Simplified Wine Retailers

Today we’re going to pull an entire new trend into several bays, uncork the top and look behind the labels: Simplified Wine Retailers. And we’re going to open it up to several new mechanics who don’t work at Big River but who have various levels of expertise on the subject. It will be a vino-for-all.

Guest Mechanics: Kristin Patterson (brand and marketing director for national companies); Scott Mackey (legendary copywriter and creative director); Dee Briggs (national broadcast producer); and Doug Adams (owner of The Country Vintner, the premier fine wine importer and distributor in the Metro D.C. market and the mid-Atlantic).

OK, we have been watching this growing “simplified” wine store trend for a while now and talking with a few friends who consider themselves wine connoisseurs. There is a lot of buzz out there.

It’s a smart business plan, simplifying the buying process for a traditionally complicated product mired in historic snobbery. Different retailers have their own take on selling wine but, generally, the thought of average people who like a glass of wine and who would actually love to understand what is in that bottle – from a comprehensible taste perspective – is as appealing as a vintage red.

The descriptions at the three simplifiers are in understandable English, not Oenophilic poetic gibberish, and the systems for figuring out what a customer may want is broken down into flavor profiles almost anyone can grasp.

Of course, Total Wine is a whole different animal.

Best Cellars (http://www.bestcellars.com) started more than 10 years ago, and offers 100 wines with eight easy-to-understand flavor categories named Fizzy, Fresh, Soft, Luscious, Juicy, Smooth, Big and Sweet. They only have eight locations but many consider them the originators of this trend.

WineStyles (http://www.winestyles.net), around since 2004, has a similar premise, with about 160 wines divided into Crisp, Silky, Rich, Bubbly, Fruity, Mellow, Bold and Nectar. They have around 110 stores and are franchising all the time. The atmosphere of WineStyles can change from store to store but is basically Old European, wood and sort of a wine cellar feel with arched white shelves and earthtone walls.

Vino 100 (http://www.vino100.com) takes the simple premise of 100 bottles further to “100 Great Wines For $25 Or Less” and rates them on a customized Wine Taste Barometer taste scale between Fruity to Dry and Light to Full. They currently have 60 locations and the stores have a very upscale, semi-Starbucks, Panera Bread feel. They are aggressively seeking franchises and have a sister franchise brand that is smoking the simplified story with cigars.

Total Wine and More (http://www.totalwine.com) doesn’t simplify the experience in the least. They amplify it. Big time. Their motto: America’s Wine Superstore: 8,000 Wines • 2,000 Spirits • 1,000 Beers." They are the largest independent wine retailer in the country. If they don’t have it, you probably don’t want to drink it.

Each brand offers expert advice, and the three which are aiming at simplification do it with easily understood explanations. You won’t feel like you’re being talked down to by a snooty wine collector. Which is the whole idea to begin with.

Enough explanation; let the Vino begin.

KP: I can’t believe Best Cellars only has eight locations. I guess it’s because I’ve lived in Boston and D.C., where I’ve experienced four of their stores. It comes across as a national chain, but it’s still a great experience. Easy. Affordable. I always know I’m buying something decent that won’t embarrass when I serve it to friends. It doesn’t break the bank, they have good whites already chilled for a last-minute purchase and they have good wine carriers if you buy six bottles. Plus, there’s always a tasting going on so you can try something new. I like going in and buying six bottles – one from each of their categories.

TT: This “making it easy” concept is definitely a good business premise. Wine has been around since before Christ and, with such a long tradition, has collected a lot of complicated language. Much of that verbiage has become a wall of wine to the average customer, and these companies are poised to reap a big harvest by simplifying the jargon and branding. By connecting the different kinds of wine to memories of simple tastes people already know, they are planting a vine in their customers' vineyard.

GS: I can’t speak to the growing “sophistication” of the American palate for wine, let alone coffee. After all, while, yes, most of what Starbucks peddles contains coffee, very little actually resembles coffee. And someone who claims to love coffee but drinks only Frappacinos is like a “vegetarian” who also (but “only”) eats poultry or fish. I’m sorry, but no matter how you slice it, that's a bunch of baloney.

TT: Hey, I like a good Frap now and then.

