I have written thousands, if not tens of thousands of thank you cards over the years -- to wine stores, to restaurants, to distributors, you name it. I just got done with another couple of dozen on my last airplane headed home. It's a lost art form that I've always felt personalizes my interactions with our customers and one that I hope sticks out in the recipient's mind. But does it really?? With all the research conducted in the wine industry, someone should really do a study to see if any more wine is actually sold as a result of a sending a thank you vs omitting this step in the wine sales process. I'd love to know the answer. 

Here's how I'd go about it if I was in charge of the study:

Take a random sampling of accounts visited in a major US market and divide them into three distinct categories. Category A would receive a well written, polite and thoughtful thank you note following a sales call by a winery owner. Category B would receive a somewhat terse and bluntly honest note recounting the actual details of the visit. "Dear Joe, while I enjoyed the bagels in your state, frankly it really ticks me off that you claim you don't have a spot for our Fume Blanc... especially with summer right around the corner."  And lastly, send no note or acknowledgement of the visit to the remaining portion of the accounts visited. Repeat this for several times throughout the year or throughout your career, whichever comes first. Then check the sales figures and accounts sold information provided by the distributor in that market to see if there was any impact as a result.  In other words, did my efforts make any difference??

Personalization and authenticity in the wine business is becoming a thing of the past. I guess that's why I continue to write these silly little notes, thank you's and the like. But between you and me, I wonder if it makes all that much of a difference anymore.

Hmm... we will see when I get next month's accounts sold information.

This is our year.  Our year to shine.  I'm totally convinced of it.  Why?  There are lots of reasons, not the least of which is that our wines taste better than they ever have, but that's not what's on my mind this evening.   My thoughts are about wine and sailing.   Dry Creek Vineyard is the Wine for Sailors and this year is one of the most exciting in recent memory for sailing in the Bay Area.

You see, this year, the America's Cup is coming to the City by the Bay.  Needless to say, we sailors are pretty enthused.  After all, this is sailing's equivalent of the World Cup - it's our Olympics.   The America's Cup only happens once every four years and the fact that, this summer, they are racing on the San Francisco Bay is really exciting.   As many of you know, our wines have carried the brand mark of sailing since we released the 1982 David S. Stare Reserve Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon blend.   I remember how the idea came to us like it was yesterday.  The Husband and I were sailing around on the Bay with my father and it was what sailors refer to as being in the "doldrums". It was gloriously sunny so we decided to anchor off of Angel Island and soak up the sun.  As the story goes, we were bobbing around and about the second or third bottle of Fume Blanc in, the brainstorming session began.  How could we spruce up the packaging?  Should we try something new?  None of us want to take credit for the actual idea but somehow we decided that our passion for wine and passion for sailing needed to merge - and what better place than on a wine label for a brand called Dry Creek?  There was something ironic and humorous that struck us that day--so off I went to try to marry the two.

I raced back up to Sonoma County and we started going through old sailing books looking for images that struck us. We commissioned a local artist named Michael Surles to paint an original sail boat painting that would eventually grace one of our labels.  Needless to say, the idea has worked and Dry Creek Vineyard has been known as the Wine for Sailors ever since. Dozens of labels later and we still work with Michel Surles for all of our original artwork.

I can't think of a more special time for our winery than in 2013 with the premier event in our sport coming right to our doorstep.   We have a ton planned - some of which I can't divulge at the moment. We'll be doing some sailing for sure including several outings on a beautiful 80 foot yacht called the Gas Light.  And our Wine for Sailors campaign will include some cool displays at local retailers and restaurants.  

Sailing and Dry Creek have been linked for more than 30 years. This is our year and I'm so excited for the festivities to begin!

