Well, that’s a novel idea!
Posted by Corey Abrams on October 25th, 2007For many years, I’ve been buying, selling and making wine. Of these three, I’ve found that selling wine was the most profitable. This is especially true in the restaurant industry. The key was whether or not I could sell the right product to the right people. It so happened that Paul Mabray and I crossed paths several years back in a Tapas restaurant. Located in Napa, Zuzu is the spot where one can pick up small plates of locally based ingredients with an ethnic flare. One can also indulge in a couple of glasses (maybe a bottle) of wines from an eclectic list including California, Oregon and most importantly, Spain.
Being the businessman that I am (or think I am) I was always on the look out for the latest and greatest idea; that’s where Paul comes into the equation. Paul would frequent ZuZu while selling a concept that seemed quite intriguing. I didn’t quite know what that idea was, but through his enthusiasm and energy, I knew it had to be great! One day I approached him and asked, “What is it that you’ve got up your sleeve?” I soon found out that he was trying to initiate a program that would make it possible for restaurants and retailers to buy wine directly from a winery’s website. I thought to myself, that’s pretty novel, far-fetched, but pretty novel, and left it at that.
A few of weeks later, Paul came in with a couple of big wigs. I could tell that they were because of his interest in buying a bottle rather than a few glasses. I came back to the table with a great Spanish Garnacha from the Priorat Region in Spain. I began my spiel with “they’ve only produced three-hundred cases of this wine, and it’s quite difficult to get a hold of…” I had found that specifying the rarity of its distribution as a good selling secret, and that’s when it hit me! The wine I was selling to them was in small production, of exceptional quality, (as many small production wines are) and rarely found consumers in restaurants because of distribution issues. I put two and two together (I said I was a business major not a math major) and soon found myself working in Paul’s camp with Inertia Beverage Group, putting together the concept and process of Direct-to-Trade. This includes selling wine to restaurants and retailers through their web-sites because they could not get distribution in many states.
Eighteen months later, you would not believe the obstacles we have faced and overcome in this short amount of time! We now have ten states aboard and countless wineries. The idea of Direct-to-Trade is innovative, ahead of its time and is now providing wine lovers in Florida with incredible Napa Valley wines they previously did not have access to.
Care to hear more details? Check back in two weeks!
