick a couple and focus. The two we chose to work with, for now, are Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook is interesting….Clos LaChance has a group, a fan page and is set up as a person (which I think we may have to change soon….I believe that is against the rules.) We probably have access to about 900 people via those individual channels on Facebook. And pretty much everyone that works here has a personal Facebook page. When we have something to say or something is going on….it’s easy to get the word out via Facebook. The winery updates its page for friends and fans. Everyone who works here updates their page via status updates or posts. It’s incredible the amount of people that can be reached via Facebook with just a few taps on a keyboard. In January, we had a cellar sale that we promoted pretty much only through Facebook and our email list. We had a record breaking (by FAR) weekend. We haven’t done much with Facebook ads, yet. It’s next on the always growing list.

Twitter is still an animal we are trying to tackle. There is so much going on with Twitter, it’s hard to keep up. People are twittering about wine, wineries, food pairings, events and more. We are pretty excited for a big event we are doing this Friday night called Twitter Taste Live. People can all get online from 4-7 (PST) and join us in tasting three wines—the 2008 Glittering-Throated Emerald Chardonnay, the 2007 Crimson Topaz Meritage and the 2006 Ruby-Throated Cabernet Sauvignon. You can do it from home….or come to the winery. Melanie Gameng, our Social Media Superstar and former Princess of Fun, has been working hard all week to throw a great party.

Follow any of us from CLC on Twitter at:

ClosLaChance / Melanie Gameng	Direct Sales & Marketing Manager
closlachance1 / Bill Murphy	CEO & Co-Founder
winer_cmd / Cheryl Durzy	Vice President of Sales & Marketing
DomtheSomm / Dominic Tufo	Senior Director of Hospitality/ Estate Sommelier

ClosLabRat / Erica OBrien	Assistant Winemaker & Enologist
JasonRobideaux / Jason Robideaux	Assistant Winemaker & Production Manager
Winereview / Lain Bradford Wine	Co-Host

For more information about TTL, please visit www.winetalk.org, www.closlachance.com/ttl, www.tastelive.com

Associations

2009-05-06T14:52:00-08:00

Outside of wine, I have only worked in one other industry—high tech. So I don’t have a lot of other outside industry knowledge to compare—but I am constantly amazed at the number of wine industry associations that are out there and that we are a part of.

First there are the regional associations. We are members of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association and the Wineries of the Santa Clara Valley. These organizations are important to us for two main reasons.

1. They are primarily focused on getting attention and recognition for their particular region—and therefore attract visitors and buyers to the winery. Sell, sell sell!

2. It is a great way to get to know your fellow local winemakers. One thing that I have found to be really cool in the wine industry is that people are very interested in talking about how they made something. People discuss the grapes they used, the barrels, the fermentation methods, the ageing techniques. They also share stories about accounts and distributors (good and bad) and even certain customers that are “memorable.” There are very few secrets in this part of the world—and the a-hole to non-a-hole ratio is pretty good. I would say 2/100. Most people are in this industry because they love it and are passionate. They want to be here vs. HAVE to be here.

We used to be members ofMonterey County Vintners Association when we had a tasting room in Cannery Row, but have since dropped out since the tasting room closed. But every winemaking region has a Regional Association. The Napa Valley Vintners Association, Livermore, Sonoma, Oregon, Long Island etc. I would venture to say that if there are wineries in an area, there is bound to be an association close by.

Then you have the California winery associations. The Wine Institute and Family Winemakers are the two we are really active with. Both of these are very important in terms of lobbying in Washington on behalf of wineries. They also offer marketing opportunities in the form of tastings, International support and compliance advice. There’s also Free the Grapes, which has been instrumental in opening up the direct shipping channel for wineries all over the country—therefore increasing sales and customers overall.

Then there are the consumer organizations. These are often broken down by varietal or category of wine: Zinfandel Advocates and Producers and Rhône Rangers are two that we are involved in. But there are so many more: PS I Love You (Petite Sirah), RAP (Rosé), Sweet and Fortified Wine Association, Cal Italia, Women for Wine Sense to name a few.

So how does one breakthrough all the noise and decide what to be involved with? Honestly, it’s hard. We want to reach as many customers as possible….and each group caters to a different audience. However, it costs money to join these organizations—and time to attend the meetings, pour at the tastings and maybe do some actually work if you get involved on a board or a committee.

Sometimes it’s really overwhelming. And we have discovered that it is not really worth being a member of an organization unless we can dedicate the time to be involved. So being the good delegator that I am, I dole these organizations up amongst everyone here. My dad is really involved in the Wine Institute, I do the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers and Free the Grapes stuff, Dominic is part of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley and Melanie is involved with ZAP. It’s good networking for all of us and keeps any one person from becoming overwhelmed. We still have a few more we need to get moving on. There are a few other groups that we are members of—but don’t actively participate in.

I wonder if at the big wineries there is an actual position of “Winery Associate Liaison” or something of the sort. Wouldn’t it make sense to have one person leveraging every possible opportunity? And what a good job to have! Go to tastings and promote the winery, go to meetings and meet wineries (and drink wine…cause at every meeting, it is pretty much mandatory to bring a bottle to share). But not as good as the 10K per month to twitter about wine for Murphy-Goode.