If you're like me, open that bottle night may be every night of the week!  But seriously, Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) is an annual event started more than 20 years ago by Wall Street Journal wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher.  The idea was simple - find and drink a special, older bottle of wine that you might not otherwise touch.  It was their effort to get readers to drink some of these "moldy oldies" or wines stashed in the cellar that had been waiting for that perfect occasion.  Now retired, Dottie (as she likes to be called) and John are still living out the tradition of OTBN on the third Saturday of February each year. 

I've always admired Dottie and John.  They are some of the best wine writers in the industry.  Their prose was always candid and honest.  And their writing style was as open to their readers as their love affair with each other.  You see, Dottie and John have shared 40 years of what has obviously been an enduring romance and love for each other.  Often, their lovey-dovey ways spilled onto the pages of their wine column which always struck me -The Husband and I have been married (well, we've been married for a long time) and I still feel those pangs of passion and love for him to this day.  I can relate and appreciate their feelings for each other.

Dottie and John's recent OTBN included a bottle of our 1973 Petite Sirah - the inaugural vintage of this wine and the very first vintage of red wines in our history.  It was also the year they met.  How special!  They still have an outlet for OTBN on PalatePress.com. You can read Dottie's recap of their memorable night with our Petite Sirah here:  http://palatepress.com/2013/02/wine/open-that-bottle-night-wrap-up/.

I'm a sucker for a great love story and as love affairs go in the wine industry, Dottie and John's story has to be right up there with the best of them.

I feel like a little kid with the excuse "my dog ate my homework." Only in this case, I'm neither a child nor is blogging the same as homework! Nonetheless, the fact that I've had a lengthy hiatus from writing this blog was brought to my attention by a loyal wine club member at an event last Saturday.

Gulp.

I was hoping no one would notice. Although secretly, I guess I feel honored that anyone would really care whether there's regular content on Wilma's Wine World or not.  Truth be told, I've been frightfully busy the first 6 weeks of 2013, coupled with a complete lack of inspiration. Every time I sit down to try to write, I find myself covering the same topics or simply griping about the state of the wine industry...yes, I think you know by now that I miss the good ole days! (Less competition, fewer brands, more attentive distributors, etc.)  

Now, I just learned that we've got even MORE competition--from Brad and Angelina. That would be Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. I kid you not! Here is the article straight from our industry's favorite news source: Wine Business. The fact that Brad and Angie (yep, I can call her that 'cause we go way back...check out this photo!) have entered the industry is another sign that the proliferation of brands and labels doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. People from all walks of life have a fascination for the art of winemaking--but often, with little to no common sense as to how the product actually gets sold in the three tier system.  Which means I'll be on a plane or in front of a distributor sales force telling our brand story a lot this year. (Ironically, I'm at the Southwest terminal this very moment.) Just since January 1, I've done this in the following cities: Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, Dallas, Denver and Phoenix. Next month I'll do it again in Los Angeles, hoping that at least one or two people find my wines and what I have to say compelling enough to present our wines to the buyers of today's top restaurants and wine shops. Hmm, I wonder if Angelina intends to do this? Maybe I should offer to help?

Meanwhile, back at the winery things are humming along smoothly. There's a spring in people's step and a lot of excitement for the year to come. We have so many exciting things planned! We're creating several new one-of-a-kind wines for our wine club members and getting ready to bottle our single vineyard selections.  We've launched our new Zin Lover's Club and are preparing a major overhaul to our website and ecommerce site. We're developing a marketing campaign to leverage our reputation as the "Wine for Sailors" and will be pouring our wines at the America's Cup which commences in the SF Bay later this summer. Our electric car charging station is installed and we're fine tuning our specialized education tours and tastings offered to the public. We are BUSY! But, it's always a good time to visit, especially now with the weather so beautiful and the crowds minimal.

Please stop in and say hello if you make it our way!

