I first met Brad last year when he and his wife were enjoying lunch at our winery. Upon learning that Brad had a background in the wine trade, I extended an invitation to show him around and share some of our wines. Since then, Ken and I have had several opportunities to spend time with Brad, sharing our mutual passion for wine. Brad has even become a member of our wine club and has attended one of our wine education experiences. With his wealth of knowledge about wine, we thought you might enjoy meeting him, too. Join us on Monday, May 6th, for our Proudly Contrarian Monday Night Live show to meet Brad and join in the conversation.
Brad Chase is the founder of Highland Wine Merchants LLC, a former wine/spirits importer and brokerage in the state of New Hampshire. The company’s portfolio included wines from Argentina, France, Italy, Lebanon, and Spain as well as California, New York, and Washington in the United States. Before entering the wine trade, Brad was an international marketing and sales professional during which time he had the opportunity to taste wine in a number of the world’s leading wine producing areas.”
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again welcome everybody we have a few
people on because of our little hiccup
we might take a few minutes for
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come on but that’s okay Matt’s here uh I
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well Gary’s here with us cheers Gary um
I we’re here today with uh with Brad
Chase and uh Brad and and I met about I
don’t know that probably nine months ago
October what’s that October okay um
that’s right it was connected to a
special event for you so for anniversary
yes so uh so it just happened that Brad
was traveling through New Hampshire and
had heard good things about hermit woods
and uh and and folks had suggested he
might want to come up and uh and try
some of our wines which he made the
choice to do and it just so happened on
the day that he chose to visit us I was
here in The Tasting Room and got a
chance to meet Brad and learn a little
bit about uh Brad’s background and
learned that Brad was in the wine
industry as well and a part of the
industry that has always intrigued me
and so we had a lot to talk about we had
a lot in common and we shared wines for
a few hours that day or an hour or so
that afternoon and since then Brad’s
joined our club and participated in some
of our wine wine events here recently
the petite blue vertical tasting which
were very tasty thank you and that’s
actually the the winning wine from that
event is the wine that we’re we decided
to to drink today this is the you want
to tell us about that Ken yeah this is
the 2017 vintage of petite blue reserve
and when we did the vertical tasting we
we sampled some older wines uh versions
of petite blue and blue and and um
talked about different approaches to
getting as much as we could out of the
berries and crafting the wines and then
17 was the oldest official petite blue
Reserve under that label and we we had a
17 an 18 a 19 20 21 and a 21 stoneface
barel age vintage of peti blue Reserve
with a group of 10 or 15 people down in
the cellar so nice afternoon that was a
fun event good that worked out really
well and everybody seemed to really like
this 17 vintage so I thought I’d reduce
our library buy one more bottle
everybody wants you to go back in time
and make more so they can buy it now
yeah
it’s one of those things right it’s like
a like a musical event or whatever it
happens once you know brokering wines
it’s there’s certain vintages certain
things that everything comes together
and you get a unique product and doesn’t
always happen again right so so let’s
let’s get into the conversation so as I
said Brad was in the wine industry for a
number of how many years did you did you
run your
business seven I guess s something what
was the name of it again Highland wine
Merchants Highland wine merchants and
you brought wines essentially from
around the world to customers here in
New Hampshire that’s correct the
Hampshire liquor store and did you did
you just go through the liquor store I
think no actually most of my business
was not through the liquor store okay so
most of it was working with the
independent shops and uh with with
restaurants and um you know some wines
through the liquor store but but mostly
the taste wines and pick great wines and
bring those to chefs and restaurants and
well I decided I decide almost every
morning I’m going to go taste great
wines
but before we get into how you made that
final decision and decided to open up
your own company let’s go back a little
further what what brought you to that
place so you know where where where did
you grow up where are you where you I I
spend most of my life in New Hampshire
okay um different parts of the state
mostly we spent a lot of time in the Sea
Coast and some in the South Central and
um some more in the in the mid part of
the state at different points of My Life
um and the you know as I was growing up
our family was were not particularly big
wine drinkers um you know we would have
some bubbles on the holidays and you
know like a lot of families yeah right
like a lot of families well of course I
I find that you know for a lot of people
my age my parents generation was often
time mixed drinks drinkers cocktail
drinkers cocktails and um you know my my
my father loved in Manhattan for example
it was and and interestingly enough it’s
skipped a generation and my daughter is
a bourbon feied but um you and so I you
know when I was in college I drank beer
I drank cocktails I drank wine I drank a
little bit of everything and the first
job I had out of school is I actually
had to go to Germany for a month to do a
system installation I was a software
engineer at the time okay and um and we
were you know perhaps 20 minutes from
the mosle river valley and so on my days
off I would I mean I did other things
but I spent many of my days off going to
wineries on the mosa River Valley and
trying the wines because Rings were some
of the wines I liked and I liked a lot
of wines in Germany I like so many wines
I had to buy another suitcase to bring
them
home and and and that’s kind of what
started this and then just as as life
went on I had opportunities to visit
different wine producing regions both in
the US and and intern Al and um
traveling as a as a guest or a customer
traveling well traveling for business so
for your but your software engineer
business software engineer and then
later on marketing and sales and you
know I worked I worked in several
different Industries um but not as a
wine but not as a wine right no no so
but you know if you’ve done business
travel you know if if you can’t find a
way to have fun at it it’s going to kill
you yeah so one of the ways I had fun at
it was when there’s opportunity to go
taste wine I’d go taste wine and uh I so
I got to taste lots of different wines
in lots of different places and just
kind of expand my palette and try
different stuff and you know build up
kind of a you know fundamental knowledge
of wine from different
regions and then several years ago just
you know a little before I started the
business actually but the the big
stepping stone was I was at a point with
my other careers where it was a good