GS: I often prefer wine to its hops-laden beverage brethren. In my younger college days (cue ripple effect and alternative hits from 1991), when the kegs were being tapped, I was uncorking a bottle of the finest merlot one could find at Kroger’s for less than five bucks. And although my affection for a broadening variety of wine has grown, my knowledge has remained rather un-evolved.

DB: Hence the “ripple”.

GS: Nice catch. More often than not, the label sells more than my knowledge of what the bottle holds. In fact, many wineries have recognized “hip” sells more than high quality. I need the “wine so simple even a caveman could choose it” approach, and I’m intrigued by this "wines made simple" concept.

KP: It’s interesting to see how the regular consumption of wine has become more common, more middle-class. When I grew up, my parents didn’t drink wine regularly. Nor did they eat pasta or buy organic milk. We ate spaghetti, not pasta, and had bad red wine or terribly sweet champagne on special occasions. Now my whole family has at least four to six bottles in their homes at all times and it’s offered at every dinner.

DB: Ditto. My family experience was similar. However, now my mom always has wine on hand and asks probing questions about new types and tastes with which she is unfamiliar. It is another indicator of how this market is evolving -- even reaching the senior citizen ranks.

DA: After 16 years in the wine business I find it very confusing. I sell wine to all of the "Simplifiers," and I can tell you that it is not the style designations, the limited selection, or the price range filtering that they are using to “simplify” that they are after -- it is the multiplying of outlets. By having the same wine in each of their stores in many locations, they endeavor to create the concept of "brand awareness" in an industry that has always disdained the concept of sameness or consistency.† In other words, trust the store brand – if you can’t figure out the wine.

TT: Actually, that makes total branding sense.

DA: Consider that there are over 100,000 brand labels from 5,900 U.S. wineries and uncounted foreign wineries registered with the TTB (BATF) currently being sold in the U.S..† Unlike hops or coffee beans, every year the taste of wine grapes changes depending on the weather in the growing region, sunshine hours and the winemaking regime.† That is the romance of fine wine, so how can it be simplified without becoming unromantic?

Historically (for more 2,000 years), wine lovers have found a knowledgeable wine merchant and trusted that person to chose their wines for them. The Simplifiers are just this generation’s iteration of the same process.

TT: They are hoping their efforts to simplify a complicated decision-making process will endear them to us – and that is their brand truth. They are trying to give the consumer some ruler to begin to gauge the different wines for themselves, maybe.

As I look at some of these brands, it seems their stores have a much more interesting look and feel than their Web sites. The simplified taste profiles and the information is unique, but the sites are just not as simple as the business premise or as interesting as the stores themselves. In navigating all of the sites (their first line of branding to many people), I get this incredible urge to Starbucks them or Tazo them to make the experience on the Web as enjoyable as the experience in the stores. Build in more changing content. But that’s an easily doable fix to a great story about simplifying a confounding industry for the vast majority of consumers interested in wine.

KP: I agree that someone needs to simplify it even more for consumers. I should be able to go to their site and walk away truly understanding what wines I would personally like, plus be able to translate that back into Oeno-speak. They should empower me to be able to pick wines easily at their site/store, but also be able to go into a restaurant and order something great. If you go to an Italian restaurant, I can’t say I want something sweet. They need to educate consumers on their categories, but then make the connection between Fizzy, Sweet, and Lucious to Oenophiles’ dry, robust, full-bodied, blah blah blah.

GS: There are wine courses and classes out there, but they range from expensive to intimidating. And many people don’t want to become an expert, they just want to be more informed consumers. They want to feel they can make good choices that suit their tastes or occasion without having to admit to not knowing a thing about wines or being patronized by wine shop staff. And the way most wines are categorized and sold today still requires more than a passing knowledge.

SM: The democratization of wine really started with the Gallo family in the 1970s. Everyday wines for everyday occasions, and it brought the masses to the glory of the grape. Sadly, many of those wines weren’t very good. But they served their purpose of introducing new markets to winemakers. That said, even today, there is still a large population who remain intimidated by the wine buying process, and this store concept is right on the money, in theory.

