Evolution of a Pouring

Wineontheway.com has a unique dilemma.  As a wine retailer, it would love to expose its potential/customers to a broad array of wines in a large-scale event.  As a virtual enterprise, however, it does not have the facilities to support such an event.  Over the prior two years an event has been held in rented space at the Vue in downtown Orlando and, for this year, the venue was switched to the Winter Park Farmers Market.  Over the three years that this event has been held, there has been an evolution in approach which has, in my opinion, resulted in this year's event being the best yet.

As previously mentioned, the initial event was held in the social area (not the formal name but we are not standing on process here) of the Vue and everyone and his mother were there.  Wine resources were in great supply but they were obscured by the press of humanity and the L-shaped design of the room.  It was very difficult to get to individual tables because of the crush and patrons had to work the room based on the depth of the crowd at a table rather than the location of wines of primary interest.

For the second event, Wineontheway.com addressed the accessibility issue by limiting attendance to a little over 100 patrons but the room-shape problem still persisted.  With a little over 100 people in attendance, it was now possible to flow easily from table to table, to engage the pourers in more extensive dialogue, to hang around a table-of-interest for a longer period (without the feel of inconveniencing the entire hall), and to easily spot people that you know (assuming they were in the same quadrant of the "L" as you were).

This year's incarnation of the event was held at the old train depot that houses Winter Park's famous Saturday Farmers Market.

The old train depot, which has been restored as a historical landmark, is a brick construct with concrete floors and high ceilings that are adorned with string lights.  This setting, along with the exposed piping, is evocative of an industrial loft.

In addition to the one hundred 90+ wines of varying types, and from various regions, that were available for customer tasting, Loren and Angel Gil, the proprietors of Bodegas El Nido, were on hand to assist with the pouring of their wines.  The pouring was again limited to around 100 attendees.  This fact, coupled with the arrangement of the tables afforded by the single room layout of the venue, allowed for a free flow of patrons between the 12 pouring stations.

The company's best customers were afforded the opportunity to arrive a full 45 minutes before the official start time and thus were able to have a longer and more intense level of involvement in the event.

I think that wineontheway.com has nailed it in terms of locale.  I think that their focus on limited number of attendees, resulting in a 1:1 ratio of attendees to labels on offer, has resulted in a better, smoother, more engaging experience for both the attendees and the pourers.The attendance of the Gils at this event hopefully signals a trend towards a larger involvement of winemakers in future events and, if that is to be the case, it would be great if wineontheway.com took advantage of their presence to incorporate tasting elements into the program.  Wineontheway.com has shown that their customers are kings as they continue to evolve this event for their benefit and greater enjoyment.

Wine Purveyor Critical Success Factors

The bursting of the domestic real estate bubble, and the attendant impact on world financial markets and domestic employment, has had significant knock-on effects for metro-Orlando wine purveyors. The massive decline in real estate and affiliated jobs, coupled with belt-tightening on the part of those still employed, has resulted in up to a 50% reduction in pre-crisis wine sales, according to Jay Smith of Cavanaugh's, and has knocked out the middle of the market leaving a two-tiered market consisting of a $15-$3o component and a "cautious-collector market." Within this straitened environment, however, a few purveyors seem to be doing better than the majority. What are the factors that are causing these purveyors to experience relative success in the face of so much adversity?

The first of these factors, as I see it, is a very high level of owner enthusiasm/passion. And this cannot be faked. If the owner has a passion for wine -- not selling wine, but a passion for wine -- then he/she manifests that in discussions with customers/prospects and they want to be a part of that energy. Customers of that owner begin to drink the Kool Aid and spread the gospel of the second coming of the "wine child." Owners like Adam (Wine on the Way), Andrew (Wine Barn), Bill (Elusive Grape), for example, manifest this trait.

A second critical success factor is community-building. If the only interaction with the customer centers around taking money out of his/her pocket/pocketbook, that is not a strategy for winning a loyal, long-term customer. The establishment of horizontal and/or vertical communities is a key strategy that ties the customer to the facility. An example of a vertical community is Wine on the Way's Board Meeting. The community here is horizontal in that high-end collectors get together in a no-pressure, no-sales environment to share a passion that they have for good food and good wine. Customer appreciation for being included in these types of events has positive long-term implications.

A third critical success factor is what I call "margin volumerization.' In this scheme, the purveyor shifts the firm's focus from a per-bottle margin to a focus on the total margin derived from a particular program. The margin on a particular bottle could be significantly lower than normal but that in itself could drive volume which, in turn, drives higher total margin.

A fourth critical success factor is "collector care." A typical collector places high value on things such as access to hard-to-get wines, special deals, invitations to trade-only events, and access to wine notables when they come into the Orlando area. These are the kind of perks that you do not get at Costco and is some of the value-add that bridges the gap between the prices that these giant retailers can sometimes bring to the market. Wine on the Way and The Wine Barn excel in this area.

An area that I see as being under-exploited is customer wine storage. In Florida, it is essential that wine that is not drunk immediately be stored in some type of a refrigerated facility. Improperly stored wine is a poor investment plus drinking it can permanently scar a potential wine consumer. Purveyors need to understand their customers storage capabilities, or lack thereof, and encourage purchase of relevant storage if none is utilized. By preaching storage, and facilitating storage acquisition, the purveyor does a public service and can lock in short-term (acquisition) and long-term (replenishment) purchases.