So while business is still a challenge, and competition in the wine industry is the toughest I've ever seen, we have SO much to be thankful for. Our wine quality is at an all time high, our direct to consumer business is at an all time high, and the talent and dedication of our staff is at an all time high. We've made it on the radar screen of some of the industry's most respected wine critics, including the Wine Spectator who not only rated our Mariner at 91 points, and our winery as "One of the best places to visit", but also gave us prime coverage (and the only non-Napa winery to obtain this) in their "Class of '72" story saying we "make an assortment of excellent red and white wines". The fact that my name was also mentioned was icing on the cake and the summation of many years of hard work.

So, as we end the year 2012 together, the year of our 40^th Anniversary, I am so proud of the wonderful culture we have created here, the sense of pride that prevails within these walls, and the unique and increasingly rare breed that we are: one of California's truly iconic, pioneering, family owned wineries.

Thank you for your support, loyalty, and friendship.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not all roses and daisies working in the wine industry.  In fact, this business can humble you in ways you never thought possible.  And I don't mean humble in a bad way.  I just mean bring you back down to earth.  Sort of like a reality check.  Recently, I had one such occasion to be reminded of just how challenging and competitive the wine sales world is.

As part of our ongoing relationship with key retailers across the San Francisco Bay Area, we were fortunate enough to be selected as a wine feature during November and December at Mollie Stone's.  For those of you that don't know, Mollie Stone's is a wonderful gourmet grocery store and they do a fantastic job.  For Dry Creek to be given prime spotlight during the holiday selling period is a wonderful thing.  As part of our feature, we also agreed to do a series of in-store demos at each of the Mollie's locations.  Being a team player and the winery cheerleader, of course I had my hand in the air right away to pour at one of the stores.  As I made my way down (on a Friday afternoon grinding through traffic) I told myself that I was going to have a positive attitude.  You see, sometimes, what initially sounds like a good idea, doesn't so much feel that way when the time rolls around to actually do the deed.  Nonetheless, I was determined to make this a positive experience.

Upon arriving at the store, I was given my area to pour wine.  It was very small and due to ABC regulations, I had to have people who wanted to taste step "inside the ropes."  That, and I had to check every single ID plus make customers sign a sheet of paper saying they acknowledged that what they were tasting is alcohol.  Well duh!  Government bureaucracy at its finest.  Anyway, as the night began, I found that most shoppers were, well, they were focused.  After all, it's a Friday night, folks are headed home and they just want to grab their dinner fixings and get home as soon as possible.  Not that I could blame them - I'd be the same way.  But, hey I'm the wine guy - I've got wine to taste here!  I found myself seeking recruits in the aisles - "Sir/Miss - I've got some terrific wines over here to taste!  Trust me, you'll want to taste them!"  A few people raised their eyes and kept moving.  Some looked at me like I had horns on my head.  One guy said he was a recovering alcoholic.  Whoops.   After a while, I started to get discouraged.  Did no one like wine in this store?  Did I smell bad?  As the night wore on, people began to loosen up and I did have a few people taste and actually sold some wine.  Short of me throwing myself in front a shopping cart - it was pretty hard to get people to stop and spend a minute with me.

In the end, it was a good experience.  But humbling.  Definitely humbling.  I can say one thing - from now on, I am going to be endlessly nice to all those free sample people in Costco because I know what they go through!

Bill Smart, Director of Communications

There aren't too many pats on the back at the top. Not too many "well dones", "great work", or "thanks for a job well done". It's just assumed that the boss man, or in this case, the boss lady doesn't really need positive reinforcement like the rest of the troops. Thankfully, I've always been extremely self motivated. I get my kudos from watching projects come to fruition, receiving feedback from our customers, and reading wine reviews that are positive. Helping my staff develop and watching teamwork in action is also a big warm and fuzzy feeling for me because I know I've made a positive difference in the lives of others.

So when it was brought to my attention that the legendary James Laube, Senior Editor of Wine Spectator, mentioned my name in a December 15 article on the Class of '72, my heart burst with pride. It was just six years ago that I sat down with him to share my vision for our family winery. I told him where The Husband and I wanted to take the business and the improvements we were making to bring our wine quality and business practices to an entirely new level.  In fact, that's when he encouraged me to start this blog - to chronicle the life and times of a "wine country insider".