time to make a change and as you’ve
experienced when when I’m in a tasting I
ask a lot of questions I get into a
discussion about the wine and you know
how was this made and you know what’s
the aging and I me just lots and lots of
questions and um and there was a very
nice wine shop in our town that that had
tastings quite frequently and I and they
had good tastings and good wines and I
used to go down there and I would do the
same thing to all the people showing up
there but the ones that would be best
would be either the owners of the you
know the import owner import business
owners or the wine makers and things
like that because then I could really
Grill them about the same things you
want to grill me about is you know how
did you why did you do this how did you
do that you know where is this from my
and um there was one uh importer that I
saw fairly regularly over a period of a
few months and you know one day we’re
just having this conversation as I’m
we’re actually talking about Ao no and
he
goes would you like to help me sell
mying
manager and I said I that was a good
time to make a change I said sure I’ll
try that and and and off we went so you
actually started with another working
for somebody else right you know working
and we what happened is the The
Brokerage business grew out of that
because to make the better money in New
Hampshire you need to have your own you
know you need to have your own licenses
so you know to so you don’t have to pay
fractions to other people for doing for
doing the work um and things just kind
of took out from there
before this happened did you ever have
any professional training or pursue any
education in
wine wine knowledge or or wine tasting
or take the PSAL or master master taster
kind of program no I just I I learned
the wine the way most people do I just
drank a lot of it yeah well that’s what
I tell people the best way is to
practice and what there’s the worst
things to practice at nobody’s born
knowing anything about wine you have to
learn it so yeah oh you just try it you
find what you like it’s interesting cuz
what you’re sharing is a very similar
path that I went through I I lived in
California for 11 years and I my wife
and I really enjoyed whenever we
traveled seeking out uh interesting
places to visit on the wine side finding
Wineries and and of course there was an
abundance of them in California
something like four or five thousand of
them you got a few choices yeah so uh so
I had visited hundreds of wineries I
never thought I’d be in the industry but
I loved learning about it I love digging
in on the wines and talking about them
and and learning about them so uh so
it’s a similar path I never would have
expected when I moved from California to
New Hampshire that I would have been
getting into the one business most
people wouldn’t exactly so so uh so
you’re you you took a job as a a wine
merchant working with another importer
and then gradually got your licenses and
began doing your own importing wi so the
first step is is get the the licenses to
to do business in New Hampshire and we
won’t get into all the details but there
are basically two you need to be able to
deal with the state and handle Wines in
New Hampshire and and we got those and
then and I did that in conjunction with
with this
importer um though you need to be a
state resident to get one of them so
anyway so that was we did that and then
um as I started to Branch out he was
focused on Italian
wines and I wanted to Branch out to
offer a wider range of wines
and so um you know I started looking for
for other opportunities you know other
chances to bring in wines working with
other importers and eventually I had the
opportunity I found some wines that
nobody imported and I really wanted to
bring in so that was when I then got my
federal import permit and went through
all of that so I could bring those Wines
in and one thing just led to another so
how much of that early stage was
involving you actually going out and
visiting wineries or were you just
having to make connections and and uh
and bring in to to to sample here so
actually the most of the first well like
I had I had the starter set of Italian
wines that that the Importer I worked
with carried so you know had a nice
selection of wines um it was a good
place to start M um and then most of the
early selections I found I I I found in
two places one was going to the Boston
Wine Expo which is no longer exists
unfortunately but it was a unless
they’ve started it back up I think they
did did they start start it back up we
got uh we got notice this year to attend
the Boston then then that’s that’s it’s
back and going that’s new uh and that’s
nice it was it was actually a great
venue um and then um as I got into it
and I got invited to a an event it’s
basically speed dating for for the wind
industry um that’s exactly what it is
you go out to this event it’s a it’s a
hosted event they cover some of your
expenses for getting there not all of
them but chunk of them and you spend
three days um in a hotel with a whole
bunch of of either importers or Wineries
and a whole bunch of other um you know
people in the industry and you you you
get these 30 minute sessions you book
all day uh you book you know probably 10
or 15 a day wow there are some
educational sessions some some
presentations there are there’s a lunch
there’s a dinner um where was this this
this one was in
Chicago and um wine Center but but you
know that’s well but it’s geographically
it’s in the center of the country easy
for a lot of people to get to so um it
was a great event but I tasted 220 Wines
in three days something like that wow um
but out of that I found a lot of wines
that I ended up bringing in
um and L most of those I I actually
found other importers for was Boston
Wine Expo which is the thing that led to
me getting the import license because I
tasted some wines down there and I just
like these are great how do I get them
that’s interesting because you you and
Chuck before we even opened the winery
you guys went to the Boston Wine Expo
and I remember you came back really
abused by what you learned from that now
did you go to the the trade hours or to
the public hours were you there with uh
we we got in early some we’re like an
hour early was it with Gus did youut you
were connected with I think Gus got you
in got Chuck in and I tagged along
because Gus has an import company I
think I shared with you and uh and we
we’ve known Gus for years maybe that’s
where where it was and Kevin Ry was
giving a
little presentation on how to come up
and taste different wines and different
things and it was a good it was a good
event yes it was a great event but I
loved going trade hours which sorry
everybody but the trade hours was was
like three hours when it’s not crowded
and right that was in the
beginning it’s like 10 to one and then
they open the doors to everybody at one
and um we could go to a couple of the
key ones that everybody’s going to swamp
and we got to go there and Sample so you
were there during trade hours too yeah
we must have been and there also there
are there are you know some bottles that
they’ve got a very limited supply of
that you’ll get either during the trade
hours or if you get there early during
the public hours they they’ll they’ll
they’ll share it but you know they’re
