Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 8:12 PM
Subject: Wine at Orangewood Consulting - 25
To our Wine Aficionados,
After our “diary” newsletter (WOC-24) we received more
feedback than ever before. Quite a few of you liked the chatty and
speculative content. On the other hand I also received feedback from a
busy mom (that would be you Debby) that a “box score” summary would be helpful.
Given those inputs I will try to re-adjust the style to include a summary at
the beginning and some more rambling content (“Oh no!” says Laurie) for those
who want it. Here we go…
Summary (Box Score)
Sales Associate starts
Noceto Frivolo on special
AJ’s orders RustRidge and Domaine
Coteau
100th shipment made
Website now available http://www.orangewoodconsulting.com/wine.html
Content
Outline for the remainder of this
newsletter
Sales Associate
Noceto Frivolo on Special
Prescott Sales Efforts
AJ’s orders RustRidge and Domaine
Coteau
100th Shipment Made
Orangewood Consulting website
Feedback
Sales Associate
As I mentioned in the last
newsletter, we have been entertaining the idea of having someone else help sell
our wine. We found a wine enthusiast and we have signed an agreement with
his company to have him help us. Dick Kirkpatrick visited Vino Noceto a
few months ago and was so enamored with the Sangiovese, he suggested to his
good friend Geno that he should sell the wine at his Nello’s restaurant.
Geno agreed and so the Vino Noceto Sangiovese is now available there.
Dick enjoys drinking wine and visiting wineries. He also enjoys getting
to know the staff at restaurants and he thinks he can enjoy selling wine to
them. I think so, too, and I will enjoy having him scouting out the
Southeast Valley for us. I asked Dick for a bio to put into this
newsletter. Here is what I jotted down:
Born on the White Mountain Fort
Apache Indian Reservation…Professor of Contemporary Southwest Literature,
Director of Southwest Studies Program…Football coach…Lumber Mill
worker…Furniture Loader…Inveterate River Runner…and Wine Aficionado.
Noceto Frivolo on Special
We have generally been very
careful to purchase wines that will improve with age. An exception is the
Vino Noceto Frivolo that can lose its frizzante after a year or so. In
addition, it is a great summer wine. With the summer drawing to a close,
it’s time to review inventory. About three months ago we were selling a
lot of this wine, so we ordered a bunch. Then consumption dropped,
leaving us with more cases of this than we would like. As a result, we
are offering the wine at a discount to those outlets that currently carry
it. Epicurean Wine Service is running a special, AJ’s on Central has
bought some for use in a future special, and Nello’s in Tempe has added it to
their stock.
AJ’s orders RustRidge and Domaine Coteau
Wendy, at AJ’s, has been a staunch
supporter of the Noceto wines since we have been distributing them. She
finally stopped by to try some of the newer additions to the portfolio.
Specifically, she had not tasted RustRidge, Marinda Park or Domaine
Coteau. After several weeks of trying to find time, she stopped by for a
low key tasting event this week – small hunks o’ cheese, one loaf o’
bread. She enjoyed the wines and selected the RustRidge Zinfandel and
Domaine Coteau Pinot Noir to add to her stock. She also hopes to find room
for the Il Poggiolino at an upcoming Italian wine event.
Prescott Sales Efforts
The plan is to visit Prescott
every fortnight. With one outlet so far, (Vine to Wine Cellar) we really
need some other accounts to make the trip worthwhile. I make an
appointment to see a restaurant owner before I go. One week I had an
appointment at The Hassayampa Inn. When I got there Lloyd begged off
because things had got busy – fair enough. Since then he has not returned
my phone calls to make another appointment. Moving right along.
Last week I had an appointment with Chuck at The Rose. When I got there,
Linda told me he was in Reno. No problem, I’ll reschedule. I
stopped by Murphy’s - their bar manager is usually there, but not today.
Net result, I hung out with Judy at the Vine to Wine Cellar and helped label a
couple of cases of wine and talked about the wine trade. A feedback email
(thank you Robert) suggested I should swing by the Jerome Grand Hotel on my
Prescott visits. There is a restaurant there – The Asylum – that has a
good reputation. Judy warned me that the restaurant manager’s wife is a
wine distributor, so I won’t be heading in that direction.
100th Shipment Made
Each time we deliver wine and
receive money, the event has to be recorded with an invoice. We started
with invoice 1001 for 2 bottles of Noceto Sangiovese we sold to the Territorial
Bar and Grill. That was in July 2001. Since then we have made over
100 shipments – marked by the writing of invoice #1100. This may not sound
exciting to you, but when I was wondering who would get invoice #1002, the
thought of #1100 was an impossible dream.
Orangewood Consulting website
We have long had a website
describing our software consulting services, but Laurie took it upon herself to
add the wine business. It’s primarily for your reference. It has a
list of the wineries and wines we represent, the places you can buy it and the
beginning of an archive of these newsletters – you need to be pretty bored to
climb through the previous 24 of them. Many of the Wineries and outlets
have links to their own sites – try clicking on the names. The website
is a work in progress (aren’t they all?). Laurie will be enhancing it as
the mood takes her.
Feedback
We really appreciated the response
to the last newsletter, emailing into a vacuum is tough. In addition to
Robert’s Jerome suggestion, Steve suggested we check out an “Italian restaurant
at Kierland Commons”. Kierland Commons is a whole area we have not yet
visited; it wasn’t even there a year ago. This kind of feedback is
particularly helpful. (Thank you Steve). Of course we also appreciate
encouragement! Finally, Robert also told us that the “ask Dino for the
Noceto Sangiovese” at Our Gang worked for him. It can work for you too!
Cin-cin, alla salute!
Richard and Laurie
Richard (newsletter writer) and Laurie Corles (editor)
Orangewood Consulting LLC
602.906.9566 or 602.410.3774