Ep. 1454 Laura Diaz Munoz | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

Hey, guys. Check out Italian wine unplugged two point o brought to you by Mama jumbo shrimp, a fully updated second edition, reviewed and revised by an expert panel of certified Italian wine ambassadors from across the globe. The book also includes an addition by professoria Atilushienza. Italy's leading vine geneticist. To pick up a copy today, just head to Amazon dot com or visit us at mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Welcome to Mastercross US Market with me, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews of experts in sales and distribution, social media, communications, and so much more. We will quiz each of our esteemed guests at the end of each episode to solidify the lessons that we've learned. To sharpen your pencils, get out your notebooks, and join us each week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wine market. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome to the Italian wine podcast, Laura Diaz Munoz. Laura is the winemaker and director of operations at Elliser State in the Napa Valley. She was born in Madrid Spain and landed in two thousand seven in the Napa Valley to work with Jackson family wines. She took over the role at Allers in two thousand eighteen and not only directs winemaking and overseas all winery operations two also currently pursuing her M. W. She really does it all. So thank you all for making time today to join us on the podcast. I know you're busy. Thank you, Julian. I know it's a pleasure. It's great to have you here. So before we dive into today's discussion, and we're gonna talk about running a national brand in the US market with a small team. I think it's gonna be a really relevant topic for so many of our listeners. But tell us a little bit more about your journey and how you made the journey from Madrid over to the Napa Valley. Yes. Well, it was kind of, like, unexpected journey because my plan was just, like, travel a little bit and have harvest experience abroad in different countries just and go back to Spain, but I worked in Spain, my first I would say serious job. In a winery, it was gone with Gonzales Bias, and I spent two years there. We used to make some wine that we were mostly our market was UK, the UK market, England. And my English was very limited back then. So I decided, like, let's go to New Zealand. I was making sovignon Black back then, and I love that grape, and I wanted to learn more about it. So I thought that New Zealand was a great country. So from there, I love it. Had a great experience, and I decided to continue traveling, and I landed in Napak. And the rest is history. Like, I since two thousand and seven, I've been here. Amazing. And you started with Jackson Family wines with, you know, incredible company kick off your career in the Napa Valley. Can you tell us just a little bit about your time working with them before you joined Eller's? It's a great company to work with. They are doing amazing things all over the world now. So it was a great opportunity to style at that time. I started working in Napa at cardinal with Chris Carpenter. He makes some amazing brands, working with amazing fruit from one time side mostly, making cardinal, Locoya, Lajota, Mombre wine. Yeah. So very lucky. I started, you know, working in the cellar and slowly up to brand wine maker. They allow me to start a brand and a new wine for the company. I spent eleven years working there until two thousand eighteen when I had the opportunity to work at Eller's estate. Amazing. And let's set the stage for us a little bit about Eller's. You know, today, we're talking about running a national brand with a small team for an independent winery. So talk to us a little bit about the history of Eller's and what kind of winery it is. This winery is a very small winery, and we only produce between eight thousand and eight thousand cases with the possibility of moving up to almost fifteen thousand cases. You know, this is a small winery. Everything started in eighteen eighty six. It's one of those every winery is bad. It started making a growing grapes first, and then building a winery. It was built by but not others. But it moved to different owners, and now we are owned by a trust. It's when I was brought here in two thousand eighteen, I inherited the original contiguous vineyards and a brand that needed a little bit more like positioning and a little more work in the sense that improving quality, maybe we had an amazing organic farming program here, but it's just like continuity and improve it to be sure that it's gonna be around for many, many more years, because it's a winery that's been here for a hundred and forty years. It's a lot of pressure. It has a lot of history. It's a gorgeous property, but when I came on board, my goal was like to make better wines, improve the brand and and be that team. Yeah. Absolutely. So, you know, in today's episode, we're gonna talk more about building that team, running that team. You know, you're running winemaking and talked a little bit about the vineyards, but also overseeing sales and marketing and all the operation. And that's a common scenario. We see among many wineries in the US, Napa Valley, but also in Italy, the winemaker running winemaking plus overseeing all those business operations. So For today's master class, we're really excited to learn from Laura a few things. You know, number one, what are the greatest challenges and also advantages of working with a lean team. Number two, how does an independent winery like Eller's navigate the competitive landscape of the wine industry you know, in the wholesale market, sales, and distribution, market penetration. And then finally just on a personal level, how do you do it all as, you know, Ymaker director of operations? And I know you have a family. You're studying for your MW as well. So I'm really excited to dive into the conversation. Tell us a little bit more about your team. You mentioned, you know, you came to Eller's twenty eighteen. Started working in the vineyards and building the team. So how big is your team? And tell us about that structure. We are already limited in the amount of even employees that we can have, and this is just basically because of the size of the winery and Napa County regulations and, you know, how big the property is. So there's always limitations there. But I my team is we are only seventeen employees. I have three employees right now outside the property or outside Napam because they live in different cities or states because I have a national sales manager and two California sales managers, Southern and Northern, California. But, you know, it's very small team in the cellar. Escalining in two thousand eighteen, I decided to outsource Vineyard. I'm working with my wolf, Vineyard Management Company, which is amazing. You know, we have a small team. Everybody wears a lot of different hats at the same time, and it's very different