Wow. Now, he's acknowledged the work we've done by actually including Dry Creek Vineyard in his story--the only winery from Sonoma County. Furthermore, he feels we make "an assortment of excellent reds and whites". I'm immediately inclined to share it with my Pop. Because deep down inside, we're all trying to get our parent's approval, right?  I'm no different. I hope he'll swell with pride as much as I am right now. Ah...it feels good. Rest assured, I won't let it go to my head though. I'm not like that. But just for a minute, as I prepare for Thanksgiving, I'm feeling mighty happy and proud. And thankful - very, very, thankful.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And, I hope someone tells you "well done" too!

For about three years now (or maybe it's been longer, I can't keep track) we've been thinking about crafting a new wine.  This wine would be the sister wine to our Bordeaux-style blend we call The Mariner.  This would be a white blend produced using Bordeaux grapes, most likely Sauvignon Blanc with a firm dollop of Semillon.  The whole thing makes sense to us given our passion for Meritage wines and blending, plus white Bordeaux would be oh so delicious and fun to have around the winery.

With the abundance of this year's harvest, we think now might be the right time to create this wine.  So, this past week, our team sat down to taste through a dozen different White Bordeaux or White Meritage blends from around California as well as several from Bordeaux, France.  What we found was quite interesting and dramatic - wines that ranged from incredibly appealing to a wine that literally smelled like bilge water.  We broke the flight into six different wines and tasted blind, as we always do.  Overall, I was impressed with the line up - especially one wine from Napa that was 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Semillon.  It was really one of the better white wines I've tasted in months.  It's purity of fruit; its balance and finesse were all very impressive.  It was truly a stand out wine.  In that same flight was a god-awful wine as well - one that did in fact smell like bilge water.  Now, I don't go around smelling bilge water every day but good grief this wine was bad.  I often wonder - what are people thinking?  Do they know their wines are THIS bad?  I'd hate be the one on the other end of the phone fielding customer service calls for this plonk.  Anyway, the next flight of six wines was good, although not quite as memorable.  There was one wine, again, which shall remain nameless that was a standout for all the WRONG reasons.  First, it was not a good wine.  Secondly, it was $66 dollars and sporting a CALIFORNIA appellation.  Now that takes some serious guts (or something else) to charge that kind of price for a white wine with a California appellation.  Again, I've got to wonder - what are people thinking? 

As always, these tastings reveal so much to me.  Namely that our wines are truly delicious and so well priced.  We're not sure yet which direction we want go with this new White Meritage which leads me to my final thought - what do you think about us producing a White Meritage?  Do you think it's a good idea?  If you could name this wine, what would you call it?  I'd like to hear your feedback.    

Throughout the year, we've been talking a lot about our 40^th anniversary. It has been a big focus of our marketing efforts and has pretty much dominated 2012. But, I realized in the middle of the night last night that I haven't bragged much about it on this blog. Plus, I haven't shared with you the cool new video we made highlighting the occasion.

First, let me say-I'm really proud the winery is celebrating 40 years of family winemaking in the Dry Creek Valley. We have been through a lot (and I mean a LOT!) so this milestone is very near and dear to my heart. I literally grew up at the winery, as did several other people still in our employ, and we've seen the wine industry grow from the growth and glory days of the 80s and 90s, to the slug fest of international competition it has morphed into nowadays. I've seen the dreaded neo-Prohibitionists be replaced by a nation of wine-friendly folks with a fascination for the grape. Tourism and tasting rooms have become big business. Distributors have become wholesale behemoths with far too many brands competing for far too few slots on the retail shelf and restaurant wine list.  Winery travel is still essential. Good press and high scores are helpful. Producing high quality wines is non-negotiable.

