Ep. 552 Kristen Reitzell | Wine Business Talk With Colangelo & Partners

Welcome to the Italian wine podcast's wine business talk series. Every Thursday, we will be connecting with our Italian wine podcast listeners all over the globe on all things wine and business. This podcast has been brought to you by Colangelo and Partners, the leading fine wine and spirits agency in the US. Visit Colangelo and partners at w w w dot calangelo p r dot com. Hello. Welcome to wine business talk on the Italian wine podcast. I am your host Julian Aquangelo. Throughout this series, we've been exploring how technology can help Italian wineries more effectively and efficiently reach their target trade and consumer audiences. And a key theme has been e commerce and digital and the importance of your brand being available online as more consumers than ever before our shopping from home. Today, we will speak with Kristen Ryzel, vice president, public relations and communications at Jackson Family wines about the launch of the company's dedicated multi brand e commerce website, your wine store dot com, as well as Tannuto D. R. Chaney, the family's winery in Teskey. Kristen, welcome to the show. Thank you, thrilled to be speaking with you today. So before we get into today's conversation, let's daydream a little bit. Safe to say we're all missing traveling. So describe for me your perfect vacation day in Italy. Where are you? What are you doing? Most importantly, what are you drinking? Okay. So I will start by saying I feel like any day in Italy is probably a perfect vacation day, but I, for me, would probably be somewhere along the Mediterranean Coast Line. I was very lucky to spend a lot of my time when I was a student in Italy and having grown up in San Francisco where water's always at my back door. I felt really right at home when I was able to spend some time in those coastal towns and I just I love the rugged cliff sides, the seaside towns. The water is definitely more beautiful and much warmer than it is here in Northern California, which is a plus. But that's definitely where I'd probably be. And I would definitely be having a glass of wine. So what would I be drinking. I love Italian wines. I drink a lot of Italian wines, from all over Italy, particularly be it Sanarantino, Virolo is always a wonderful treat and then of course Chianti classico. But I would say I've been really enjoying a lot of the wines from Aetna recently. So I would probably be drinking an Aetna bianco. Beautiful. One of my favorite wines too. So, I'll join you there. Alright. Sounds good. So to get into the meat of today's conversation, we're gonna be talking about e commerce primarily today and direct imports. But to start, can you tell us a little bit more about your role at Jackson family wines? Definitely. So I've been with the Jackson family for nearly eight years. And if you can probably advise from my title that I manage all aspects of communications and public relations for the wineries that the family owns across the globe, which is about forty wineries now that they've really built and acquired over the last, four decades. So I also manage and I think that's gonna be a lot more of what we talk about in dive in today, all the digital marketing efforts across all of the brands. And I think you know, this of course includes social media, but it also includes all digital touch points, which is the website, email, and of course e commerce. Very cool. That sounds like a big job. I'm I'm your busy person. So thanks for taking the time being here today. We really appreciate it. So we know you before Jackson Family Wines, you started your career in tech, actually, which I imagine was a great background for what you're doing today, especially on the digital marketing and ecomm side. So tell us a little more what was that like transitioning from tech to the wine industry and how and maybe a little bit about how you draw upon your tech background in your role today. It was actually a somewhat easy transition for me mainly because I I did grow up in the Bay Area around the wine industry. So I had a bit of a background and at least familiarity with the industry, but absolutely was not an expert. And I think anyone that knows the San Francisco Bay Area knows that the tech industry is a pretty large industry here. So it was definitely a great training ground to really learn the best practices of PR and communications in that industry. But I think the bat my background in tech space was incredibly important to how I approach my role in the wine industry and just my role as the head of digital and PR and communications is because if you really look at the industry and you look at the folks that find themselves dedicated to tech, they're very innovative. They want to discover something new. They want to find a new way of doing something. It's very entrepreneurial. It's very creative and it really pushes the boundaries and always pushes the status quo. I always brought that spirit to the role in the wine industry and I really followed that spirit that I picked up in tech and I think that it's the idea that you should never really rest on your laurels. And just because we're at traditional industry doesn't mean we always need to do things the most traditional way. And I think the tech industry does a really good job of understanding what the consumers' expectations are and when consumers get used to something or they adopt a new technology or new way of doing things, they very often don't revert back. They always want to move forward and I think that we always should be doing that. We should always be moving forward. We should be innovating. We should be thinking of, you know, new ways to be it package or wine, sell our wine, meet the