Sometimes data can be overwhelming. Being able to transform that data into actionable information can deliver high ROI. Jesse Lange, Managing Director of Lange Estate Winery, and Mark Evans, President of Triumph Advisors, discuss how Enolytics helps them make strategic decisions through actionable information in every part of their businesses, from DTC and wholesale into operational planning. Thanks to Enolytics for sponsoring this episode.

Detailed Show Notes:

• Jesse’s background: 2nd generation winegrower in Willamette Valley, focus on winemaking and grape growing
• Mark’s background: helped build Jackson Family’s fine wine division, ran wineries for ~20 years, now fractional CEO for 2 wineries (higher end, DTC focus)
• Often there’s too much data (facts) and not enough information (which is actionable)
• Gut instinct not always the best tool, having data is critical
• Enolytics having both DTC and wholesale data can be used for production planning, revenue projections, planning market trips, seeing which varietals/SKUs doing well in each region
• The data enables building 10 year revenue projections by channel at the driver level (e-commerce, hospitality, membership, wholesale)
• Key metrics to look at: membership retention rate, customer lifetime value by acquisition source, purchase velocity
• Drilling down on wholesale data allows targeting the right markets
• Mark requires clients to use Enolytics (or another data platform) to partner with them
• Enolytics helps move from reactive to proactive, e.g. - Mark often converts tasting room staff from part-time to full-time and has them implement outreach programs to at-risk members determined by Enolytics in their downtime
• Can be used like a CRM tool, even where Salesforce was unsuccessful
• Can see some impact of critic scores through the data, but influence has been waning since ~2005, younger generations not really looking at scores
• One key insight is understanding member referral, correlating customer acquisition data to new club members
• Enolytics is high ROI: can often do 2-3 programs that deliver $5-10k/each that micro-targets people and doesn’t overwhelm the customer base
• Advice for other wineries: looking at peer wineries is critical, need to train people on the data tools, and ensuring the data mapping from e-commerce to Enolytics is accurate is essential

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It appears on some wine labels, winemakers speak lovingly about them, and there are organizations focused on them. “Old Vines” is a loosely defined term that is often associated with quality in the wine industry. Seghesio, a historic Californian winery, has a strong focus on old vines with its focus on Zinfandel and Italian varietals. Andy Robinson, Seghesio’s winemaker, lays out the economics of growing and selling old vine wines.

Detailed Show Notes:

Andy’s background: grew up in the Finger Lakes (NY), studied Chemistry, worked at Charles Krug

Seghesio overview

• Founded 1895 by Piedmont immigrant Eduardo Seghesio
• Alexander Valley & Russian River (Sonoma)
• ~120k cases / year; 160 acres planted
• Mostly Zinfandel (oldest 1895 at Home Ranch) and Italian varieties (Sangiovese, oldest from 1910)

Defines old vines as 50+ years vs Old Vine Conference defines as 35+ years, conventional vineyards normally have 20-25 year lifespan

• Must be an excellent vine (both in yield and quality) to become an old vine

Benefits of old vines

• Often head trained, umbrella shape gives natural shading, don’t need trellis supports, requires less maintenance late in the season; overall about the same cost as trellised (head trained harder to mechanize)
• More flavor compounds (a Spanish company researched this)
• More textural and complex flavors

Costs of old vines

• Expect lower yields (sets less fruit)
• Big cuts from pruning can have bigger impact on vines

Need to have a focus for old vines to be successful, which is why there are many single vineyard old vines; consistent ownership important for this

People are often willing to pay more for old vine wines, wine needs to be good

For deciding when to replant old vines: wines not fantastic anymore, yields drop <1 ton/acre, people not willing to pay enough to keep it

More diversity of varietals coming with old vines as late ‘70s plantings hit 50 years, historically mostly Zinfandel

Old vine organizations

• Old Vine Conference (started ~2020, Sarah Abbott in London): very international
• Historic Vineyard Society (started ~2010, Morgan Twain Peterson, Mike Officer, others): non-profit to catalogue old vine sites
• Core benefit of organizations is engaging wine writers and getting more publicity for old vines

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When Shekar Sathyanarayana, founder of Nalla, began visiting wineries in Santa Barbara and talked about Indian food, winemakers loved the food, but had never paired it with wine. Now, Nalla has brought Indian food and wine pairing to over 100 events hosted at wineries and other venues and Shekar shares what he has learned about match Indian food and wine.

