Thoughtfully posted by John on Thursday, November 19, 2009.
Since wine writer and retail consultant Tom Wark accused wholesalers earlier this week of using tactics similar to those employed by Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, I have been wrestling with how to respond. Now, I make no attempt on this site or within my circle of wine friends to hide the fact that I work within the three-tier system. However, I feel I can objectively argue that not only is Tom grossly generalizing what he sees as pitfalls in the three-tier system, but he is acting as if he were working for a political action group lobbying for reform not in the name of the consumer public, but for special interests. Oh wait, he is.
For instance, Tom claims that one of the lies purported by wholesalers is that, "the three tier system has resulted in the best selection of products of any marketplace in the world." He attributes the wide availability of wines within markets to the "ingenuity of the producers and the retailers acute awareness of consumer demand." It can be argued that small wineries wouldn't have a chance to survive outside their own markets if it weren't for the efforts of wholesalers. Wholesalers use their sales teams to introduce wines to emerging markets, spreading the mission and purpose of selected wines like wildfire to consumers who would othrewise have no idea that the winery existed. David Bowler agrees,
"We warehouse the wines, we deliver (in temperature controlled trucks, no less), and we provide forums for our customers such as tastings and supplier visits to promote these unheralded brands. We give our time at in-store tastings, we provide staff training for restaurants. And we donate a lot of wine to various charities throughout the year. At our own expense. And we are the ones providing samples to the critics for their judgment. These are things that the importers and winemakers, with no familiarity of the marketplace, could not and would not do on their own. We good, smaller wholesalers want to influence markets not just follow them. In our way, we provide an outlet for the small growers who otherwise would not find a market."
And if the public knew that the winery existed, would they be able to get their wines anytime they wanted? Not necessarily. Some winemakers have waiting lists to get on their waiting lists. And once you get access to the wines, not all of the cuvees are available and the selections that are available to the public wouldn't necessarily be cheaper than purchasing them through the three-tier system.
Wark also states that "wholesalers, in the most corrupt way, demands that retailers and restaurants buy a lot of wines they don't want in order to get wines they do want." It is true that many wholesalers offer tie-in or packages of wines, especially when one or more of the wines are highly sought after because of a rating or reputation of the winery. However, this practice is limited when it comes to fine wine distributors. And when small houses offer these wines in tie-ins, the "other" wines offered are also highly sought after cherries. And doesn't Tom think that wineries would do the same thing if they were able to sell their wines directly to everyone in the country? For instance, if Winery A had Cuvee X that received a 99 point rating from a major publication and the winery offered Cuvee X to the clamoring consumer and Cuvee X flies out of the winery in a matter of days and Winery A was left with stockpiles of the their other non-scored wines, don't you think Winery A would eventually start tying in other selections with Cuvee X?
Wholesalers don't cherry pick, they promise to sell the other wines that Winery A has to offer without necessarily forcing the public to purchase them with Cuvee X. Instead, wholesalers often sit on this inventory, paying rent and sacrificing inventory budgets in order to sell a wine that the public doesn't necessarily want. That is, of course, until the sales team decides to stand behind the wine and show retailers and their customers how great the wine is - not only because of the juice itself, but selling the reputation and family story behind the winery. After a few thousand cases of the wine has been sold throughout the market, eyes are opened, wine is sold and both the winemaker and pubic are happy. To put it simply, the wholesaler is able to promote brands that would not be able to do it themselves. And would the retailer put feet on the street to spread the story behind the wine? Please.
Now let's talk about Tom Wark. After emailing and speaking with industry leaders over the past couple of days, many of them had no idea who he was and many of them declined to comment on the record because they didn't to want to give someone who compared them to Nazi's to receive any more attention than he already has. I almost agreed with them. So, who is Tom Wark? Tom, propietor of Wark Communications states on his site that his company, "works with clients to craft a message, identify the appropriate audience, then deliver that message in a creative and effective manner." By howling at the moon and labeling an entire industry as Nazi propogandists? Tom is also the Executive Director of the SWRA - The Specialty Wine Retailers Association. Their goal is to allow wine retailers to ship anywhere in the country. So, Tom rants and raves about how wholesalers monopolize wine markets, but his interest isn't necessarily about the wines themselves, it's about WHO can sell them. According to their site, "the SWRA stands for a true national wine market in which consumers and retailers can transact business in an appropriately regulated milieu. This means that any adult consumer in any state should be allowed to legally purchase and have shipped to them any wine from any retailer in America." So, Tom is the hired gun for a political action group that aims to eliminate the three-tier system, which employs hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the US, in order for retailers to ship their wines across the country, no matter where they are located? What you might not realize is that it's not necessarily the consumer that Tom cares about - it's the retailers themselves. If the three-tier system wasn't in place, retailers would also be able to buy wines directly from the wineries, which would mean that they would get them at better pricing, which if anyone knows anything about direct shipment from wineries to retailers, does not mean that savings is passed on to the consumers. Profits soar for retailers, but the consumer isn't guaranteed savings.
You know what? It was tougher than I thought to write this objectively. It wasn't because I disagree with Tom or because I wanted to defend my current situation in the wine business. It's because Tom Wark, decided to compare me and my colleagues to Nazis. Tom's reprehensible categorization of an industry isn't about intelligent argument or the noble pursuit to represent the people, it's simply about politics and demonization. You crossed the line Tom and completely deligitimized your stake in the debate on how wine is distributed and sold in the US. With that, you can take your Nazi comparison and shove it.*
*This last bit of commentary and frustration is not representative of the views of David Bowler or David Bowler Wine, LLC - just those of the befuddled and annoyed John Kafarski, Project Director of The Wine Culture Project.
