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September 2017 WINES&VINES 39 DISTRIBUTOR MARKET 2017 Delicato was a strategic one," Chris Indelicato, president and CEO of Delicato Family Vineyards, said in an email. "As consolidation has accelerated within all three tiers, the need for a broader, valu- able portfolio becomes even more necessary; distributors and retail- ers alike are looking for it." The two companies will man- age chain retail together but keep their unique portfolios out- side of chains separate. "With DFV and V2 working closely to- gether now in chain retail and finding synergies where we can, we are well positioned to offer those retailers a broader, more valuable alternative: the ability to offer many brands in the fast- est growing categories." Delicato said the company is a leader in the "exploding" pre- mium bag-in-box category, and its Gnarly Head and Noble Vines brands do well in the premium glass category. V2 adds a comple- mentary super-premium and luxury portfolio. "While DFV has tremendous penetration in the retail chain world, V2 has built a strong business that is well bal- anced in the broad market retail and on-premise sectors." With Quintessential, Kreps fo- cuses on a niche of multi-genera- tional, family-owned wineries but said, in general, the best route for a winery to find and build a good wholesaler relationship is to do one thing well and stay consistent. "The biggest challenge for a wholesaler is wineries that change focus on a monthly or quarterly basis based on what they produce or what's not selling fast enough," he said. If, for example, a winery is well known as a Cabernet producer, and 70% of its total production is Cab, they should stick with push- ing that varietal. "Don't change because you get a little backed up on Chardonnay. Keep your mes- sage consistent. Deal with your Chardonnay issue with key ac- counts or whatever you have to do, but your wholesale message needs to remain consistent." DtC sales can help wholesale and vice versa, but Kreps said it's best if wineries keep DtC to vine- yard designates or specialty releases so they aren't competing with retail- ers. "If you want full, broad distribu- tion and a vibrant direct-to-consumer business on the same product, I think you're going to run into some roadblocks," he said. BREAKTHRU BEVERAGE n Breakthru Beverage n Wirtz Beverage Group n Empire Merchants n Alliance Beverage of Arizona n Associated Distributors n Atlantic Wine & Spirits n Bacchus Importers n Ben Arnold n Beverage Distributors n Capital Wine & Spirits n Connecticut Distributors n Massachusetts Wine & Spirits n Premier Beverage n R & R Marketing n Reliable Churchill n United Distributors of Delaware n Washington Wholesale Co. 2017 2010 YOUNG'S MARKET CO. n Young's Market Co. n Better Brands n Caioti Imports n Columbia n Hayden Beverage n K & L n Wilson Daniels 2010 2017 CONSOLIDATION OVER TIME