Monday, April 26, 2010

More news from the TTB!

So, ever wonder how TTB gets their information out to the wine industry? They bring it out to the wine regions! See more about this year's seminars - from labeling to tax reporting to news rules and regs.
Copy and paste the following to an article I wrote, and is on the Wines & Vines website-
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=73506&htitle=TTB%20Signals%20Closer%20Scrutiny%20of%20Wineries

Hope you enjoy learning more about this wacky world of wine!
Best
David

Monday, April 19, 2010

How a Bill in Congress can kill small and medium size wineries in the US

So, usually my posts are pretty enjoyable, but this one is going to be me on my soap box -
Every one who enjoys wine - and it doesn't matter where in our country you live - should contact their Congress member and tell them that they need to come out in opposition to H.R. 5034. It is titled "Comprehensive Alcohol regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act of 2010" - it is nothing more than a grab by the wine, beer and spirit wholesalers to try to regulate how alcohol is available in this country - oh, and by the way, they want it to be them. This is not, at its heart, a states rights issue, it is a business issue. 6 - that's right, just 6 - distributors in this country control 50% of the wine, beer and spirits distribution in the United States. It forces small and medium size wineries to either sell to them at razor thin margins, or cut production (and if they have to cut back, then they have to cut jobs as well). The big six wholesalers are making huge profits (not like the oil industry, but they are all living large), and this bill would cut off the ability for wineries - of any size - to sell directly to consumers in any state. It would also curtail the choices consumers have to get the wines that they want, since in many states, the direct to consumer option might be the only way for a consumer to get their favorite wines. If these wineries go out of business - and it would hurt some of them to that point - then not only are wine jobs lost, but associated industries, such as grape growers, would be hurt, as the options for who they can sell their products to takes a severe hit, resulting in lost jobs in those businesses as well.
take this seriously - we all need to contact our Congressional representatives, and tell them that support of this bill amounts to opposition to their re-election bid (I have contacted mine, and let her know!). Don't let your choice be controlled by the wholesalers!!!!
Until next time,
David

Thursday, April 15, 2010

As much as we like the folksy "family" winery image.....

A lot of us like the folsky image of a family winery, nestled into some idyllic corner of a vineyard, and there are a ton of them out there. But, in a recent news item on Wines and Vines, while the number of wineries in North America has passed 7,000, don't think for a minute that the production is relatively evenly divided up between them. 93% of the wine production is handled by 6% of the wineries. That would mean at least 93% of the wine (by volume) on the average store shelf comes from a relatively few wine producers.
I'm not saying that's a good thing or bad thing - it's just the reality that wine is big business, and most of the players are big companies. Even if they are family run, they are still big companies. Also, keep in mind that the name of the producer on the bottle could be a registered trade name of a larger company. Case in point. A number of years ago, when I worked for a large chain drug store, I would often be on the "floor" hand selling and helping people decide on choices of wine during the holidays. One store I was at, in Modesto, proved that most people don't know that a big company is behind that wine. A nice, older woman wanted some wine for having with a holiday gathering of family. After going over what food was going to be served and what kind of wine she normally has, we narrowed down to 2 relatively safe varietals - Chardonnay and Merlot, and started looking at ones in a price range she had. She looked at a Gallo brand wine, and said "oh, I would never have Gallo", then looked at a Turning Leaf bottle and continued "but that Turning Leaf wine would be nice." I asked her if she knew where it was made, which she didn't, so I had her look at the bottler statement on the back label. Seeing that it was Modesto, she queried "oh, I didn't know there was another winery in Modesto!" When I told her there wasn't, the light went on that it was just another product from Gallo, to which she couldn't believe she was buying Gallo. Now, I have had some nice Turning Leaf wines, but if you know that it's from a large producer, it is usually easier to accept that you may be feeding a corporate machine - and, if you enjoy it, then that's not necessarily a bad thing - it just is what it is.
If you ever want to know who the main producer is of any wine, you can actually look it up - you can go to www.ttb.gov (who are the guys that handle wine related regulations on the Federal level), click on 'labels', then click on Public COLA registry; from there, you can enter the name of the bottler, and see, from the registered approved labels, who the main company who made that wine is. Of course, this works best for centrally located wineries, producing under several labels. Over that past several years, large wine companies have been buying out wineries, and with different locations, you may not know if that winery is part of a larger corporation (a notable example would Robert Mondavi Winery, which is now owned by Constellation, the world's largest wine producer; the label approval would still show Mondavi, as long as it was bottled at the Mondavi facility).
Like I said earlier, wine by large companies is not a good or bad thing - it just is. But if you are looking for a small family producer, it probably won't be available by the pallet at Costco!
Let me know your thought
Until next time
David

Friday, April 9, 2010

This cat has got legs......

That's right - we talked about it here last week - and it's getting more pr - that's right, Hello Kitty wines. It has now been on the "Today Show", and more recently, the "Colbert Report" - copy and paste for Dr. Colbert's take on it (along with some other antics -
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/270017/april-07-2010/tip-wag---hello-kitty-wine---pig-s-blood-filters
With the marketing juggernaut of Sanrio, it won't be long until you see this at Target!
Enjoy!
David

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

It sounded like a good idea in French.....

OK - so this may be even more bizarre than the "Hello Kitty" wines we talked about earlier this month.
A very large and well known French cooperage house (i.e. barrel maker) is launching a new campaign - the idea is good - an on-line platform for the company to engage with winemakers, both marketing to them, getting feedback, sharing best practices, yadda yadda. I'm sure it sounded good in French; but they should have maybe run it by some people here in the states to see if the campaign title might not be the best -

"Winemakers for Good Wood"

Yes, this is really the name for it; they even have a website (www.winemakersforgoodwood.com), and you can also see the press release if you copy and paste the link (http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=72923). You can even go on their website, and if you give them your name, etc., they will send you a "Winemakers for Good Wood" bumper sticker! So, while I have to say that it is a great idea to get more discussion about uses of barrels and such, next time, maybe test drive it first to see how it might play in the US.
More tales of the weird world of wine as I get them,
Best
David

Friday, April 2, 2010

Yes, there is a lot of paper work in the wine business...

Many of you think of the wine business as romantic, crafting fine quality nectar from the bounty of the land -
Ok, so it is that, too -
But there is a fair amount of regulation that comprises the industry, and I have an article that just came out in one of the magazines of the trade - Wines and Vines - so if you want a little more insight into this wacky life we love (and sometimes hate), copy and paste this for more:

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=features&content=72278&ftitle=Overcome%20Fear%20of%20Filing

Hope you enjoy, and have some great wine today!
David