There are so many types of wine related groups that I haven’t even mentioned here….grape growing, winemaking, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants etc. It’s incredible. But the power of 100 voices vs. 1 is much more impactful….it’s just a matter of figuring out which ones work for our business.

Take the Time to Notice the Creatures

2009-04-10T16:12:06-08:00

So yesterday our email, phone and cell service all went down for 18 hours thanks to this yahoo. It was a little surreal being completely out of touch, but kind of nice. I got some deep thinking done—made some decisions about production planning and cleaned out my desk a little.

We also went out to lunch as a group—which never happens. Since the winery is 10-15 minutes from restaurants and take-out food places, most of the time we all bring our lunch and eat here. Don’t get me wrong—I love our lunchtime here. We all eat together and talk about the topic of the day—movies, stupid people, bodily functions (don’t ask), Dominic’s passion of the month etc.

So on the way out to lunch, I made Claudia stop the car—cause in the vineyard there were four HUGE turkeys. Two male and two hens. It was really cool. Of course we don’t want to see turkeys in the vineyard when there are grapes on the vines—they eat them. But the shoots are just starting to grow on the vines right now…so no harm, no FOWL. But there was something really surreal about these huge birds just walking up and down the rows.

I wonder sometimes if I don’t notice these types of things on a regular basis because half the time I am driving in and out of the winery I am looking at my Blackberry (yikes) or dialing my husband to let him know when I will be home. Did the cell service being down cause me to take the time and look around these gorgeous surroundings?

We discussed this a little in the car on the way back from lunch and then started listing some of the other creatures that we see around here, outside of the turkeys.

-White Herons
-Blue Herons (saw a huge one yesterday right near the turks)
-Magpies, really pretty black and white birds.
-Deer (thankfully on the OTHER side of the fence)
-We have a few ducks that come back to the ponds every year to have their babies.
-Turkey Vultures (that’s how we know something is dead on the road)
-Brown eagle (we have one that come back every year in the summer. Its wingspan is HUGE.
-Mountain lion (one time when Bill was driving out at night, there was a dark colored mountain lion creeping beside his car on the road. We have only had that one sighting though).
-Hummingbirds. Tons of hummingbirds. Of course.
-Another type of bird that is black and red. Not sure what kind it is.
-Rattlesnakes. The baby ones are scary.
-Tarantulas. The guys like to bring them into the office to freak us all out. Ugh. So gross.

Supposedly there are some wild pigs in the hills too.

I hope I can continue to take time to enjoy the surroundings in which I work every day. I am lucky to have 100 acres of vines and gorgeous views just from my office window. Hopefully it doesn’t take another outage for me to appreciate it.

A New Crop?

2009-04-03T13:50:20-08:00

“Contrary to popular belief, Clos LaChance is not in the business of growing weeds.”
Bill Murphy, Founder and CEO, Clos LaChance Winery
April 2, 2009

Why the statement from the big boss at our weekly company meeting? We have some weeds in the vineyard that are growing over the vines. We’ve noticed them, and most importantly our guests have noticed them…and asked what the heck is going on.

Vineyard Manager Ben Scorsur explained that he really tries to shoot for only one herbicide application before Spring. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. A vineyard is always a work in progress. Ben and his team are constantly dialing in best practices and applications.

This year, the weeds came up a little early. So we have some big (5 feet tall) weeds. No big deal. The guys are spraying as we speak (we have seen budbreak out there….so we don’t want the vines to have to compete for nutrients and water in the soil now that they are awake) and they will burn down (from the herbicide) in a few weeks.

But reducing our applications of herbicides to one pass instead of two is important to note. Less chemicals, reduced man hours, less tractor emissions and soil impaction from the tractor passes. It’s all part of our quest to be more sustainable as a company.

Gone are the days of vineyards with perfectly manicured rows without a weed in sight. Weeds grow on bare earth, unless you continually scorch it with chemicals. So what we want is grasses and plants that are beneficial to grape growing….and encourage them to grow on bare earth vs. spraying a bunch of chemicals on the ground. For example, legumes are a natural way to increase the nitrogen levels in the soil.

So if you come to Clos LaChance this Spring—and you most definitely should (this weekend we are excited for our Odd Bottle Sale), don’t dis our crop of weeds. Ultimately, they are helping the environment. Function over form-who cares how the vineyard looks...let's just grow some good grapes!

Really?

2009-03-23T13:47:00-08:00

The news about the EU’s recent decision to ban certain terms from US imports got me thinking about Seth Meyers from "Saturday Night Live." He has a segment in the news called “Really? With Seth Meyers.” If you haven’t seen it before, check it out here:

Obviously this affects Clos LaChance. Technically, the Euro have banned the term "Clos" (means closed in area). And Chateau (means castle), and a bunch of others like classic, sur-lie, late-bottled, noble, superior, vintage and ruby.

Really?

A little background about why this makes me, as a US wine producer, just a little ticked off. I have tried to sell wine in the EU. The taxes on US wines are insane. Basically the price at least doubles once you get the wine there and on the shelf. Every deal we have done in the EU, we came down significantly on price. And we have also had to put on special labels....more materials and labor costs for us. Our margins barely break even. Over the last couple of years we have given up on the European market and focused on friendlier export territories like Asia and Canada.