only going to open you know one or two
of these $1 bottles you know after that
it’s you know sorry you’re getting the
the $30 bottle which is still very nice
because then the the drink thust is
going on well and that and that is is
unfortunately what it does turn into for
to some extent but um but yeah I found a
lot of really good wines there I I found
an importer of French and Lebanese wines
there that I did a lot of business with
over the years she actually chose very
good wines and um
then you just find and then later on I
started going to Wineries and and hey
these are pretty good can I get these in
New Hampshire so so that’s interesting
so you work with importers of import so
you’re there are who bring in wines
nationally that you then may have
relationships with to find wine so that
you don’t necessarily have to go to
Italy or have to go to to France um you
just have to make good connections with
an importer who’s bringing a good volume
of those wines into to the country and
they might be anywhere in the US and you
know and the fact of matter is is for a
small business it’s it’s much easier to
do it that way sure because it’s costly
to travel the
world the shipping you know you know
ignoring what happened a couple years
ago but uh with shipping costs but even
then it’s it’s much more costeffective
to be able to fill a container than to
than to just ship one pallet you can
just ship one pallet sure um and you can
still do it and make money at it but um
but yeah so most of the the big
importers they they fill containers and
bring them over and they deal with all
the headaches and there are lots of
headaches with with doing the import
stuff um that you didn’t have to deal
with because most of but they take their
cut they take their cut exactly so you
know you have to remember when when when
before the winery gets to somebody out
there drinking the
wine the winery has to make money the
shipping company has long isn’t it it’s
it’s just there are layers and layers
and layers and people wonder they go to
Italy or or they go to France and they
and they you know they go down and they
get this six fabulous bottle of wine for
five six maybe even less sometimes if
they’re just getting it you know at the
winery and and you know and they said
well why can’t I get this or or they
find it at home and they go why is this
$30 and that’s because there’s this
whole line of people between where you
got it and where you’re getting it here
that have to make a
and that’s what happened when we went to
South Africa and had just incredible
shanon Blanc and other wines and very
very inexpensive and here in the states
and some of the people we spoke to did
have a distribution to the States to
Europe and of course the prices would go
way way way way up because of all the
steps along the way to move it all the
way from South Africa up to Europe or to
the west coast of the United States it
was just well it’s why we we learned
that so few South African wines we were
just amazed at how many wineries were
producing amazing wine in South Africa
and very few of them were ever and I’m
amazed at how little of it actually
makes
here I used I used to not care for South
African wines very much and I still
don’t for what we can get in this
country as a general Ro um but then I
was had opportunity actually in Europe
to try some and I’m like these are
pretty good why don’t these get over to
the US
right there’s a relation and we learned
a little bit about that cuz we connected
with some wine makers there who talked a
lot about that and all the wine makers
we talk to we’d say you know are you in
the US no we we deal with Europe that’s
that’s their market and of course the
Europeans have been dominating South
Africa for hundreds of years so in
various ways some more positive than
others but um there’s a longstanding
relationship between the Europeans and
the and the Dutch and the French and the
you know it’s we we remember when we
were there we did this uh oh the history
the history piece where they there was a
there was a liveaction video that show
the the various countries that had had
uh uh Denmark ran it for a while now
Belgium’s running parts of Africa over
the years it is fascinating Spain has
over and it wasn’t until like 50 years
ago that that Africa started to become
Africa and actually manag true by Africa
yeah so so yeah a lot lot of the lot of
the great wines were going to Europe
because we were really impressed oh it
was it was great it was incredible when
when
you bring these Wines in everything has
to go through our state liquor store
right in New Hampshire yes in New
Hampshire yeah so everything comes
through there and then well they it has
to go through the hands of the Liquor
Commission so it doesn’t have to go
through the store okay but it has
doesn’t have to go to their warehouse
has all go through the warehous it has
to go through the warehouse one one of
their two warehouses and and um yes
everything so so you know the way it
works in New Hampshire is that
um you sell the wine to the state and
then if you have a business like mine
where you’re selling to the independent
wine shops or the restaurants you go out
and sell the wine for the state because
the the the the wine shops and the
restaurants have to buy it out of the
state Warehouse state liquor store or or
from the liquor store or from the
warehouse if they buy buy the case they
they can order it case fulls directly
from actually you can even order partial
cases for some things directly from the
warehouse um but then they’re
responsible for the cost of transporting
it from the warehouse to to their
business okay uh and what many of the uh
the restaurants do for example is they
once a week place the order and then
somebody drives up fills up the back of
an SUV and that’s that’s all their
alcohol for the week their wines their
spirits everything into the back of the
SUV and they take it down to the
restaurant straight out of the warehouse
straight out of the warehouse but then
they but they get a better discount
right or they get you know they get some
advant is doing that the Liquor
Commission doesn’t have to send that
wine all over the state before they so
there’s actually a bigger Advantage for
wine than it is for for spirits but um
but again some some of the some of the
places do that some of the places just
go down and buy the bottles straight out
of the the
the stores right yeah a lot of places do
I’ve I’ve wit local restaurants many
times filling their carts up yeah with
with wine for the weekend right well you
know if if if you’re going to be if if
you’re going to go through a lot of wine
it may make sense to go to the warehouse
but if you’re only going to go through
you know half a dozen bottles of of each
selection no it doesn’t make sense it it
makes sense to go down you because then
you don’t have to keep the inventory you
don’t you you actually you know you
don’t have to deal with the
transportation you just go get it and
you know actually the state has a thing
where you can go to your local store and
Order cases out of the warehouse and you
won’t get they won’t get their
restaurant discount but they won’t pay
shipping and then it’ll just come on the
next truck that goes to that that in
that store right they’ll just they pay
the fullest price but it shows up and if
