At Uncorked Ventures we’re getting ready for the holiday season. Having never been open for the November and December Christmas selling season before, we’re greatly looking forward to the most important part of the year for any retailer. As part of our preperations for Christmas and other Holiday shoppers, we’ve managed to get ourselves approved over on Ebay to sell wine. Wine isn’t big on Ebay anymore (they removed the category a while ago when it was clear no one was following the law, you have to have a permit to sell alcohol) but we’re hoping that getting started now will lead to a few sales and in the future we’ll have access to a huge market of people ready to spend their money.

One of our listings is a nice 3 pack of wine from Napa Valley. We’re showing how different Napa Cabernet Sauvignon can be from one AVA to another in this 3 pack of wine, which even offers free shipping.

At Uncorked Ventures, we’re always looking for new and better ways to advertise our wine clubs and wine gift services. Part of that process has led us to create the following image. It’s a bit different than you usually see in the wine industry for a number of reasons, but we like it quite a bit. What do you think?

One of the interesting things about running a small business is that you really don’t get a ton of feedback about how you’re doing.  Sure, we hear from customers about their wine club shipments from time to time, but given that those interactions are almost always positive, it still makes me wonder….are they telling me the truth that they loved the wine, or are they just saying that to be nice?  Personally, I’m rarely one to complain to a business, unless something is seriously wrong.

Additionally given my relative standing as a novice in the wine industry, without any formal education or credentials I sometimes wonder about my ability to continually select outstanding wines for my customers.

So there you have my insecurities, which if we’re honest with ourselves always pop up from time to time in different areas of our lives.

Of course then there are days like last Friday, when we received our most recent Wine Advocate (Robert Parker’s “magazine” you know the most famous wine critic in the world).

A few things jumped out immediately-some of our small wineries which Matt and I both love working with (as well as their wine) did incredibly well once again.

Of special interest was Kaena.  Kaena is the personal label of a winemaker we met at his regular day job, we purchased the Hale which we thought was an incredibly food friendly and solid wine priced at $18 per bottle.  In addition to shipping Hale to our club customers, we used it in a few private tastings and events as well.  Given it had never been scored by a major wine critic before, it was nice to see Parker give it a solid 87 point score.

Examples like Hale remind me when they come up that we can trust ourselves when it comes to tastings….especially when we’re getting ready to hopefully ship a newly scored 95 point Syrah at some point in the next month or two.

Do you believe that innovation can still occur in the wine industry?  I do, read more over at MetroCitizen Magazine, a real estate oriented lifestyle magazine based out of Miami Florida.

Over the year or so that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve tried to not get overly political, but given Proposition 8 (the Gay Marriage amendment to the California State Constitution) being ruled un-constitutional yesterday, I couldn’t think of anything more important to write about this morning.

San Diego’s Union Tribune on Prop 8 Being Overturned

I realize this is an extremely touchy issue for people on both sides and although I generally would say that less government intrusion into people’s lives the better, I can understand why some people would say this is a dramatic change for culture in the state (and given past history where California tends to go culturally, the country often follows, if you need an example look no further than the green energy movement).

All that being said, especially when considering that marriages between people of different races was illegal in much of country only a generation ago, I have to think this shows some significant progress.  I’ll also point out that only in one case (alcohol, which was since overturned itself) the Constitution both on the state and federal level is meant to assure individual rights, not to take them away.

All in all, it’s a good day for the state of California and in my opinion a step forward for a group of people that have been unfairly marginalized for too long.  Frankly speaking our state and federal government have plenty of economic and political issues to deal with, let alone managing two wars so the less social involvement we have, in my opinion, we’re better off.

Lastly, as you might imagine, this opinion is strictly mine alone and not an official statement of my company Uncorked Ventures.  Thanks for understanding.

It’s funny how new businesses can change plans so quickly.

In the coming weeks we’ll be celebrating a family reunion in Texas, my wife and I fond of roadtrips will be driving the 1,400 miles from San Diego to Texas.  We’re stopping a few places along the way, but I’m looking forward to being able to visit a winery or two along the way in a region of the country which isn’t exactly known for fine wine production.  I am interested in some of the New Mexico wine being growing at 4,500 feet or higher simply because the desert air is so warm during the day and cool at night.  Not really a fit for any of our wine clubs as of yet, but the likelihood of a quality Zinfandel being grown in these desert conditions is probably higher then any other grape, so it is interesting.

One of the fun things (well one of a great many really) of running Uncorked Ventures is the chance to visit with winemakers and spend time in wine country. I haven’t spoken at length about the wine industry in San Diego at all on this blog, for a number of reasons but mostly because it is largely non existent. There are very few (in relative terms) wineries you can visit that have a nice atmosphere to taste in, while tasting high quality wines.

