May 21, 2020
We're having a melancholy morning, how are you doing? It's hard to compartmentalize all the news coming at us. Ali tuned into a big State of the Wine Industry - Special Edition Report early this morning. Good news according to the big brains at Silicon Valley Bank is that you are all drinking more wine these days. The frustrating news is that small wineries are being ignored in wholesale while they capture deals of the century from the big producers and imports. Our online business is up from last year, however, margins are low due to shipping costs and of course all other channels are "quieter than a bucket of bullfrogs".
Our best ambassador is you, thank you so much for supporting and sharing the story of Smith Story Wines. Oh we hope we can at least open our doors for you soon.
Also, get this! The US hard-seltzer market is heading towards 2.5 Billion in less than 12 months. White Claw/Truly etc... Malt Liquor and Flavored Sugar WATER! Seems that not only are you sipping this out by the pool, (and in Ali's humble opinion)...your teenagers are most likely sneaking this stuff. I mean, wouldn't you at that age? HA. It's hard not to be a bit down, we work so hard to create authentic, handmade and delicious wines farmed by real families. It's a gut punch. However... a big article is hitting the world wide web shortly about our steady innovation and "No Guts No Story" heartbeat. The writer is also featuring 2 huge names in the industry, we can't wait to read it and see how our small winery stacks up to big budgets and historic names in the article. Oh and...
It's INTERNATIONAL CHARDONNAY DAY, so let's turn the day around!
A whopping 37 bottles left of our 2016 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay, Russian River Valley. This special 150 case production wine was on some of the most respected wine lists across the country, we'll miss it! Details here.
R E M I N D E R S
May 22, EAST BAY PORCH DELIVERY: please tell your friends and neighbors too, seeing you and meeting new customers has been such a gift since our tasting room(s) have been closed. Orders need to be in to us by 5pm Thursday (TODAY). May 29 is our next PORCH DELIVERY to San Francisco and the Peninsula.
MASSACHUSETTS: Our very first wholesale order landed in March,the week everything shutdown. Terrible timing to launch a new winery into a new market. If you live in and around Boston in particularly, please be pleasantly persistent in asking for Smith Story Wines in your local fine wine shops. Rick Messier, the founder of Areni Sales is our Smith Story Ambassador in Boston and is busy educating our new MS Walker teams and Boston area wine buyers. Reach out to Rick anytime to book a virtual tasting, connect him to accounts, ask where to find Smith Story or to introduce yourself. This is a very important state for our growth this year, we could use all the boots on the ground help from you as possible!
LIVE ALOHA: Yes! We're extending this special promo on a 6-bottle purchase or more on our 2018 Sauvignon Blanc. Use the promo code: LIVEALOHA upon purchase to knock $42 bucks off.
Summer Shipping Tips: Once you've received your wine order, please open the box and place your bottles in a cool environment. They shouldn't be warm. We're doing our best to make sure the wine stays cool, but it's truly out of our control once the boxes hit the shipping truck/planes. Our UPS guy just told us they are busier than a Christmas / Holiday season right now.
TEXAS: Great news, we can offer white glove AC door-to-door shipping for $40 a case, we just need 56 orders first. If you aren't in a hurry, place your order and select TEXASWHITEGLOVE and we'll stay in touch with a future shipping date. Tell your people to join, many of our single vineyard wines are not available in the local market. Our last few orders with Premium Wine were perfect! (Insider Tip: Central Market has our Sauvignon Blanc for $19.99 now!).
JOINING OUR STORYTELLERS WINE CLUB: This is the very best way to help us help you. Club benefits include shipping and wine discounts all year. Easy to join on the website.
EMAIL REPLIES: WE ARE WORKING HARD TO CATCH UP!
Cheers to letting yourself relax this holiday weekend. It's Ali's Birthday and our first Memorial Day Weekend off since 2014. Silver linings!
Peace & Love,
Eric and Ali