Vinfolio.com

We're delighted to be named in the "10 best online wine shops" by Food & Wine magazine in their June 2007 issue.  Read the excerpt about Vinfolio or the full article.   Vinfolio is also singled out for its strong wine guarantee in the first tip in a sidebar called "Tips: Things to know before you buy."

Updates to the article's content

• Our revenues have always been dominated by wine retailing (95+%), not storage.  This is merely a reflection of where wine collectors spend their cash (i.e., on consumption).  We do offer full-service storage services, in part to support our retail activities.  E.g., we provide 6 months of free storage on purchases to enable shipment during moderate weather conditions.
• Our "recently launched" web store was released in September 2006 and was our second generation online store (admittedly, a huge improvement over the first one).
• Every customer is assigned a wine specialist to provide wine recommendations and advice by phone or email (there's no minimum spend requirement). The article is actually referring to our Collection Building advisory service which is a more involved "consulting" exercise performed at no charge provided a minimum of $10,000 is spent on initial wine purchases.

If you're not already a customer, please give us a try and learn what we mean my our guiding principle, "Fine wine, finer service."

When I launched The Wine Collector blog back in late October 2006, I stated that one thing I would not do is write wine recommendations and reviews in my blog.  Doug Wilder, our Director of California Acquisitions and Sales, was already writing about California and other domestic wine in his Free Run Juice blog and in his free weekly wineletter, The Wilder Side of California. 

Now, I'm pleased to announce that we recently launched the Vinfolio Staff Picks blog where our collective team of wine experts will tell you about their personal favorites on a regular basis and why they like them.  Generally speaking, the wines covered will mostly be international wines to balance out the coverage which Doug provides on the domestic side.  In addition to reviews and recommendations, the Staff Picks blog will cover other topics relating to drinking wine and having fun.  Laura Conway, our Editorial Manager, will be the blog's facilitator (that's her photo on the right).

Please check it out and subscribe via your RSS reader using the Subscribe link on the blog's home page.  You can also see all of our RSS feeds (and subscribe by email if you prefer) by visiting Vinfolio's master RSS page. 

Note: I just noticed that the new Staff Picks blog is not yet on the master RSS page but we'll get that fixed quickly.

It's been 11 days since my last blog post because traveling back and forth to Europe, the impact of jet lag, and virtually non-stop Vinfolio meetings in London and Bordeaux (not to mention a few nice dinners), eliminated any opportunity to write.  Having returned yesterday, I thought I would share a few insights and observations that stuck with me:

• The European wine entrepreneur is alive and well.  Our meetings were mostly with smaller companies (in people terms) but many had substantial revenue and most forecasted growth rates for the coming year of between 25% and 40%.
• No wonder it's expensive.  "We sell all of our Domaine Romanee-Conti wine allocation directly to Japan." -- source: a large UK wine merchant.  In general, fine wine seems to be finding its way to the highest global bidder.
  
• Chateau buy-backs? - Bordeaux chateaus routinely buy back prior vintages held in stock by UK merchants to resell (sometimes as official "ex-chateau" stock) -- source: multiple members of the UK wine trade.  This occurs in part because the whole en primeur system of futures is totally focused on selling through every vintage upon release with little held back -- most producers simply can't afford to do otherwise (perhaps this will begin changing with cash from 2005 in their pockets).
• UK's tax-free wine investment gains - Capital gains from investing in wine in the UK are promoted as a tax-free investment opportunity.  The underlying support for this is that wine does not normally survive for more than 50 years which classifies it as a "wasting chattel" and not subject to UK gains tax.  Port doesn't qualify for tax-free treatment and clearly many fine wines shouldn't either.
• Investing in wine is far more common in the UK compared to the U.S. While the tax treatment may be one reason, the UK wine trade more actively promotes wine investment than U.S. merchants do and the average UK consumer has "grown up" with Bordeaux which has a proven history of long-term value appreciation.
• Low high-end California wine interest - California/U.S. wine is considered part of the "New World" wine category along with Australia, New Zealand, etc.  (I guess it's all relative.)  UK wine trade members report little interest in high-end California wine; certainly below even my low initial expectations.  Perhaps it's better that way for the rest of us who know better.

My Director of Wine Buying, Tommy Svenberg, and I are spending next week in London and Bordeaux meeting existing and prospective wine suppliers and partners. 

If you're in the trade and believe that your range of wine fits our customer profile as indicated by browsing available wine in our online wine store, please feel free to contact me about a potential meeting using the "Suggest a topic" email link in the upper left of this blog page under my photo.

Retailers should take a page from the playbook of the wine wholesalers in terms of how to succeed in the wine direct shipping wars.

Consider the following remarks extracted from a speech made on May 1, 2007 by Craig Wolf, the President and CEO of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America at their 64th (!) annual convention:

• "We are unstoppable when we are united."
• "One of the easiest ways you [wholesaler members of the WSWA] can become more involved is to contribute to the PAC [political action committee].  WSWA's PAC is and needs to remain one of the industry's largest.  It is an essential tool to advancing our Government Affairs agenda."
  

Why retailers need to unite and join the Speciality Wine Retailers Association

1. Unfortunately, the best interests of consumers and Constitutional principles do not always prevail without a defense.   Until the creation of the SWRA in 2005, there was no defense against wholesalers buying political access to accomplish their "agenda".
2. The wine retail industry is inherently more fragmented than the wine wholesaling business which makes the task of acting together more difficult.
3. Financing the battle against "one of the industry's largest" PACs, which mostly means paying legal bills and lobbyists, is extemely expensive and requires the broad participation of wine retailers to share the financial burden against well-financed wholesalers. 

Your role as a consumer

As Tom Wark, the SWRA's Executive Director, points out in a Fermentation post yesterday called "A 'force of voices'", "consumers and wine retailers are natural allies in this strange battle."

The best things you can do to support a national market for wine are:

1. Encourage your favorite retailers to join the SWRA and patronize retailers who are SWRA members to help them finance the campaign.
2. Stay informed about wine direct shipping developments in your state and be prepared to contact your state representatives on short notice to make your opinions known on pending legislation.  This is why the SWRA created their Consumer Outreach E-mail List.  Click on the link now and sign up.  There is nothing more powerful than a constituent registering his or her  opinion.

Disclosure: Vinfolio was one of the SWRA's founding members and I continue to serve on the Board of Directors.