Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Ask for Idaho Wine


Something that has been on my mind for a while now is why it is so difficult to find Idaho Wines on the wine lists of restaurants and stores. I will preface this by saying that I don't mean all restaurants and stores. There are notable exceptions such as the Orchard House Restaurant, Brick 29, the Boise Co-Op, A New Vintage Wine Shop, Corkscrews, and Buzz Coffee, as well as many others that do a great job of supporting local wine and wineries.
But still, on a weekly basis I get asked by friends, family, and customers about the lack of Idaho Wines on the store shelves and wine lists of their favorite stores and eateries. There are a few reasons for this situation.
First of all, large restaurants and stores will quite often buy from large distributors or have a national buying office that purchases all of the wine for that chain. Local managers or franchise owners have a very limited opportunity to choose local products for restaurants such as the Olive Garden and the like. Many would like to support the local wine industry but can't due to company rules, complexity, and franchise agreements. We understand this and know that if they could, they would support more local wines. No worries.
Second, most small Idaho Wineries are self distributing their wines. This means if a store or restaurant orders their wine, be the order a few cases or a few bottles, someone from the winery hops in the car and runs it out to them wherever they are. Most small wineries cannot get distributor representation because the distributors have a world of great wines to choose from and they try and keep their portfolio of wines at a reasonable size. Idaho Wines by and large fall into the $15-30 price range and it's a tough category. There are lots of amazing wines that that price category and below. So when a distributor has to choose between adding in a new Idaho Winery's wares and a well known, high quality California producer at a slightly lower price point, it is a fairly easy choice. We don't fault them for this, it's business and they need to make a living as well. This situation leaves wineries struggling to make deliveries to multiple restaurants and stores all on their own. There have been a few attempts to get a co-op delivery group put together but there just isn't enough volume to make it cost effective for wineries. There isn't enough demand from restaurants and wineries to make it worthwhile for someone to go make regular deliveries to restaurants and stores of just Idaho Wines.
This leads to my third point. We often hear that there just isn't demand for Idaho and Snake River Valley Wines in the marketplace. I often discuss with other wineries why once their wines are on the shelves at a store they don't reorder. The meteric is pretty simple, if the wine doesn't sell, the store or restaurant will not reorder that wine. They have to make money too, and if a particular wine isn't moving they aren't going to order another case in the hopes that more shelf volume will move it faster. They are going to wait till they are out of that wine before they make another order, and if it takes too long to sell they may not reorder at all.
So, how do we address this problem? I would propose that when we are out at our favorite stores and restaurants that we as consumers and wineries Ask For Idaho Wine. It's quite simple really, if you would like to have your favorite wine available at the store or restaurant that you frequent, then ask for it. The owners of these establishments are in the customer service business and they want to meet your needs and desires. If you let them know that Idaho Wines are something you want to see on the list or shelf, they will definitely take that into consideration. If we want to have the wines available, we have to create the demand! So I ask you, when you were out eating at a restaurant or grocery shopping last week did you see any of your favorite wines available? If you didn't maybe it's time to ask why. I would love it if you asked for Fujishin Wines but that's not really my goal. My goal is to see the whole Idaho Wine Industry grow and succeed. So ask for your favorite Idaho Wine, no matter who makes it. If that opens the door to one great Idaho Wine, then maybe it will open the door to a few more. Just remember, if you don't Ask for Idaho Wine, nobody will know you want it!
ASK FOR IDAHO WINE!

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