Ep. 1943 Ryan Robinson | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

The Italian wine podcast is the community driven platform for Italian winegeeks around the world. Support the show by donating at italian wine podcast dot com. Donate five or more Euros, and we'll send you a copy of our latest book, my Italian Great Geek journal. Absolutely free. To get your free copy of my Italian GreatGeek journal, click support us at italian wine podcast dot com, or wherever you get your pots. 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. So sharpen your principles, get out your notebooks, and join us each week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Master Kosuis wine market. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Ryan Robinson to the Italian wine podcast. Ryan and I were just at Van Italy, although not together, but we just got back hot off in Italy twenty twenty four, so excited about all things Italian wine. But Ryan currently resides between Spain and Connecticut Dick. He's the director of education for Brasscom Barton, Inc. And Worldwide wines in Connecticut, the largest distributor in the state. He also serves as wine director at the Cornerstone restaurant group in North America and South Korea. At side of distribution and restaurants, Ryan is also a professor at the University of New Haven and holds many, many wine credentials, including Italian wine Ambassador, which he just passed last week. Congratulations, Ryan, another accomplishment to add to your your long list. Thank you so much. I'm really excited that, ambassador exam is definitely a doozy, and I'm happy to have made it through. Yeah. Well, congratulations again. Ryan, today we're gonna focus on the Connecticut market. It's not a market for the US that I've had a chance to explore. Yet. So I'm really excited to dive into that. But before we dive into today's conversation, tell us just a little bit more briefly about your background and, what led you into your career in the wine industry. Yeah. That, that has a potential to be a very long, long answer, so to keep it short as possible. I had, you know, I was, forced to learn about wine at an at an early age, and I when I took a break from college. And then when I went back to finish my degree, I, realized I can make a lot more money selling wine, then I could doing any other part time jobs. So it it got me through school, and I started, a different career path. And with the state of the economy at that time, I had to make some changes. And I was like, I think I like I like wine. And I realize it can be highly competitive. You will never I will never know at all. And I I really like that challenge. And so that's kind of what got me into it, and I got involved with the Corta Sommelier's And through that advancement, I, passed the advanced exam in the state of Idaho, the first candidate in the state to pass. Oh, wow. And I realized that I might need to relocate, to move up to get my invite to the master. So after interviewing all around the country, I ended up settling in New England. And that that's what brought me here. So my background has been, on premise as a wide director for large either large restaurant groups or large individual fun dining restaurants. Amazing. Right. What led you to taking the Ven Italy International Academy course? Yeah. So that's a very good question. As I pursued my career in wine, I realized, like, as I mentioned, like, it's the entire world. There's so much there's so much to know. And through my studies, I began to find areas that I just felt more passionate about or a higher level of interest or connection with. And that led my scope to kind of focus in more on Wine's ability and the wines of Spain, two of my areas that kind of really my interest. And so in in search to learn more about Italian wines, that's how I was connected with the Ben Italy, it's a recommendation from someone who had previously thought. Fantastic. So Ryan, we're gonna focus in, as I mentioned, on Connecticut. So for today's master class, our our key takeaways are number one, what is the market for Italian wine in Connecticut? Just a brief overview. Number two, what are the opportunities for Italian wine in the Connecticut market? And you have a lot of exposure to this and your role working in distribution. And then, finally, number three, what do you think's, you know, on their horizon and and moving forward for Connecticut as we see so many changes in the wine industry. So for starters, just give us a a overview of Connecticut. Some of our listeners might not even know where in the map it sits, and some of us may be very familiar with it, but give us broad overview of the Connecticut wine market right now? Yeah. Absolutely. So Connecticut is very unique and very different from what I grew up with in the Pacific Northwest. I mean, it's a relatively small state, but if you ask anyone here, They think their state is as big as Texas at times. Logistically, the state is divided between kind of the north and the south, which is really strange to me, is that it's such a small state. It is part of the New England states, although I think sometimes the other New England states would disagree with that statement. We're nestled between two huge markets we've got from where I'm located right now in New Haven. I'm about a two and a half