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WINEMAKING TECHNICAL SPOTLIGHT 58 WINES&VINES May 2018 to retain or attract workers. Tolosa contracts with Mesa Vineyard Management in Temple- ton, Calif., and pays the company more to en- sure that a crew of the same workers always is ready for whatever is needed in the blocks designated for Tolosa wine. Picking will continue to be done by hand, although Hoefliger is quick to say that any winemaker who says "always" about something is lying. He said if he was faced with a storm with the potential to drop several inches on a crop of Pinot Noir, he's going to bring in the machines. On the crush pad, Hoefliger went all-in on sorting and processing technology. He was an early adopter of optical sorting at Alpha Omega after the 2009 vintage, in which a storm forecast to bring less than an inch of rain dropped 5 inches in mid-October, and that was followed by warm and humid conditions. "We had to bring fruit in very, very fast because a lot of the Cab, despite their thicker skins, was starting to rot," he said. At one point, Hoefliger recalled having 32 ELEVATING THE DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER EXPERIENCE N ot all of the changes at Tolosa Winery took place in the cellar. At the recent WiVi conference in Paso Robles, Calif., the winery's general manager June McIvor took part in a panel discussion in which she discussed how the winery's tasting room and direct-to-con- sumer program have been elevated. McIvor, described the changes as a revolution, rather than an evolu- tion. Before August 2015, she said, Tolosa sold "some pretty good wines" in several varieties between $15 and $45. "The winery was a really fun place to visit, with a modern tasting room, great hospital- ity. The lawn was a great place to throw down a beach blanket for an afternoon with kids, dog and a bottle of wine. Our pickup parties were the place to be with music and food. We were voted number-one tast- ing room [in the area]. So why did we change?" Working with a marketing consultant, Tolosa's first step to increase in DtC sales consisted of clarifying the brand assets; through that exercise, said McIvor, Tolosa's team discovered that it aspired to be a luxury brand, focused on Chardonnay and, especially, Pinot Noir. McIvor's team removed extraneous varietals, then added SKUs of single-vineyard wines and a new flagship Pinot Noir at significantly higher price points. "It turned out that most of our strengths were not strengths for the DtC model," McIvor said. "We had too many vari- etals, we were trying to be all things to all people." Secondly, they looked at all the different DtC revenue channels, in- cluding on-property sales, events, wine clubs, digital and inside sales. "We wanted to turn a great hospitality experience into a great hospitality and wine-buying experience," she said, and started by increasing staff pay and setting slightly higher yet attainable sales goals for the team. She also moved many part-time staff toward full time and staffed up during busier times to ensure no guest was left underserved. Next, McIvor's team enhanced the productivity of the winery's spaces, starting with the lawn, which is now no longer a lawn but a tasting space with tables and chairs. "It's really about controlling the experi- ence for guests," said McIvor. The seated tastings have proved to be more enjoyable for the guests who in turn are buying more wine. "They're greeted at the door and led to a spot and it ends forty-five minutes later with a wine sale." Other changes to Tolosa's DtC strategy include the launch of a fu- tures program (which enables near-immediate capitalization on new vintages); phone sale check-ins for repeat buyers; a tasting space exclusive to wine club members; upscale events that end with des- sert strategically placed beside the cash register; in-home tastings (in which sales expectations are set at $20,000 to $40,000 each); and a new elite wine club solely for single vineyard and flagship wines set at $2,500 for a member's inaugural year. "Our staff was terrified to start selling this but success breeds success," McIvor said. "You sell a couple and it becomes exciting. Our team is now totally jazzed." — Jaime Lewis The hospitality areas of the winery were also enhanced to bolster DtC sales. After destemming and sorting, the berries are collected into stainless steel sumps that are dumped into open-top tanks.