SPLASH DECANT 03/08/19

The Future of the “Work With”

What is the future of the Work With?*

A lot of national salespeople will really, really not like this – and for that, I am sorry. But, what worked no longer works, and with what is long long gone.

Today, the Work With is the injured old General leaning against the tree saying goodbye as he takes his last few breaths. Thank you for your wine service.

Where is this old concept of selling come from, where is it now, and what replaces it in the NYC beverage market?

The Old Skool

Not so long ago, it was a rarer thing to meet a producer and connect with them personally. The winemaker or owner coming to a restaurant/retail store to introduce themselves and taste with the team felt super good for all parties involved – Work Withs were viewed as a “special treat.”

It was also a key support point in agreements between importer/distributor and producers/suppliers. Coming into town to help and invest in the market by showing wines was a key part of the wine game; an important tool for connection and sales.

Not anymore. The explosion of availability got in the way.

Today

Today, many importer/distributors are using the same encyclopedia sales theory, but the landscape has shape-shifted. Big problem: nearly everything that worked consistently on the street in sales years ago doesn’t function as it did before.

The paradigm has shifted in the city and the Work With is generally viewed as a necessary evil – a burden (with notable exceptions, see below). Rolling around the city and showing your wine wares with a supplier is normally referred to as “part of the job.”

So, what changed?

More events, more tastings, more companies, more good wine, more options – essentially more everything is available daily in NYC. Because of this, the “specialness” of the Work With has nearly vanished. Buyers are less likely to see producers, and at the same time, the number of producers visiting the city every week has grown exponentially.

The classic work-around for this problem has been the event move: Lunch, office tasting, or an educational seminar. But soon these are going to feel stale and contrived because every distributor will have mimicked each other to such a degree, the event will be the goal. Events will be vanilla custard normal.

Here is what I know: invent a new type of connective work and replace the Work With, and you will win.

The Future

As a producer, unless you have something to say besides “may I have an appointment to show wine?” you should stay at home and save the airfare. And, if you don’t trust your distribution to do the job—well, that is a whole different story for another day.

Here is what is trending today: The takeover. Just look at the insta, and you will see. The next iteration will go towards the virtual. Stay tuned on that. Coming to an inbox near you.

“ ...the Work With as we know it is dying in NYC. It is the injured old general leaning against the tree and saying goodbye as he takes his last few breaths.

The Exceptions Today

As always, there are some exceptions to the Work With death, and those are (in no particular order):

The prominent, most lauded producer of an Appellation.

The new producer with monster buzz that makes special wine. GREAT WINE. (pretty rare..)

The producer that has deep personal ties with the market and could roll in anytime, anywhere and be comfortable. (this is the gold, rare)

The producer that knows this market and is into quality of relationship over quantity.

The Importer/Distributor that picks and chooses producer visits like an expert curator. (EX: Rosenthal)

*The Work With is when a wine producer(owner/winemaker) or representative hired by a wine producer joins a salesperson for a group of appointments to show their wines.

SPLASH DECANT 01/15/19

Instagram – A Reliable Echo Chamber, or #Fakewinenews?

Is Instagram a reliable echo chamber for the wine business? Is it a primary source of information to help translate the beverage market in NYC?

I am going all in: NOPE – the ‘Gram is an alternative universe. Full of #fakewinenews.

This won’t stop professionals from using Instagram as their first source of information on the NYC Beverage Market. However, the picture that Instagram paints is as accurate as the facts tweeted by the President of the United States between Midnight and 8 am.

Under the Instagram Covers

The reality is that Instagram highlights a market where no wine director posts the prosecco they sell 10cs a week, the Sancerre that won’t stop selling no matter what the price is, the private label California appellation Cab they make bank on, or the Malbec in their private dining room that customers adore.

In fairness, I love Instagram. I have fun with it and I don’t think it is a bad thing. I absolutely get it. When a wine moves me, sometimes I can’t help myself. I say pic, post, and double-tap it, baby. All. Day. Long.

The circle is smooth and frictionless – everyone is “friends” with everyone else and disagreements are exceedingly rare. The ‘Gram is a giant Dionysian love fest, and we all can get a gulp if we want.