Don't get me wrong, I totally get the sense of place in Europe. There is nothing like drinking Riesling in Germany, Pinot Noir in Burgundy and Soave in Venice. Eating and drinking locally allows one to experience the true culture of a region.

However, how would Old World wine producers be effected if Americans started having that isolationist attitude here in the US? Come on guys, let's make things as difficult for them as it is for us. Our consumption of wine per capita is growing significantly every year. France, for example, is going down (their new President is not a fan of the drink.) We have the power people!

All these recession news reports have been telling me that the alcohol industry hasn&rsquot been affected that much. Makes sense. People drink to relax, let loose a little and forget their troubles. Nothing wrong with that.

Want to make a little extra dough US government? Start taxing imports the same way they tax us trying to get our wine into the EU. France for example, ships a sea of wine to the US every year. I would even venture to say they would be kinda screwed without the US market (well, most wine producing countries would). Charge an equal percentage of tariffs or taxes or whatever they call it. Protect the US's home grown goods a little. It's hard for us to compete.....especially with labor and land prices in places like Australia, Chile, South Africa and Argentina. I can't tell you how many placements I lose to wines from these areas because it&rsquos just cheaper to make similar quality stuff.

Recently California wanted to raise the excise taxes by 400% on wines produced here in California and sold in California. Really? Why not slap those taxes on the French, Italians, Germans, Spanish, Australians, Chileans, South Africans, Argentineans and anyone else who is trying to bring wine in to compete with our locally grown wines? It didn't pass....but if it did, California wine prices in CALIFORNIA would have increased significantly. Really?

So, consider this an open letter to whomever is making the deals with the EU and this whole wine term debacle. Realize you are in a position of power. Tell those Frenchies that if they want to ban the term "classic" or "Clos" on a wine label then you can't use it on your labels that are shipped over here. In addition, raise some money for our country, encourage people to drink US, and tax them how they tax us.

Really EU? You want to complain about words that are considered commonplace amongst winemakers all over the WORLD? I totally get the reason why you want to protect "Burgundy" and "Chablis"and "Champagne." Same reason we want to protect Napa Valley and the rockin' Santa Cruz Mountains. But come on vintage? Really? Classic? Really? Ruby? (means we can't sell our Ruby-Throated Cabernet in the EU). Really?

What to Believe?

2009-03-02T14:32:53-08:00

I try to live a healthy lifestyle—I eat pretty healthy, I exercise almost every day and I drink in moderation (most of the time). However, I dread filling out doctors’ office forms—the ones that ask how much alcohol and how often I drink. When I check “daily” for how often, the doctor usually raises an eyebrow and asks a few questions, followed by a lecture about binge drinking.

Like most people I know, I have a glass of wine pretty much every day. During the week, I drink usually just one glass of wine with dinner. On the weekends it ends up being two or three. Add that up…that’s five glasses on weekdays and four to six on Fridays and Saturdays. My maximum average consumption (outside of special occasions) is 11 glasses a week. A little less than three bottles (I pour approximately 4 glasses to a bottle). Not too bad right?

In 1991, the French Paradox story aired on 60 Minutes. Red wine sales boomed and the health benefits of wine in moderation were the talk of the town. Other health benefits of wine have since emerged, including:

-Women wine drinkers have fewer kidney stones
-Moderate Wine consumption reduces risk of stroke
-Studies link moderate alcohol usage to life longevity
-Drinking wine can reduce chance of upper digestive tract cancers
-Anti-oxidants in wine can reduce the occurrence of cancer in general
-Moderate wine drinkers have a lower chance of getting diabetes

(click here for an interesting summary of the aforementioned studies—compiled by a wine shop in New Jersey)

So this is great news, right? Wine is healthy and everyone should drink a glass a day for a longer life without strokes, cancer and diabetes. Well, then this came out last week: a study saying that just one drink a day actually increases the risk of cancer in women.

So now there are opposing studies….one says that wine decreases risk of cancer, the other says it increases the risk in women.

Being in PR and knowing a little bit about how the media and news stories work—these “health benefits” or “health risks” stories always intrigue me. I am sure the reports are very complex….discussing the test group vs. the control group, taking socio-economics into consideration, age groups, etc. But journalists have to fit the results of a giant report into a one or two column article. So they tend to leave out things about how the research was done and just focus on the sensational headline and reactions to it. Or they write their story based on the press release from the research facility—which essentially does the same.

I feel the same way about the positive articles about wine consumption as I do about the negative ones. Skeptical. Who funded the research project? How were the test subjects chosen? How were the test subjects surveyed? How were the results compiled? What was the duration of the project? It seems like every week there is a news article about one thing or another being bad or good for us. I would just hope that people question these things and do their own research before jumping on any type of mass hysteria bandwagon.

It has now come out that the one drink a day research was flawed. Among other things, the questionnaires asked about weekly consumption and then divided by 7, vs. asking about daily consumption. If someone averages 7 drinks a week, but they were all consumed in one or two sittings, then that is bad for the heart, the liver and a bunch of other things.

In any case, risk or no risk, I will continue to drink in moderation. For me, life without good wine and good food isn’t really living.

Almost Famous

2009-02-20T16:28:00-08:00

I went to see a movie this week. In the context of the movie, one character was having another character Google destination winery weddings in Napa Valley. It got me thinking about product placements and “Hollywood” types of exposure for wineries.

