As a tiny wine shop/bar who opened in January of 2008, I quickly learned about the demand for Rom. Chard.
Grapevine (the CA distributor) wouldn’t allocate any for me. I bought some Rom Cab to try and indicate good will. I’ve asked several times over the past 20 months and been refused every time. They won’t even sell me any Zinfandel. I stopped at the Rom tasting room once prior to opening the shop and agree they have decent wines and are nice people. As a small wine shop, I’ve very frustrated as I get the worst pricing than any retail wine outlet. Restaurants get all they want, often at better prices, and big shops too. You would think they would want some of their product in enthusiast shops.
Welcome, Richard.
Is the situation the same now, with the current economy? Will they still not sell to you?
I’ll be asking again. Now that it is Rom Chard stacking time at all the other shops…
-Roger
Not sure about your situation, Roger. I am also a small shop/wine bar but I have been open for over 3 years. I was seemingly always able to get Rombauer Chard but didn’t really want to do the bundle thing. Since the demand has really kept up I decided to experiment.
The next dilemma will be when I run out. Will I have to do the same size order just to re-up? Or will it be cut off to retail, which happens throughout the year. We shall see.
If I were you I would keep asking.
Just got an email
Subject line - Rombauer Chard: AKA Cougar Kool-Aid
That’s ashame. I would think anyone who wants to BUY wine in this day and age should be offered it. Keep up the good work, Roger, and welcome to the Berzerkers!
This is to tack on to Randy Sloan’s post a few posts back.
Not only is KR a great guy who has PAID his dues, he still does! When I see him at events, trade and customer tastings etc, he is the first guy to set up, and the last man left standing. He does not have 1 once of ego and is one of the nicest guys in the trade!
A great guy, a great brand. I have always said if i would open a retail store or a restaurant, Rombauer would be one of the first things I would bring in!
…only if their reps allow you to bring it in…
Still waiting for a reply from mine on getting some…
Another interesting angle. There is an article in the latest Food and Wine that discusses among other things, preconceived ideas about wines in the industry, and one of the writer’s points was that most of us in the trade bag on Pinot Grigio. Oh no, we would never drink that.
Retailers need to keep it in stock because people buy it and restaurants need some on their lists because people order it, but us “trade folk” never drink it. Well, she posits, that if we choose a nice producer and blind-tasted those in the biz - we would describe it as food friendly, crisp, whatever… our ideas would be different compared to if we were told it was Pinot Grigio.
It got me thinking… how does this relates to Rombauer? Well, I poured the new 2007 Walter Hansel Estate Chardonnay at my bar this past weekend and it is quite rich and loaded with toast and buttery qualities. It is what I would call a full throttle Chardonnay.
And the Walter Hansel stuff has much more of a “cool” factor among those in the business. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the stuff. But if I were to brown bag both of these wines, the Hansel and the Rombauer, I don’t think many would be able to pick out the producer based solely on what is in the bottle.
It’s really not fair to say, but I had the feeling that OC is a different story. The broker’s book had so many desirable labels in it that I never felt it was worth it to make a big deal even when a newer store opened and stocked the Chard. Supposedly a long-time relationship between broker and general manager. Life’s too short… but I can still hear those requests somewhere in the back of my head.
OK, got a reply from my rep (RE: may I have some Rombaurer Chard this year?):
“We would have to look at some other placements before I could put in a request.”
So does this mean I have to take some other wine I don’t want first? Really makes me angry.
Any suggestions out there? How is a small shop supposed to get on it’s feet when reps have this process.
Likely yes. E-mail sent.
Chard delivery today WITHOUT having to buy any of the reds.
Right or wrong, it seems to vary with the broker’s decision for your account.
Peter just beat me to it, but it seems each territory (and account) is different. If I want to re-order, I still need to take a box of red and a few other things.
Carrie, do they restrict your drops? Or can you order as much as you want?
I was not told there were any restrictions but I also didn’t ask. I
e-mailed my rep and told him to send me Chard, he didn’t make a peep. The market has been slow for many of the distributors, they are happy to sell wine. I think if they set restrictions/bundle they’re afraid we’ll tell them to shove it, I would. There are too many wines that are readily available, I don’t care if it’s Butterall or not, I don’t fight to get wines, especially these days.
My Grapevine rep actually visited me today. Had some nice wines. But told me if I wanted Rom Chard I’d have to bring in some reds first. Just doesn’t seem right. I’m still mulling over this situation as it comes down to business not my feelings.
I suspect this is an Orange Co. phenomenon due to all the Cougars we have and their lust for this juice.
Hey Carrie, so do you buy multiple case at a time and stack it? That makes a difference. Some people I know can only get limited amounts in one given shipment (like a box or 2).
And I believe the SoCal market is their best market - that is why we might have different requirements. If they are selling loads then they don’t have to be reasonable about the bundling, I guess. Just check out Peter Kelly’s post about the Bristol Farms in Manhattan Beach going through 20 cases in 4 days with a Chardonnay sale!
Roger, did you ask your rep exactly what you had to do? What does some reds mean? Do you need to take multiple Rombauer reds or can you mix from their books?
I think this is good information to know for buyers in different regions. Carrie obviously has a much different setup in Napa.
Jeff,
I don’t floor stack Rombauer or any other wines. I asked my rep yestereday afternoon to clarify if there were any or going to be any restrictions and he said “it is open for sale, order away”.
That’s how it stands right now but as we all know it could change in a heartbeat.