Wineries find 'outside the box' ways to reach customers during pandemic

Despite the pandemic’s chokehold on commerce, wine-related businesses are thinking outside the box to deal with this unprecedented health crisis. With tasting rooms closed since March 17, they’re finding innovative ways to embrace their customers and protect their employees.

Compline Wine Bar in Napa is shifting gears to reach out to health care professionals with its food to-go orders. Meanwhile, 12 wineries from Santa Barbara to Mendocino counties have pooled their efforts to create “Shelter In Case,” an online offering.

Finally, Honig Vineyard & Winery in Rutherford and Husch Vineyards in Philo give new meaning to “repurposing.” Resolved to hold on to all their employees, these wineries are retraining them for other duties to keep their salaries and benefits intact.

The brainchild of Adam Lee, the case of wine coordinates the efforts of 12 different wineries.

“The idea wasn’t simply to make up lost tasting room revenue, although any revenue now helps,” said Lee, owner and winemaker of Santa Rosa’s Clarice Wine Co. “The idea of Shelter In Case was to bring something different and enjoyable to all of our customers in this difficult time, a case of wine that runs the gamut in style and diversity of winemakers.”

Lee said the collection of wine also helps Santa Rosa’s Bottle Barn.

“We know how important brick-and-mortar retailers are to all of our wineries,” Lee said.

The case, at $469, includes shipping and can be purchased at bottlebarn.com. These are the bottlings: NV Flaunt Sparkling Wine; Idlewild, 2018 “Flora & Fauna” White Wine; Peake Ranch, 2017 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay; Fort Ross Vineyard, 2018 “FRV” Chardonnay; Siduri, 2017 Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir; Roar, 2018 Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir; Bucher Winery, 2017 Pommard Clone Pinot Noir; Clarice Wine Company, 2018 Garys’ Vineyard Pinot Noir; J. Cage, 2018 Craftsman Red Blend; Marietta Cellars, 2016 Gibson Block Estate Grown Syrah; Meeker, 2016 Handprint Reserve Merlot and Mantra, 2013 Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

Lee hopes more wineries will follow suit with unique packages.

“Cooperation is a good strategy always,” he said. “It was a good strategy when Robert Mondavi would put his (and other) California cabernets in blind tastings with Bordeaux. It was good then and it’s good now. Unfortunately, sometimes we get so caught up in our own sales efforts that we forget that we do more working together than separately.”

Feeding health care professionals

With a restaurant license, Compline Wine Bar in Napa can remain open. Now, serving health care professionals is a growing segment of its consumer base.

“We offer meals for $20 each, and we have grown from 60 meals a day to over 230 a day in one week,” explained co-owner Matt Stamp. “Businesses and individuals have come out to support and sponsor these meals.” (People can sponsor meals at complinewine.com.)

Compline, founded in 2017, is delivering meals in Napa to Queen of the Valley Hospital seven days a week and to multiple OLE Health facilities three days a week.

“I think every restaurant is making a lot of very difficult decisions right now,” Stamp said. “For most, delivery/take-out does not pencil out. We are a wine bar and a restaurant, and 90% of our sales are restaurant sales, so the impact is high.”

Making rapid fire decisions, Stamp said, is key.

“You have to think quickly and act quickly,” he said.

“We made the decision to start delivering two days before the governor announced that restaurants (were to) operate at 50% capacity and six days before Napa elected to go into shelter in place. We put a new online ordering portal on our website within 48 hours.”

Stamp said in addition to feeding staff working at hospitals and clinics, the meals also generate money to pay their staff and support local purveyors who are also hurting during the closures.

“We want to make sure that the people fighting on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis can look forward to something tasty and nutritious every day,” Stamp said.

Retraining employees

Honig Vineyards & Winery has retrained 45 employees to work on the bottling line or make deliveries for the winery’s Bay Area online sales, according to Stephanie Honig, director of sales and communications.

“If the situation continues, we will be moving some team members into the cellar and some others into the vineyard,” Honig said.

“Everyone talks about how wine is made in the vineyard, but people matter just as much. Many of our team members have been with us for over 20 years and their institutional knowledge is invaluable.”

The tasting room accounts for 13% of sales but closing this nonessential business didn’t pose financial hardship for the staff. Founded in 1980, the winery kept its employees’ health care benefits intact and didn’t cut anyone’s pay.

“We all have unique situations,” Honig said, “but my hope is that as many as possible follow this model.”

As for Husch Vineyards, it has 25 employees and most are fulltime, said Zac Robinson, co-vice president.

“Since our grandfather’s day, the company has provided full health insurance at no cost to our employees,” Robinson said. “While it’s an extraordinary expense for the company, this benefit is popular with employees and is part of the reason that employees remain so loyal to Husch.”

Robinson wouldn’t disclose how much sales revenue the winery has lost since its tasting room closed but conceded the closure has interrupted a connection with customers.

“Husch makes new fans and friends every day in our tasting room and it’s a big deal to lose this connection,” he said.

The vintner said every week gets harder and the loss of revenue is a major concern. But, he said, the winery is determined to keep its employees.

“There’s always plenty of work at Husch,” Robinson said. “The winery crew is out in the vineyard and the tasting room staff is helping in the office. … The list of projects is long. My favorite project so far is blending up hand sanitizer. We got the idea from a distillery.”