Product placements in movies have only become really popular in the last ten years—and now they are becoming blatantly obvious. The Sex and the City movie had about 10 different shots of Starbucks and Smart Water, to name a few. But with the rising costs of production, I am sure that these well-placed “ads” help defray some of the expenses (Sarah Jessica Parker’s fee, perhaps??)

I always look hard when I see a movie at wine labels. Most are hard to decipher…but there is one clear stand out that is immediately recognizable: Clos du Val’s light brown label with the white script swirls. Over the past 5 years or so, Clos Du Val has been in tons of movies and television shows. However, I do wonder if the expense and effort to get into all these movies was worth it. Amongst wine people, the label is most certainly recognizable. But I think that is a small minority of the general movie-going population, especially considering some of the programming—“In Her Shoes” and “Joey” to name a few. Although they were also in “Fever Pitch,” which as a Red Sox and Jimmy Fallon fan, I LOVE that movie.

When I look deep down inside though, I am definitely jealous of Clos du Val and all their Hollywood connections. I would love for Clos LaChance to have some kind of celebrity encounter. There have been a couple brushes with fame over the years:

We had a taping of a reality show here called “Married By America.” This is pretty D-list in terms of the show, it was really, really cheesy. And the segment never even aired. The premise of the show was that 14 pairs of two complete strangers got engaged. One ends up winning a wedding at the end plus 200K or something like that. The couple that came to the winery for their “date” were so NOT into each other at all. It was kind of comical. The production crew was awesome though. They had just come off of the Bachelor shoot….working with Andy Firestone (another big Winery promotional gig).
We once got word from a friend of a friend of Ron Howard’s that he was a big fan of our Merlot. That was thrilling for me because I am a HUGE fan of Arrested Development, his now defunct TV show. But I heard its coming back in a movie. Hey Ron, if you are out there, we would love to do a product placement in the movie. Maybe Gob can make a bottle disappear to the sounds of “The Final Countdown.” That show NEVER should have been cancelled.
Our Southern California Account Specialist was in a restaurant selling one afternoon and sat right next to Hillary Swank. Since all of our sales people are very social people, she struck up a conversation and got her to taste our Pinot. We then sent her a few bottles.
Bode Miller stopped by the winery after a round of golf last summer. He was super cute but not very talkative. We are all skiers in our family, so it was pretty cool to meet an Olympian.
We sponsored the LA screening of “The Departed.” It was a little slow in terms of celeb being at the actual event…as most of them attended the New York screening the week before. I couldn’t go (it was my son’s birthday), but my sister Kristin went. She did have a Leo DiCaprio sighting. He was also supposedly drinking our Merlot.

Over the years, we have had rumors of other possible celeb drive-bys or connections to our winery/brand. I have learned to not get excited about them until I actually see it happen. But if anyone out there who is reading this is somewhat famous, please do contact us for, well, we’ll probably give you pretty much anything.

A picture of the Married By America Couple, Jennifer and Xavier.

Wine Marketing 101: An Open Letter to The Trade

2009-02-11T15:33:38-08:00

~~Surviving~~ Growing in a down market.

In over a quarter of a century of sales/marketing for small to medium sized California wineries, I have experienced numerous market fluctuations/recessions. I have never had a down sales year, and actually have often seen bigger than expected increases in tough economic times. There are several reasons I attribute to attaining growth:

The wine industry is somewhat resistant to bad economic times. People seem to drink more, but often trade down. This presents you with the perfect time to establish greater margin products in your portfolio. People will be moving away from their “standard ,“ that they have been purchasing in “good times,” and looking for direction in trying something new at a lower price. This opportunity to establish yourself and your company is seldom witness to so willing a customer for change.

Many competitors look to do business as usual. They often look for a quick fix. Dropping prices and margins moves boxes, but does nothing for the future of the brand and its image. Being progressive and looking to the opportunities this type of market condition offers the greatest growth potential.

Be positive, what brings us out of this often is led by those who aggressively seek to grow rather than contract. They emerge faster and stronger, with greater positioning for when the market expands.

Compete in the right place (categories, price points, trends), at the right time. Establish for your company a new market footprint. Pursuing the same old is not a recipe for success. Typically a good portion of your sales increase percentage over the previous year is achieved through new products and new focus. This is an ever changing/evolving process that requires constant evaluation and re-evaluation.

Here are some observations to reflect on and to use to your advantage:

Mass production wineries will look to big deals to make numbers. This erodes the market price point for their brand on and off premise. Panic mode seems to set in. The big deal you buy into now, is often followed by an even bigger deal that your competitor down the street will buy into. You are then stuck with large inventory of a product that your competitors have a price advantage on you.

Consumers will be looking for more/better. They will seek out value. True there is a comfort level associated with mass production wines; however consumer brand loyalty is now less important to your bottom line than customer loyalty. Promoting brands that are not available everywhere is a key to establishing better customer relationships.

Value/perceived value: A small production wine has an intriguing story to tell the consumer. This perceived value to the consumer involves getting more for the same $’s. Whether the alternative to the mass production wine is a limited production/single vineyard/estate bottled/ hand harvested/organic/sustainable, these all offer the consumer more than the usual.

Explore, expand and promote hot new categories/trends that are experiencing growth. These include Organic/Sustainable wines, Unoaked Chardonnay, blends, appellations, and countries. Less “manipulated” wines can also offer opportunity; hand-picked, unfined, unfiltered, estate bottled, single vineyard. A more natural approach to winemaking.

