Wine and the economy

posted by John in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

This past Sunday I was at Loxton Cellars working at the tasting bar as I usually do.  It was the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend.  Typically the Sunday of a long weekend is the busiest day of the three day weekend.  So mentally, I had prepared myself for a little bit of chaos.  Philip and Mark can attest that the tasting room at Loxton is not that big.  Well, the space is big but the space is also used for 256 barrels, the winery office, the winery lab (which doubles as the kitchen) and the winery restroom.  If you get more than 10 people in this space it gets busy.

The everything room @ Loxton Cellars

What happened was not pure chaos but peaks and valleys of visitors.  While not ideal, we did manage to see a lot of people and the best part, for us, was that we sold a bunch of wine.  In those valleys of calmness it gave me an opportunity to think about and discuss with my coworkers for the day, Chris the owner and wine maker of Loxton, and Barrett, part-time Loxton guy like me and training to be a sommelier, what the impact of the current economic state has had on the wine industry.

What I am going to say is based on observation of my time at the winery and what I see when I’m in wine country.  I didn’t do any hard research.  So what effect has the slowing of the US economy had on the wine industry?  By my account, not a whole lot.  In fact, I would argue that there isn’t much of a change at all.

Again, I’m speaking based on my perspective.  We’ve seen less people at Loxton compared to this point last year.  However, the winter this year was especially long and wet in Sonoma.  People just don’t like going out in wine country when it’s wet and cold and this includes the locals.  Weather is a huge factor to us both to the number of visitors and the quality of our product.  Good weather is something we pray for.

The real determination for us, as a business, to whether the weak economy is affecting us is our sales.  It is true that first quarter sales were lower than last year.  However, if we factor in that we saw less people because of the weather then we need to look at another measure to really compare.  That figure would be average dollar amount per purchase.  When we looked at this it wasn’t very different.  In fact it was a single digit difference from last year.  So it appears that when people did visit us and made purchases they were purchasing the same amount of wine they were the year before.

What about sales to date?  The total number of purchases?  It can be easy to rationalize events.  View them in a way that makes them seem normal maybe even look good or optimistic.  However, when you look in your bank account the truth will hit you.  Is there money there or not?  For us, we can’t complain.  Sales are a little bit off from last year but that can be attributed to the slow start to the year.  This, as I stated earlier, was due to the crappy weather.  People are still buying our wine.

This brings me back to the Memorial Day weekend.  While we did have time to talk about some these topics the fact is we were pretty damn busy.  We saw a lot of people and those people were buying wine.  We had to turn away a van of twenty, twenty-something women, we just didn’t have enough staff to serve everyone.  Sales wise, we were right on target with last year.  While I can’t say for sure that the slow economy US is not affecting the wine industry it doesn’t seem to have as much an effect on us.

Touring Napa

posted by John in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

This past weekend I did what the most tourists in California do, I went to Napa Valley. Napa Valley continually outdraws any other tourist attraction in California. Yes, even Disney Land. Napa is a beautiful place. Not only that, it is a great place to grow grapes. With great soils and wonderful growing season, even in the most difficult years, the wines that come from Napa rival the worlds offering. With all that Napa has going for it, your experience may not be picture perfect.

I guess my expectations of a wine tasting experience are a little skewed. In the four years that I’ve lived in California I would estimate that I’ve done in the neighborhood of 50 some trips to wine country (in Napa or Sonoma). Roughly put, I’m in wine country at least once a month. I’ve come to know what I like and what I don’t. My goal for this blog is to help you get the most out of your wine country experience.

Here are my rules, okay guidelines, for a great wine country experience.

1. Know what you want. Sounds simple enough but it is a bigger challenge than people expect. If you don’t know what you want to do, you’ll end up wandering aimlessly and getting in my way. Have a theme and stick to it. Something like, superior cabernet producers or mainstream wine producers. Whatever it is, it will help you in getting around.

2. Have a plan. This means doing some research. Yeah, I know, heading to wine country is supposed to be fun and it is not supposed to be work but a little planning helps the day, weekend or week go smoothly. Know the wineries you want to visit, get an idea of where they are, and get an idea of distance between them. The last thing you want to be doing is rushing to an appointment and being stuck behind a tour bus heading to Mondavi.

3. Call ahead. Not only is this courteous but it may be required. Most wineries will allow you to drop in, many more are requiring that you call ahead and have an appointment. Some will be anal about the timing, others will be flexible and happy to accommodate you.