But the real key to success is the ability to stick it out. Persistence and patience are vital. And at the end of the day, it has to be a labor of love. You simply have to make wines you are passionate about sharing with the world. How they end up on the dinner table is the hard part.

Oh yeah, and a good dose of humor helps too.     

I heard something astonishing today. It actually made my stomach ache. A well known Napa winery has released a $250 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. No, I did not add an extra digit to that by accident. Apparently, it actually sells for $250 a bottle.

As a leading Sauvignon Blanc producer with 41 vintages under our belt, it's hard for me not to absolutely grimace with jealousy. Sure, I'd love to command a price like that. Just think of all the cool gizmos we could buy for the winery and the massive infusion of revenue such prices would generate for us!

But really, who in their right mind would have the gumption to actually do it? Especially in today's economy.

I admire winery owners who just put their foot down and raise prices to their heart's content. I remember about 15 years ago when the then owner of Chalk Hill Winery decided to raise their bottle prices by a hefty $20-$30 per bottle. He did so because he felt the wines were worth it and he was tired of being positioned in one price category when his beloved bottlings warranted another (in his mind's eye).

I too feel that way. Repeated blind tastings and competitive analysis support my theories. But I simply don't have the nerve or the financial where with all to go through with it. If sales stall, what will we do? Tap into my oil well money? Tap into my trust fund account?

Not.

So I guess we'll just keep making super delicious wines that express the nuances of our region. We'll continue to send samples to wine critics in hopes of positive reviews and high scores.  And, we will slowly take a price increase or two when grape costs go up, barrels become even more costly, or the winery needs a new roof.  We may never be in the same league as "Chateau La-Di-Da", but that's ok. I'm not sure I could live with myself.    

I don't often play hooky. There's just an endless amount of work to get done around here and nonstop responsibilities that are always pressing. Besides when I get a day off I'd rather spend it with my kids and family.

But I recently joined my out of town cousins for a day of winery hopping in Napa. I forgot how fun it is to taste wine, hear the stories, and visit the unique properties so reflective of their owners. Plus I figured it was an ideal opportunity to do some spying on the competition!

Pride Mountain Winery is a beautiful drive up Spring Mountain Road outside the town of St. Helena. Open only by appointment, we were treated to a tour and tasting in their caves and tasting salon overlooking the vineyards that span the Mayacama Mountains. Of course, none of this came cheaply; the fee was $75 per person. But then again, that's Napa for you. The wines were delicious albeit very expensive. I still can't believe I plunked down an astounding $130 for a Cabernet. Our host was superb, passionate about wine, and extremely knowledgeable overall. Nothing was canned or rehearsed, and she made us feel like old friends of hers in no time. She gets an A+ in my book.

I was planning to go back to work after our picnic lunch, but suddenly decided we should visit Raymond Vineyards. This is one of the wineries that Jean Charles Boisset has purchased, adding to his growing stable of California wineries. He's been getting a lot of press as the "new Robert Mondavi of our generation" and so I was dying to see what he had done to the venerable Raymond family estate. Good grief. It's hard to describe but I'd say it's a cross between a "Napa Valley Night Club" and "Alice in Wonderland." Talk about over the top. From the bizarre hall of senses to the crystal cellar with mirrored tanks and scantily clad mannequins hanging from the rafters, I felt like I was in a high end strip club (I've never actually been to one, but this is what I imagine if I had!). While the wines were nice, the most striking observation was how five generations of Raymond family efforts have been wiped clean from the visitor experience. There was simply no connection to the heritage of the family or mention of the history of the winery. I felt sad and somewhat baffled since it seems like there must have been something relevant the new owners could salvage from the past. It also was a bold reminder of the importance of authenticity. And that's where Dry Creek Vineyard shines. There's nothing contrived or overtly "forced" here. We don't put on airs and we don't try to be something we're not. A visit to Dry Creek Vineyard should ALWAYS include the story of our past along with the innovative changes we've made that have resulted in the superb quality of our wines today. It should NEVER be about form and ALWAYS be about substance. In a nutshell, it's about wines that express the nuances of their appellation and the people who work so hard to create them. No mannequins, no crystal chandeliers, no fluff.