the volume is small enough it makes good
sense for them to do that so so I’ve
always been curious on the restaurant
side and maybe you know the answer to
this maybe you don’t but um it seems
like there are some restaurants that
have some pretty specialized wine lists
and if you enjoy the wines from that
list you don’t necessarily get to buy
them from the state stores they’re not
always available or at least that’s the
impression I get but they had to have
come through this they they come through
they come through the warehouse they
come through the warehouse but doesn’t
mean they ended up in the store doesn’t
mean they in the store so there’s there
is a difference well for ex not all your
wines are available in the state stores
right correct well that’s true for for
like all the wines is uh if you want to
get a product it’s probably easier for
you because you’re an instate producer
and they have uh some easier rules on
some of this stuff but if you want to
get a wine into the state stores you
have to go through a secondary approval
process you have to go through one
registration process to be able to have
it in the state at all but then once you
have that then you can sell it out you
know to people through the state you
know out of the warehouse um but to get
it in the state store there’s a because
the state stores are only so big even
though some of them are very big but
there’s way more wine than would fit
into any one state store right and so
you know you have to go through a
different process to get the wines into
the stores and and the same is true with
the spirits you have to if you want to
get spirits in the state stores you have
to go through actually for Spirits you
have to go through a test Market to do
it so it’s theoretically and maybe
there’s companies that do this I don’t
know but theoretically you could create
a comp a wine import company that
imported
wines that never ended up in the
consumer’s hands and via the standard
liquor store
system because you sold them you brought
them into the state and sold them
directly to restaurants or specialty
wine shops so that those wine shops and
restaurants can have something unique
that is not available to the regular or
general public and and that’s exactly
what happens and in fact most of the
independent wine shops avoid the wines
that are in the state stores of course
right cuz cuz they can’t compete with
the price they can’t compete with the
price right and and we don’t need to go
into all the detail why that’s true well
it’s obvious why it’s true right I mean
there’s a whole another like you said
all these people that have to get paid
but so so you know so the advantage is
you go in you go to the independent shop
you’re more likely to be get free
tastings um they will taste through over
time they will taste through their
entire selection whereas the tastings
that get scheduled in the St stores are
those are scheduled by the Brokers so
it’s whatever product they want to sell
that month not the product that the
store wants to sell or or or that you
know people have necessarily expressed
an interest in it’s whatever product the
broker wants to sell um what’s this fine
it’s still still a tasting but at the
independent shops you know they’re more
likely as they bring in new products
they will taste through them and you get
opportunity to to try some ones that you
probably wouldn’t get a chance to try
any other way you’re you’re not going to
get to try them in the State Stores um
you might get to try them you know in a
restaurant you might find them but even
then not that many restaurants are going
to serve the better on Lines by the
glass there are a handful of restaurants
that do but you know the economics of it
are prohibitive most people aren’t
willing to pay enough for a glass of
wine to to be able to open a $50 bottle
wine and P by the glass right it’s just
the way it works so so your company what
percentage of wines did you move through
the standard uh liquor store system and
what percentage did you bring in as
specialty items that you dealt directly
with restaurants or wine shops it was
probably
75 to 80% was specialty shops and
restaurants really yeah with the
majority there I had just a small amount
then I had a handful it depends on
whether you’re going to talk bottle
volume or dollar volume to a little bit
and I have to go look at the computer
yeah I know but but but but the vast
majority was not through the state
stores I had um some products that got
very successful in the state stores and
and did quite well um but mostly
no and that was choice you made it’s
partly a choice I made it’s partly
because I’m not dealing with the the you
know the big names you know pick pick
any any wine that that everybody knows a
national brand those I’m not handling
those I’m I was a little guy yeah so
there are different companies bigger
companies that handle you know these
these much better known wines um I was
you know my whole I was going after
wines that I thought were good wines at
a good price you know but but not
necessarily well known in fact most of
my producers if any of the cases I work
directly with the wineries I worked with
a lot of wineries that they only produce
5,000 cases a year so this is I’m glad
you brought that up because I talk about
this we we do tours here all the time
and I and I talk about the fact that
that 90 95% of all the wineries in the
world produce less than 5,000 cases
that’s sort of the magic number for
craft wine production and if you travel
the world and visit wineries that’s what
you’re going to find with most of them
they’re they’re making less than than
that and and of course those wines
aren’t aren’t going to be found very far
from home because of the the the cost to
to transport them and the cost to make
them at that scale yeah there’s no
economy of scale so they’re not
Distributing wines all over the place I
mean you know they they can and you know
if they’re good enough they get around
if they’re but even then just if the wi
only makes 5,000 cases you’re going to
be lucky 500 show up in the US right
right that’s so 500 cases over 50 states
that’s 10 cases per state you know you
do the math you’re just not going to
find those wines that’s right and that’s
so what percentage of wines did you
bring into the market that represented
that category smaller than 5,000 case
craft wineries
um I know Pro that
small probably about 25% of my business
that’s still a big number yeah I mean
there there were I found a handful of of
different wineries I found them
different ways um you know yeah they
were they were small most of the
international ones would be bigger
though even though a lot of those were
not huge I mean there were you know I
had products from some wine producers
that were very big wine producers sure
um but they uh you know I would say I
had a lot of the international ones were
you know tens of thousands of cases so
probably you know somewhere between 20
and 60,000 cases you know a nice size
oper not huge you know not not hundreds
of thousands by any means um but and
then some that were bigger but in in the
US I I actually worked with a a lot of
wineries that were smaller and um you
know there was a Washington wi I worked
with that they were pretty big they
probably but in my scale where they they