But I must caution here: don’t be fooled by what you see. Those three pictures of Burgundy that are being ‘grammed over and over again probably don’t mean what you think they mean. What you are seeing isn’t a reliable barometer of the market. Knowing this market can’t be faked. It can’t be done from a desk or in flashy tap away stories. You have to go out and show up.

Everything is moving so quickly now that you if you only see the Krug and the Overnoy here, and the Trollat and vertical of Bartolo there, you WILL miss what is really moving the market and simultaneously be very confused. This #instagratification gives the illusion that you have a perspective on the wines that reverberate through the wines programs of the city. But what you are seeing is the fringe of the fringe: the Cherry on top and not the cake.

“ ...stop and think about the last time you said that a wine was killing it all over the city. Was it really, or did you just see it on Instagram three times?

Ever wonder why you keep seeing the same photos of the same bottles cycled over and over again? You probably saw it posted by three people… The app is programmed so you mentally amplify the information. I have been on all sides of this, and the total connective sales of the wines (after all is said and done) is strikingly low.

Bottom line: Don’t buy the lie that you can sit back and get any substantive wine news from Instagram. The people doing the real work continue to know what works, which is most likely not what is getting double-tapped on the regular.

And before you @ me with ideas that the above is obvious, stop and think about the last time you said that a wine was killing it all over the city. Was it really, or did you just see it on Instagram three times?

SPLASH DECANT 12/03/18

“Secrets” of a Successful Sales Rep

I was recently asked to participate in an article on what it takes to be a successful sales rep.

Naturally, it was edited down to the nub. Wine Journalism today is an open field that is primarily “pitch” first, shape article second. It’s all good, I completely understand.

Below is what I submitted, save the questions and answers regarding the company I work for.

Q: Tell me a bit about your background prior to getting into wine sales – where did you work? Have you ever worked in a field other than wine?

A: I am a classically trained Opera singer, and I sang a little bit around. When I moved to NYC, I worked at the pasta palace in Times Square called Carmines for 6 years. I also owned a boutique opera agency representing Opera Singers and Conductors before I shifted into wine sales in late 2007.

Q: Have you carried over any skills learned in previous careers/jobs to this position? Tell me a bit about them.

Multi-section A:

Calm in chaos

Working in a raucous, high volume theater district restaurant was integral to building a skill set that I draw on today as a sales rep. I had to make rapid decisions in a chaotic environment, hone my intuition about the customers to a where it was lightning fast (I often had 10 seconds or less to get a feel for what would serve them best), work through errors quickly…and all on deadline.
Basically, I use all of these skills daily as a rep.

Nuance

Voice study helped me tune into nuance.
The energy, core, and overtones of a sound inform the perception of the sound as a whole – but one has to learn to be aware of them. It takes some simple/complicated noticing.
When I am tasting and attempting to understand a wine today, this skill is what I am calling upon. I try to never get tied up in the brushstrokes and miss the painting.

Negotiation

Being an opera agent introduced me to high stakes negotiations. In most cases, I was representing my friends.
Today, no matter how high the stakes in the wine biz, I know I have been there before in a much more difficult dynamic.

Q: What are a few skills that you feel are important in order to succeed in wine sales? Why are they important?

Multi-section A:

Empathy + Connection = Dialogue

Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and connect is a key skill. A great rep is able to think like a buyer and make decisions like a buyer. If you do that well, you will anticipate needs/wants. Empathy opens up the possibility of a trusting connection and dialogue normally follows. Here’s the gold: showing wine doesn’t sell wine, dialogue sells wine.

Grit

In the business of selling wine, there are virtually no constants, so having the grit to hang in there and move forward when challenges come up is integral. Your ducks will never be in a row. I have been saying for years that being a sales rep is like playing Jazz – don’t get tied up about the wrong notes, just keep playing. You don’t give up.

Listening

The best salespeople are expert listeners. Endeavor to become a better listener and ask better questions. Don’t just run around with wine in a bag pouring juice in glasses and “over-detailing” buyers – listen more, and explain less. Listening well can connect you to a customer in a way a wine never can.

