Getting Personal: Why Little Wine Broker?

So I've promoted my clients, and as I continue to get more "value wines" I'll keep you up to date to safisfy your cravings. I'm writing this blog on a more serious note... to let you get to know me, my background, and how I got into the crazy wholesale wine industry.

I started selling wine five years ago. It was a pure experiment that began when I was writing for a television news station in San Francisco. My producer, Mike, also made (and still makes) wine (Homefire Cellars http://www.zintopia.com/). But his Zin and Petite Sirah had never reached the L.A. market. Since my work in the Bay Area was only temporary I told Mike to send me a couple bottles of his wine... and that I'd shop it around. It was so good and so well priced that the first time I took it out I made an immediate five-case sale.

Well, things got a little crazed in the television news world and I put wine on the backburner. But broadcasting (much like all businesses) is also suffering. Given the extra free time I decided to pursue the wine thing all over again... building my business from scratch. Unfortunately Mike has a new broker in L.A. but he's helped me start over and get clients.

So I got the clients and started going on the sales calls. Of course when I cold call restaurants, retail establishments, etc. people would ask for my company name. That didn't take long to create, thanks to Susan Brink, owner of Venokado (an adorable wine and gift shop in West Hollywood). During a tasting appointment she suggested Little Wine Broker... because she, like many other people, thought my last name was pronounced "Little". It's not (li-tell is how it's pronounced). But I thought, why not take advantage of something that's been driving me nuts all my life? How people butcher my last name. I immediately took her suggestion and voila! Little Wine Broker.

I believe Susan was inspired by another broker in Los Angeles, Katherine Strange, who named her company... Strange Wines (she makes a wonderful Syrah by the way). Katherine, too, has been very helpful when it comes to quickly answering emails about licensing... and importing.

A couple side notes... Haven't heard back from the Midlife folks... but I'm not going to let my hair get gray over it. I just had a tasting with a new client last night... Elliston Vineyards. Only got to try their Merlot and Champagne (so excited to have a Champagne in my arsenal). I'll write more about them next time.

We Drink With Our Eyes

I'm a serious label whore. And wine bottle labels are not exempt. As someone who's supposed to know wines, I would've never admitted that... until I saw I'm not the only one... and it didn't take long to find out that my fellow winos are a lot like me.

It happened the first sales appointment I went on. The guy told me they were only looking for wines that were 120-130/case. So I searched through my stash and found the price points he was looking for. But one problem: The label looked like it was straight out of the '70s (I actually remember wine labels looking like that when I was a kid). And he said although the guy's Chard was tasty, the artist types in the area wouldn't go near it... because of the label.

As I continue to fine-tune my wine book, bottle label is just as important as taste. Jack Wines, for example, has a great label. See for yourself: www.jackwines.com. And going back to wine as a hobby, the graphic designer who created his label is the proprietor of Banknote Wine Company... http://banknotewines.com/

Both are good wines at affordable prices. But one thing you should know is that labels *can* fail you. I made the mistake of purchasing a 30 dollar bottle of wine to enjoy with a friend. It was a tie between two wines... I chose the one with the fancier label. Boy did I pay for that (literally and figuratively). The wine tasted like crap... and I was embarassed.

As for the guy who had the not-so-stylish label, I had to tell him I was having a tough time showing his wines because of it. He actually wasn't aware there was a problem. Who knows whether he'll change it.

Regardless, label may not be the only attention grabber. The wine's name is another. I may soon be representing a wine called Midlife Crisis Winery. Unfortunately that label doesn't have the picture of a sports car on it. But that just goes to show... whether the label (or the name) peeks your interest... just like we eat with our eyes... we drink with our eyes too.

Wine as a Hobbie

Let's face it. In this economy, even the experienced wine drinkers know they don't need to spend a lot of money to drink good wine. Every day I call a place to set up an appointment I've gotten into the habit of asking what price points work for them because I'm not going to open expensive bottles if they don't plan to spend the money. But what most people don't understand is that wine making is a very expensive hobby. I call it a hobby because most of my clients have "day jobs" and hope people will like their wine enough that they won't blink when it comes to price.

One of my clients is a film producer. Guy Riedel has worked on some great movies... "Wedding Crashers", "Rocky Balboa"... and one of my personal favorites, "Office Space". He makes a Cab and a Syrah called "Guy". Very good high-end wines.

And he knows the science involved in wine (as he should. He's only been making wine since he was 15). He really started getting serious about wine in 2001. He started making wines at home, then went on to make more at a crush facility in San Francisco.

As many of you may know, he's not the only person in the spotlight who makes wines. I just found out last week that Wayne Gretzky also makes wine in Canada... only his are a little less expensive than my guy Guy.

Of course many of my clients have taken interesting career paths... one includes the C.I.A. Don't laugh just yet. I heard a Navy Seal even makes his own wine, although he's not my client.

But let's get back to the *cost* involved in winemaking. My C.I.A. client said making one barrel of wine costs $10K. So let's do the math:

1 barrel= 25 cases

If you wanted to make 100 cases of wine it would cost you 40 freaking thousand dollars.

Let's think of things you can buy for $40K:

A 10 karat engagement ring (although that would be HUGE... I'd settle for four).

Fertility treatment costs half that. And let's not forget, a Mercedes or perhaps a lifetime supply of yoga classes... Neither of which my clients have purchased (that I know of). Instead they shelled out a whole lotta dough with the hopes that you would enjoy their wine. Cheers to them!

Warming Up to Whites

SO, in the last blog I wrote about men who have a hard time warming up to whites. But now I'll speak for myself. I myself wasn't a huge fan of whites for a couple reasons:

1) The first time I got sick from alcohol was when I was 17. I asked a friend to pick up a five dollar bottle of wine from 7-11, at which I was going to swig from while we played drinking games. He came back with what was supposed to be a white wine but had a pink tint. I downed the whole thing throughout the course of playing... along with about four shots of Jager. Needless to say, the next day I had a lot of explaining to do to my mom as to why I prayed to my bedroom carpet instead of the Porcelain Goddess.

2) When I finally got into wines (not for the purposes of getting drunk) I'd always hear people say you REALLY didn't know wine if you drank whites.

I took a long haitus from selling wines. And when I got back I made the mistake of going to a wine specialty store in a really hipster side of town. To make matters worse I told the guy, "I'm not really into whites..." Thinking I was so sophisticated, the guy knocked me off my high horse and said back to me, "If you're gonna sell wine you better get into them."

Ever since that, I've been drinking only whites. One that's been opening my palate: Petito Wines makes a beautiful Marsanne Roussanne. And the price is right.

Even the French agree with me. I took it to a French restaurant last week and the woman *really* liked it.

Moral of the story: It probably wasn't the white/pink wine that caused me to get sick back in high school. I'd say combining that with Jager was my bad. AND, not only should I get into whites, another owner of a wine specialty shop told me he might even host a tasting night with black glasses, keep the wines at cellar temp and serve. He said most likely, people won't even notice the difference between whites and reds. Plus, as the weather heats up, what a perfect time to warm up to whites.

One last side note: I just attended this amazing tasting event at the Greystone Mansion. I had to meet a client there.... someone who's very accomplished in the film business. As I start taking his wines out I'll be sure to let you know who I'm talking about.