OR State Fair Wine Competition

I was happy to return as a judge for the Oregon State Fair's wine competition. As usual, Elaine Lisle and Desa Swaim did an incredible job with the volunteers, organization and excellent treatment of their judges. The pre-judging dinner at Bentley's in Salem is always a treat because it features gold medal winners from the prior year. Sommelier Brian Kemmerle, a fellow judge, and chef Derek Ridgway do an excellent job pairing wine with the cuisine.

Some highlights included tasting the Italian varieties from Cana's Feast by winemaker, Patrick Taylor. And of course Stoller Vineyards' 2006 SV Estate Pinot Noir being awarded "Best Red of Show". (No, I had no idea which of the many Pinot Noirs was my client's because this was a blind tasting :)

It's always interesting to compare your judging notes with the overall medal list. As I wrote after the WA wine competition, there isn't a lot of time to savor these wines, so my notes are my 30 second to one minute impressions. Here I present my personal "Golds":

Phelps Creek 2009 Gewurtztraminer
Mineral, fresh rain, oregano and white peach aromas. Pretty tangerine and lime notes in mouth. Delicious with great acid!

Phelps Creek 2008 Chardonnay
Deep golden delicious and red apple. Nice oak integration with spice and good length. Best white of show/Best wine of show.

Shadow Mountain Vineyards 2009 Pinot Gris
Very inviting notes with pretty lemon-lime and fresh rain aromas. Bright acidity with a crisp mouthfeel with a touch of almond on the finish. More of a Grigio style -- fun and sexy.

Firesteed 2008 Rose of Pinot Noir
Ripe strawberry, sour cherry, floral and herbal aromas. Strawberry really comes through in mouth with nice acid structure -- refreshing.

August Cellars 2006 Pinot Noir
Deep, inviting red cherry, raspberry and baking spices -- multiple layers. Some good stewed fruit notes with a touch of fresh tomato, cherry and a nice minty/herbal character. Long finish.

Stoller Vineyards 2006 SV Pinot Noir
Very inviting, sweet black cherry jam, tea leaves, curing tobacco, earth with a hint of dusty character. Ripe, rich and round with a long finish.

Stoller Vineyards 2007 JV Pinot Noir
Deep, beautiful ripe, brambly raspberry, cherry and espresso aromas. Espresso turns to toffee and mocha in mouth which has rich feel. Love this nose! Nice balance and smooth finish.

Evergreen Vineyards 2008 Pinot Noir
Brambly with raspberry, cherry and fresh leather aromas. Deeper black cherry with earthy/forest floor and baking spice in mouth. NICE.

Cana's Feast 2007 Sangiovese
Deep red berry, leather, sweet curing tobacco with white pepper. Nice, dusty mouthfeel with raspberry and great acid. A terrific food wine with a long finish. What more could you want in a domestic Sangiovese?!! Best one I've ever tried.

Cana's Feast 2007 Nebbiolo
Blueberry, cherry, raspberry jam; smoke and moss. Good acid/tannin balance. Nice present finish -- still juicy so more time left to age in bottle.

Ribera Vineyards 2007 Merlot
Very concentrated aromas of stewed plum, fresh leather, clay. Delicious soft and round mouth with big fruit flavors retaining complexity of nose. Silky, velvety and round.

Cana's Feast 2007 Counoise
Peppery fabulousness. Red cherry, blackberry. Ripe with good acid.

Devitt Winery 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Plum, bark, blackberry, clove, olive, mint and a little je ne sais stank. What a nose! Ripe fruit with good balance. Love the mouthfeel. What a delicious glass of wine!

Stone Wolfe Vineyards 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
Blackberry, black cherry, fresh leather, tobacco, eucalyptus. Very focused, fine ripe sweet fruit with peppery note and silky mouthfeel. Good tannic structure and balance. Long finish.

Latest Newsletter

Check out the latest edition of Strategic Guidance from the Ground Up, the Trellis Wine Consulting bi-monthly newsletter. In this issue I discuss how to create a marketing-driven business plan, an online meeting scheduler and present latest client and company news.

Diary of an Andrea Johnson Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of working with Andrea Johnson of Andrea Johnson Photography on a lifestyle photo shoot for Stoller Vineyards. The winery is a fantastic place to spend an afternoon picnicking or a weekend escaping from daily life. With 3 guest homes on the property and ample space for relaxation, it's a great Willamette Valley destination. Further, the hospitality provided by the great staff is nearly unparalleled -- many in the industry forget we're in the hospitality industry first and the wine industry second!

Our goal was to show people enjoying themselves around the various areas of the property to highlight these features visually. We will use this imagery in various marketing arenas - ads, website, tasting room video and b-roll, and distribution presentations. (We have also begun a video process to create a multi-media piece but more on that later.)

To pull this off required the following:

* 2 meetings to brainstorm and edit
* 2 full days of working with her excellent models (she prefers actors as they are more relaxed and I can see why!)