Perspective

The importance of knowing how your portfolio and the producers within fit into the broader landscape of the market cannot be overstated. More specifically, I mean you need to have an informed perspective of the market competition in addition to your own portfolio. And it isn’t enough to “Good Will Hunting” the competition like you memorized it in a book and you can quote pages or throw out names. You need to have a feel for them that goes beyond the facts. Having a more textured viewpoint gives you opportunities to see where wines from your portfolio belong and how they measure up.

Belief

You have to decide what your core beliefs are as a rep. What are you doing this for? The answer may evolve with experience. And if the answer is Commission, I can assure you that you will get smoked in some way or another. It has to be deeper than that.
The reason core beliefs are so important is that they inform every step of what you do. From the dialogue you seek, to the service you give. This is the one constant you can hang your hat on in a volatile and constantly changing market.

Moving on

Letting go of accounts is a skill that has to be practiced. Sales reps sometimes hoard accounts or stake claims on accounts that they are working with (or working on) without considering that their energy would be better used elsewhere. They forget that they have options. One of the absolute best ways to open your sales world is to shed accounts. Sometimes you have to let the account go, even when the “numbers” or some account dynamic may be telling you to stay.

“ Many reps (and companies!) are paying much more attention to the wine equivalent of asteroids and not planets.

Q: Is there any one thing that came in unexpectedly handy when you started working as a sales rep?

A: I started paying attention to the super top reps very early on. I studied what they were doing and then put their practices (if they fit for me) through the prism of my style, portfolio, and my customers.

Also, my intuition came in handy. I really followed my gut on a lot of early decisions, even when I was walking in the opposite direction of the crowd.

Q: Do you have anything else to add?

A: Many reps (and companies!) are paying much more attention to the wine equivalent of asteroids and not planets. Instagram is especially filled with this sort of thing. It is good to be aware of both, but ultimately the wines that actually move the NYC market are rarely the same as the ones as that are ‘grammed over and over again. It is vital to know the difference and be able to translate that into your work if you want long-term success.

SPLASH DECANT 11/01/18

Graceful Distribution – a definition

Graceful distribution* will define the wine business in the next decade.

Look across the landscape of all these Importers and Distributors – those who can execute with grace will be left standing and the others with either blow up soon or slowly wither away to nothing.

The Concept

Graceful Distribution honors the producer, the importer/distributor, the beverage director/restaurant/retailer, and the end consumer. It is a circular chain that is exceedingly difficult and innately imperfect. But whoever can get their heads around this concept in these competitive times is not only going to win but win huge.

The importer/distributor that can gracefully support their growers, the customers they sell to and the people that work for them is the real juggernaut.

Graceful distribution will be the difference maker, the lifeline of it all.

“ The importer/distributor that can gracefully support the producers they represent, the customers they sell to and the people that work for them is the real juggernaut.

This is the defining time and I believe there to be a gargantuan amount of opportunity. This is a moment where an importer/distributor can really separate itself. If you can execute on Graceful distribution, you will win…

This is a moment where an importer/distributor can really separate itself. If you can execute on Graceful distribution, you will win.

Graceful Distribution – the act of distribution in the pursuit of serving in every direction. Towards producer, towards employees, customers, and consumers. Each individually, and all at once.

SPLASH DECANT 08/14/18

NYC Beverage Market Watch Quickfire – The Fab Five

Back in the saddle with The Fab Five.

Enjoy.

The Fab Five

Canned answers
Canned wines are the fast-casual of the wine world.
I have written about this in the past but canned wines are exploding in the market (not literally). It has broken through the barrier and is now a viable category. This is part of a broader “make wine easier/millennial drinker” crescendo and we will see much more. There will ultimately be some losers, but in the meantime, watch this thing grow…

Who imported this, again?
A few short years ago, this was easy to answer.
Answer today: Who knows?
DTC, acquired from a private collection, etc., has changed the whole game and the impact has yet to be fully realized.
Remember that lockbox allocation of (insert famous name here) and all the trust, dancing, connection, space, budget issues and anger it sometimes produced? Now you don’t have to choose that route.
Someone is importing it who is not that producers chosen importer, and you have access if you want it.