KP: Watching my mom get used to drinking wine on a regular basis, I have come to learn what the virgin wine drinkers’ choices are. They go for the white zinfandel first (horrible). Then they might venture into a Beaujolais (young red, easy to drink) and possibly a Riesling or another sweet dessert wine. Someone needs to point out to new wine drinkers what they might like early on, but make it decent…. Not white zin.

SM: Enthusiasts may cringe, but describing wines by their “taste” rather than by the grape, region or vintage is a smart way to ease folks into the buying game. Focusing on wines between $10 and $25 is another good call. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in a wine store and overheard a customer say, “I’m looking for a nice bottle to take to a dinner party – something in the $12 range.” No red, no white, no country, just a price range. Still, the sites offer many wines to choose from – another shopping aid would be to list any ratings garnered by each bottle. Wine Spectator 88 or Wine Enthusiast 91 tells me that folks “who know” have blessed this bottle. Finally, I think suggested food pairings is a must.

DB: But once again it seems they are listing the confusion boat when they do that. I have friends who come over for dinner, and are barely through the door before they are apologizing for the wine they – very considerately – brought with them. I think this has to do with the murky waters of Spectator numbers and food pairings. They don’t want to appear unsophisticated or overly thrifty to their hosts (who have been known to dig into the cooking sherry when everything else has been expired), so they offer appeals for understanding in the form of “this is what the guy recommended” or “this was what we had at home." No one should feel bad about what they drink and enjoy. Enthusiasts be damned – not a bad motto. And, I think, a main reason for these stores’ new direction.

KP: I hate going into a store and admitting that I don’t want to pay more than X amount for a bottle of wine. I feel so cheap, but it’s true.

JC: That is why Best Cellars is so great. Unlike the others (with just stores), they have a Web site you can order from, and it is fine to be cheap as long as no one knows about it! I think I am the perfect target for this trend. I know nothing about wine, but I know that I can’t drink red, and I don’t like sweet wine. So I need someone to help me with descriptions. But truthfully, when I look at these stores on their Web sites, they still have a bit of a snooty look. Not sure I would go in. On the Web, I can be blissfully ignorant and cheap and still get the advantage of their recommendations. I went online to Best Cellars and ordered a few bottles. I’ll keep you posted.

TT: Like movie ratings, people do want to know good juice from drain drippings. There are little cards in front of the shelves in most stores with some food suggestions, but the flavor descriptions are great for the novice. Paring down the choice conundrum that has stopped so many people from even having a clue about this vast industry is a smart hook.

KP: I always look for the Wine Spectator signs with their numbers. If it’s got a good number and it’s less than $20, I’ll buy it.

FM: Man, just say “wine” and everything gets serious. This is the most serious Brand Garage that I’ve ever pulled into.

TT: People are into their wine. So these brands are onto something because in just the last week, two magazines that have nothing to do with wine have articles devoted to the liquid grape. Time magazine's Joel Stein is talking about hyper, internet wine yapper Gary Vaynerchuk (if you haven't seen this, check it out: http://tv.winelibrary.com). This guy is vino's Chris Berman, sucking on his own sweaty socks to describe a nasty red.

Then in Sports Illustrated, there's a four-page spread about ex-athletes who are now selling wine or have vineyards. Ex-defensive lineman-turned-wine seller, Chris Hinton talks about his successful store outside of Atlanta. Then the story by Adam Duerson goes on to profile wines from wineries run by ex-golfer, Greg Norman; ex-skater, Peggy Fleming; ex-NASCAR driver and now owner, Richard Childress; ex-Indy driver, Mario Andretti; ex-NFL safety, Terry Hoage; ex-NFL coach, Dick Vermeil; golfer, Ernie Els and ex-Indy Driver, Randy Lewis.

Coincidence? Or is wine exploding?

DB: I vote for exploding.

FM: If we’re going "highbrow" – I’ll try to fake it.

It’s funny; I thought about this subject at a client dinner last night. When I asked about the restaurant’s beers on tap, the waiter gave an excellent description of the different tastes. When we ordered wine, he said, “This is a very nice one from Napa Valley.”

If he’d told me the beer was a “nice one from the south of Czechoslovakia,” I think I would have remained clueless, but since I got his recommendation of a “crisp, light lager,” I was a happy guy.

