Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/732978
28 WINES&VINES October 2016 WINEMAKING 28 WINES&VINES October 2016 fun adjunct for your club and tasting room sales, but that shouldn't distract from your core." He also has observed, "Many of the most successful winery owners didn't have formal training and often came from a differ- ent place with very different ideas." Obsession with quality Dave Phinney is the founder of Orin Swift, which is based in the Napa Valley. He and his team built an impressive collection of success- ful varietal wines with proprietary names such as China Doll, Mannequin, Machete, Papillon, Slander and Trigger Finger, combining for sales of roughly 100,000 cases at price points from $19 to $120 per bottle. He also started The Prisoner brand, which he sold in 2013, and E. & J. Gallo Winery announced it had purchased the Orin Swift Cellars brand and tasting room in June. Phinney was an outsider to the industry, not wedded to its traditions. Prior to starting Orin Swift in 1998, he was a recent political science graduate who worked for a public defender and for a congressman before spend- ing a few months in Florence, Italy, and de- veloping an interest in wine. His artistic labels are derived in part from his childhood experi- ences of being dragged to museums and ca- thedrals around the world. In interviewing Phinney, it is clear that his point of differentiation is his obsession with quality. It permeates every step of the process from the vineyard to label design and beyond. His first crush was 2 tons of Zinfandel, which was later sold for bulk because it wasn't up to his quality standards. He stresses the point, "If you can easily sell your wine, the econom- ics are good." Phinney notes that every wine can always be a little better, and he warns against compla- cency, adding, "We've never made a wine we are completely happy with." Rather than trying to sell something inferior, he is willing to bulk out vintages. It took 10 years of trying until Orin Swift produced a Pinot Noir that Phinney felt was worth bottling. Echoing Markus Bokisch, Phinney talks about hard work and dedication. "Challenge yourself to do everything better. Winemaking is 1,000 little things. Our goal is to see how many of those 1,000 things we can do right." He takes the same vigorous winemaking ap- proach to all label design, packaging, wine- maker notes and the tasting room experience, adding, "It's been a grind, and it still is." With the launch of a new proprietary label, Phinney's team asks, "Does it meet quality and pricing? What type of package goes with it? And does the package, while unique, fit with the rest of the Orin Swift line?" For example, for their Mercury Head Cabernet, an actual pure silver mercury head dime is fixed to each bottle, which makes the wine stand out and fit the $120 price. Phinney believes that "quality married with consistency builds loyalty." The obsession with quality has helped Phin- ney endear the Orin Swift brand to everyone— growers and staff, retailers and distributors. "Everyone is a friend. I think there is a mutual respect." Phinney gives credit to his team for their hard work and tenacity. "We all challenge each other to make a better wine. How much better can we fine tune the wine, the label, etc." Phinney's advice as to the importance of differentiation: "Oscar Wilde said 'be yourself, because everyone else is taken.' There is no original thought, but don't simply chase what others are doing. Do something because you think it's the right thing to do. If you don't believe in it, people are smart enough to figure that out. If you are going to commit to some- thing, you really have to commit. If you think about any idea long enough, there's a reason not to do it." Bookending your meal Michael Blaylock is the director of winemaking for Quady Winery, which has been producing wines in Madera, Calif., since 1976. Quady is w i n e s a n d v i n e s . c o m MARKET DATA AND ANALYSIS Wineries DtC Shipments Off-Premise Sales Flash Sales WINES VINES ANALYTICS Market Research for Wineries and Suppliers Flash Sales Offers Climb Higher in November The Flash Report Complete flash data is available at winesandvines.com/flash FLASH DISCOUNTS FOR A SAMPLE OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST WINES OFFERED IN NOVEMBER Discount Winery/Brand Region State Varietal Vintage Winery Retail Flash Price Winery Size in Cases Flash Site 18% Long Shadows Vintners Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2012 $62.99 $51.65 30,000 Underground Cellar 38% Northstar Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2009 $40.00 $24.99 30,000 WineShopper 40% Eyrie Vineyards Willamette Valley OR Pinot Gris 2012 $49.99 $29.99 10,000 Last Call Wines 40% Sokol Blosser Winery Dundee Hills OR Pinot Noir 2012 $53.75 $32.50 70,000 Rue La La 44% Goose Ridge Estate Vineyard and Winery Columbia Valley WA Merlot 2008 $36.00 $20.00 300,000 Wine Woot 50% Naked Winery Rogue Valley OR Muscat 2013 $30.00 $15.00 19,000 Wine Woot 58% Emerson Vineyards Willamette Valley OR Pinot Noir 2010 $39.99 $16.99 3,500 Last Call Wines 64% Precept Wine Brands/Primarius Willamette Valley WA Pinot Noir 2012 $50.00 $17.99 680,000 Wines Til Sold Out METRICS 14 WINES&VINES January 2015 T he total number of off ers for domestic wines in November was 4% higher than a year ago, bringing to an end a two- month trend of slightly lower off er totals. Flash websites made a total of 576 off ers and were led by Last Call Wines, which had 113. Wired for Wine, which averages 35 off ers per month held a special event that resulted in 106 off ers for domestic wine and also helped drive the monthly total higher. In 2012 and 2013, the total number of offers in November and December were higher than in previous months of those years. December 2013's total of 722 offers was the highest of that year and has been unsurpassed in 2014. During the past 12 months ending in November 2014, the total offers per month also spiked in May (610 offers), August (601) and November (578). Each of these month's totals were either 100 offers higher than the 12-month average of 500 or close to that level. A higher number of offers by Invino pushed the total higher in three of those months. In November, Invino had just 67 offers, and the higher total can be attributed to Wired for Wine and Last Call Wines. By wine type, the breakdown of offers has stayed relatively the same since Wines Vines Analytics first started tracking flash offers. Cab- ernet Sauvignon is the most popular followed by Pinot Noir. Chardonnay and red blends have occasionally switched the third place position but always remain well ahead of Zinfandel and other varietal wines. In the "all other" category Sau- vignon Blanc accounted for 112 of the 664 offers followed by Petite Sirah's 77. While white Zin- fandel may still account for a sizeable share of off-premise retail shelves, flash sites made only one offer for the wine type in the past 12 months. —Andrew Adams FLASH SITES COMPARED FOR NOVEMBER Flash Reseller Number of Domestic Offers Average Flash Price (750ml) Average Discount Page views* Cinderella Wine 13 $40.17 28% 35,000 Invino 67 $25.39 40% 234,000 Last Bottle Wines 22 $25.36 40% 258,000 Last Call Wines 113 $22.26 48% 9,000 Lot18 42 $19.75 34% 654,000 The Wine Spies 35 $27.20 32% 43,000 Wine Woot 53 $18.48 45% 854,000 Wines Til Sold Out 55 $21.72 50% 862,000 WineShopper 23 $18.42 41% 68,000 Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/flash *Source: Compete.com, November 2014 TOTAL FLASH OFFERS BY MONTH TOTAL DOMESTIC FLASH OFFERS BY VARIETAL Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/fl ash 20 leading Flash sites, 12 months ending Nov. 2014 Source: Wines Vines Analytics, winesandvines.com/fl ash 1,500 1,200 900 600 300 0 Cabernet Pinot Char- Red Zin- Sauvignon Syrah Merlot All Sauvignon Noir donnay Blends fandel Blanc Others 800 700 600 500 400 300 Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov 491 1,481 1,203 818 764 298 200 193 664 2014