Detailed Show Notes:

Shekar’s background: 1st generation South Indian, grew up in Kansas, was a talent agent and lawyer

Nalla founding

• Started as Indian food gatherings (2016) to explore different Indian cuisines
• Shekar knew nothing about wine, started driving to Santa Barbara wine country and learning
• Wineries said they’d never paired wine and Indian cuisine before

Nalla experiences, officially launched 2023

• Where South Asian cuisines and wine industry meet, includes culture (live music, dance, decor - e.g. - Thali plates, plates with small bowls in them)
• Done 100+ events at wineries and 3rd party venues
• 1st winery partner was Brecon Estate in Paso Robles, learned Albarino and samosas work well together
• Does 4 entrees, each from a different region, coursed w/ 2 wine glasses side by side, and data captured on preferences
• ~25-50 guests at each event
• Large market opportunity: 2.1B South Asians globally, ~6M in the US; highest household disposable income (~$100k for South Asian, ~$150k for Indians); very food forward and know little about wine

Indian wine

• ~200 wineries in India
• Grow varieties to sell (e.g. - rose), haven’t figured out what grows best yet
• 2 harvests / year
• Focus is educating people about wine, not yet integrated w/ food

4 components to “spicy” food

• Capsaicin - the heat in chilis, gives a burning sensation; can be offset by milk/dairy which has casein, a protein that binds to capsaicin
• Aromatics (e.g. - coriander, cumin, cinnamon, clove, cardamon) - no heat, but lots of smell and taste
• Sichuan pepper - gives a tingle, drying, numbing sensation (not common in Indian food)
• Piperine - key compound in black pepper, common in South Indian cuisine; can often flatten wines

Indian food & wine pairing - match aromatics w/ wine, heat comes second

• Capsaicin and alcohol make the heat worse, try to stay <14% abv with spicy
• Younger, tannic reds often fight Indian cuisine
• White wines pair well w/ aromatics
• When pairing with multiple dishes simultaneously, go back to aromatics, stick w/ whites (e.g. - Pinot Gris, Riesling, Viognier, maybe Chardonnay)
• When there’s more weight, dairy, can pair with some reds, particularly lighter (Grenache, GSM, Pinots)
• Creamy tomato based sauce, which alleviates some heat, can go w/ higher alcohol reds
• Aged reds can pair well, as tannins are more resolved

Regional Indian cuisine - 28 states in India, each region has its own cuisine

• North Indian known for meats (goat, lamb, chicken), dishes have more weight
• South Indian mostly vegetarian (lentils, daal, dosa, sambar), heavier on spices, more heat; sparkling wines work well
• Coastal (Kerala, Goa) more fish and seafood
• ~50% of India is vegetarian
• Bengali has heavy mustard paste, Sauv Blanc and Riesling work well
• Andhra uses both red and green chilis, makes it hard to pair w/ wine

Top 5 Indian dish pairings

• Chicken Tikka Masala, created by British, not traditional Indian; pairs w/ off dry Riesling, light Pinot, oaked Chards
• Butter Chicken, chicken cooked in tandoor, more diary and cream, milder spices; Viognier pairs well
• Samosas, breaded fried potatoes often w/ chutney (mint-cilantro, tamarind), sparkling pairs well (Cava, Prosecco)
• Biryani, a very emotional dish for Indians, saffron rice, chunks of meat or vegetarian, highest degree of aromatic complexity; Rose pairs well
• Saag Paneer, spinach and cheese, cream, ginger, and garlic; Sauvignon Blanc, herbaceousness pairs well, acid helps

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