Look to re-align your selection and inventory. As the consumer trades down, key price points become more important and greater diversity in that range is the way to achieve growth. The consumer will be looking to move away from what was their regular wine in good times, to something new @ a lower price. This is your opportunity to steer them towards wines that offer you higher margin. Higher end sku’s need to be replaced by those that will see movement, turn and greater margin %.

Brands that are limited in production offer better margin potential, and less of a chance to your being exposed to the customer as having a higher price on a specific item than your competitors.

Interaction with your customers is now more important than ever. They will look to you for direction and guidance. Let them know that you are there to assist them in their search for their new standard. Being prepared to offer them alternatives, accompanied by thought out reasons and options is an integral part of building customer loyalty.

Flat doesn’t have to be the new up for everyone. Good Selling !

Smelly Dog

2009-02-04T14:14:14-08:00

Last Friday, my parents were coming back from a trip out of town. My sister and I were asked to pick up their dog, Amber, at the kennel and bring her to the winery for the day. Amber—the most spoiled dog ever—was grateful when we picked her up, much preferring my mother's high-thread count sheets and comforter as her bed vs. anything they might have at the kennel.

So Kristin and I were carpooling that day and went to pick up Amber, like the good, obedient daughters we are. On the drive down 101, we noticed Amber was getting a little gassy. We didn't think much of it...she's an older dog, and well, who doesn't get gassy every once in awhile?

Things started going awry when we were going down 101, right about at the airport. Amber wasn't just a little gassy. She was VERY gassy. Audibly gassy. Disturbingly smelly gassy. . We opened the windows, laughed a little and felt bad for Amber, whose tummy was obviously hurting. We figured once we got to the winery she would “do her business” and be done with it.

That was NOT the case. I won’t go into detail about her “business” but it wasn’t pretty. She came back in the winery, tail between her legs, looking very sad. It was awful. The entire office smelled really, really bad. Someone even went home sick. I was trying to do some tasting of new releases for some marketing materials and ugh, that couldn’t happen.

That night, after depositing Amber back at my parents’ house, a few CLC’ers went to a Happy Hour thing. I had a glass of cheap chardonnay (Mexican Restaurant) then a beer, then a nicer glass of wine when I got home. All of it was grossing me out. Nothing tasted or smelled good. Even my dinner that night was unappetizing. And I always inhale any type of Mexican food.

This got me thinking—about branding and consumer experiences. How something completely out of a marketers control ( a dog’s smelly ass) can have such a profound effect on how someone experiences a product. I consider myself pretty aware of these things—having been in the wine business for some time now. However the average, or even above average consumer, probably does not realize that if you take a big whiff of skunk before you drink a glass of Syrah, that it was the skunky smell that caused it to be so unappetizing, not necessarily the wine. Same thing with food and wine pairing. Mix the wrong wine with a certain dish and blech. It tastes terrible.

With the thousands and thousands of different wine brands out there, what exactly is brand loyalty in this business? And when is it engrained in the consumer? After the first sip/glass/bottle? After the first 5 good experiences? It differs for everyone, but I would imagine that for the majority of consumers out there is that the first impression of a wine is a key moment. And that moment is so defined by many things that are out of a marketer’s control. I feel very different about the wine I was drinking when I broke up with a boyfriend vs. the one I was drinking when I got engaged.

I guess that’s why we have such a beautiful place here at Clos LaChance—so we can trick everyone into having a great time and thinking our wine is the best ever! (tongue in cheek here).

Anyways, this is a little rambling—I think my brain is still suffering from the effects of Amber. She is much better this week. Thanks for asking.

The Fallout

2009-01-23T16:13:37-08:00

Last weekend we had a 5-day Cellar Cleaning Sale. Wines were going from $3 to $7 a bottle, plus a few odds and ends of some old vintages we got back from our distributor. The wines that were selling for $3-$7 were left over private label wines from a few clients we are no longer doing business with. Most were Clos LaChance juice under a different label. However, the retail prices were anywhere from $14.99-$19.99.

We initially brought over 300 or so cases of various items. We sold about 90% of it on Thursday from 5-8pm. Yikes! Who knew it would be that successful?? On Friday we put a truck together (all of our case goods are stored off-site at California Wine Transport in San Jose) of another 1000 cases. On Monday, another truck! It was incredible the amount of people here and the wine we went through.

It was funny on Friday. We open at 11am. I was sitting in the conference room having a meeting. From the conference room, there is a window looking out to the walkway and gardens leading into the front door. At about 10:30am, people started showing up. It was a steady stream into the tasting room right from the start.

If you were here at some point over the long weekend (especially Saturday), we apologize if our customer service was not up to par. It was an absolutely zoo on Saturday….and we were totally unprepared for it.