For instance, Tom claims that one of the lies purported by wholesalers is that, "the three tier system has resulted in the best selection of products of any marketplace in the world." He attributes the wide availability of wines within markets to the "ingenuity of the producers and the retailers acute awareness of consumer demand." It can be argued that small wineries wouldn't have a chance to survive outside their own markets if it weren't for the efforts of wholesalers. Wholesalers use their sales teams to introduce wines to emerging markets, spreading the mission and purpose of selected wines like wildfire to consumers who would othrewise have no idea that the winery existed. David Bowler agrees,
"We warehouse the wines, we deliver (in temperature controlled trucks, no less), and we provide forums for our customers such as tastings and supplier visits to promote these unheralded brands. We give our time at in-store tastings, we provide staff training for restaurants. And we donate a lot of wine to various charities throughout the year. At our own expense. And we are the ones providing samples to the critics for their judgment. These are things that the importers and winemakers, with no familiarity of the marketplace, could not and would not do on their own. We good, smaller wholesalers want to influence markets not just follow them. In our way, we provide an outlet for the small growers who otherwise would not find a market."
And if the public knew that the winery existed, would they be able to get their wines anytime they wanted? Not necessarily. Some winemakers have waiting lists to get on their waiting lists. And once you get access to the wines, not all of the cuvees are available and the selections that are available to the public wouldn't necessarily be cheaper than purchasing them through the three-tier system.
Wark also states that "wholesalers, in the most corrupt way, demands that retailers and restaurants buy a lot of wines they don't want in order to get wines they do want." It is true that many wholesalers offer tie-in or packages of wines, especially when one or more of the wines are highly sought after because of a rating or reputation of the winery. However, this practice is limited when it comes to fine wine distributors. And when small houses offer these wines in tie-ins, the "other" wines offered are also highly sought after cherries. And doesn't Tom think that wineries would do the same thing if they were able to sell their wines directly to everyone in the country? For instance, if Winery A had Cuvee X that received a 99 point rating from a major publication and the winery offered Cuvee X to the clamoring consumer and Cuvee X flies out of the winery in a matter of days and Winery A was left with stockpiles of the their other non-scored wines, don't you think Winery A would eventually start tying in other selections with Cuvee X?
Wholesalers don't cherry pick, they promise to sell the other wines that Winery A has to offer without necessarily forcing the public to purchase them with Cuvee X. Instead, wholesalers often sit on this inventory, paying rent and sacrificing inventory budgets in order to sell a wine that the public doesn't necessarily want. That is, of course, until the sales team decides to stand behind the wine and show retailers and their customers how great the wine is - not only because of the juice itself, but selling the reputation and family story behind the winery. After a few thousand cases of the wine has been sold throughout the market, eyes are opened, wine is sold and both the winemaker and pubic are happy. To put it simply, the wholesaler is able to promote brands that would not be able to do it themselves. And would the retailer put feet on the street to spread the story behind the wine? Please.
Now let's talk about Tom Wark. After emailing and speaking with industry leaders over the past couple of days, many of them had no idea who he was and many of them declined to comment on the record because they didn't to want to give someone who compared them to Nazi's to receive any more attention than he already has. I almost agreed with them. So, who is Tom Wark? Tom, propietor of Wark Communications states on his site that his company, "works with clients to craft a message, identify the appropriate audience, then deliver that message in a creative and effective manner." By howling at the moon and labeling an entire industry as Nazi propogandists? Tom is also the Executive Director of the SWRA - The Specialty Wine Retailers Association. Their goal is to allow wine retailers to ship anywhere in the country. So, Tom rants and raves about how wholesalers monopolize wine markets, but his interest isn't necessarily about the wines themselves, it's about WHO can sell them. According to their site, "the SWRA stands for a true national wine market in which consumers and retailers can transact business in an appropriately regulated milieu. This means that any adult consumer in any state should be allowed to legally purchase and have shipped to them any wine from any retailer in America." So, Tom is the hired gun for a political action group that aims to eliminate the three-tier system, which employs hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the US, in order for retailers to ship their wines across the country, no matter where they are located? What you might not realize is that it's not necessarily the consumer that Tom cares about - it's the retailers themselves. If the three-tier system wasn't in place, retailers would also be able to buy wines directly from the wineries, which would mean that they would get them at better pricing, which if anyone knows anything about direct shipment from wineries to retailers, does not mean that savings is passed on to the consumers. Profits soar for retailers, but the consumer isn't guaranteed savings.
You know what? It was tougher than I thought to write this objectively. It wasn't because I disagree with Tom or because I wanted to defend my current situation in the wine business. It's because Tom Wark, decided to compare me and my colleagues to Nazis. Tom's reprehensible categorization of an industry isn't about intelligent argument or the noble pursuit to represent the people, it's simply about politics and demonization. You crossed the line Tom and completely deligitimized your stake in the debate on how wine is distributed and sold in the US. With that, you can take your Nazi comparison and shove it.*
*This last bit of commentary and frustration is not representative of the views of David Bowler or David Bowler Wine, LLC - just those of the befuddled and annoyed John Kafarski, Project Director of The Wine Culture Project.
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