Matt - Sorry if you felt insulted, but that’s part of the huge disconnect between the producer and distributor tier. We have to deal with criticism of our product every single day. We have to take it and learn from it. The middle tiers reaction to criticism is just what you did; “I’m not going to buy from you.” That’s not how you make a better product and it’s not how you make a company grow.
Go read the Alice Fering thread if you can get through it. There’s a ton of criticism of wineries and winemakers who make wine the way I do and a lot of it is deserved. I don’t get insulted by that, I learn from it. Why do they fail, why do they get a bad rap? What can I do to make a better product using those same methods?
I’m not angry with the critics, I’m angry with my peers who don’t take their jobs and their professions seriously. Those wineries that turn out a bad product, that’s the real insult. In my opinion you should be insulted by your peers who do a crappy job. They make life harder on you every day and make your job and your career tougher.
I don’t get mad at the winemakers making spoofed wine and getting 98 points. I get mad at the winemakers who claim to make non-spoofed wine but are really just lazy and incompetent. That’s the insult and they should be called out on it.
I received a phone call today from a very nice young lady at a winery wanting to make an appointment to taste their wines. She said the wines (all very small production) are in several high end restaurants in the Napa Valley but they realized they had not been placed in any retail locations. We proceed to make an appt to taste the wines. The young lady says “in the meantime check out our web site, the wines and the team”. I do, along with some other reading on the internet because I am not familiar with the winery. I find them placed in 2 locations in the Napa Valley. I go to the web sites and they are available.
Was it an oversight that she said they are not placed anywhere in retail in the Napa Valley? she’s the marketing director for the winery, the wines are only sold from the winery, wouldn’t she know where they are? There is a total of about 7 people that work at this winery.
I’m interested in opinions if you were in my shoes, our appt is in the near future.
I’m not sure you need to do anything. Sure, you could point out that she seems to have been mistaken about no retail placements, but why? It’s entirely possible she’s new there, but even if she’s just wrong, so? I can see a few ways she could be ‘right’ and yet not (someone sold those wines 6 months ago etc) but I don’t see the upside to pointing any of this out. The question for you isn’t whether she knows her stuff about placement but whether you want to carry the wines, isn’t it?
Yes it will depend on whether I like them or not. I found it odd that she used “there is no retail placements in the Napa Valley” so many times in the conversation to make it sound as though we were being offered exclusivity. I’m not blind and I’m sure they would like more placements . It was more a curiosity question.
Ah, I see what you mean… she seemed to be playing the exclusivity thing. That DOES go to credibility and motivation. It might be, um, fun to drop the “Hey, I noticed X is carrying your wine…” just to see the reaction. Not that I would mind you. I’d NEVER probe for a reaction. Not me.
I’m skeptical about this being an oversight - it’s probably just part of her sales pitch. I’d still taste the wine and decide for yourself whether you want to carry it, but disingenuous sales reps are strike one in my book.
Whenever a rep says they’re looking for a retail placement to complement their restaurant placements here in town, I ask which restaurants are carrying the wine. The answer is usually that the buyer at restaurant X loved it and is probably going to bring it in next month; that they have an appointment to taste with restaurant Y next week; and that restaurant Z carried the previous vintage.
Richard,
She actually told me the restaurants they are currently placed in. I didn’t check the winelists because I had no reason to doubt her. We will see how the wine shows.
I had my appointment. LOVE the wine. Got the story and I should have not posted my babble until after we met. If I hadn’t been quoted I would go back and delete it all.
The girl, who is actually one of the owners, another mistake of mine. She was wonderful and explained the whole situation to me because I asked about it. Great winemaker and the SB will be something I’ll tell everyone about at another time.
Sometimes I let things get the better of me, next time I’ll think twice before I rant.
I’d say calling any group of people “baboons” is a bit impolite no matter what business or tier one is in, or how bad the day was. I realize it’s a ranting thread but still.
I give Carrie credit for at least occasionally mentioning the other side of the coin.
There is no way reps can be so blind to think retailers have time to do wine tastings this week.
I’ve had some drop by and others email me saying they are going to pop in tomorrow or the next day with some wine. I DON’T THINK SO, ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR MINDS ?
fortunately I have multiple monitors, I can print out my UPS tags, update our web site and give you guys crap at the same time.
It’s called multi-tasking
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