We have now had a few days (Dominic and Cindy have taken some time off to regroup) and we are sifting through the fallout that was our Cellar Sale. A few of the things we have learned:

Overstaff. Especially with schleppers….people that can carry lots of 40lb boxes to and fro.
Never underestimate the power of grassroots marketing. We did not advertise this event at all outside of our own resources. We mentioned something about it in our email newsletter in December, without a specific date. About two weeks beforehand, we sent out another email newsletter, this time being specific about the date. We put it on our Facebook pages. We Twittered about it. The week of we sent out a few update emails to our local list. And we had the biggest weekend in terms of incoming dollars and visitors we have ever had. Ever. By far!
People are looking for a deal. The economy sucks big time…but people are still drinking, and they are drinking wine. They are looking for a deal and are willing to stock up on something that is considered value priced.
Be a little more organized in terms of logistics. Taste and sell the wine in the Tasting Room. Physically deliver the wine to cars on the truck dock. Should make things a lot easier.
Have a POS System that works (of all weekends, ours had to crash at the most inopportune time)
Inventory after the Cellar Sale was so off it wasn’t even funny. And its taking a lot to time to fix. But it was worth it to move some wines that needed to be moved. Not that these were bad wines…the reds especially were very, very good.

We will do the Cellar Sale again at some point in the future. Next time, our Wine Club members will have time to go through the wines before we open it up to the public. And we will be more organized.

Were you at the cellar sale? Any thoughts to share? Here is blogger David Tong’s tasting notes of a few wines we sold at the Cellar Sale.

The Company Meeting

2009-01-13T16:58:49-08:00

We concluded our Annual Company Meeting on Friday, after two days of meetings, presentations, tastings and dinners. It was actually a lot of fun. We have a really good group of people working here right now....in the office, the vineyards, the winery and the field.

We came to a number of conclusions this year....with the most obvious being that the economy really sucks. Most of our presentations were geared to how we were going to get revenue to where it needs to be while cutting back on pretty much everything. We seem to be in a good spot with our pricepoints in the Hummingbird Series. Our Estate and Special Select Wines--unfortuantely it is not a good time to be introducing these to the broad market. With prices of $30 and above, our distributors are very wary, no matter what the quality. But our volumes are such that we can keep these in the Tasting Room and the Wine Club.

We also talked about what is working....and what is not. We have some great Syrah from our Estate Vineyard. We all love it, the critics love it. It just doesn't sell. So we are cutting back on it, selling some juice, selling some grapes. Same story with Rose. I love it. I personally drink 4-5 cases myself in the summer, minimum. It just doesn't sell. I remember a few years ago being in the market around April/May and all anyone can talk about is Rose and how it is the next big thing, Think Pink, RAP, etc. If it is the next big thing, I am just not seeing it. So we will probably be doing away with Rose. It is just so difficult to get distributors to take on additional SKU's in their book. I would rather use that valuable line item with a year round product. Any Rose that is hanging around in October is very difficult to sell.

It is so important to get everyone together at least on an annual basis. We have 4 full time employees that live all around the country in their respective markets. They have their fingers on the pulse of the local market and trends. We need to hear from them and they in turn need to know all that is going on here. And to taste the wines we have coming up.

Good wines that I tasted last week: surprisingly the 2007 Hummingbird Series Merlot ROCKED my world. it was fantastic. And I am not a fan of Merlot. I also liked the 2008 Unoaked ET Chardonnay and the 2007 Biagni Chardonnay were stand-outs in the white category. And, as always, the Viognier. Yumm.

Here is a picture of everyone together. Thanks for a great meeting. I learned a lot....and had some fun doing it.

Top Row: Plamen, Dimitar, Dominic, Ben, Clair, Jason, Paige, Ulises, Kevin, Melanie

Bottom Row: Heike, Linda, Tom, Colleen, Erica, Brenda, Cheryl (Me), Kristin, Bill, Stephen, Cher, Cindy, Matt, Frank

Happy New Year

2009-01-07T15:17:37-08:00

It's 2009 and everyone is back in the office and into the full swing of things. We have an all-company meeting (officially dubbed OMAO, or The "Offsite Meeting that is Actually Onsite") taking place tomorrow and Friday, so everyone is hard at work preparing their presentations about 2008 results and plans for 2009.

These meetings are interesting, and as the marketing person for the brand and all the business units, I, of all people, should be paying the closest attention to any updates, changes or anecdotes that I can use throughout the year in whatever it is I am doing. But usually after lunch, it gets harder and harder to pay attention. That's why we have started including a "State of the Winery" Tasting after lunch. We taste through everything we have in the cellar, make group decisions on blends, new products, old products, etc. Its fun and informative all wrapped in a big buzz, especially after 30-40 wines in one sitting.

It certainly makes the OMAO that much more interesting.

The Little Things

2008-12-17T16:53:22-08:00

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last six months, then you are aware we are in the midst of tough economic times. The financial crisis has taken a toll on everyone and Clos LaChance is certainly not immune.

So what are we doing about it? It’s hard to predict what is going to happen with sales for next year. So if we can’t guarantee additional revenue, then there is only one thing left to do: cut expenses

What are we cutting back on as we plan budgets for 2009? Christmas cards, for starters. Between our investors, wine club members, vendors, wholesalers, accounts and growers…we were sending over 500 Christmas cards per year. With the cost of the card, postage, labor to address and stamp them all….we are talking over a grand to get our Christmas cards out. There has got to be a better use of $1,000. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Christmas card from friends and family, with pictures of the kids and updates of where the family traveled (as long as it’s not too braggy). But business Christmas cards…eh, I can leave them.