Over the weekend I had the chance to visit Cordiano Winery, which although technically is in Escondido, California is about 5 miles from my house driving on back roads. It’s the type of place that is largely locals only, owned by an Italian family it offers some of the best views I’ve seen in some time (if we could only take away one small hill so that there would be a view into the Wild Animal Park), good friendly hosts, a small dog more interesting in table scraps and drinking out of the fountain then being petted, hand made outdoor brick oven pizza and some solid wine using grapes largely (exclusively for some of their wines) from grapes purchased from Paso Robles. Judging by the gathering crowds late in the day, their method of work of mouth advertising has been working thus far.

To me, it was nice to see a local winery offering a nice tasting environment while not holding strong to producing only Bordeaux varietals which need (stereotypically speaking at least) to be grown in cooler climates then we have south of Santa Barbara. Of interest at Cordiano was their Sangiovese which paired well with a pizza and seemed to be the favorite of most everyone at the winery that afternoon. Long term I’d hope that the wine industry in Southern California could find a set of grapes that grow well in the incredibly hot and dry conditions that we have here, but until that time having winemakers whom are willing to purchase grapes from more established regions seems to be a good business model.

Grazie del tempo dedicatomi Gerardo y Rosa.

So last week was enjoyable both in terms of a short tasting appointments on my way to the Bay Area, as well as having the chance to work with the Peninsula Wine Enthusiasts Meet Up once again. Especially fun to hear Jeff from Vellum Wines talk about how their winery got started and some of their goals for the future.

This week brings a more hectic schedule (if that’s possible) as shipment start leaving the warehouse this morning and then we need to begin planning for the July shipment ASAP since we have a family reunion to attend which will take part of the month away from work in July.

Of course, please visit us online and see if one of our wine clubs would be a good fit for you and your family.

Pride Mountain Vineyards

During our last trip to Napa, we were able to identify at least 3 new wineries that we’re interested in partnering with in the upcoming months. While we’ll wait until after shipping those wines to talk about them I did get a chance to taste and take a tour at Pride Mountain Vineyards during my time in Napa. Pride’s probably not a fit for any of our clubs, not because of quality but because they are already extremely well known.

Having not personally spent a lot of time on Spring Mountain it was good to get a chance to explore in person, I have enjoyed Pride’s wine on quite a few occasions because my business partner/brother in law has been a club member for some time.

The trip up Spring Mountain starts easily enough. Turn off Highway 29 in St. Helena (one of the cutest small towns you’ll encounter anywhere) and make a right on Spring Mountain Drive. It’s a windy mountain road without services (yes we had gas this time, unlike here or especially here) and the drive up to Pride which sits atop the mountain took the better part of 15 minutes and included a few fun moments like being tailgated by a VW Bug and having a semi truck decide that it needed 3 feet of our lane on a curve. It seemed appropriate to be there on a rainy, foggy day because the GPS had put us into white space well before we found the winery itself.

The tour at Pride is reservation only, although I hear telling them that you have a reservation can sometimes be as good as actually having one and takes about an hour while costing $10 per person. I do believe they will credit that $10 towards one of your wine purchases however.

We started in the tasting room with another couple (from Pennsylvania and Toronto respectively) and were able to taste their Chardonnay which is a solid selection grown in Carneros. It shows hints of lemon, orange and nuts (almond, walnut?) while having a basic sense of acidity. Retailing for $37 I can see a lot of people liking the wine, personally I tend to look for more acidic whites in that range.

After that we were taken to a map of the vineyards at the side of the tasting room which also included a picture of the Pride family. Theirs is, in many ways a quintessential Napa story having moved to Spring Mountain to grow some grapes and retire in relative anonymity. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, in large part because Parker gave their first Merlot a 94 point score. After the short and enjoyable history lesson, we moved outside.

I expect our time outside was shortened quite a bit due to the weather, but our host whose name and business card currently escape me after traveling (currently attending Sonoma State in their Wine MBA program which is very cool I might add) showed us that they have a small example vineyard planted in the front of the tasting room. They plan to let visitors pick a grape off the vine and taste how different it is from grapes you find at the grocery store. I think this is a great idea and should give visitors an even bigger connection to the wine that they find in their glasses.

We then walked toward the caves and learned the most interesting part about the winery…..more tomorrow!

Every month or two it comes time for me to make my way up to wine country once again. This month that happens on Thursday morning bright and early. It’s an exciting trip for a couple of reasons. Thursday night brings our first Peninsula Wine MeetUp followed by a Saturday charity tasting event. We’ll also be spending Monday and perhaps part of Tuesday morning of next week visiting wineries.