from my days in Jackson Family wines or when you do work with a big company. What is the challenges, basically, is that this unlimited amount of resources, we kinda, like, have to do it all. And, obviously, because of the structure is small, we don't have huge budgets to work with and have all the resources that I've needed and also the time for them or to develop programs that we will want to. But the really good advantage of it is that everybody that works at Ellers that are amazing talented individuals that they want to learn. And when you are in a position or you are put in a position where you have to take decisions in a very short period of time. You have to develop programs that are completely new from scratch and with not many resources. It actually make you develop strengths. And I feel that in my case, especially I've been taking care of things that I never thought that I was gonna be able to do, and it creates a sense of pride. I don't know. It's like, it is possible. It requires to wear a lot of different hats and to learn about things that you would not thinking that you should learn. Yeah. Yeah. Learn things on the go and through experience. What are some of the things that in your role at Allers you've had to learn as you've taken on the role? I'm a white maker. That's how I define myself, but, you know, taking over being responsible of over employees, they depend on my decisions. And for me, it was very challenging at the beginning with sales and the sales team and understand the operations time managing a brand that we are in seventeen states, but we are also distributing direct to retailers and restaurants here in California. So understanding the structure of and how to build those relationships pricing, and it was something that it was completely new to me. But I think what it was positive about it is that I have more control even about for the wines. Like, I have more control on the winemaking because I understand where that wine is gonna end. And who the consumer is gonna be, and it's been positive. Obviously, a lot of work behind and a lot of mistakes and successes. But overall, that's what I was not bringing at first at others when I joined. Yeah. That's interesting what you said that you're making the wine, but you're also overseeing all the sales and distribution. And you have those two perspectives, right, to bring to the seller. Is there anything that you've maybe adjusted in the winemaking side based on what you've learned in the market? Yes and not, not necessarily. I feel that I try to express the story or tell the story on my way to create those relationship in a different way. I think sometimes especially with brands or why brands is in new consumers, I will say it's about the relationships of the connection that they feel with the brand. So I realized that it's very important to tell my story and to tell why my wife are the way they are, and people are very receptive. Once they feel that there's a reason why the wines are, the style that I'm defining on them, it worked very well. And it's working very well. Yeah. And with so many wineries in Napa Valley, California, you know, there's over seven thousand wine businesses in the US and forty three percent of those right are in California. How does Eller's define itself out there in the market and the wholesale market when you're out meeting with buyers? Well, we do a lot of consumer analysis and also competitive set analysis. We always look at who are the wines that are in the wine list that are competing with us or we are competing with. What is very interesting, especially in California and in US, I don't have exactly the percentage, but I will say at least in Napa eighty ninety percent of the wineries in Napa produce less than ten thousand cases. So we are competing with a lot of wineries that come from Napa that make amazing wines that they get amazing rates. So for me, again, I know that is my sound repetitive, but it's about creating that connection explaining why. And it's a brand that has been around for a long time, and it has, especially with maybe older generations have a different meaning. But for younger generations, they feel connected with our organic practices. The fact that I'm a female and that is, unfortunately, is still not common, that I'm trying to make wines that are more approachable, that are food friendly, that are still napa, but have a different twist, and just being able to create those connections and communicate them constantly and being out there with the sales teams, working with them in the field and understanding what they have to deal with. I think that is what is helping to keep the brand relevant. Right. Is that spending time in the market, understanding the market yourself, right, in order to support your team. And you're thinking about your team when you're building a smaller team that's managing an entire country, and we know in the US managing each state is like managing its own country with the different distributors partners and laws and everything. But what are some of the things that you look for when you're building your team and a team member at Eller's knowing that you are a small lean team? I normally look for people that have experienced in the area of work that I need them. Obviously, they need to have some experience, but I like to work with a diverse group of individuals that can bring different strengths to the table, basically, to the team. I try, obviously, for me, it's super important that a team can work together and that they get along and that they have same values, basically. So people that have similar experiences, but diverse. So they can bring things that can complement each other just because we're small. So if someone is very strong, let's say, sales, but then I will bring someone that maybe doesn't have that experience and give that education and training, which has happened a lot in, especially in our DTC department. I brought people that they were very good with people that they enjoy hospitality, but they didn't have that experience. And they have wine knowledge. So I just educate them and give them the wine knowledge because they were strong in other aspects. So that's what I look basically for a team that can complement each other. Yeah. That's good. That's great advice. You've been thinking about where you can bring on that experience and strengths in some areas, but maybe not in others, but finding those complimentary skills. I think that's really important. And, you know, you've built such a great team at Eller's every time I visited the team is so warm and friendly and hospitable. Congratulations on that. That's I know that's not easy. Thank you. They are very talented individuals, and they are very creative, and they don't mind to try new things and learn. And very happy. It's it's one of those things. It's like you enjoy coming to work because you enjoy to work with the people you work with. Think it's key in in every company. Italian wine podcast, part of