I want to thank you John for coming to Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits at 3423 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington D.C. to do an " impromptu " but well-received tasting of your YELLOW TAIL " reserve " bottlings. It was a pleasure to meet you. I never thought I would, at least not in our store doing a tasting of your wines. Both you and your excellent U.S. rep ( I will have to find her card buried deep with so many others and give her the credit she rightly deserves ) proved me wrong and I am am grateful that you both did! It's a pretty straight story, really but with an outcome both welcome and unanticipated.
Everyone in the wine business is acutely aware of the success of your YELLOW TAIL John. People are jealous, people follow it minutely and people try and copy your success. Congratulations on it all. I realize that even though you have an eye-catching label that it is so much more than that that enabled you to get where you were then in 2005 ( I'm writing this today, Monday at 12:42 PM at home on October 27th, 2008 - just a little more than three years after your store visit ) and are still I believe today. You may have peaked by now and perhaps even lost a bit of ground but I am only guessing. Sales in our store have slowed some on your wines ; that much I know for sure.
But let me tell the story as I like to tell/share stories more than I do critical reviews and points and scores ( which I am happy to admit I know very little of. I have often tried the wines I sell, however, and can tell people what I believe about serving/ enjoying them with or without food ). One afternoon our local sales French rep/chef Jean Gagliolo came to make his weekly Wednesday service call. He had with him a young lady who's name escapes me now and I am sorry about that. I will have to make this right by finding her card and including her name later here.
Anyway, Jean introduces me to this young lady that manages the YELLOW TAIL portfolio sales I guess for the Eastern United States if not all the U.S.?!? You can correct me when you read this by leaving a comment. That would be helpful. Anyway, she thanked me for our business and we chatted. She may of asked me some questions, I am sure she did but what were they? It's too long ago. Anyway, I like to be honest and test the waters so to speak by playing the devil's advocate at times and at others just throwing comments " out there " to see what response they elicit.
I told her that we pretty much had to work with YELLOW TAIL because it was easier that telling people once every forth or fifth request for YELLOW TAIL that we did not carry it. At first it was quite maddening! What was this YELLOW TAIL that every fifth or sixth customer was asking for?!? Mike Martin and I did not know at first; we were initially stymied. We caught-on quickly, however, survival, that's what I call it.
I told this attentive, professional young lady that we had decided that because of this that YELLOW TAIL would be the one HUGE ( really the biggest of them all out there if one is to be both accurate and honest ) NAME-BRAND that we would stock. This meant that the Lindeman's, the ROSEMOUNT'S, the PENFOLD'S would all pretty much bite the dust at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 202-363-4265 , sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) - and they did and have pretty much ever since. We do have JACOB'S CREEK from time to time ( like now as I type away ).
I went on to explain to this young lady that we did not sell BIG BRANDS at the store : that I liked to " add to the equation and not duplicate it " : that I liked to " sell the 95% of the wines out there and available to me to buy that were not popular ". I quickly added that I did not know why they were not popular and worth selling? I said that I did not believe that because they were not the popular 5% that I should not sell them. The young lady listened patiently. I then said that we sold the actual wines themselves without the points, pomp and hype and reviews : that we sold the wines and the people ( owners and winemakers ) behind them - that we wanted to give our customers a more personal connection with the wines they were buying and drinking. I told her that many wine owners and winemakers came/come to our store and taste their wines with our customers here. I extended to her the same invitation that I do to everyone : we welcome any wine owner and winemaker to the store any time, with or without notice to come and taste Mike and me ( Tony ) and to come and taste with our customers as well at their convenience.
The young lady listened patiently and we had a cordial visit together and exchanged cards. I pretty much thought that that was the end of that : that I would never see anyone from the FAMOUS YELLOW TAIL, certainly not one of the three owners! Wow, even I after almost thirty years in the wine-business was both pleased, impressed and honored to be having one of the owners of YELLOW TAIL come to our store. This was big!