DB: Way to go, Fred! Got it back to beer in two short paragraphs!

FM: It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it.

KP: It is annoying that wine conversations become so serious. Then again, it is possible that if wine-speak and wine become too common, it won’t be cool anymore. It’s still an insider’s club right now. Just like Starbucks is too commonplace now, so people are reverting back to independent baristas.

TT: Make it easy and you make it accessible. Seems there is several schools of thought on this simplified wine direction. Clearly, restaurants can have a huge impact because they have a waiter who supposedly knows at least a little about what wine is best with what food. Then you have the superstore approach that has every grape ever squeezed captured under glass somewhere.

CP: As a on-again-off again-bartender and waiter. I think it’s interesting how little the average customer cares about the vineyard or brand per se. Everything else you imbibe is generally ordered by brand, but wine is always the grape or region -- ie, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, etc. People care a little more about what country it’s from and a little more than that what region (eschewing California and Virginia wines, for instance, for no good reason, really), but seldom is the actual vineyard an issue. Fashion seems to play an inordinately big role in this choice as opposed to personal taste.

MP: I have noticed that too.

JC: OK, I’m back. Ordered some wine online from Best Cellars. Good looking Web sites and clever ideas are great, but if you can’t buy the product, none of it matters. I was all excited about ordering from the Best Cellars site. I order a lot of stuff online so I know the procedure. I go on, choose my wine, other people here get into it and add to my list, but the transaction won’t go through. Crazy me, I look for a phone number to call to try to get my transaction cleared. ALL I WANT IS A FEW BOTTLES OF DECENT WINE! What do I get? Pages of phone numbers that don’t seem to be what I need. Finally I find a corporate number, call it, and find myself in directory hell. For Amy in Accounting, dial 16. No way to get to a customer service person! It finally worked and I’m not sure exactly why.

TT: Ah, that is where the grape meets the press, isn’t it?

KP: I'm sorry, but we all know you, JC. I think it was user error. Jan was probably talking on her cell that's perm-attached to her head, yelling at one of her kids on the land line, asking Fred to get her a glass of iced tea for the meeting she's running late to, and trying to order wine online while incorrectly entering her credit card number and zip code that didn't match up in the online security system. ;)

TT: Smack!

SM: Hey guys, I just got an e-mail confirmation of Jan's order. She inadvertently sent it to my address, C.O.D. I have several bottles of Minnesota Rieslings to look forward to!

JC: You all injure me. If there is one thing I know how to do, it is use my credit card. Especially on the Web. I am canceling those Rieslings, Scott.

SM: Bummer.

TT: Actually, this type of customer experience (formerly known as customer service) is all too familiar. Maybe these wine retailers who just sell from the store have figured it out? To digress for a moment (because of this attempt to buy from one of these sites and the problem you encountered). Tell us quickly your experience with ordering from that shoe Web site: Zappos.

JC: Oh my!! Now you’re talking customer service. Zappos.com is a fantastic site. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a pair of shoes at 9 at night. THE NEXT DAY AT 3:30, they were on my doorstep. How did they even do it? Then, as kids' shoes will go, they were too big. I printed the return label, dropped them in the mail (no charge for shipping either way), ordered a new pair, and the darn shoes arrived the next day just like the last time. Scared me a little.

TT: So if Zappos started selling Chuck Taylors and Chardonnay?

JC: I’d be dribbling and uncorking like a one-legged woman at a tail-kicking convention. And they do sell Chuck Taylors, BTW.

CP: I love CT’s. Don’t get me started on that.

KP: OK, at restaurants, even more than wine shops, I think they just recommend the more expensive wines. The waiter wants a fat tip, so I never ask the waiter. I wish more menus made wine recommendations with their food items.

CP: Wait! In my experience as a bartender and waiter, most waiters know that they don’t get tipped on wine bottle prices; generally, the tip is weighed less than the cost of a bottle of wine, but the wine service is considered when tipping.

FM: Now you tell me that.

DB: This is where knowing a little bit about wine pricing comes in handy. If we are thinking about a restaurant bottle, I find one that I know and look at the price. If the bottle is priced at double or less of the retail store cost, then you are getting a deal. Four times the price, you’re getting drilled. The choices between lie with you. I noticed one high-end local steak house set the dubious record with five times the cost.