the Mammar jumbo shrimp family. Especially when you're working hard in long hours, I imagine, especially during harvest. Right? You're spending a lot of together. So, you know, just shifting gears a little bit. I also wanna talk about Napa Valley and some of the trends and things we've seen in the region. You know, there's been a lot of consolidation in terms of winery ownership. Right? Family wineries being sold to larger conglomerates and businesses. So, you know, Eller's has remained independently owned. It's owned by the trust, as you told us earlier. But do you think that being independently owned as opposed to being part of a larger wine company provides advantages or disadvantages for Eller's or maybe a little bit of both, but talk to him about that. I think it's a huge advantage, to be honest. And I think there's a lot of studies that I read lately about, you know, new consumers and younger generations. They care about or supporting brands that are authentic and that have strong values. And which I'm not saying that largest corporations don't have them. I actually think that, basically, what we are seeing is that even corporations, their corporations, but they have different brands that they have different stories. Right? And that they have different values that attract different consumers, I think corporations can have that power of creating different brands and stories. But they are actually leaning towards those brands that have similar values or similar kinda like a structure as smaller wineries. Obviously, the challenge is for a smaller winery or company like us is that, again, the resources, and we don't have that buying power that corporations have, for example. So everything is kind of more expensive or it takes economically a bigger impact for smaller wineries, and corporations can take risk with creating new brands. Smaller wineries We have not. We need to be sure that we maintain goals that have long term goals. It's just different, but I actually think that it's an advantage to stay small, most of the time. Yeah. And and like you said, with the values that consumers hold today, in many ways around transparency around stories, around identifying with real people. I think the small brands, smaller independent brands do have have that advantage for sure. So that's something important to remember. So you've been with Eller's now five years. Right? And joined in twenty eighteen. Tell us a little bit about some of the ways in which you've put your mark on Eller's estate and some of the most exciting projects that you've had the opportunity to be a part of over the last five years. Yeah. I mean, I feel extremely lucky that, you know, the the owners trust me from day one, and I'm doing a lot of changes just because I have the vision of this place in this brand to be around for fifty years if it's possible. So, I mean, I put in, obviously, my imprint in the wines, and, basically, not changing the wine style because we have the terrace that we have. I don't know. It's just, like, I feel like if someone takes my wines, they know that they're coming from me, and I have a lot of freedom on doing that. But also, you know, I started right away, new labeling project and changing a little bit the packaging just because I wanted to bring a sense of place to the bottle of wine and and bring a little bit more fun looking bought to the tables, and that was a really fun project that I partner with Marta Botas from Spain. He's a great designer and I artist. But I'm also right now I'm doing some redevelopment of the vineyards just thinking on climate change or, you know, better way of farm ins that I think, you know, will improve a quality in the long run, and we are thinking on long term, obviously. And as well, we are changing different ways of treating the water and the resources that we have at the winery. So we become a little bit more sustainable and just thinking about, you know, recycling water. We are starting a project working with biofilter process, system that will allow us to recycle all the water that we used for the the wine production. On top of this, we are also redesigning and remodeling the tasting room and the landscaping of the property doing a lot of different things to beautifying the plates as well. Wonderful. Can't wait to see all the changes. That's really exciting. Now it's time for our rapid fire quiz as we wind down, and we're gonna review some of the key takeaways from today's episode around running a national brand the small team. And Laura, you shared so many great insights. I think you're gonna be super valuable for our listeners. So I'll ask three questions. And if you can do your best to answer in one sentence or less, please, that would be fantastic. So question number one, what are the challenges and also advantages working with a lean team and an independent winery. Challenges will be willing to many hats sometimes at once with lack of resources. And advantages, I think is the personal professional growth in knowledge and capacity. That sense of pride that comes with, you know, knowing that you can achieve challenges. Okay. And question number two, how can an independent winery succeed in the wholesale market in the US? I mean, that's for sure in any market or the strategy. It will succeed by building personal and authentic relationships with wholesale partners, just building those relationships is what makes it successful and long term. Okay. And finally, question number three, how do you personally manage your time overseeing so many different aspects of allers and state wine making, but, you know, also operations, hiring sales and marketing, and not to mention what you're doing, you know, with the MW program. Well, first of all, I have an amazing husband that is very supportive and it it takes care of the house most of the time and the kids, but, I mean, strategically, it's about being alert constantly. Kinda like being on the game kind of mindset constantly because I'm overseeing every single detail. And I'm that kind of person that I like to forecast or project was next before it comes, so I'm prepared and ready. Mhmm. Absolutely. Well, Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to join us today on the Italian Whitepop trust. I learned so much and your your story is inspirational. And I think one of my biggest takeaways was that if you don't know how to do something, you've never done it before. It's an opportunity for growth. And I think that's a really good lesson and reminder for all of our listeners. So thank you again for joining us today. How can our listeners connect with you and Eller's estate Well, they can go online to our website, w w ellers Estate dot com, and come to Napa, and just visit us. We love to meet new people. Yeah. Anytime. Fantastic. Alright. Well, thanks again, Laura, for being here today. Thank you. Thank you, Elena. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. And remember if you enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.