probably made 30,000 cases of wine a
year but there were Winer R really 5,000
sometimes less it’s an it’s an area
that’s been interesting to me because
we’ve always talked about we we have
some unique wines here that aren’t
available anywhere else in the world and
we’ve always thought wouldn’t it be
great if we could find a relationship
with somebody who cared about uh
bringing wines that are different or
wines that are unique into their
restaurant in New York or San Francisco
or or one of the the bigger markets in a
I always say pin prick fashion so how
would we
how would we connect with a wholesaler
who would be okay with dealing with 10
or 20 cases of of hermit Woods wine to
bring to the city and Boston or New York
or whatever City it might be um and I
know that this goes on we have a
relationship you know Gideon beanock has
a winery he makes 800 cases of wine a
year he’s in the Sierra Nevada mountains
um he’s been making wine for 50 years
he’s got some Fame he’s well known he
was connected with a much larger Ren
Winery which was a a pretty famous
Winery for years in in that area he was
the the head wine maker but he broke off
and and did his own thing and his wines
are available in restaurants in New York
and San Francisco in very small
quantities obviously and I have no idea
how that works but I’m I’m impressed by
his his wines they’re beautiful and and
people pay top dollar for them yeah but
in in New Hampshire if if a restaurant
wants to carry specific wineries
lines it is now possible that they can
order a case or two direct from the
winery really and and pay for the
shipping they pay for the but but yeah
you can there’s it’s possible to do it
um without a distributor in between
right
because yes it is possible to do it wow
so what about the other way is it
possible for it’s going to depend on the
state every State’s do yeah that that’s
one of the challenges every state is
different every state is different it is
a major challenge California is probably
the easy
ones but um you know it’s possible to do
and even um you know so in in places
that are big wine markets so
California uh Washington DC uh New York
Florida you can probably find a
distributor in some of those places
there’ll be specialty Distributors that
would be willing to handle wines at a
pallet at a time so that’s typically 56
cases
um so you know they could if they if it
was a wine was good enough remarkable
enough they they they they could just
ship a single pallet in yeah you can
actually do less than a pallet if it’s
if the wine is is pricey enough so
there’s a margin in there you can do
less than a single pallet I mean you
know some of mine more expensive lines I
ended up shipping partial pallets
because I could afford to do it right
that’s interesting well is it that you
know it’s a it’s a nut I want to crack
someday here I want to figure out how to
how to get there and and it’s not it’s
not majorly high on the priority list
there’s so many other things we’re
working on but but it would be you know
people come in from around the world and
try our wine and and are amazed by
what’s happening here there’s something
very different going on here that that’s
not going on any El the path between
here and there for you is to ask those
people probably the easy way is to ask
them what restaurant near your house
would feature these lines right and then
when you have that answer then you go go
to that restaurant and say where do you
get your mes and try and find the
relationship with their distri right
because because so even you know in New
Hampshire it’s a little bit of a special
case because because being in control
state in some of all the the
relationships there but but the same is
actually true in most states that there
are big Distributors that handle
National products the big brand names
the ones you all know and you see in the
big endcaps at the at the stores sure um
but there are often times Distributors
who specialize in in one Niche or
another whether it’s um you know organic
wines or wines from this region or you
know higher quality wines I me they they
have whatever slant they want to take on
the market and they frequently deal with
with lower volume producers and and
lower volume wines and they just that
they make their business out of that
because like as I did with mine the the
other side of the equation is that when
people come to me or or or when they
look at my wines they have know what
they’re getting they know gee if if if
Brad likes this it’s probably worth
tasting um if you know if this other
distributor or importer Whoever likes
this wine well I’ve liked a lot of other
stuff they they carry I’ll try this
right right so how how many wineries you
know getting back out to to the
companies you were doing business with
how many wineries can you think of if
any would be like us that you had a
special relationship with and you guys
are unique well and and I don’t you know
we’re unique in in many ways for sure I
don’t mean like us in the in the wine
that we make but like us in the scale uh
we are a very small Winery so how many
or if any wineries did you have
relationships with in other parts of the
world other parts of this country or the
world that that you you took a a keen
interest like this is something there’s
something special going on in this
little shop over here in California or
in France or in Italy or whatever and
you made it a point to bring that to the
market because you were you were well
there were I don’t know three four
five maybe a few more but I mean I could
I could name you know I could name a
handful right off the bat that were
smaller wineries that just weren’t known
here at all and U and then one midsize
one that still wasn’t known here at all
that I found them and I said yeah this I
like these wines I’m going to bring them
in and did you have relationships with
those wineries or did those all go
through secondary
Brokers um all this well so I can’t
speak for
for all the import wines because I
actually think some of the import wines
were fairly small producers as well sure
and you know I can think of some of the
Italian wines that that I handled at
different times
that you know they they were wines that
that importer had gone and dug up from a
smaller producer but I don’t know those
details as as intimately I you know I
know there were a handful of of
different wineries that I found directly
one way or another
and just yeah that’s these are worth it
let’s bring them in but you still went
through a secondary source to no so so
if it’s in the US it was it was no big
deal direct right in us I I bought from
the wiy sold to the state state stole to
the to the to the shops in New Hampshire
uh and I did that in particularly there
were you know three Washington State
wineries I worked with that you know one
was kind of midsize the other two pretty
small there was one fairly small
California Winery I worked with um in
internationally um most of the time yeah
it would be it would have been because
somebody else had already found them I
but there was one there was one that I
found and I said that’s the one where I
got the import permits and just I said I
want to bring these Wines in and um you
there were actually a handful of other
wineries that had I continued with the
business you know they were also on my
list of one that I I wanted to import
