Category — Wine Innovation

What a fantastic Thursday.  Today AmericanWinery.com reached a new milestone that further establishes AW as the premier location to browse, search, and purchase premium wines shipped directly from the source.  Since we began the marketplace in November 2007, nearly 8 months ago, American Winery has paved new territory and redefined what is possible in the domestic wine scene.  2,000 offerings, wines that range from extrememly rare and hard to find, to boutique estates, to good value offerings–AmericanWinery.com is an extremely efficient site that helps winemakers make more cash for their wine while ensuring buyers get access to all the good stuff you can’t find on the grocery shelves–its all about access, I will write more on that later…

So how exactly did AW build a base of over 350 wineries, 2000 wines, in the marketplace and nearly 1300 for the profile service in just over one year?  The anwer is simple.  We are a value inspired company, driven by results.  The fact we don’t put the winery in the hole when they begin our service is not a coincidence.  I firmly believe that making wine in the US is one of the most difficult pursuits, requiring levels of determination and hardships that go beyond just “running a business.”  In a industry driven by a tryranny of middlemen that squeeze pipelines and funnel millions to keep their unwarranted strangle holds on the American winemaker, Wineries are stretched dry.  When it comes to the web and a winery’s opportunity to sell wine direct over the web, I felt that there had to be a better way.

Marketplaces and the “power in numbers” shopping mall approach are tested and proven methods of bringing buyers and sellers together to drive commerce.  Think Amazon, think Ebay, and think your local malls that house a JC Penny, Sears, Macy’s and Bloomingdales.  Textbook competitors but they know when they sit in the same mall people come to this place and spend money on everyone.  This is the same mentality I maintained when building AmericanWinery.com.  Give Wineries a place to express their brand, present their products, and give buyers a consolidated, streamlined, beautiful and guaranteed shopping experience.

Goals.  2000 wines is great and all, but if there are no buyers, there is no value.  I am thrilled to see the % of wineries making sales on AW going up.  As of the date of this blog post, every month 20% more of AW wineries receive orders that would not have existed otherwise.  However this is just the itty bitty tip of the iceberg for this group.  Unique views to AW are growing and AW is averaging 15,000 uniques a month with a goal of averages between 35 and 50 thousand within six months.  AmericanWinery.com and the dedicated group behind it are fired up and on the path of establishing the greatest American wine based site out there!  Watch out!

Cheers,

Lloyd Benedict

Founder | Ceo

AmericanWinery.com

So maybe you have heard of Gary Vaynerchuk…maybe not either way you need to know more about him and the impact he is making in the US wine scene. Get a bead on him by watching this video.

Some things to note. This video is already out dated. Gary now sees over $70 million in sales through his store in NJ and recieves a modest 80,000 views a day on his show WineLibrary TV.

People who believe Gary is not impacting this industry are dead wrong. Gary in one year, has broken down many barriers to entry for the US wine scene. More Americans will drink wine due to his efforts. His stance is simple, Real, Authentic, and Transparent. RAT is what Gary lives by and I firmly suggest wineries adopt a similar approach.

“The Gary Factor” Broken down into three simple points:

1) He is straight forward, honest, and passionate. Gary maintains an extreme ethic, to never be false, accept bribes, or operate with alternative motives.

2) He knows his shit. Gary has been opeating the largest wine retail operation in the United States for nearly ten years. He has tried thousands if not hundreds of thousands of wines and is an expert in Descriptive Analysis. See information about Ann Noble, I went to her seminar and she is the only other expert in Descriptive Analysis, I know of.

3) Gary is accessible. If you email Gary he will return your email. This is an actual response I recieved from Gary a few months ago, “LB whats up my man! Matt pls sched something with LB when I am up in WASH!
LB MS will make it happen, lunch b-fast something…” Not perfect English but who gives a rip, this guy is totally there for his community. He devotes every second of his day to ensuring his community is fed well.

But don’t take my word for it, let Gary tell you why he rocks!

Gary on “cutting through the noise!?”

Gary on how to please everyone

Gary Vaynerchuk is on the rise, catch the wave, and ride it and have fun

Cheers,

Lloyd Benedict

Lloyd@AmericanWinery.com