2014 Wine Road Barrel Tasting - Weekend #1

just saw this article in the Press Democrat regarding the 2014 Wine Road Barrel Tasting in Sonoma. looks like our own John Holdredge got some nice press (congrats John!) and it seemed like a good event from the winery perspective.

on the other hand, and maybe this is me reading too much between the lines, the pictures featured in the article and some of the quotes from attendees interviewed seemed to suggest it wasn’t a serious wine-buying crowd, but more of a party atmosphere.

did anyone who attended notice anything to the contrary? for those ITB who participated: how were the crowds? any issues with people being overserved? ratio of futures buyers to drinkers only?

It wasn’t a good event. it was a great event.

We get to reconnect with a lot of folks we only see once or so a year; some we’ve known for quite awhile now- so as we get older each “reunion” means a little more. And it’s sometime poignant when a longtime customer comes n solo- for the first time ever, which is balanced when a customer who usually comes in solo brings a new “love” with them…

It’s always had a bit of a “fun” element to it- and ought to. Sure, the younger crowd is having fun- but those are our future customers. So we want them to have a good time, and as they leave college and get jobs and start making a living, return as folks with a bit more income to spend. It’s like a crack house- first hit is free. After that, you gotta pay. Sure, there’s a cost to it, but it’s not just about promoting us, it’s about promoting this place, and wine in general. But the “party” numbers paled in comparison to the very serious buyers.

Out of the boatload of folks we saw, we had one person who was over-served, and he left without complaint when we declined to pour for him.

And it’s only going to get better- my son (14) is working the event this weekend, packing orders, greeting customers, and the like- and it’s the first event he’s ever worked. He always helps during crush, but this is something new- and of late he’s shown a lot of interest in the business side of things. He even suggested a promotional concept when I was on the radio last week- which was very cool- so I am just giddy about getting to work with him.

So as much as I want it to be a “succesful” weekend from an economic perspective- the real success will be if my son does well, enjoys himself and finishes the weekend with more confidence about himself. Which to me trumps just about everything else in the world…

Personally I only stopped at Joseph Swan as I am not a wrist band toting member of the future wine buyers of America. Saw Tyler Rico there as I was arriving. The crowd there was buying wine. Having fun but buying wine. It was a zoo for sure.

I’m reserving this weekend to go see John and Cari. “Omaha!” Not sure why out of all the wineries out there in the County the PD chose to talk with them. pileon grouphug I missed the radio bit the other day John, you’ll have to fill me in on how it went.

The PD chose me because of my good looks. I have a face made for radio.

Speaking of which, the show was a hoot- but I only managed to utter a single profanity (“Napa”).

They didn’t use my best comment- a woman called in who was promoting the Pinot Noir Summit and half-off tickets. The secret code was an acronym for the event and the discount they were offering: “PNS 50”.

After she said the code about five times I raised my hand and said “I’d like to buy a vowel and solve the puzzle”.

I cannot believe they muted that. Prudes.

Being that our tasting room is on the downtown Healdsburg square, we do see a lot of younger people in larger groups, but after years of practice we’ve learned how to move them through quickly, in order to make time and space for the actual wine buyers which do attend.
It’s easy to overspend, overpour & overstaff at these events and lose money, but we’ve found a happy way to have fun, meet new customers, and actually sell some wine.
We don’t seem to sell a lot of futures, but we always offer something direct from a barrel.