This system only helps if you happen to know any wines on the list – another vexing problem for the casual imbiber.

CP: In restaurants, I’ve sold a lot of wine with simple questions like “Do you like Cabarnet Sauvignon ? Well, this is a good one." I’ve made that choice by sizing the person up culturally: White trash? White Zin; Stuffy Yuppie? Pinot Noir; Mummified Matron? Chardonnay. (laughs) Wine is the only thing people really put in the hands of their server, though beer is catching up. It is also one of the few beverages restaurant owners offer their customers based on their own choices, not those of the customers. To some degree I think the restaurant experience implies a certain trust in the Vin de la Maison.

TT: No beer has a Suds de la Maison.

FM: Ask Bubba.

TT: A lot of people buy wine at their grocery store. They’re there, it’s there.

KP: I don’t buy wine at a grocery store that I would serve to guests or take to a dinner party. It’s fine for drinking by myself at home, but the same grocery stores all over the country have the same brands – and most of them not that great. If I’m serving guests or going to someone’s house, I try and find one that most people don’t know or haven’t tried. And that doesn’t mean it’s expensive. There are plenty of good unknown wines out there for $10-15.

TT: Many people believe that selling wine where you get your food is the fastest way to spread the fruit of the vine philosophy and increase sales. Wine and cheese. Makes sense, but a cursory walk down the wine aisle at a grocery store is a journey into absolute confusion. I know a guy who said his doctor suggested he drink a glass of wine every evening (for some medicinal purpose). He was not a wine drinker, so he went to the first place he knew that sold wine: His local grocery store. His response?

“Oh my God. Rows and rows of bottles, broken down by categories that made no sense to me. I finally ended up picking a couple because I liked the labels. It would be like sending my wife to the auto parts store.” – Jimmy

SM: Whoa, I think we missed our exit! We went from hailing the wine-for-everyone concept to turning up our noses at the grocery store selection? Granted, you might not make a wine “discovery” at the local Farm Fresh, but most respectable grocers now feature a decent wine stock. Well, tons of California choices, at least – it’s the European wines, I find, that come up short. Back to our original point, though. Most grocery stores DO fall down in the area of expert advice and labeled ratings. You’re on your own. But, if you know what you like and what you want, you can do OK.

This element of credible advice and fair pricing really is where the Vino100’s of the world can make a dent. And at the very least, they could position themselves between the snobby high-end stores and the grocery stores, exploiting the notion some of us clearly share, that grocers only carry plonk.

TT: My issue with grocery stores is the opposite of snobbery or plonk and more a matter of simplicity than selection – or, actually, lack of simplicity. A lot of people get their wine at the grocery store (according to sales numbers), and having this kind of simplified choice system there would help people (like my pal who is under doctor’s orders to uncork now and then) to feel less confusion about what to pick. He has no previous wine knowledge and was facing a vino gauntlet with little but his own ignorance to use as a guide. These stores' simplified philosophy can definitely help that.

I’d say grocery stores selling wine is the great equalizer for wine in this country, and a simplified system like Vino100 or WineStyles or Best Cellars would help Kroger and Food Lion tremendously. This is all good wine business, but what about one of those three wine retailers becoming the next Starbucks (yes, everyone wants to be the next Starbucks) – thoughts?

KP: If you take the Starbucks concept, no one (at least that I know of) has mastered the experience aspect. They seem to have tackled how to organize and help people pick the wines, but no one has a store environment that is a clearly a brand winner yet. Best Cellars is an approachable environment, but I don't want to hang out there. It's not a cool place that I want to stop by regularly. Would be nice if someone opened both a wine bar and store where they simplify the wines for you, but you can also go by for happy hour with your friends. Or what if you could hold private parties there where someone teaches you and your friends about wine in a safe but fun environment. And the people who work there need to be cool but approachable. No wine snobs in smoking jackets, but no dorks in pleated khakis, either. No offense to khaki wearers.

TT: Ah, Dee, nice khakis there, pal. Did you iron those before you came to the wine shop? LOL

JC: Believe it or not, I’m with KP. How hard can it be to pull her idea off? Starbucks has taught all of America how to do the experience piece. Wine? That should be a no-brainer. Hold please while I look for real estate.

