Cakebread Conclusion (or: How to sell more wine by using Twitter)

[thanks to NPR's Public Radio Kitchen for featuring this piece]

A couple of weeks ago, I tried something new on this site and I wanted to follow up to let everyone know how it went. One of my favorite wines, Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, is very hard to find in Massachusetts. Making it even more difficult to obtain is the fact that it is illegal to have wine shipped from retailers out of state. As a result, we're limited to a handful of wine retailers in the state that have e-commerce sites. One that I've checked out a few times, but had never purchased from previously is Table and Vine.

I noticed they had Cakebread Chardonnay available on their site at a very reasonable price. Some retailers tend to jack up the price if they are able to get their hands on Cakebread it seems, so I was curious whether they might be able to get me some Cabernet. This is the kind of question that I wouldn't take the time to E-mail, and it's not the kind of question I'd take the time to ask over the phone. It's the kind of question you'd ask if you happened to be in a wine store and a friendly clerk asked if they could help you find anything. There is where Twitter comes in.

Table and Vine is on Twitter so I thought I'd ask them: "@tableandvine Like your Cakebread Chard at $34.99. Any chance you could score some Cakebread Cab?". A little while later I got a response: "@RobertDwyer still checking on the Cakebread Cab....hard to get item that everyone LOVES". Then a week or so went by and they sent me a direct message letting me know that they had it in stock, what the price was, and asked whether I'd like to buy some. Cool!

I then put up a blog entry asking others if they'd like to join with me on a purchase of Cakebread or other wine from Table and Vine so we could get a case discount and save on shipping costs by combining an order (Table and Vine is in an hour and half west of me). In total, 5 of us went in for 15 bottles of wine. Two I'd never met before, and I have to say- it was very rewarding to discover that people I'd never connected with were reading this site and very interested in coming together as consumers this way.

In the end, I think it was a win-win for everyone involved. The folks at Table and Vine sold over $700 of wine that they otherwise wouldn't have sold to us. We each got our hands on some wine that's hard to find at a good price, and we didn't have to drive all over town to find it. We combined our purchases to save on shipping and received a case discount in return. It was all made possible by Twitter, a blog, and E-mail. All of which are free.

I think this is a simple but compelling example of how wine businesses can benefit from being on Twitter. You don't need to devote a lot of time and money on a social media strategy. You don't even need to have a web site. Just act human. Be there. Listen and respond.

What to do next:

• Sign up for a Twitter account today.
• Follow @tableandvine on Twitter and me while you're at it- @RobertDwyer
• If you're interesting in purchasing some Cakebread Cabernet, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc head on over to Table and Vine and search for "cakebread". Last I checked they still had 5 bottles of the Cab remaining after our purchase.
• I'd love it if you subscribed to this site to hear about future combined case deals.
  

Question of the Day: Is there a wine you'd be interested in combining purchasing power on? If not a specific wine, a specific retailer perhaps? Leave a comment below and maybe we can make a connection for a future deal.

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2008 Blue Fin Pinot Noir: $3.99 of Goodness?

The lack of a Pinot Noir offering has always been a surprising hole in the Charles Shaw lineup. But where do we turn for a decent Pinot when we want to limit our per-bottle spending to less than $5?

Labels like Castle Rock, and Mark West are common plays when you really want to keep costs in check, but they tend to come in close to $10- many times more than a bottle of Shaw. Recently discovered wines like the suprisingly good 2008 RedTree California Pinot Noir can be had for as little as $6 if you shop around, but why on earth hasn't Fred Franzia's Bronco Wine Co. stepped up and offered a cheap Pinot?

The answer to this question may have arrived in the form of Blue Fin Pinot Noir. Priced at $3.99 in California and Massachusetts, it gives Franzia a way to fill an end cap at Trader Joe's and test the $4 Pinot Noir price point without cannibalizing sales of their flagship Charles Shaw wines.

I picked a bottle up recently. Here are my notes:

A very simple, straightforward and drinkable wine. Mild strawberry and cherry aromas on the nose. Perhaps limited aromatically. Really tasty on the initial attack (with a surprising amount of flavor), but fades extremely quickly and is gone in a flash (both the finish and the bottle). An intriguing play at $3.99.

82 Points/WWP

Does this wine succeed in offering value? Not in a big way. According to the wwpQPR Calculator with a Baseline Price of $30 [ie, the price at which it isn't too hard to find an outstanding bottle of Pinot Noir] at 82 points and $4 we get a 1.18: Slightly above average. This wine is of below average quality in my opinion; it derives almost all of its value from it's incredibly low price compared to its category.

Further Reading:

• Another opinion on this wine from Jason's Wine Blog
  
• Pinot Days Taste Live! Notes and Recommendations
• The Hunt for $20 Pinot Noir
• Modeling Value: Introducing the wwpQPR Calculator

Photo credit: Jason's Wine Blog

Question of the Day: Will Fred Franzia's Bronco Wine Co. continue to offer Blue Fin as a way of nabbing an extra dollar or two per bottle for the hot Pinot Noir category [without introducing per-variety pricing variation to the Charles Shaw line]? Or, will they offer a Charles Shaw labeled Pinot Noir once their Pinot Noir production hits the levels needed to be pushed out the door of TJ's by the cartload?

