Sent: Sunday, October 22, 2006 7:45 AM
Subject: Orangewood Wines Newsletter - Volume 3, Issue 3 - October 22nd, 2006

Introduction

The trade tasting events are behind us, thank you to all of you who took the time to visit us in Scottsdale or Tucson.  Recent news covered in this newsletter: we have hired a second driver, we are starting to use a new warehouse, we lost one winery and my knee is killing me.   

Box Score

New Restaurants:         3

New Wine Stores/Wine Bars: 2

New Wineries: -1

New Driver: 1

Contents

New Restaurants

New Wine Stores/Wine Bars

“New Wineries”

Additional Driver

Rambling

New Restaurants

Olive & Ivy Restaurant + Marketplace

Olive & Ivy, 7135 East Camelback Road (Scottsdale Waterfront),
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
(480) 751-2200

Elements Restaurant

5700 East McDonald Drive,
Paradise Valley, AZ 85253

(480) 607-2300

Different Pointe of View

11111 North 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85020

(602) 866-6350

New Wine Stores/Wine Bars

Park Wines

76 North Old Litchfield Road

Litchfield Park, Arizona 85340
 (623) 935-9090

Beverages and More!

7230 West Ray Rd. Suite 4
Chandler
, AZ85226US
(480) 961-9100

“New Wineries”

Most of you probably already know that Napa Cellars now has a different distributor representing them in Arizona.  It was a few weeks ago when Napa Cellars was sold to Trinchero Family Estates, better known for their Sutter Home labeled wine.  TFE already deals with 2 distributors in Arizona and decided that they did not need a third.  We enjoyed working with the Napa Cellars people and the wines were well made and aggressively priced.  Now, however, all the people we knew (Wine Maker, National Sales Director and Administrative Manager – Todd, Scott and Rachelle) are focusing on the Frank Family Winery, so our relationships continue.  Meanwhile we are working with our customers to find attractive alternatives.  Each customer’s needs are different, we do not have a one size fits all solution.

Additional Driver

Many of you have met Xandria by now.  She has been delivering wine for us since August 15th.  A California native, she joins us with a wealth of background - bass guitar player, project manager, bartender, the list goes on.  She is driving our newer delivery vehicle, the Honda Element, while Greg continues to enjoy the Scion xB. 

Rambling

The logistics of getting wine from winery to customer is what distributors are all about.  We have been working with a commercial warehouse for 5 years now and we constantly ask ourselves if this is the right thing.  It has costs and benefits, and it affects the way we deal with the wineries we represent, as well as the service we provide to our customers.  We have finally taken the plunge and will be working with Lena of “4 in Wine” (and you thought I had bad puns) a distributor of primarily German wines.  She founded the company and has been its primary driver for 8 years.  We will be sharing a warehouse where most of our wine will be stored.  The new facility has costs and benefits, as well, and it will impact our relationships with our wineries and customers differently.  On the shipping to Arizona side, I expect that we will be ordering less wine more frequently.  On the delivery side we will have more flexibility to accept orders later in the day and be able to react better to emergencies during evenings and weekends.

 

Knees are very fragile, and when I see a 250 pound tackle hit the side of a quarterback’s knee I wince.  I don’t know what has happened to my knee that has caused me so much pain, but I am finding that rest and elevation provide some relief while I wait to get time with experts who can figure out the root cause.  I will be doing lots of that as I try to avoid a third career as a whine merchant.  For those of you who are used to seeing me regularly, it may be phone calls for a while.

 

 

Cin-cin, alla salute!

 

 

From all of us at Orangewood Wines

 

 

 

Richard (newsletter writer) and Laurie Corles (editor)

Orangewood Wines