hour train ride to Grand Central Station in New York, in the city, and then I'm about a ninety minute car ride to Boston. So geographically, we have these two big e episodes of population, and I find that Connecticut is kind of the in between of those two. Interesting. Mhmm. I think I have a really unique perspective on the market for Connecticut, because of the diversity of my, professional ties. So I originally was here with restaurants on in the on premise buying. So I think I'm having a very good understanding as to what restaurant customers are looking for in the wine industry. Mhmm. And then working in distribution as a director of education, I can see I see global trends. I see trends within the United States, and then I can see specific sales trends how those how those work within within the state of Connecticut. And you would think that distribution and restaurants that there would be, like, similar trends, but that's not always the case and different expectations for the the both of those. And then teaching at the University of Haven, New Haven, I teach wine appreciation and top shelf wine and spirits, So working with college students and their entry level perception of wine. So it's pretty fascinating to me. So when we look at Connecticut, I think Connecticut is a great state for, to launch new wines. If you're looking for new test markets, there's been other, like, very large producers within the United States, that when they've got a new wine or a new product, they select Connecticut because it's kind of a good test study of the entire country just on a small level. We have closer to New York. You know, we have more more, financial affluence. We've got the most wealthy zip code in the United States here, right in Granwich, on the New York quarter. And so we see I did not know that. I thought it was upper east side. Okay. Well One type of buyer This is what I'm told since I've lived here now that I've been biased from the Connecticut point of view, but, you know, this is where we have hedge fund managers, people from Wall Street, just a lot of wealth within the Granwich area. So you see one type of buying, and then only two and a half hours drive to the east as we get closer to Rhode Island, we see a much different style of buying where it's no longer their parameters for what they're looking for completely changed. So we're not a uniform state at all, and that's why I think it's a good test market to to bring in new ones. Yeah. That's interesting. Like you said, you have from the wealthiest ZIP code in the US to maybe a lot a large student population. Right? There's so many colleges concentrated in Connecticut. So you're really getting such a range of demographics and and it's a relatively small state. Talk to us a little bit, you know, if if I'm a producer coming from Italy to do market work, like where in Connecticut, might I focus in order to get an understanding of the state? Maybe where would I focus at the high end? In terms of cities and where might I focus for the more for the low end? Yeah. Absolutely. So because it it's so so different and so diverse here. And typically, if we're looking for, as a broad generalization, if you're working the market and you're looking for accounts that are interested in those higher end wines or wines that might be more allocated, not readily available, then definitely closer to to New York. We sell as a distribution company, we sell more imported wines within those counties. And this would be probably the most ideal market for maybe higher end Italian wines, but then conversely on the eastern portion of our state, you know, we have two large casinos. While there's Right. It's more rural on the eastern portion of our state Foxwoods when it was built was the largest casino in the world and the largest casino in the United States. It's now the second largest. There's a a casino, a tribal casino in Oklahoma that's now the largest, but we've got very big spending influence with those two casinos that are, what, maybe, seven miles apart from each other. Right. So you really can learn a lot by working the market on both sides of the state. If you focus on one, your missing now on a whole another segment by avoiding the other side of the state. Right now, those work with have been with with mainstream brands, what have historically been popular, names that have, like, that are very recognizable that you can go into our package store packet store than what we call, our liquor shops here in Connecticut because wine is sold out of shops and not not in supermarkets. Right. Okay. So you can see by by by working with those, it's always been names that are very recognizable that you can see on in caps. And that's historically kind of what's been driving, like wines from Tuscany are very popular, sparkling wines Okay. From the Manitoba and around in that toe are great. And then maybe higher end wines from, Piedmont state, nebula based white. So that's historically what the market has been. Okay. It's only your more classic, like, mainstream categories. You're gonna see, like, more in the casino markets or the eastern side of the state. Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah. Absolutely. Well, more mainstream for the state as a whole. Mhmm. But over the last couple of years, I've seen that change. There's been a shift in that change working with restaurants, providing for restaurants, you know, those those popular name brands that most every white consumer can relate to, that's historically what's what's been presented and what's been offered. And it's been on a value driven scale and maybe not a unique or rarity driven scale. And so what I'm starting to see over the last couple years is while wine cells are continuing to drop, like, all segments of the wide sales are dropping in Connecticut. What we're seeing is that there's an interest in wines made from unique or unknown grape varieties Oh, okay. From unknown producers and from unknown regions. And this is really This is to me, it's very counterintuitive. If white cells are down, you think that you want to continue to push things that are familiar, things that drive comfort. But I would make the argument that it is the opposite that's going to turn that dial that it's you know, the new drinkers today don't want to drink with their parents and grandparents drink. They don't want to drink, like, those those staple names from Tuscany. They're looking for something new. Something adventurous, and something that's might be a little, a little funky, weird, and I think this is why Italian wines have a great potential right now in the state of Connecticut. Really interesting. Yeah. And when you're looking, Ryan, at bringing on new suppliers within your book, at your company? What are you what qualities are you looking for in the wineries that you're hoping to work with? Absolutely. So this is a great question. Within my role here, I chair our new item committee. So any type of spare that comes in, goes through this committee for for Preston Martin. And we taste the wines. And these are the four categories, though. We assess everything that comes in, whether it's wine, spirits, RTD, seltzers, we we give a numerical score based on need. Is there a need in portfolio for this. What is the price? Does it fit a certain segment that we're looking for? We're also looking at the quality. And then the final thing that we grade for is like presentation, like, what physically does the bottle look like? Does this have is this gonna do well in the retail market? Is it going to stand out on the shelf, or is it going to be something that's very functionable that could be easily stored or easily accessed for the, for the on premise market for our restaurants. And so it's those four categories that we look at. Then outside of that, we physically we cased everything to to assess that level of equality. And then we're looking to, okay, what is the the supply look like? What is the consistency? And then, also, what are the expectations? You know, we could be adventurous and bring in new wines. Like, right now, I'm really enjoying wines from Orbeada Oruceto based wines, and they seem to be doing better here. But those unique lines, can we get a continued supply of those throughout the year? Right. Right. Absolutely. And, Ryan, could you just say those four qualities again, repeat them for us, what you're looking for? Those four factors? Yeah. Absolutely. So we look for need. Is there a need in the market? What is the price? What is our price that we're getting at? And does that price fit an area that's missing? What is the quality of the product? And then what would say we vote on, like, the package, but what's the presentation of the product? Like, what does it look like? Because we first taste with our eyes Of course. When we're in the store before we do anything else. And while I don't want to a fix, like, a quality level based on the cover of a book. The reality is is that's how people buy it. It's something that we need to consider. Absolutely. And producers really need to consider them have as well. For sure. How it's gonna stand out on the shelf, what it's gonna look like, and it's competitive set as well, I'd imagine is is quite important, so, absolutely. So those are the four qualities, you know, when you're looking at a new new wine or a new partner to bring into the state, Italian wine podcast. Part of the momo gyro say right now, I know you mentioned Orvieto. There's some interest there. Any other categories you feel like for Italian wine right now that you feel like are particularly good fit for the Connecticut market or products that you're seeing gets garner some traction in the market. Yes. I don't know what's going on in Sicily, but I absolutely love it. Boy, Cecilian wines, are hot right now. I Oh, yeah. I got I traveled with, a supplier, an Italian importer last year, and they carry, like, some of the largest wines in in the United States here, but don't have any wines from Sicily. So that's what they were looking for. That was a need for them is on the importer level, like, they're trying to add, build their stock their portfolio with sicilian wines as a distributor. We're looking for sicilian wines here. We've got some amazing names in our book, but those names are at the very, the high, higher tier. We're looking for more about, like, middle tier, sicilian wine, but right now, it, it's sexy, and people people wanna Cecilia Wine, but it's interesting you mentioned price point. You feel like some of the offerings are almost getting too expensive for the market. Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah. So as a as a broad generalization for the Connecticut market, those the value driven tier, you know, within for US dollars, nine dollars and ninety nine cents and below, this is very oversaturated and, a very stagnant stagnant section. And historically, this has been where a lot of those Italian wines have made their their case that they were, they can come in at that price point. With that price point being stagnant, it gives us the opportunity to look for, I think, for more quality and more unique producers. And for the last two years, it's been the premium category that still has been growing and still on the rise. I was just reading a report, for the state of the wine industry for twenty twenty four this last week, and it's projected that the ultra premium section is going to drop about ten percent this year in sales. Yeah. I have been seeing those trends as well. Yeah. So for us, we're looking for that middle tier. Okay. You know, kind of the goldy the goldy locks here. Right. And you're defining that at what price points? For us, anything between twelve ninety the twelve ninety nine category Okay. To and this is, wholesale cost. So twelve ninety nine wholesale? Okay. To nineteen ninety nine per bottle. In San Connecticut, we set minimum bottle pricing, which I think is fantastic. It keeps everyone on the same minimum level. Okay. So we can't have large producers come in and undercut other producers. So guess that's another thing to think about for buyers and new producers coming into the Connecticut market, whereas in other markets, very large package stores or large wine shops can negotiate pricing, and they can under cost, the mom and pop comp competitors, the small shop competitors. Right. In the state of Connecticut, that's not possible. So another great reason to launch new wines for a test market in Connecticut is the state sets a minimum pricing that for retail. Oh, very interesting. And the minimum price is set by product by SKU? Absolutely. Yes. Very cool. And so that is a joint collaboration between the, like, the trade development managers for the distributor and then the the supplier. So to work on that minimum pricing, and then we register that minimum pricing with the state. So there's certain things we could do if we have, like, a small Italian producer who doesn't have a lot of product, but they they really want to be focused in the restaurant sector. Mhmm. We can set a higher minimum bottle price. We can set a higher minimum bottle price that is worth that's higher than what the wines actually valued at because then this to scourages retailers from selling it Right. Because restaurants operate on a different scale. So we have the ability through pricing structure to maybe discourage off premise placements to encourage on premise place You can even really control your strategy as it relates to your distribution by premise too, which is which is interesting because, you know, we hear in other markets, like, as much as your intention might be for something to be on premise, the reality is the distributors gonna sell it where they can get the sale. Right? But it sounds like for Connecticut, you can price strategically to really control where in the market your product is is going. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think this is really advantageous. I know while, like, some of the larger producers might not be a fan of this. It really is a good way to keep everything competitive competitive with each other and not to run out smaller producers or smaller importers. Just operate on a on a different set of financial metrics. Right. Right. So it's it's creating more even playing field, which I think is so important because we see so much consolidation, especially with domestic wineries, right, with big groups, that are, bringing in lots of independent brands and just getting bigger. So for small Italian imports and independent producers, it can be really daunting. So interesting to hear, you know, the opportunities that that might lie in the in the Connecticut market. So very, very fascinating. I've learned so much, Shauna, during this conversation, Ryan. I know, and I'm only not even an hour away from you, but it is so different here. So Seriously. The benefits of Connecticut, you get you get a wide representation of what the US market is like. From the very affluent to the more rural. You get even in bottle pricing so you can stay competitive. I just think it's it's a great market to introduce to introduce wines. Following I will call them the COVID years, you know, we saw a big influx from the cities from Boston from New York come into into Connecticut. That that brought in a lot of revenue into the state, and we're seeing the elevation of dining Dining's really being elevated right now. More restaurants coming in, more specialty wine shops. I just really think it's an it's an ideal market to launch into even with wine sales going down because the other factor of Connecticut is Connecticut has recently introduced a recreational marijuana. Interesting. We talk about this because we see the the middle middle class Americans, are starting to abandon their mid tier wines for recreational marijuana Yeah. Definitely big threat. That's that's really good. That definitely is cutting into the cells, and that that is a reality of our mark. And that's and that's becoming a reality in