DB: Even though I am Docker’d, I love a small wine shop. There’s a guy near me who knows I like good wine and also knows I’m cheap.

TT: Your brother owns a wine shop?

DB: (ignores insult) The guy chides me, but I don’t care, I lost shame a long time ago.

JC: Marriage will do that to you. Ask my husband.

DB: (ignores insult again) The concept of the corporate wine experience for simple education of casual drinkers is a smart idea whose time has come. People want a simple, non-judgmental buying experience. Nothing is worse than being looked down at for your selection by a wine salesman whose hourly wage is less than the bottle of wine you’re purchasing.

FM: There you go.

DB: Pop in, get a "flavor," and see if you and your friends like it. If not, try again. And ultimately, you can end up like me. Hiding your gross consumption of bottles under the newspapers in the recycling bin. 'Course, I’m a dork in pleated khakis.

GS: What Dee alludes to in “get a ‘flavor’ and see if you like it” is more akin to the wine shop version of a Starbucks that seems realistic. In a typical shop, they only have one or two wines they allow you to sample: their featured wines. It would be great to be able to sample a thimble’s worth of ANY wine on hand, just as you can sample any CD or music track before you buy or download.

TT: And all of the mentioned wine retailers would love to do for wine what Starbucks did for coffee. And since we have squeezed this grape pretty hard in every other way, let’s do a quick breakdown of the branding of these three simplified wine companies which are turning the wine dictatorship into a Starbuckazoid democracy.

DB: “Starbuckazoid?” Can I use that later? Thanks. The market segment is definitely there to Starbuckazoid this brand (see, got to use it already). Hell, you got plenty of customers from the Brand Garage right here already lining up. Stressing the attraction of stress-free and judgement-free wine browsing is a key. Starbucks makes the purchase not just socially acceptable, but fashionable as well. It has to be a brand with no stigma attached – even if the major attraction is a low price. Like how Target made low price fashionable. All the retail employees have to buy into this line of thinking to make this sing.

TT: In the book “Made To Stick,” Chip and Dan Heath talk about how “concrete” analogies stick to people’s brains, versus abstract descriptions that don’t (by the way, that is one of the best business books I have ever read). These simplified wine retailers are looking for the Velcro that fits the wine hook into the consumer’s loop.

GS: Although the “simplified wine” concept is a step forward, no one has really taken the giant leap that would make it truly “simple.” What Best Cellars created was perhaps somewhat revolutionary a decade ago. They didn’t look to monitor consumer trends and adapt to be even more relevant and accessible as the desire for wine among the general populace increased. In fact, I believe wine is seriously giving beer a run for its money as the casual (alcoholic) drink of choice.

TT: According to The Washington Post and Slate, beer sales are flat but wine sales are soaring. For the first time ever, Americans prefer wine to beer. If the stores simplify it, the customers will come.

GS: Evidently. WineStyles has created an interesting layer in the equation with their signature label “Styles” series. Not only did they create their own means of categorization (almost identical to Best Cellar’s), they offer selected prime examples of each general category for you to sample and gain an understanding of how they (WS) categorize what they sell.

Vino100’s sliding scale is interesting, but still feels just a bit by-wine-aficionados, for-wine-aficionados to me.

All are great concepts, but all could be taken further. Perhaps they should look not only to places like Starbucks, but just imagine what would happen if, say, Target got into the wine business. You know they would make a system that is not only stylish, but also exceptionally cool and accessible. Imagine how Apple, Nike or Method would market to the masses? Create a number of ways to choose wines. What if there was an online tool that allowed you to input what foods you are preparing and a range of wines was displayed that would compliment each course? Or an OshKosh B’Gosh, Garanimals pairing system for wines and meals, or even one wine to another.

TT: GarWineables.

GS: Each of these three has taken a stab at simplifying this unruly category; now one needs to truly lead the charge by offering not just an incremental improvement, but a completely new brand experience. Obviously, America is thirsty for more wine innovation. The question isn’t who is going to play the game, but who is going to win.

Cheers. (raises a toast)

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Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not necessarily of Big River and may not have been reviewed in advance by Big River.