I had put the experience behind me to focus on what I assumed was much more of the " realistic " and the " attainable " for a small store like ours in Washington D.C. with a limited inventory ( though quite diverse world-wide ) and budget and thus buying-power.
I'm a natural promoter. I told a customer years ago that she could think of me as the " wine-enabler ". It's a phrase which stuck with Cathy and which she often reminded me of in the ensuing years that she lived in the Cleveland Park neighborhood and shopped at our store across the street from the UPTOWN movie house with one of the last BIG screens, and two blocks down from the Smithsonian National Zoo.
You can imagine my surprise when this young lady called me back months later and told me that owner John Casella of YELLOW TAIL would be able to come himself to our store and taste for about an hour-and-a-half on Tuesday, September 20th, 2005 - and would that be okay with us? Of course it would be okay, I was thrilled and accepted immediately. As we talked over the phone I learned that John would be coming from a luncheon with Washington Post wine writer Ben Giliberti and would have just that small bit of time to taste in the store before catching his next flight to Texas.
I told her that it was not the best time to get people to the store but that we would do our very best and we did just that. John arrived and I must say he was so gracious and down-to-earth ; just like most of us. He was not pretentious or difficult to speak to ; on the contrary, he was a delight to be around, he treated all our customers with his time, energy and focus ( signing many bottles for them as gifts ) and pouring his wines himself and speaking about them as well as the range of other wines that his family makes.
At this tasting with John we only poured the " reserve " bottlings of Shiraz, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. We did not pour the Merlot or the Cabernet Sauvignon for this short period of time. Some people actually had read the store email and had shown up ( taken time off from work ) and others just happened to be shopping in the store and lucky enough to have been there at the right time! I steered everyone towards John and it was a surprise and a treat for a number of them as they already enjoyed drinking YELLOW TAIL and were able to share that with John.
We had sample bottles of the " reserve " bottles in advance and a week before had tried the three and pretty much we all agreed that the Pinot Grigio was the star. It I believe surprised us all! Thanks John, it's excellent. The others were also fine but the Pinot Grigio for us really stood out as the clear value and addition to a store's portfolio because you rarely ever see Pinot Grigio from Australia and this one was quite fresh, lively, bright and tasty.
Somewhere in all of this I learned the full-story of John's current visit to the U.S. It was a visit to come and meet with the wine writers but none of the retailers. He was not scheduled to go up the street to Calvert Woodley or to a Wegman's or a Total Wines or a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Price Club, Target or any other small or big U.S. retailer : just us - small but serious and passionate about wines and service Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits! Oh yes, that sure was appealing and enriching to realize. It still sounds and feels good even three years after this visit of yours John.
I will ask my local reps both Tim and Lindsay to pour one or more of your wines soon at our store again : perhaps your new sparkling wine and one of the " reserve " bottlings? Weigh-in on this John with your opinion and let me know what you would like us to pour ? It would be great to get your opinion on this.
I think that I took some nice photos of this event and I will include them in this blog. I hope you like them and this story. You went out of your way to meet us and taste in our store and that is why your wines are still always there for our customers. Even though you are perhaps one of the biggest wine operations in the world you are like family to me because you took the effort to actually come and pour your wines at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits. Thanks again for that John.
This is what you wrote John when I asked you to write something before leaving to catch your flight :
" Tony, Great Day Great Customers - Will visit again at sometime. Regards from Australia Down Under ". John Casella [ yellow tail ]
For more information on YELLOW TAIL ( Semper Merum' Wines ) go to : John Casella , Managing Director, Wakley Road Yenda NSW 2681 Australia www.casellawines.com Tel : 02 6961 3000 Fax: 02 6961 3099.
Here are some of the pictures from this event including one with American Alice Fitz of the German Pfalz winery FITZ-RITTER that just happened to come by at the same time to taste me on her " new " german releases. Alice is originally from Boston, Massachusetts and we are always happy to have her in the store. She's in the picture with John and me. Enjoy.
Cheers John , and let's stay in touch. TONY
Cheers John , and let's stay in touch. TONY
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