Here’s a Retailer that doesn’t hold back what he’s thinking

I ordered a case from a store I’d never heard of before and like usual you end of on the mailing list. Well this list is unlike any I’ve ever been on. Some funny stuff, his people must love to be insulted or something. Here are some gems:

  • Conundrum Red 2016 $17.99 120 bottles available then it’s gone. Guys you’re going to get the diabetes if you keep on drinking this wine. This might be a good point to stop.

  • Austin Hope 2017 is now available at the same price we had the 2016 for. This wine became hot with the 2015 getting a big 96 point score and people going crazy over it. 2016 didn’t get a review but sold nearly as well. I tasted the 2017 and I have absolutely no idea what to say about it in terms of quality compared to the last two vintages. This stuff is not my bag (which means customers love it). I didn’t grow up on wines that tasted like this. This is for the Caymus / Wagner Family crowd. Soak it up.

  • Daou has become a hot winery making some great wines in Paso Robles. It’s a warm region so there’s plenty of fruit in the wines but they’re not sweet like that Austin Hope you guys love to suck down. No judging.

  • And boy look at that. I found 12 more bottles of wine of the millennium Colene Clemens Dopp Creek 2015. You think I’m just going to release them to the public without getting something else in return?
    Offer followed

  • Don’t like my bundling strategy? Come close so I can whisper in your ear the unspeakable things the winery made me do to get that Dopp Creek 2015


    I guess he just couldn’t take selling bad wine on thursdays anymore…and only 4-5 hours fri/sat

  • (I think it’s safe to say the store is not open on Thursdays anymore. I can’t bring myself to go there. Fridays 3:00 - 7:00. Saturday noon - 5:00. That’s all I got.

It’s certainly an odd sales approach, but he’s got me hooked on his emails at least. The only thing I can figure is he’s selling a boatload of Wagner wine locally to walk-ins and since he can’t say what he thinks directly the email blasts are the only way to get it off his chest?

Whoever he is, it’s a soul in torment.

I kind of appreciate the DGAF aspect of it all.

Does he ship to multiple states? If so, the newsletter deserves to be broadcast for more people’s enjoyment. And hey, he might pick up some more customers that hew more closely to his palate!!!

Yes same I’d love to receive marketing emails that have actual entertainment value

  • Drink something new! Don’t catch the diabetes from all that Quilt, Belle Glos, Austin Hope and just about all Caymus products you’re guzzling. You think you’re drinking dry but trust me they’re not. All the wines in this email are actually dry. Peace

  • Thank you for any support that you’ve given us over the years allowing this business to grow. Unless you’re one of the people who only came to our tastings and haven’t been back since. Beat it (edited)

It’s really pure Gold, there’s gotta be a Curb episode in this place or something. I can’t find it but another one said something to the effect that even the emails were getting to be just too much, (his email list was torturing him!) and we just wouldn’t be hearing from him as much…I’m like no no no, laughing :joy:
Your only open 4 hours a day and now you won’t be sending email blasts either [thumbs-up.gif]

I forgot to mention the site if anyone wants in for some entertainment, it’s Craftcurd.com out of Tampa. Somebody must have been in there before. Please do tell.

That’s genius. Love it.

So much better than reading from Lastbottle.com that the latest deal is “the BEST BEST BEST JUICE we’ve ever had!!!”

At this point I mostly read retailer emails for the unintentional comedy value. At least this is intentional.

They have a storefront on Gandy here in Tampa. In addition to the usual California fare, they have a pretty fair selection of from Beaujolais, white burgundy and Loire.

I needed to subscribe to their mailing list. I never knew he was so tortured :joy:

I have order from them a couple times and somehow have not got on there mailing list will need to change that. I can say there were a good place to buy from with no problems

Frustrating website

Let him know, I’m pretty sure he’d be understanding and open to suggestions. Let us know how it goes. [rofl.gif]

I used to buy a good bit from a retailer who did not really like spoofed wines. You would not know this from his weekly email blasts, which often offered these types of wines and praised them profusely. However, if you read closely, you would see that he would not tout in the emails the wines he did not like - rather, he would either quote Parker or some other newsletter and call the wine something like highly regarded, hard to get, etc. You had to read very closely or you would think he loved the wine. Very misleading emails.

What was funny is once when I was in the store some other customer asked him if a wine of this ilk was as great as it said in the email. It was fun to watch the retailer squirm because he really, really wanted to make the sale but did not want to say that he liked the wine. I think after stammering a bit, he ultimately said something like it was an excellent wine if you like the style or some such misleading line like that. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.

I wonder, what is so misleading about this? Most retailers have to sell wines they don’t like. Without doing so, most would be out of business. I think it’s fair to offer no personal opinion, but instead a professional review, which is what that crowd is really after anyway. If I only tried to sell wines I like, I’d be doing a disservice to a huge percentage of our customers. If I intentionally alienated all of those people because I only want to sell wines that interest me, I’d be doing a disservice to the store owners (in some cases that could be the same person doing the selling). I am interested if you think there’s a better way to differentiate between the offers for wines a retailer is personally excited about vs. those they don’t personally like but know a lot of their customers will. As funny as the approach that started this thread it, I don’t think it’s reasonable for most retailers.

I’ve actually been in there, years ago. I was in Tampa on business and found a place for lunch in this shopping plaza. If I recall correctly, this guy’s sign read “Wine and Cheese”. And with a sign like that, how could I not stop in? He did have an eclectic selection, which I liked, and I do recall buying a bottle, but I cannot recall what it was.

I’ve never understood retailers who waste their time giving print to wines they don’t like. If it’s popular, and not your bag, carry it, keep a cheap price on it and quit insulting your customer’s palates. Much, much rather hear about a new Beaujolais or Sancerre producer you’ve recently discovered.

It’s as if Todd Hamina opened a wine shop.

Love it.

[rofl.gif]