so many states. And I think before long, we'll see that on a federal level, but that's a whole another conversation that We don't have enough time for you. It is, but it's something to highlight because it does impact themselves. And I think the one issue needs to be acutely aware of positioning and marketing when you're not only now competing with other wines. You're competing with the categories of recreational products like cannabis. I just moved back from California to New York and out there, psilocybin was becoming quite popular as a recreational substance as well. So, you know, the there's lots of things out there that that I think will see in the near future. So so always good to to have an eye out and understand how that's gonna impact your market. But, Ryan, as we wind down on today's episode, we'll do our rapid fire quiz that we do at the end of each episode with every guest. So if you can do your best answer these questions in just a couple sentences. That would be great. So question number one, what is your number one tip for mastering the US wine market? My number one tip for mastering the US wine market would be you have to be here. You can have the best product. You can have the best distributor. You can have the best sales strategy, but unless you're actually here building those connections, we're really at a disadvantage. We see, you know, we've got the largest sales force. Were in every single account that has a most every single account has a local license in the state of Connecticut, but those brands where once or twice a year, they send them an ambassador, they send a a representative. To visit the market, those personal connections help. The second thing is we double down on education. So as a distributor, we have our own WSTT school, we also teach for we're a school for the wine scholar guild. Education is big for us, and we we're finding a lot of our buyers are interested in any any type of education they can get. So if you're in the US market and you're launching a new product and you can affix education for that, You're also adding an additional layer of value to your product, to your brand, and you're also building those interpersonal relationships by investing in education with our buyers. So be in the market, invest in education. Yes. Those are great tips. Number two, what is something you might have told your younger professional self about working in the wine industry? Oh, I definitely told myself. I gave myself a timeline for it achieving the the levels of wine education that I want to abandon the timeline. And Yeah. That was a tough thing to swallow. But instead of set yourself up on a timeline for for goals of achievement, really dive deep into what you're passionate about. Don't rush it because there's so many things that you miss by trying to rush, whether it's a higher level of education or, promotion at work, really enjoy what you're doing, really just stop listen to the wines. And when you're trying these wines, they think about, not whether you like it or not, but what is the intention of the winemaker? What's the intention of the bottle and was that achieved? I wish I would have just slowed down a little bit rather than trying to do everything at once. Yeah. Absolutely. So really focus in on your passion and don't rush it. Great advice. And finally, I know you're traveling a lot back and forth between Spain and Connecticut. What's one of your favorite travel hacks? Favorite travel hack is definitely pack less, pack what you're going to pack and then go less. Now this is difficult. Yep. I'm incredibly tall. I'm six foot nine. So everything of mine is bigger, but trying to pack less, but also think when I first started traveling, I just always looked for the best value. Mhmm. Because that's reality with our economy. But there's in the long run, I think if you stick with, like, brand loyalty, especially with airlines, it works out to be a better value in the long run, and you'll get more rewards back. And loyalty, I think, it's very important if you were going to consistently be traveling. Definitely. And I imagine at six foot nine, a a business class seat might must be much more comfortable, Ryan, for you on those long haul flights. It is. I was on the Ita Ares, going to Sicily and I couldn't even physically hit in the space between. Yeah. Yeah. Good afternoon. Well, Ryan, thank you again so much for being here in the Tony One podcast. How can our listeners follow along with what you're doing in Connecticut and around the world and wine? I think the best way is, through Instagram. I really enjoy Instagram because Great. It's pictures. Yeah. It's fun. In the most part, not opinion. So anything that I'm doing, professionally or just within my travels, my name's Ryan. I'm a Sommelier. You can always follow me at Psalm Ryan, s o m m r y a n on Instagram, and it's strictly about my travels. It's about what I think new trends in the industry, and just a little bit of my frenchie Winston. Oh, amazing Winston. Fantastic. Well, thanks again, Ryan. It was great to have you here. Thank you so much for the opportunity, John. I really appreciate it. Of course. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Masterclass US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. Remember if you enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.