Last night the Alysian Winery visited us at the Stanford Wine Society and I experienced their visit with a different perspective. Yes, we also tried excellent wines, but now I could put Woody Hambrecht's (the winemaker) comments into a different perspective recognizing concepts we discussed in class.
Here are a few of my thoughts:
Biodynamic vs. technology: Woody explained that most of the years they would go organic and partially applying biodynamic practices (e.g. cutting the sprouts with new moon coming up if I understood him correctly). They have been certified organic, but it was fairly costly and not worth the label as there is no premium for organic grapes - as we discussed in class. He was fairly straightforward about grape growing as an art combined with science. However, he strongly relies on his intuition when harvesting the grapes not using specific technology. So more on Ivo's than Thibaut's side.
Branding: Woody further explained they sold one of their vineyards but kept the rights to the trademark as the future owner did not want to purchase this. This instance reinforces my understanding of the value of the brand itself - besides the physical vineyard. As another point of differentiation Alysian's wine labels are very different: They feature art work from a local designer and minimal information - totally contrasting the traditional French and Italian labels.
Grape growing vs. purchasing: Alysian both grows its own grapes and purchases grapes from vineyards from Oregon to the Russian River. For Woody it is really important to know the grape grower well (direct / indirectly) to understand the quality of the grapes to be delivered at the harvest. There is limited control from a winemaker's perspective so trust is key to developing great supplier partnerships.
Being unique: As a young winemaker Woody wants to set himself apart by being unique and different to other small wineries. We had the chance to try Alysian Vermouth. Yes, correct, Vermouth. And to my surprise I really liked it! It has been very popular according to Woody and I can definitely join the circle of recommenders. It is not for the light-hearted just as a warning ahead. But this shows me how there is room for differentiation - not necessarily in the wine itself but in other additional offerings.
http://www.alysianwines.com/
http://www.alysianvermouth.com/
Hanna-
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. What is most interesting to me is your piece around branding. I can't imagine purchasing a vineyard, with a well-respected brand, and not being interested in retaining the trademark rights. I suppose perhaps the owner didn't want to pay the premium? Did he mention the motivations behind this. The reason I find it intriguing is that we have had so many speakers discuss the importance, and difficulty, of brand-building. It seems risky to me to try and build a brand from scratch vs. purchasing a well-respected one.