but um how do you how do you keep up
with sort of the trends and styles and
things that what people are looking for
I mean it must be interesting to
navigate the sort of flow new new things
come on all of a sudden everybody wants
you know alss whes or something or they
want Washington Pino or you know
something happens and and so so I will
let’s start with that
Trends being
Trends the fact of the matter is is that
the majority of the wine buying public
wants the same stuff they’ve always
wanted you know the people who are out
there on the trendy
Edge aren’t necessarily that numerous
and you know a a a good case in point is
natural lines yeah which I mean I have
tasted some fabulous natural elements
but there aren’t that many people buying
them and there aren’t that many people
who you know care
enough um you know some some Trends take
off bigger I mean and I’m actually I’m
glad that Americans have discovered dry
roses um there actually are some lovely
dry roses U but even then you know a lot
of consumers tastes don’t change in a
big hurry and they you know you know
they they they they they find something
they like and they stick with that but
then you come up with something else and
I’ll make a a very generic but fairly
accurate distinction is a lot of people
are very interested in Ro roses from
provance but they completely ignore
roses from Italy yeah and there are some
delightful roses from Italy but but a
lot of people just the wonders of
marketing yeah well you know and and and
the wonders of getting a good review
someplace and you know sure but at the
same time I I I talk about this a lot as
well with our guests but a vast majority
of wines consumed in the US is chardonay
Cabernet and relo mhm that’s that’s the
Lion Share of wines and it it just I
mean it drives me nuts I can’t imagine
what it must be like for importers who
are trying to come up with something
unique or different or bring something
different to they want to bring in a
good cabernet a good charet something
that’s at that price point with that
label with that flavor but now you’re
back to the advantage of working with
the independent wine shops and the
restaurants
is because I’m working with a group that
is interested in different things and
they care less about you know the
particular label then or the particular
grape then is it a good wine and and
their customers are usually open to good
wines from different regions and so you
know for I had some wines from Lebanon
that were just fabulous sure uh people
Lebanon really yeah try the
wine um and and you know
you there’s a lot of people who yeah
it’s so it’s easy and this is of course
one of the things that’s very American
as well is that we get focused on
varietals yeah but if if you go to
France right
not there’s no varietal name on that
bottle label you’re not going to find it
if you know the wine laws you can make a
pretty good guess about what’s in there
but uh and and one of my favorite things
is if you watch the movie Sideways and
sure who hasn’t all right and so the
charact the main character is is
castigating Mero throughout the movie we
we can’t repeat the words yes um but
then one of the jokes in it is at the
end of the movie he Raves I mean
absolutely Raves about a right Bank
Mero a right Bank Bordeaux what’s going
to be in that oh it’s gonna be mostly
Maro right so did you did you ever get
find yourself getting caught up in the
in the fact that the the American
Drinker wad Shard Mero and and and
Cabernet did you find yourself leaning
into that at all or did you just say
well I don’t really care I’m going to
get the wines that I enjoy um yes and no
I mean so I picked wines that I thought
people would
enjoy and um the you still have to sell
them you still have to sell them but now
we’re back to the advantage of working
with the small shops there and and
working with with the restaurants and
and you know you get a you get a
restaurant and and the restaurant go
okay I like this one I can sell this and
you know restaurants that really focus
on wine if they want to sell it they can
that’s how they make you you train your
staff and and and and it’s actually a
great play great way to go to a
restaurant like that that knows wine and
knows it well and
um and instead of you picking the wine
say here’s what I want to have for
dinner what wine would you recommend
right right and you know you’re going to
and and don’t steer them let them tell
you and and and and it’s you know if you
if you want to ask some questions about
why do you recommend this why do you
think those are valid questions but
don’t just sit there and say well gee
I’m having steak so I want to have
Cabernet listen to the listen to the the
guy who’s telling you about the wine or
the woman who’s telling you about the
wine and maybe you’ll learn something
and this has even happened to me in the
business in in you know I had tasted a
lot of different Rines from around the
world but now I’m in the position of I
to pick lines and I’m going to I said
the event I tasted 220 Wines in 3 days
but but I’m going to a lot of events
where I’m tasting a lot of different
wines and I have people pitching
different wines to me I discovered a lot
of wines that I like that I never knew
about before because I’m getting exposed
to a PR of variety of wine so and that’s
that’s really the big thing it’s just
people open your eyes up open your taste
bues up try the other wines so that that
that brings to point a really good
question I have before I do that a guest
just asked where did you get where do
they get Lebanese wines can you get them
in New Hampshire um well you can get sh
m
whatever the it there’s there’s the the
famous one which I is a very different
style of wine and some people you either
like it or you don’t like it but it’s
available in Hampshire that is available
available in New Hampshire liquor stores
the one I used to carry is no longer
because at least as far as I know
because there’s nobody carrying it um
but you you can mail order sure I I know
places where where you can mail order
and have it shipped um so maybe we’ll
we’ll get back to that customer with a
after the show response so so so that
particular person who put the question
is yes what I would say is let’s have a
a private response and I can tell you
who to contact I can tell you what the
line is that I would recommend and who
to who to contact about where to find it
so uh back to the to the restaurant
question this is always interesting to
me and and and especially in my more
novice years I would be more afraid of
this but I always feared when I’d go
into a restaurant and I’d have a meal
and I’d say what would you recommend
with it that the restaurant tour is
going to come back with their most
expensive wine and am I getting am I
getting the best wine for this meal or
am I getting upsold or they’re getting
they want to get rid of something yeah I
don’t know I mean so I from your
perspective where would you fall on that
would you is that a concern I should be
worried about and I guess it depends on
the restaurant depends on the restaurant
it it depends on the restaurant but um
you know there are some restaurants so a
restaurant if if you are a wine lover MH
you can sit down in a restaurant look at
their wine list and make a pretty good
guess yes yeah how engaged that