Most of my friends and family have noted that I’ve been on my best behavior on this blog, not talking too much about baseball and the first place Padres….well I couldn’t pass this one up.

I’m 100% sure that running on the field isn’t worth the 15 seconds of fame, especially when it includes being tasered, spending a night in jail and a $1500+ fine. Pretty funny though and no, I really don’t feel sorry for the guy since he decided to run on the field.

Over the past weeks I’ve talked some in this space about HR 5034 and the negative affects it could have both on my business as well as on the wine industry in general.  I know that although this law would in fact cripple the only growth area of the wine industry in the United States (small family owned wineries dependent on shipping directly to consumers) I have to be concerned when I hear Tom Wark who is not only one of the three most influential wine bloggers on the planet, but also the President of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association say that he gives this bill a 30% chance of passing.

To me, although I’m interested in politics, being a registered independent means that I feel like politicians from both sides should be not only willing to hear my cares and concerns, but even court my vote.  My local representative in the House of Representatives is Duncan Hunter, who fits largely with the image of San Diego politics 30+ years ago, being intensely pro military (a very good thing) as well as being extremely conservative socially (personally, I like moderates best).

I wrote him an email explaining my side of the story which can be summed up in the following points:

-Wine already faces more strict shipping regulations then guns or ammunition.

-Does it logically make sense that an under-age drinker wants to wait 2 days to obtain their alcohol, even if we discount the fact that all common carriers (Fedex, UPS, etc) require a person 21 years of age to sign for the shipment?  Wouldn’t it be easier to pay that same 21 year old person to buy the alcohol from the local grocery store?

-The national wholesalers behind the bill have not been able to show a single study to show that direct shipments of wine lead to underage drinking.

-Although the stated intent of this lawsuit is to stop lawsuits fighting state specific shipping regulations, the same sponsors of this bill are currently challenging California’s shipping law in court in this state.  If lawsuits shouldn’t be used by consumers fighting for the freedom to choose their own wine, why can the industry use them?

Please don’t misunderstand my points, I am not asking for the rights to ship to any consumer anywhere without regulation.  I’m simply asking for the right to apply for a permit, pay taxes and deal with consumers interested in my wine and wine clubs.  I believe that freedom of choice should extend to as many states as possible.  If Utah’s consumers do not want to approve direct shipment of alcohol, I can understand that completely, but New York State should not be allowed to violate the commerce clause by allowing their in state wineries to ship to consumer in the state, while not allowing out of state wineries to do the same.

I’m not even saying that I think distributors should go away completely.  We deal with some of these folks on a daily basis and some of them provide an incredible service and the widely distributed wines offer people an entry into the market and help to create a market of consumers that my company, Uncorked Ventures focuses on servicing as their wants and needs change over time.  To be even more clear, there are distributors that do an outstanding job including some of the people at Monterrey Bay, TGIC and even Southern Wine and Spirits.  The employees that we deal with in those companies don’t see my company as a threat, one of the wineries we represent makes 650 cases of wine a year.  Many distributors can’t represent anyone who makes under 10,000 because of their wide distribution channels.

Although I was quite impressed to have received a response from Mr. Hunter I was somewhat disappointed at the content, simply because it seems to include a number of talking points taken directly from the wholesalers.

Response from Duncan Hunter

The bold is my addition to bring your attention to a part which sounds pretty familiar:

According the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America:

It is important that states retain their constitutional power to regulate the distribution of beverage alcohol and are able to fend off litigation, which serves to destabilize or destroy that authority. Although we may oppose direct shipping and self-distribution as a matter of policy, our goal is not to overturn existing state laws. We simply believe the proper forum for resolving legitimate differences over these issues is in the state legislatures – not the courts.”

I will additionally point out that aside from the obvious inconsistencies which come up in the Wholesalers statement (how do you have adequate choice when there are 5 national distributors and 6,000 wineries in the United States?) I also wonder why using the courts would be used for such things like integrating schools, the death penalty and literally every social issue of our time, but somehow alcohol distributors and certain states should be exempt from those same challenges.

My overall frustration comes mostly from the fact that the Supreme Court just decided this exact issue in 2005 in GRANHOLM V. HEALD in which the court decided that State or territorial regulations may not facially discriminate, without justification, against out-of-state producers of alcoholic beverages in favor of in-state producers.”

I don’t think it’s asking too much to have a state prove why they need to break the commerce clause before they are allowed to do it.  If they can break it with impunity, what does that say not only for the judicial branch of our government, but the Constitution itself?

Mr Hunter, all we’re asking for is a fair playing field, one which is already accorded to our competitors which are based outside of California.