* 12 wardrobe changes
* 4 trips to Farm to Fork to get picnic items

* about a case of wine used for pours and re-pours
* patience and cooperation from the winery team and good attitude about being asked to model
* ability to load Adirondack chairs on top of a golf cart and drive it without spilling wine or food

* ability to run through field in flip flops
* Spanish language knowledge

Very difficult to pick a favorite photo from the shoot but this well captures the spirit of Stoller:

Here's the behind-the-scenes look at what it took to get it (taken by my low res Blackberry camera) -- good thing she's fit and has a good attitude:

My role was a hybrid between creative director/water fetcher/housekeeping/damage control. As for the last part, we had just headed over to one of the guest homes to shoot a "perfect" picnic when a combine truck arrived. I immediately ran through brush to avoid the dust bowl beginning and politely ask the driver to back out of the shot for 10 minutes. He somewhat understood me, but thankfully, Eric speaks Spanish and was able to explain why we were interrupting his work day.

The "perfect" shot:

The drive to stop the dust:

We ended up with about 90 excellent shots. Now time to get these into the marketing materials!

Big Day for Marketing in Oregon

This morning I spoke to a crowd of about 40 participants at a wine marketing workshop hosted by Oregon Wine Board. The focus was on outlining the key elements of a business plan, drilling into the specifics of the marketing plan, and discussing best practices for getting started, implementation and creating a culture that seeks continuous improvement. I was impressed by the good comments from the crowd and thoughtful questions. If you would like a copy of the presentation, please email me.

Katherine Cole, wine writer for the Portland Oregonian, also posted a piece on marketing wine to women which quoted me. When asked about my thoughts on the subject, my mind immediately went back to a period in my marketing life where I was put in the unenviable position of promoting low-carb wine. (Not a good feeling considering that I knew it would be ridiculed by the press -- the worst is that one of these articles lives on to this day.) While this wasn't specifically aimed at only women, it is yet another example of trying to take advantage of a fad versus truly creating something meaningful for one's target audience.

It's important to keep in mind that my comments were directed toward the Oregon wine industry specifically. I do not have sales data on Bitch wines, so there is a possibility that the brand may be going gangbusters in its selected target market. In the end we're all in business so if Bitch is a creation women are buying and loving, more power to them. For Oregon, however, where the costs tend to be higher and the output lower, I do not see this as an effective way to reach women.

"If you don't ask, you don't receive"

This year I've completed a number of market research surveys for Stoller Vineyards. When the project began I surveyed the wine club and brand managers to get feedback on topics ranging from wine quality, pricing and value to brand communication and sales materials. We also studied visitor experience and perceptions. I then used this feedback to develop a SWOT analysis and the 2010 marketing strategy, which means it is considered for brand messaging in ads, media relations and social media, as well as how we develop consumer and trade programs. In other words, it is used on a daily basis.

Today I finished analyzing another survey of Stoller club members regarding events and soon I will begin a series of surveys for a new client, Chehalem. Market research is a pursuit I enjoy, but more importantly, it is very valuable to wine businesses. Don Morgan of GMA Research, a fellow speaker at the June Southern Oregon wine marketing conference, puts it best: "Positioning is what brands aspire to... market perception is reality." He also noted that the most critical market research question is whether or not your customers or clients would recommend you.

As a marketing strategist, my role is to survey market perception, build or re-build positioning (and reality) based on this feedback. Too many consultants have a tendency to come in and change everything without a true basis for their recommendations. While not every decision should be made with a survey set -- best practices do exis, this approach can be financially wasteful and ignores what the current organizational strengths. A good marketer should seek to understand before she seeks to improve.

PS - I do also practice what I preach. In a recent survey of all of my past and current clients, here's what I learned:

* 100% would recommend Trellis Wine Consulting either "very highly" (57%) or "highly"

* 86% rated my service's quality, integrity and professionalism "excellent" -- for value I received "excellent" on 57% of responses

* the two most important factors in selecting my company were its wine focus and the ability to work directly with me (versus an account executive) -- no one rated location in Portland or my references as important

I also learned more about my strengths and challenges on the open-ended questions. This feedback is very helpful to me as I continue to grow my business and plan for the future. One of the challenges of being an independent service provider is that unless I ask for feedback, I don't get it!

Your First Wine Tasting Trip

Do you remember it? I think mine was a Sunday afternoon drive to Sonoma with visits to Domaine Carneros and Cline Cellars in August of 2000... Well, actually, that's not true -- it was while studying in France in 1998: I had arrived early for a program through Duke at La Sorbonne and decided to head to Bordeaux. While there I booked a tour through the Office du Tourisme and ended up on a bus with 30 plus people from around the world. We visited Chateau Myers and Chateau Croizet Bages plus a third which I couldn't locate in my picture album. There was also a tremendous lunch in a cheese cave. The only sad thing is, I didn't care for cheese back then -- my how much has changed!

I recently learned that two wine-loving friends (who moved to the Northwest from the Bay Area about two years ago like we did) had never visited a winery. I couldn't believe it, especially given how much wine we've shared with them. I took this as a personal challenge and offered to serve as tour guide. Planning our excursion was a pleasure since enjoying wine is of course one of my great loves.

