EPISODE #10 WINERY FOUNDERS MOST OFTEN ARE NOT THE BRILLIANT BUSINESS FOLKS THEY LOOK TO BE

Episode #10 is about my thoughts on why most Founders of wineries or wine brands are not the brilliant or savvy business people they would like you to believe they are. No,  more often than not, their success, if they have any, is usually attributable to timing or causes outside of their control.

I use my experience with Brice Cutrer Jones, the Founder of Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards, as one example of why I formed this theory. I have said many times in the past that there were two people who were responsible, in my opinion, for the foundational success at Sonoma-Cutrer, and neither of their names is Brice Jones or Fred Reno.
Take a listen and see what you think. 

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Transcript

EPISODE #10 WINERY FOUNDERS MOST OFTEN ARE NOT THE BRILLIANT BUSINESS FOLKS THEY LOOK TO BE.

SPEAKER

Fred Reno  

One lesson I learned in my wine industry career was that the Founders behind most wineries and wine brands are not necessarily brilliant businesspeople. If they achieve success, often it's the result of timing and other factors outside of their control. My belief in this theory was only strengthened after working for Brice Cutrer Jones. Looking back on why Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards was successful during the 1980s and into the 90s is a story like many successes in the American business, one of timing. 

 I have often said there were two individuals responsible for the foundational success of Sonoma-Cutrer, and neither of their names is Brice Cutrer Jones, the founder, or Fred Reno. No. Their names were Robert Haas, the owner and Founder of Vineyard Brands, one of the most respected and established fine wine importers in the country at the time, and William “Bill” Bonetti, a winemaker with over 35 years’ experience when Brice recruited him.

Bill took the reins from the beginning, with the first vintage in 1981 at Sonoma-Cutrer, and led the company's winegrowing until his retirement in 1991. Interestingly, a note in California wine history was that Bill was the winemaker at Charles Krug Winery during the time of the feud between Robert Mondavi and his brother Peter, back in the mid-60s. What Robert Haas and Bill Bonetti brought to the party was crucial yet straightforward in the early days of Sonoma-Cutrer, sales and marketing efforts. For his part, Bill developed and implemented a number of innovative approaches that not only brought press and attention to Sonoma-Cutrer in its formative years, but also a methodology to produce the highest quality wines, specifically only Chardonnay. Although it doesn't necessarily seem unique today, back in the early 1980s, Sonoma-Cutrer was the only winery of any size in California to produce wine from a single varietal. That not only captured the attention of The Press, but also provided the framework for Sonoma-Cutrer to stay focused, keeping them from diverting their attention and helping maintain their purpose by remaining 100% clear on their objective, making it easy for the market to understand what they stood for. Robert Haas not only had a stellar reputation for the wines he imported, highlighted by some of the finest recognized top wine producers from the Burgundy region of France, but he also brought with him one of the best alignments of fine wine distributors in the country, giving Sonoma-Cutrer market access with the release of their 1981 wines in the spring of 1983. This timing played a big part, because at the same time, a growing movement throughout the country saw top chefs opening what were then coined California-style restaurants. To name a few. There was Chef Allen's in Miami, Florida. Bradley Ogden was a chef at the American Restaurant in Kansas City. Larry Forgione in Manhattan, with his American Place, and most prominently, in my opinion, was the opening of JAMS in Manhattan back in 1983.  A combination of the brilliant Melvin Master and his recruitment of Jonathan Waxman from Michaels in Los Angeles as his partner and Chef. Ultimately, the restaurateur par excellence, Michael McCarty himself, whose Michaels in LA was a must-visit, would open a Michaels in New York City. The reason this proliferation of California-style restaurants had the impact it did was that they needed to serve California wines to complement their food and validate the California theme. 

 Well, couple the California Restaurant movement with Chardonnay, which was rapidly becoming the white wine of the 1980s, favored by the American public. And guess what? Sonoma-Cutrer made only Chardonnay and produced it in sufficient quantities to allow Vineyard Brands to immediately penetrate these markets, giving Sonoma-Cutrer access that many other California wine producers did not have, except for a few like Robert Mondavi. Off to the Races, as they say.

 Sonoma-Cutrer had a brand plan that called for 75% of their wines to be sold into restaurants throughout the country, while Vineyard Brands provided them with access to some of the fine wine distributors in the country; adherence to that percentage was not enforced as required. Enter Fred Reno in the spring of 1988, after Vineyard Brand's five-year sales and marketing contract representing Sonoma-Cutrer expired.  I was the National Vice President of sales for William Hill winery from 1984 until that spring in 1988, and had been instrumental in building William Hill winery into a well-regarded and recognized Napa Valley, California Cabernet Sauvignon producer as I focused on selling wine to the top restaurants and hotels in the country. I immediately began to enforce the rigors of this brand plan, which called for 75% of wine sales to be directed to the on-premise segment of the market, and would eventually increase that to over 90% by the time I left in February of 1995 to take the position as President and CEO of Henry Wine Group. 

 The result of my team’s efforts to manage our distributors’ adherence to the brand plan, which called for sales to restaurants and top hotels, was that Sonoma-Cutrer was recognized as the number one most requested Chardonnay in the Wine and Spirits magazine Restaurant poll, first published in 1991. After Sonoma-Cutrer was sold to Brown Forman in 1998, I always liked to say they lived off my fumes for over 20 more years before falling back to number two in the W & S poll in 2018. Quite a run for Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards. In retrospect, as I said, Timing can be everything in the world of wine and business.