And if you want an old vintage from a cellar in France? No Prob. Some collector in Jersey? Of course! Everything’s on the table…
Throw in the fact that many importers are competing directly with their own customers for producers to bring in and you see how real this is…a giant shift that is not to be ignored.

New “rules” + high, flashy, rare wine or new producers + demand = New game.

Don’t @ SevenFifty me
Full disclosure: I use Sevefifty every day and I love it.
But, since I believe some are very confused: SevenFifty is not your sales rep. I am so glad you can search broadly – it is a game-changing tool – but don’t forget that the rep may be able to connect you to something new, delicious, and also, not easily found. The not to be missed shit.
To quote a friend: You will only ever find what you are looking for with this incredible tool.
There are elements in SevenFifty that deliver interaction and we should be using those together much more.

Mouse in a bottle…
I have recently been poured an increased number of mousey as F%^^ wines. Please don’t try and Jedi mind trick anyone by starting with “this is clean,” and pouring. We who taste are not convinced.
I have to wonder, though, are buyers’ tolerance for this flavor going up? Is the shift towards the mission/story of these wines outshining the actual flavor?
Personally, I rank this flavor up there with burnt rubber and it is not my thing – contrary to popular belief, there is nothing easy to drink about it.

One night stand sales…
For one night only! Bottle shot. Price slash…
Until it is gone! Bottle shot. Price slash…
Just one magnum! Bottle Shot. Price slash…And the band plays on…
What used to be a narrow field of one-night-stander marketed wines is expanding. This is “true follower” driven marketing that varies from restaurant to restaurant. Those who have the following win, while all the others pose and then drink the bottle themselves.

“ Canned wines are the fast-casual of the wine world.

BONUS

Out of the penalty box

It is nearly insane how many of the Raúl Perez wines are on lists and shelves in the city right now. Can you keep count? I certainly can’t. These wines are on a huge wave that includes volume and quality with extremely adept distribution. Nothing is stopping them in the short term.

EN. FUEGO.

Bonus en Fuego

Eastern Europe – looking good, along with a rebirth of Austrian coming strong.
I am noticing a shift, but haven’t tasted anything particularly moving…yet. All the wines I have tasted so far are perfectly serviceable. But the neophiliacs don’t care – they just see NEW, rare and imminently buyable.

SPLASH DECANT 12/25/17

What worked in 2017 – A Review

Merry, Happy! We are in the home stretch of 2017, so here we go. Fast and dirty-style: What worked in 2017 — some top-line themes and categories.

All views from the street, not the desk.

2017 – What worked?

Retail
I have to start large: I am calling the whole Retail category a winner. It was a good ‘un.
Even in this a super competitive retail landscape with moats forming around states and making out of state shipping an issue, enough people in this city are drinking at home to make Retail really roll. Maybe the customers are drinking to soothe the pain or to save a dime here or there, but either way, the competent retailers who served well made good business happen this year.

Alternative format
I wrote about the alt-format movement earlier this year, and we are still in the middle of a giant crescendo. Millennials aren’t the only members of the alt-format libation nation – it is bigger than anyone can imagine. Cans, Tetra-paks, 40 oz wine that isn’t actually 40 oz., and more, all slaughtered it this year. I see nothing stopping this train in the near future – full speed ahead.

The Sommelier Wine Brand (wines or otherwise)
If you buy mine, I will buy yours.
The Somm Brand was a Gargantuan mover of BTG placements and off of shelves this year. Sommelebrity + Sommpreneur equals #winning.

Alto Piemonte
I love you, Alto Piemonte, for sentimental reasons.
Alto Piemonte is the little engine that could on lists and shelves this year and for my money, still wildly undervalued. AltoP offers vintage depth, spiced, lifted, lesser alcohol Nebbiolo (and Nebbiolo blends) that are just off in the fringe to many of the mainstream buyers on the green. But AltoP isn’t that far off. The upside here is huge, and I am all in. The patient believers in the area win, the bean counters abandon ship…

Somms like us buy things like this
If you were selling wine in 2017 and noticed this phenomenon, you probably moved an extra box or two (or hundreds). The hive mind of buying exists – especially since buyers are obsessed with having all the correct wine answers, at least for now.