restaurant is with wine yes um because
the list is filled with Merlo’s Cabernet
and sharet you get some of the
basics you one of my favorite battles
was was Pino ggio but that’s
um but you know so if you look at that
wine list and you go wow there’s some
interesting stuff on here I don’t even
even know all of these that’s great
advice
then I’d be inclined to trust them
because if they’ve put in especially in
New Hampshire where it’s it’s hard work
to do this it’s much harder for a
restaurant to do it in New Hampshire
than it is in in in other states yeah um
you know if if they put in that much
work in New
Hampshire i’ I’d give them the benefit
of the doubt now if you get a bad
experience you get a bad experience but
that’s true that’s true with going to a
restaurant in the first place I you you
can go to restaurant and everybody Raves
about and you can get a horrible deal
and go why is everybody raving but you
know
that’s great advice I I I like that
makes sense yeah I hadn’t thought about
it that way there something you you walk
in and you look at the menu and it’s
it’s like the same wine menu you’ve seen
everywhere else they’re getting it from
the same big group that’s pushing their
portfolio that checks all the boxes for
the general public yeah and that’s what
they sell and then you find those other
small eclectic unique places and you get
this long list of wines from different
areas you’re like wow I never even heard
well I mean you’ve got at least one
restaurant like that in this area
because where we had our dinner that
night in October I took one look at
their wine list I go oh well let’s just
let spread some love who is this the
Squam Lake in ah I love the Squam L and
and you know I just I took one look at
their wine list I go these guys care
about wine I mean you know they’ve got a
couple of the greatest hits on there
because you kind of have to but they had
some really kind of off-beaten eclectic
selections that’s great and I was just
like you know and in that particular
case I knew the wies one up I said I
want that and that
but um but that is a wine where I would
talk to to the the people there and say
we actually did they gave us a couple
samples a couple of different wies we
were choosing through them I would be
willing to put myself in their hands and
say what do you what do you want to have
what do I want to have with this dish um
that’s good you know and and I it’s one
of my favorite restaurants in the area
so one of the other tell Tales is is
when you ask what do you
recommend um and you need to be a little
careful with this but often times you’re
going to get back what do you like sure
and you know if if all they’re looking
for is is whether it’s a Czech Baca
Chardonnay or or or san Blanc well
that’s not very helpful but if if they
kind of get a little deeper into it and
say well do you like this kind of
Cabernet or that kind of Cabernet that’s
a good sign right there because now
you’ve got somebody who’s selecting the
different styles of of Cabernet and one
of the things people need to keep in
mind is things like P Noir and chardonay
there are so many different expressions
of Those Grapes that you can’t just say
chardet I mean you know most people yes
you know a lot of people when they’re
saying Chardonnay around here they mean
California chardonay buttery and oi well
well so 10 years ago they would have
meant buttery and O not So Much Anymore
a lot of people now you know you know
what’s trendy right now is is lighter
oak or less Oak and a little more apple
or or you know it’s about time it
depends on what you like it depends on
what you’re eating too yeah um if you’re
having Lobster I’d go with buttery one
well that’s a good point that’s me but
you know it’s um so let’s uh spread some
love we have guests from throughout this
area and who or at least who spend time
in this area so is there a a wine
Chopper to that you could share that you
think would be a great place to discover
some new and interesting Wines in New
Hampshire that you would suggest people
go to U Less so up in this area less so
up in this area actually there’s a I
don’t know if you’ve you’ve been to the
wine shop down the road uh just down the
a block or two um Carin you should go to
carins and I’d be interested to get your
thoughts on them they’re they’re really
trying to to raise the bar in this area
so when did what did they open very
small last year yeah because that was
very small very unique wines they’re
they’re really trying to bring in wines
that you can’t get anywhere else they’re
one of those places so that sounds like
the right kind of place and I would and
I would say without you know and the
experiences that I’ve had personally at
Carlin has always been positive so I
would say right out of the gate that
would be a great place to go but beyond
that and there aren’t very many because
it’s hard to make it in the wine World
there AR wait wait what’s the secret to
making a small fortune in wine yeah
start with start a big one yeah um you
know it’s it’s it’s true in New
Hampshire there’s just you know my
familiarity is really four years ago now
sure sure um I mean I I but there’s some
longstanding shops that have been in
this but a lot so a lot of them went out
of business in
2020 because of Co and and a couple went
out before that but a lot of them went
out because of Co and then you know Co
is one of the big factors in why I
decided to wind down my business right
because it also hit the restaurants so
hard too yeah exct and so if if you’re
dealing with the independent shops and
the restaurants and they’re all going
out of business well and and and the New
Hampshire state liquor store system
discourages the small wine shop it makes
it really hard for the small wine shop
because again
restaurants too exactly yeah so uh so
it’s understandable but so you know so
there used to be I mean there there are
still there are a couple of shops in
Portsmouth yep um there
are I mean the one that used to be in in
in the town where I live isn’t there
anymore um there’s one in nashwa that’s
that’s very
good
um there’s one in conquer that that’s
pretty good conquer’s probably one on
wine on M conquered um I I would give
them a check out great uh wine nut
Boutique in yua y um over in
Portsmouth um there are a couple
different ones there but the one I I
recommend in they’re not as big but they
have some very interesting stuff uh is
South Street and Vine I’ve been there
yeah which is a little good cheese shop
as well yes little off the beaten path
they’re down like a little alley right
well they’re down no that’s uh corks and
Kurds that’s down a little early they’re
on Commercial and corks and Kurds has
some interesting ones too um you know
and and and the nice thing is a try
right across the street which one of the
great things about them is they’re
tasting a huge selection of wine almost
all the time which they can do because
they’re in the middle of the tourist
district and Portsmouth and you that’s
part of their part of their business is
to do that sure um so you can go in
there and and they typic Al have 20 or
30 bottles open at any time so how about
a restaurant we said the Squam Lake in
is there another restaurant in New
Hampshire that you would if you really
want to be whined and DED where would