We began the day with Sheila Nicholas of Nicholas Vineyard and Anam Cara Cellars. She and her husband, Nick, purchased the Chehalem Mountains property in 2001 and transitioned it from a run-down walnut orchard to the beautiful vineyard it is today. Sheila gave us a delightful glass of 2008 Riesling before we headed out for a vineyard walk to check on vine development and learn what truly goes into tending a vineyard (HARD work).

After the walk, we returned inside for a tasting of two 2007 Pinot Noirs -- Estate and Estate Reserve, plus a Gewurtztraminer ice wine. I loved the rich, ripe red apple flavors of the Riesling (which by the way is a dry style) and the earthy, dusty and mineral notes I got from both Pinot Noirs. The Estate Reserve needs some time to open up -- we shared this over a lamb dinner and it was fantastic. The Gewurtz is just plain yummy. So we of course had to purchase all of them.

The next two stops in Dundee were for lunch. The gentlemen had to have Huckabee's BBQ and the ladies decided on Farm to Fork takeaway including a couple of their baguette sandwiches, Manchego cheese and duck pate. There's not much better for a sunny day picnic than Chef Paul Bachand's cuisine.

The perfect spot in the Willamette for a picnic is Stoller Vineyards*, located a couple of miles south of Farm to Fork in Dayton. Here we enjoyed the 2009 JV Rose with our lunch and the warm hospitality of Tasting Room Manager, Emily Olds, and Hospitality Associate, Serena McCauley. It is quite a setting with some sharing picnics and the panoramic views, others playing disc golf or settling into the Adirondack chairs, and everyone just relaxing and experiencing the wines. (Most wineries simply have you "belly up" to the bar -- I prefer those who offer you something special, a memory or a unique take.) Stoller is not a place you want to rush through; a good two hours is about right.

The 2007 JV Pinot Noir is a great wine to serve with a slight chill in the summer if you insist on drinking red on a hot summer day. Our friends were in a white wine mood, so they bought both the JV and SV Chardonnays to compare. I can't get enough Rose, which always sells out; so I left with more.

We ended our day with an appointment with the Manager, Courtney Shields, and her dog, Mac, at Soter Vineyards . I always tell people that Stoller is a "wow" experience because you have this unexpected beautiful property atop a winding hill. Soter is a similar feeling but here you are even more removed since you reach it up a long, winding gravel drive. When you walk into the open air tasting room, you immediately relax with the serene cross breeze. It is a place where you pause, take a deep breath, and just enjoy being. (Note that you need an appointment to do so.)

Here we enjoyed the 2005 Brut Rose, 2008 Northstar Pinot Noir, and a truly interesting mini-vertical of the Mineral Springs Pinot Noir (always nice to follow a wine writer -- Bruce Sanderson of Wine Spectator had been by earlier in the day so some library wines happened to be open). Tony Soter also makes a delicious Cabernet Franc from his Little Creek Vineyard in Napa.

We are most appreciative of the people who helped me make this great day happen!

*PS -Stoller is a client of mine. And yes, it would still be the best place for an afternoon picnic in the Willamette Valley even if it weren't. Check it out for yourself and definitely let me know if you feel otherwise!

Blogger's Conference

I spent this past weekend in Walla Walla at the wine blogger's conference. My reasons for attending were two-fold, to present Stoller's 2007 JV Pinot Noir during a live tweet red tasting and to network and learn. Happy to report that the wine showed very well -- our main goal was building awareness. The follow up is measuring an increase in that awareness and translation to sales -- hardly a mathematical equation, but an important step for analyzing return on marketing investment nonetheless.

As far as learning how to improve my blog, the conference was less useful since I write primarily about business matters and to a very (intentionally) limited audience. The vast majority of attendees were non-industry and focused on learning about wine and educating/reviewing. However; when viewed from a macro level in terms of increasing overall consumer awareness of and appreciation for wine, the conference and social media in general are a great movement for the industry.

It was very well organized and the Saturday field trips were a highlight. Our group visited Forgotten Hills vineyard which supplies Waters, made a pit stop at Cailloux vineyard owned by Cristophe Baron of Cayuse (my personal favorite 5 minutes!) and Walla Walla Vintners where we walked to Leonetti's Mill Creek Upland vineyard. We then lunched at Cougar Crest.

Spending some one-on-one time with traditional media proved to be an unexpected benefit. Unfortunately, I missed Steve Heimhoff's Friday introduction given a delay in leaving, but I did enjoy Lettie Teague's keynote on Saturday evening. She was genuine, positive, funny and quite refreshing. I've loved reading her column in Food and Wine over the years and will be following her at Wall Street Journal. Paul Gregutt generously invited me to a tasting of older Washington reds which demonstrated the aging potential of these wines. My two favorites were a 1994 Chateau Ste. Michelle Merlot and 1998 Wineglass Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon.

Below are Cayuse's Cailloux and Leonetti's Mill Creek Upland Vineyards