So this year we did an electronic card. With a custom Christmas Carol. Didn’t get it? Click here. Yours truly wrote the song.

http://www.clos.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category_detail&category_id_int=16082

What else are we cutting back on? On an annual basis, we have two departments that book the most expenses: Production and Sales and Marketing.

On the production side, Mother Nature solved our expense cutting decisions for us. Yields in 2008 were very, very low. We did not pick as many grapes as we expected to, so we are bottling less next year. By not bottling, we save on the costs of the packaging, the transport, the storage. Also on the production side, we purchased more barrels then we needed to in 2008 (again, low yields)—so we will be buying less in 2009.

In addition, we have consolidated a lot of our supplies for labels, bottles, capsules, corks….and are streamlining everything to be as simple and economical as possible. For example—our Vineyard Designate Pinots have traditionally been packaged in heavier, more expensive bottles. The fancy bottles cost A LOT more per case (we were buying very small quantities and they are pricey models), as was the transport because of the extra weight. So we ditched the expensive bottle and are now using the same Burgundy bottle as our regular Pinot Noir.

In addition, we have been re-evaluating all of our outside service contracts (thanks to Tom our Maintenance Supervisor) and made some major changes to our landscaping maintenance and regular deliveries of things like water, linens and doormats. We are saving a ton of money by hiring someone part-time for landscape maintenance and using our own crew vs. hiring an outside gardening service. Next up for review: phones, Internet, fax, cell phones for everyone that has one on the company. Telecommunications is expensive! But I bet we can get a better deal then we are getting right now.

On the Sales and Marketing side, our other major expense category, marketing expenses have been cut in half. Absolutely zero advertising (stop calling me if you are in ad sales), dropping out of a few trade organizations and tastings, and putting a hold on any press events or tours in 2009. However, on the sales side, this is not a good time to scale back. When times get tough, the big suppliers pull out their giant marketing budgets and start flying buyers around the world, giving huge incentives, and selling wine at a giant discount (can you say “2fer?”). So to cut back on my miniscule sales budget—which pretty much includes only salaries, benefits and expenses for 6 people—is not an option. We would be completely ignored by distributors and accounts—who can be easily mesmerized by the flashy things offered by the “big boys.”

There are many more examples of the “little things” that are being done around here to cut expenses. And we are doing them so we don’t have to raise prices or lay people off. Because two of my favorite things in life (outside of my family) are the people I work with and drinking good wine that is not crazy expensive. I also like to combine the two. Bring on the Clos LaChance Christmas Party!

2009 Planning

2008-12-10T11:28:24-08:00

We start planning for 2009 in October, putting together budgets and revenue plans. It’s a nightmare process…with 30 different products at different price points across different channels. Makes my head spin every year. But a necessary exercise.

Monday we had fun planning meetings—production and vineyard. It also make my head spin, because once again I have to predict sales numbers for the bigger ticket items in the Hummingbird Series. But the fun begins when we talk about the little, esoteric things that we can make….exclusively for Tasting Room, Web sales and Wine Club.

Here are a few of the things we discussed.

*Sales of Syrah are tough. Syrah was supposed to be the next big thing, but never really took hold. Did the Aussies flood the market with too much cheap Shiraz? Are people confused by the whole Syrah/Shiraz “mystery?” Over planting? All of this and more has probably caused varietal to never really taking off big. Oh yeah, and Cab is still king when it comes to red wines. So we are going to make more Cab and less Syrah. This means a combination of budding over, selling fruit, selling juice. We will have some Syrah in our portfolio…its damn good from the Estate Vineyard. But less of it.

*The sweet version of our Muscat Blanc is not selling well in the tasting room anymore. We had a good run when we first released it. But that was when we did not have anything else in the sweet category. It’s a low alcohol, a little spritzy, fruity aperitif (Asti Spumante style). Nothing fancy, but a nice, refreshing drink. Now, its competing with Nectar, our late harvest Semillon, and the Zin Port and Late Harvest Zin. And Amber’s Cuvee, our sparkling Blanc de Blanc.

We have one acre of Muscat Blanc. The vines are not strong (might have a virus), so budding over is not really an option. The next step is to find something else to make with the grapes or to pull the entire block of vines and replant. Next year (08 Muscat Blanc has already been made) Stephen, Bill and I discussed making a dry Muscat. I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T-I-N-G. Maybe age some on its lees in the tank? Who knows….but it will be fun doing some trials and coming up with a new product. Muscat is a fun grape cause it tastes like, well, grapes.

*Talking about the Muscat got us discussing the need for another white wine in the Estate or Special Selection category. I need something for the Wine Clubs that is unique and exclusive. And good. We have Chards and a Viognier….I need one more. The dry Muscat has potential to fill that vacancy. But what else could we do?

Stephen and I remembered that we have a couple acres of Marsanne and Roussanne that came on line this year in one of our CK Vines vineyards. What about a white Rhône-style blend, the yin to Lila’s Cuvée red Rhône blend’s yang? And we could call it…AJ’s Cuvée! (Lila’s brother, and my son. Yes, I am biased about the name). Again, can’t wait till we get to the trial process.

None of these things are final until we get the wines and try them in their infancy. Sometimes I wish I worked at Ben and Jerry’s. One day you come up with a new ice cream flavor. A few weeks later, you get to try your big idea. In our case, we have to wait for the fruit, then the ageing process. It can take 1-4 years before a new product is ready. On the other hand, if I worked at Ben and Jerry’s I would undoubtedly be huge. I guess staying in my current position is a good trade-off to fit into my skinny jeans (on most days).