you go um so I would go to Portsmouth
yep and I would go to either Cava yep or
to the Black Trumpet excellent both good
choices one and and their their wine
menus are are carefully selected yes um
and yeah they they they have very
knowledgeable wine people and there
there are some other good ones but those
those really stand out is is those two
restaurants um they focus on having
eclectic selections and good you know
good stuff and and um they do a lot
available by the glass not everything
kava does a very a quite a bit by the
glass um Black Trumpet less so but you
can have a very detailed conversation in
either restaurant with somebody who
knows a lot about wine and and help you
you pick the wine so yeah that’s great I
mean I love wine and obviously I I drink
our wine but I drink wines from around
the world we drink wines we are always
excited Ken and I are always talking
when we share dinner together we we
bring wines to each other’s homes that
are different from what we’re making
here obviously because if you love wine
there’s just as we said tens of
thousands millions of choices to CH an
ocean wine so uh so it is I mean that
needs to be part of the conversation I
think is that we need to talk about we
need to talk about the fact that there’s
so many wonderful options out there and
the more we can do to help everybody
understand that I think it’s a it’s a
good thing for everybody I always say to
all of our guests also the best wines in
the world are to be found 50 miles from
where they’re made and it has to do with
that idea that most wine shops are small
most wine shops are only Distributing
within their region and I’ve personally
experienced this because as we travel
the world when we go to South Africa and
we have this rather poor understanding
of what a South African wine is and then
we land there and start consuming wines
from little tiny little Wineries and go
wow this is really interesting and I
guess you know I say the best wines in
the world it’s also about when you go to
that little wine shop I think about that
that that wine shop that uh that uh the
Vetinarian the vetenarian yeah it was
just like a little hole in the wall
Place best best wines not best wines I
don’t know most unique and interesting
experience drinking wine that I’ve had
in years it was such a great experience
because he was making wine from the
heart he was he was making a 100 cases
or a thousand cases or 2,000 cases
whatever it was and uh and he didn’t
care about he was he was not trying to
get rich on wine that was one of most
heartbreaking experiences in selecting
wines was at this event in Chicago and
I’m meeting with a Spanish wine maker
who who is was probably my dad’s age mhm
and he doesn’t speak English very well
so he’s got probably his granddaughter
there translating for him and he’s got
these
gorgeous red Spanish
wines that I mean they’re the kind of
stuff you can put down for 20 years and
it’s just going to be fabulous and and I
loved them and I just said look I can’t
sell these I can’t sell these in New
Hampshire because I can’t store them for
the 20 years that and and and and
there’s just not the market there and
he’s like do you like the wine do you
like the I love the wine but and you
know and I could he’s he’s a I know he’s
a small producer and he’s he’s gone to
this event to try and and build up his
his his business and I’m I’m you need to
find you know New York Chicago San
Francisco those are the market you know
Miami those are the markets you can take
take these lines because you know people
are not going to spend $70 a $100 for
one of these bottles that they have to
sit on for 10 years they’re not going to
do it not in New Hampshire uh you need
to find a better different market for it
and I mean I wish I could have put down
a couple of case of his wine but
couldn’t yeah no that’s true so um we’re
at the end of our hour which is always
amazing to me how quickly we get there
um but is there would there be any
parting words for somebody out there in
our audience who looking to discover
something special something unique is
there something you can add to the story
that might help somebody who wants to
really uh discover great wine in New
Hampshire I think you the best way to do
it is to search out some of those
independent wine shops those smaller
wine shops so you know you’ve got one
down here you know a lot of these wine
shops they will do tastings you you know
Thursday night Friday night Saturday
afternoon you know the schedule
changes um but search the out and and
they they’re free tastings and you know
yes you know your part of the deal is
you should buy something from them
because they they’re running a business
but they’re not going to require you to
pay for the tasting you know you know
some of the class some of the shops do
run classes that will you that are paid
classes that will get in more depth on a
subject and you can look at some of
those but you can learn a lot at the
free tastings the tastings usually have
uh a representative from either the
broker or the winery there to tell you
more about the wine and just be open to
trying different stuff because there
there are wines out there that you don’t
know you like yet and you will like them
but you just don’t know it yet because
you haven’t tried them so quick story I
went I went to Carlins last year and
they had a Friday night tasting and I
went and and participated and the wine
maker was there from Italy and I said
wow that’s fantastic I’m going to Italy
in a few months can he gave me his card
and uh and I tried tried the wine and
and uh it was delicious and so when we
were in Italy I called the number on the
card and it was fabulous I got he he
remembered the story he remembered me
from here and he and he uh invited me to
the Wi and I spent my wife and I spent a
half a day oh yeah that’s that’s what
those turn into yeah it was a fantastic
relationship and they were just
Overjoyed that we we came from the US to
to go see them from the tasting that we
did here at Garland and so it it uh that
is a unique experience and one you can
have if you if you go out and enter this
into world
yeah
yeah so thank you so much for joining us
this is a great conversation it could go
on for me it could continue to go on for
hours you you have a really great
knowledge of wine and you have a really
great understanding of the of the
industry in a way that I don’t and and
uh there’s just it’s there is a Mystique
that that for the novice that is hard to
un uncover it’s hard to really yeah yeah
if you feel that way look at beer now
and most no I don’t know any anybody
who’s not comfortable about beer I mean
they may not like it but but they’re not
afraid of beer sure sure but then you go
into the beer stores these days and you
look and there are overwhelming dizzying
yeah I
mean how do you solve the problem just
go try
them if you like beer you just go try
them and on that
note just go try them thank you
everybody for spending another Monday
night with us we really appreciate it
and I hope you enjoyed the show and we
will look forward to seeing you again
next Monday and we don’t have a a topic
yet but we’ll figure that out as you
know and uh we’ll see you uh we’ll see
you next week so thank you for for
coming and uh have a good night
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