Ribeira Sacra
One of the most magical regions in Spain got noticed this year by the Somm crowd – finally. And they like you Ribeira Sacra, they really really like you. The fact that this region has been doing under-the-radar well for years and is now being knighted by the Somm set is worthy of some attention. Who is deciding which regions are now deserving? And does it ultimately matter? There is gold in the answer.

“ Is there any way we as a community can kill the sabering champagne thing once and for all? Asking for a friend, again.

Champagne
Huge year for Champagne in the city. Huge. All types did well, but Growers, in particular, got in the Octagon again and tapped more people out than ever before. The numbers the Big Houses did naturally dwarf the Growers, but the attention these smaller houses achieved was ginormous. Marguet, Laval, Bereche, Savart, Suenen, Pierre Peters, Gimmonet, Filaine, Brochet, Chartogne-Taillet, Dhondt-Grellet…the list goes on. These Champagnes were in all the right places.
Sidenote: Is there any way we as a community can kill the sabering champagne thing once and for all? Asking for a friend, again.

Wine Fairs
So many fairs, so little time. Every wine fair that was relatively well executed was PACKED. How did these cut through the noise of this busy market? It is all about the mission. Clarity in mission won the attention of consumer and industry – and deservedly so.

Agave
Tequila, Mezcal, and basically anything that could be called an agave spirit ran like the wind this year. Even brands that aren’t part of marketing machines had a more than fair chance to win a runner placement. We are working into the cycle of an impending agave shortage right now but I don’t see any slowdown coming, even with an imminent price increase or two.

And the Comeback of the Year is…drumroll…

Orange wine

Anyone remember this article: “Orange wine hits a wall” by Jon Bonné citing the Richard Betts article in Vogue “Why Tecate is Greater than Orange Wine”?

Up to as recently as early last year, I watched Orange wine barely register a heartbeat and then – the resurrection. Orange wine had a very good 2017. Praise poured out from the journalists in mostly annoying, trite articles about Orange wine – and I actually think it worked on the consumer. And, once customers start calling for it, you get a comeback.
Orange wine is back in the big show.

SPLASH DECANT 11/20/17

The Q4 Shuffle: RAW, The Vanishing and Welcoming the Sommpreneur

The Q4 shuffle. The race. The middle of OND.

After a hiatus, I am back. The NYC market brought some serious challenge in the months leading into this fourth quarter we are now in the middle of and I had to focus or lose big. From here on in, 2017 is a sprint to the finish line.

Articles will come more regularly going forward.

A couple top-liners below. Enjoy.

Raw and the Anti-Naturalistas

More on this to come soon, but RAW WINE NYC was strong. Besides the terrible faces and horrendous “hospitality” I got at the door, once I got inside, I was blown away by the obvious, vibrantly growing consumer interest in the Natural Wine Movement*. I think we are a few more rounds away from the RAW tasting jumping the Action Bronson, but until then the anti-natural journalists and other non-believers are going to scratch their heads and vehemently defend their anti-NWM positions. They will continue to focus on the wines, the lack of definition, and pay little attention to the movement behind them driving the whole shebang.
Is a trend still a trend in this market after fifteen plus years? I am no genius, but I think these folks may be missing something. Or maybe the journalists that write on both sides of the natural aisle are using the sexiest click bait around next to Rosé to get clicked all day long. It is probably both.

One thing is certain after the RAW experience: the Natural Wine Movement has galvanized and is going to gain attention.

Welcoming the Sommpreneur

First, we saw the Sommelebrity come up, and now we are witnessing the arrival of the Sommpreneur. Brother and Sister Somms have a wine brand to sell through their restaurant wine program and to their colleagues that make a brand as well, an alternative packaging project, a fast-casual concept, book #2 on the way, a retail wine partnership, and all the while they have a busy restaurant with a team of sommeliers that execute service on the floor — pretty amazing, right?
Enterprising Somms are grabbing the vine by the cluster and I am happy for them. Opportunities abound. I have said this often before and am on the record on I’ll drink to that, but I love that the Sommelier is getting the star treatment. I believe it is good for the entire wine industry.
But a word of warning to all the budding Sommpreneurs as this world grows: Two roads diverged in a wood, etc.