Is your wine at Safeway?

2008-12-01T15:42:00-08:00

I thought I would address a question that we get all the time, in the tasting room, amongst our wine Club members and with potential new restaurant or independent retail accounts that we are pitching. “Your wine is at _______??” (insert Safeway/Vons, Lucky's, Costco). The tone of the voice can often be one of disdain.

My answer to that question is an enthusiastic “Yes!” and then an under my breath “Thank _____.” (insert whatever deity/higher power you believe in).

The signifigance of the grocery chain has grown significantly over the last few years, and is so very, very important, especially in these economic times. Restaurants are struggling as dining out has become a luxury. People are eating in more often and therefore buying more at the grocery store. Grocery stores are doing more to become “one stop shopping” for their customers, expanding their offerings in all categories to include higher end, “gourmet” or “luxury” types of items. For example—I use a shampoo called Pureology—something I could only get at the salon or a special store. Safeway and Target now carries it. Also, specialty and local breads from Watsonville and Santa Cruz is carried at my local Safeway and Costco.

This trend obviously expands into the wine department. About 2 years ago, Clos LaChance was lucky enough to get a meeting with the beverage managers at Safeway. The “Cluster 1 and Cluster 2” (newly remodeled or new stores) stores that have expanded wine sections (with approximately 1,000 different wine SKU’s, no joke) took on three of Clos LaChance’s Hummingbird Series Wines. Those are our best selling wines now—the Zinfandel, the unoaked Chardonnay, and the Cabernet Sauvignon. Not just via Safeway, but through other channels too…restaurants and other wine shops.

In my little control group of 1, I would venture to say that the awareness of those three wines has increased significantly over the last two years because of the exposure at 200+ California Safeways and Vons, among other things. So when I get a restaurant I am pitching that asks if our wines are in the chains, I say yes! And that’s a good thing because now people will recognize our name on a wine list. And those that recognize the name are more likely to order it.

However, the great thing about Clos LaChance is that we also have wines that are not in the chains (because of the small volume) and are only available at the winery or a couple of restaurants/specialty retailers (those that are buying right now, which are not many). So there is something for everyone. Our Estate Syrah, Grenache, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Sauvignon, our Vineyard Designates—the Biagini Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Lila’s Cuvee, etc. I could go on and on. In total, Clos LaChance over 30 different products. Considering Clos LaChance’s total volume (approximately 60,000 cases annually), we are talking about 26 different, small lot (under 500 cases produced annually), artisan-type wines (we have 6 wines that are made inm qantities over 1500 cases).

Having the three wines that we do in the chains helps sell through the other, more expensive products on wine lists or in specialty retail shops. Customers recognize the name and the brand because of our broader distribution. And recognition is half the battle when it comes to marketing Clos LaChance—especially considering that we have 50,000 competitors (there is at least that many wineries in the world….probably a lot more. Couldn’t find an answer to this question online.)

Sometimes the chains offer some pretty amazing deals—especially at this time of year. At Safeway, they have a “Club Card” that gives incredible discounts across all departments—sometimes “2 for 1” offers (I got one of those this weekend on pickled jalapenos, go figure). Wine is certainly no exception. Knowing what I know about wine pricing and the distribution channel, the store and/or the distributor is making little to no margin on these deals. It doesn’t matter who is losing money at this point (well, it would matter if it was me, but it’s not)—all the matters is that the customer is getting a good product at an unbelievable price.

So when people call me and say “Wow, your wine is only $7.99 at Safeway, that’s almost half off!” I tell them…BUY IT. The pricing comes down so much because of larger deals our distributor makes with the account that are often across other brands. It moves wine, and raises awareness of our brand. Most people that drink it are amazed at the price (“I would have paid more $ for that!”) and keep coming back for more. These prices tend to be 30 or 60 day programs, so they won’t last forever.

I also get the question “Aren’t you afraid that the low price will bastardize the Clos LaChance brand?” I personally think that the only thing that will ruin a brands reputation is bad wine in the bottle. Everything goes on sale every once in awhile. Does that make you less likely to buy it in the future at the regular price? Maybe, but not if you have some brand loyalty. I tend to stock up on things when they are sale, but I don’t stop buying them all together when the price goes back to normal. If I get a wine for eight bucks, but it tastes like it is worth fifteen? Point me in that direction.

As for our wine club, we really try and focus on sending out wines that are not widely available. 90% of the time that is the case, no problem. Sometimes, when we are grasping at something to put in the club (usually a white wine, we only have 5 different white wines) it happens. No problem, give us a call if you have any concerns and we can take care of it. We are working next year to make sure this does not happen…as our Wine Club members are our most important customers and we want to make sure they are getting wines that no one else can get. Ironically, next year will be one of the first years that Wine Club members are the only ones to get our Biagini and Erwin Vineyard Pinots. Yields in the 2006 vintage were very, very low. We have just enough cases to send out to our Platinum Club members. These two wines won’t even be available in the Tasting Room. Fun!

Does any of this resonate with you? Am I in a vacuum here? I would love any feedback.

There is so much more to say on this issue, which I will get to in future blogs. Thanks for listening to my rant and go buy some wine!