And if that's not the case, then, please, please, please I want to hear about it. Ok? 

In this day and age of being "plugged in" - you know those high tech, high energy social media types that are constantly tweeting, facebooking, foursquareing, instagraming, blah, blah, blah - I often feel like my head is going to explode.  How do they keep up the energy?  Red Bull?  Triple espressos?  Power naps?  In all seriousness, I do understand the power of these new forms of communication.  And while I may not be the most savvy (or even like) this age of instant communication, it's more relevant than ever for our business.

And that's why I got really excited when I learned that not ONE but TWO of our wines were nominated for a Snooth People's Voice Award.  What is Snooth you ask?  Good question.  I actually had to do some digging myself.  What I found was fascinating.  Snooth is an incredible online resource about all things wine related.  You can learn about wines from around the world.  You can share thoughts and engage in online forums about the wines that you like.  You can learn about food and wine pairing.  You can BUY wine!  It's really one stop shopping for wine lovers.  Snooth, being the creative energetic types that they apparently are, created a "People's Voice Awards" wherein their customers vote for their favorite wines from the around the world.  Thousands of wines were submitted.  Now in the final rounds, two of our wines have made the cut.  I have to say, this is especially gratifying.  Why?  Because it tells me that our wines are being appreciated by actual people who actually enjoy them.  Yes, wine critics are important, but to have our wines given the seal of approval from wine consumers makes my heart feel proud. 

The voting is not over.  I'd like to encourage you take 10 seconds to vote for our Fume Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc.  Here are the links:

Fume Blanc: http://www.snooth.com/awards/?v=7673574

Sauvignon Blanc: http://www.snooth.com/awards/?v=7571456

In our socially engaged world, it's harder than ever for a winery like ours to cut through the clutter.  Thanks to Snooth, we too have been given a voice with our most important constituents:  Those who drink and enjoy our wines on a daily basis. 

The weather is rather temperate right now, so I view it as a "soft" start... a nice way to rev up for what will likely become a fast and furious harvest. So far, the 2012 summer has provided near perfect conditions - a long warm summer with plenty of cool evenings and foggy mornings.  And no nasty rain mid season to mess things up. Of course, a lot can change... I don't want to jinx it!

As we approach the busy Labor Day Weekend (we've got 2 huge events and a fancy dinner in the cellar) think of all those hard working grapegrowers, winemakers, and cellar workers who are out there scrambling - trying to stay one step ahead of good ole Mother Nature!

I'm a bit nostalgic today.  40 years ago, on August 24, 1972, my Dad finally got the permit to build Dry Creek Vineyard at the corner of Dry Creek Road and Lambert Bridge Road.  At the time, I was just 9 years old and preoccupied with making friends in the new town we'd just moved to called Healdsburg.  I recall being mostly focused on Barbies and Batman - not on some silly winery.  However, the now iconic photo of me turning over that first shovel full of dirt with Dad looking on is truly emblematic of our winery 40 years later.  I'm the President now and Dad is enjoying his retirement, albeit with one eye still on the family business.  I know he's proud of our success - the winery is doing well despite some of the economic land mines that we know are out there.  The wines have never been better and with our winemaker Tim Bell on board, future vintages are in very good hands.  I feel really positive about our business for the rest of 2012 and beyond.

So positive, in fact, that we are going to take a day off!  Yep, that's right -the entire DCV crew is heading up to Lake Sonoma today for an afternoon of barbecuing, water skiing and good old fashioned family fun.  We are actually CLOSING our doors for the day - a first for us on a non-holiday.  I figure, what better way to celebrate our 40th than with our winery family and the dedicated employees who have helped make this business possible.

So let's raise a glass to Dry Creek Vineyard and say Happy Birthday - forty never felt so fabulous!