Exit Stage Left – the vanishing Wine Director

There have been more high profile exits this year from top wine director positions than ever before and I am not shocked. Several of the upper-level buying positions in play had been held for years and are a little like Brando in Streetcar on Broadway: incredibly tough to replace. Turnover happens, but I have to wonder: is there a reliable place in this country where Beverage/Wine Directors are being developed? It must be exceedingly rare.
The trend towards younger wine directors of the last few years continues with the current landscape. While they are crazy talented with wine, they lack the secret sauce of experience and this dynamic creates some increased velocity of turnover.
Along with this multi-year, overall sea change towards the young buyer, a peppering of old guard buyers from the past are making comebacks. These experienced buyers are coming out of semi-retirement and moving back into buying as high-level beverage director positions come available via rookie turnovers.
We will see some rookies become heroes and some move on in a flash, but the bottom line, for now, is this: younger, knowledgeable, motivated, cheaper, and less experienced is the overall rule in the Wine Director role.

Gray is the new black

The Epic run of wine sold outside the three-tier system continues…
Has more been sold outside the three-tier system so far this year than any previous? Yep, no need to crunch any numbers. Is it growing through this holiday season? Obviously, yes. Old and rare wine is the recipe to make Sommelier/Wine Directors, (and myself…), weak in the knees. Also, buying these types of wines creates a cycle of constant searching. An addiction to the old that is hard to pull away from. So, here we are: Gray is the New Black.

If more players dive into this game it will get decidedly more competitive since there aren’t a vast number of consistent sources for these coveted wines. However, one constant will remain: Wine Directors buy the Gray stuff from their friends. Attention remains the key to the castle.

Sidenote: I have to wonder what it is like for heritage producers to come into this market to sell their current release wines and see old bottlings featured in many restaurants bought from sources outside their chosen distributor. They must they find themselves between a mother rock and hard place: It is decidedly more difficult to sell their current release wines and it is difficult to argue with the broad support on a list of their historic vintages. The lucky few have both rolling…

“ Empire is like the brother-in-law you never want. Buyers today generally buy from them because they feel like they have to.

The Empire strikes…back?

The Empire Merchants distribution animal (Evil Empire on the street..) went on strike and I took a few surprising phone calls that made me very happy. When one of the juggernaut companies gets interrupted by a Union strike and buyers in the market are already fed up with the horrendous service experience of working with them, we smaller players are presented with an opportunity.
Empire is like the brother-in-law you never want. Buyers today generally buy from them because they feel like they have to. Good service from them is as rare as a pleasant ride on the L train at 4 am.
Empire has been on strike before but never before have there been so many companies poised to take some biz from them. Stop and think about that for a moment. This was near impossible five years ago. Now the volume placements are in play. This is beyond huge.

And, the Winner is…

The Wine Spectator #1 wine of the year is…(wait for it)… Duckhorn Merlot Tres Palmas Vineyard 2014!

According to Tom Matthews, Wine Spectator executive editor, it is a comeback story that has quality, value and the so-called “X-factor.”
This may strike you as a total spinfest from an alternate universe at first glance, but after a little thought, this choice makes a lot of sense. The Wine Spectator business must work for advertising and towards a large market, so a 5k case production Merlot from Duckhorn as the #1 wine is a perfect choice.
Print (and digital) media companies in the wine space are generally behind and more mass market than we experience in the trenches of NYC.
Duckhorn is now owned by a private equity firm (and for me the wine equivalent to a dusty, mallard duck rotary dial phone), but the truth is that Duckhorn is on a lot of lists and shelves, and sells better in NYC than most of us would ever believe.

*The Natural Wine Movement (NWM) is a tribe defined by the Seth Godin principle “people like us do things like this” and has little to do with exacting vineyard or cellar practices and much more to do with the people behind them. This is my current definition of the movement. Happy to discuss in person. Email me.

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