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MA Governor Approves Massive Alcohol Tax Increase

Well, it looks like Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law a tax increase on alcohol purchases. Previously exempt from additional taxes at the point of purchase, the total tax burden on wine at the register will be 6.25% bringing the total taxes (include excise taxes) on a $9.99 bottle of wine to $3.55.

So much for Massachusetts being friendly to small businesses. I can hear the automobile engines starting up now for a trip to nearby New Hampshire where there is no tax on wine. The tax goes into effect August 1, 2009 so stock up now. Trying to put a positive spin on it, let's look at it this way: July is tax-free booze month!

Why is it that something sensible like selling wine in grocery stores gets voted down, yet introducing double taxation on wine passes with ease?

I realize that we all have a responsibility as citizens of this commonwealth pay our fair share. But this tax so disproportionately increases the tax rate on alcohol that it seems absurd to me. Why not just increase the excise tax that is already in place on wine? I also realize it is cliche and crumudgeonly to crow on about taxes, so this is the last I'll speak of it.

Further Reading:

• MA Retailers Lead the Charge Against Alcohol Tax Increases
• MA Senate Votes to Increase Alcohol Taxes

Question of the Day: Is this increase substantial enough to make you consider shopping for wine out of state?

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Pinot Days Taste Live! Notes and Recommendations

Associated with the Pinot Days live wine tasting event in San Francisco, Taste Live! offered up a online virtual tasting event that was unfortunately overshadowed by the passing of Michael Jackson. RIP, King of Pop. The tasting went off informally Thursday and Friday night on Twitter and since all of the TasteLive! participants weren't on at the same time I thought I'd post a blog entry on the wines, what I thought of them, and some recommendations for your consideration.

Here's what I'm looking for in Pinot Noir:

• Stawberries and/or cherries on the nose
• Earthy aromas
  
• Spice
• Silky tannins
• Lingering finish
  

2006 Buena Vista Pinot Noir Carneros

The 2005 vintage of this wine was one of my favorite sub-$20 supermarket Pinot Noirs. I rated it 89 points and gave it high marks for displaying classic Pinot Noir characteristics at an affordable price point (and wide availability, nice combo).

Some research into this wine yielded a couple of curious inconsistencies. Having a look at the winery's page for this wine, it appears that the winery made the decision to go with all screw caps for their wines in this line. However, my bottle had a cork in it. The site also advised that Wine Spectator rated the 2006 88 points, however when I checked the Wine Spectator database I didn't show a rating for the wine yet. It's quite possible that they got advanced notice of the rating -and/or- the rating has yet to be included in the Spectator database.

My impression of the 2006 vintage was that it was quite similar to the 2005, but with less earthy aromas. I thought this wine was rounder and warmer than the other wines in the lineup, but this wine didn't taste as "serious" as the others. Depending on your mood this may or may not be a good thing. Would still buy this one without hesitation.

Per Buena Vista, Wine Spectator rated this wine 88 points.

Price: Around $15-$20
Production: Around 25,000 cases.
Where to find it: Supermarkets everywhere.
Recommendation: Re-iterate my buy recommendation if you enjoy a soft, easy drinking Pinot Noir. Especially when you can find it for close to $15.
87 Points/WWP

2007 Landmark Pinot Noir "Grand Detour"

For me, this was a quirky wine. Limited aromatically, but I got a little red ruby grapefruit on the nose [which is quite unusual for a red wine]. A little cloudy- perhaps unfiltered? On the palate, raspberries and cherries- quite delicious. The finish was smooth, but short.

Wine Spectator rated this wine 88 points.

Price: Around $40
Production: Around 2,500 cases.
Where to find it: Specialty wine shops.
Recommendation: Not recommended.
84 Points/WWP

2007 Siduri Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands

I was looking foward to trying this wine after enjoying their less expensive (~$20) appellation designated wines, and I was excited to see what a higher price point/single vineyard wine would offer.

This wine was multi-faceted. Every time I took another look at it, it was something else. On the nose, it was aromatically intense, offering classic cherry aromas. On the palate, it was a laser beam of intense sour cherry flavors that zapped my mouth as if I was receiving a Novocaine shot at the dentist [but in a good way if that makes sense]. It was full of flavor, and I love that. The finish was by far the longest of the bunch- this wine stays with you.

Wine Spectator rated this wine 93 points.

Price: Around $50
Production: 730 cases.
Where to find it: Specialty wine shops.
Recommendation: An oustanding wine at a tough price point.
91 Points/WWP

Further Reading:

• Learn more about Taste Live!
• Read more about Pinot Days
• Search for other opinions on each of these wines on Twitter
  
• Read NorCal Wine's piece on the Top 27 Wines from Pinot Days
  
• See my list of the Top 10 Must See Wineries at Pinot Days

Question of the Day: Have you tried any of these wines? If so, what did you think of them? If not, what are some of your favorite Pinot Noirs?

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