4. Get recommendations. If you don’t know what you want, ask people. A lot of wineries (including the one I work for Loxton Cellars – shameless plug) live off recommendations. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from staff at wineries. We understand that the wine business is about “co-opetition”. If you do ask be prepared to answer the questions of, “what do you like?” and “what are you looking for?”. The answer to the first is Syrah/Shiraz and the second is small, independent Australian run winery (again shameless plug for Loxton Cellars in Glenn Ellen, CA).

5. Be flexible. I know, I know, this flies in the face of having a plan. But, as the saying goes, “Stuff happens”. This is a rule that I could take more to heart. Even the best thought out plan doesn’t always work. If you’ve did your planning right you’ll be able to adjust quickly.

6. Stay off the main routes. Nothing drives me more nuts that trying to make a left hand turn on to highway 29 at 2pm on a Saturday. You’ll have more luck with the scratch-and-win lottery tickets. Thus, my recommendation is to plan your route so that there are more back roads than main roads. My experience says that you’ll uncover some little known gems and you’ll actually save time in travel (even if it feels like it is longer).

7. Avoid Saturdays. ’nuff said. Saturdays are when the booze cruises, stretch limo and bus tours are out in full force. You’ll have trouble getting appointments, unless you had called a month in advance. You’ll encounter some tasting bars that are two or three rows deep. And parking becomes an issue. Okay, this mostly applies in the summer time but in general…avoid Saturdays if at all possible.

8. Go when the new releases are available. Most people want to go to wine country during the summer. Wrong, wrong, wrong. The best time to go is when wineries release their new wines. Why? Well, you’ll actually get an opportunity to taste the small production wines and be able to buy them. So when is this? Spring and Fall. Plus, you’ll avoid the crowds and the hotel rates will be better.

9. Have a designated driver. This should go without saying. Police presence in wine country may seem low but they are there and they will bust your ass. No joking here. Working at a winery we hear about the times when people have not taken this to heart and it gets messy. If a winery staffer suggests that you might have had too much remember they see this kind of thing every weekend and it isn’t meant as insult, it’s meant to get you home okay.

10. Have dinner in wine country. Again, something that I wish more people did for many reasons. First, it helps you avoid traffic back to San Francisco (where most people seem to want to stay). Second, there are some outstanding restaurants in wine country and I mean beyond The French Laundry, Brix, and Bouchon. Lastly, the food is friggin’ awesome. If you need some suggestions, let me know.

While what I have said here was meant to be about Napa and Sonoma (my home away from home), it really applies to any wine region. You’ve spent the money and the time, you might as well get the most out of it. Some people can have fun doing things by the seat of their pants but the reality is, most of us (especially me) need some structure, rules, guidelines, whatever, to make something like this work. Using these rules…errr…guidelines makes things work for me. If you need more advice, you know where to find me … I’m always on Snooth!

John Andrews is a software product manager during the week and is a professional Tasting Room staffer at Loxton Cellars in Glen Ellen, CA on the weekends.

The pressure of wine knowledge

posted by John in Wine, Guest Bloggers

Knowing a little bit of wine is fun but it can be dangerous. Once people know that you are a ‘wine connoisseur’ they want to defer to you for any decisions. This can be flattering and at the same time … stressful. I admit I do know a little bit about wine. I probably know a more than most people. However, and A BIG HOWEVER, my knowledge is based on two things: the process of wine making and what I like.

The process is something I can tell people about and educate them on. It gives people an idea of what goes into the creation of a wine. It illustrates that it is simple and complex at the same time. It doesn’t tell them what the wine is like. What I like, now that is something that cannot be simply transferred. Many studies have gone into categorizing how people taste, to identify what characteristics to wines and, overall, trying to see where people fit. I can’t do that.

When I get the inevitable question of, “John, what wine would you recommend?” I can’t help but panic a little bit. This week has been a world of panic for me. In my full time job (the one that pays the mortgage) I’ve been attending a conference. Many of the people at this conference know about my affinity of wine. I’ve fielded just as many questions about wine and what some should have as I have about my regular job.

Each time I get asked this question I have to go through a mental checklist of questions for myself to make sure I get it right. It’s a creditability thing. I feel like I have to get it right because that is what is expected of me. So I have judge the person, I have remind myself of what I’ve seen them drink in the past, I have remember the things the said and if I have the opportunity find out where they are going to be eating. So many variables, some many questions but I can only give one answer.

What I do? I give it my best effort because ultimately I know that people trust what I have to say and are going to appreciate I took the pressure off them for having to make the ‘wine’ decision. If I can’t really figure out what to suggest for them, I usually give up and say, if I were you, I’d go with Pinot. It’s my favorite style of wine.

John Andrews is a software product manager during the week and is a professional Tasting Room staffer at Loxton Cellars in Glen Ellen, CA on the weekends.