consumers where they are. So they they can discover our wine and also talking to the consumer in a new way I think is really important. And I think it's that creativity and that kind of dynamic approach that I try to bring to all of our tactics around public relations as well as digital marketing. No. That's that's a great point. And I think we need more people with that spirit in the wine industry willing to take those risks and adapt and and move forward. And I think if twenty twenty taught us anything that, you know, it's it's vital to to pushing your company forward to take that approach and try new things. So that's that's that's great to hear. So, you know, getting more into your wine store dot com, what we're talking about today, Jack and Familywine's a complex business. There's so many different great wineries, global brands, distribution company, and now this dedicated e commerce platform that spans across the entire portfolio. So can you talk to us a little bit more about how these different pieces of the business work together. Definitely. And you you you basically touched on the it is a complex business mainly because we do have so many working elements within it. So we, we have the wineries themselves. So we're we are a producer. First and foremost, we we own the land. We farm the land and we produce the wines for these wineries across the globe. And with that, we also have to distribute it. So we have an amazing dedicated sales force. We have, you know, best in class marketing team. Digital teams, PR teams, of course. And I think that we're all working together to a common goal and that is, you know, we're putting the quality in the bottle. You know, we're not cutting corners. That's the number one thing we need to do is like we're dedicated to that quality first. And then from there, it's about getting our brands out into the market and be that an established brand like La Crema that has a forty year history and a loyal customer base. We're always looking for new people to discover that brand. So I think it's It's a few. It's it's everyone working together to kind of meet that common goal. But ultimately, I think a lot of it comes down to the customer and the brand. You know, just consumers right now are discovering wines in so many different ways. So many different ways than they were even five and ten years ago. And they're buying them through both traditional channels, you know, like large and small retail stores or restaurants, but they're also they're always buying winery, you know, they're buying from the wineries direct, be that because they visited wine country, and they're at the winery or they're looking at their online their website and they're also now buying and they always have via online wine retail stores like wine dot com. But I think most recently we're seeing an adoption of more use of alcohol delivery apps as well. I think not just through the when I say discovering, they're not just discovering wines and finding those way to buy ways to buy them, but they're also they're discovering new wines through different channels. You know, be that social media, be that through walking into a wine shop and having a conversation with the owner. So I think all of those traditional ways that we we usually assume consumers are learning about wines, they're also they're finding them everywhere. And that's where I think wineries have a real opportunity to broaden their communication strategies to to really make sure their wines are discoverable, but if they're discoverable, also available in more channels than just maybe the one you think your brand fits into. And and I I'm one to say, like, we have wineries that are eighty percent direct. And so that's the most lucrative channel for us, and it's critical to certain businesses. But we also like to have some of our wines out in the three tier market We also possibly would have some of those wines available for online sales and and we have to kind of look at like what are a few of those other channels particularly in a situation that is very unique like the pandemic where an entire channel was essentially shut down and that's the restaurant industry. So finding a little bit of diversity, you can have the majority of your business in one channel, but having a little diversity for discoverability. I think is also really important to the longevity of a lot of the brands. Not just ours, but in the industry as a whole. Absolutely. And I think, that that's a great point. The accessibility making it easy to find, but also easy to purchase because I can't tell you how many times I've heard that that's just a major barrier is, you know, finding availability of the products someone's trying to to drink. So I think that those are all really great points. So you launched, the projections of family lines launched your wine store dot com just recently, which is exciting. Congratulations. I'm sure it was a a huge project. So tell us a little bit more about how that came about the decisions behind launching your wine store dot com, you know, this year. And and what that process is like. Yeah. So your mind store dot com was an idea that we had had for years in the company and it just it never felt like the right time or there wasn't the right energy behind it. But when the pandemic hit, we thought, well, there's no time like the present. So we we really moved quickly. We took a what was an existing internal site and then we made it an externally facing site called it your wine store dot com and it includes it's a place where all of our wineries that we own and support are being sold. So right now, it's basically just an online wine retail for those JFW wineries and imports, but we've also seen a lot of success thus far. So we're really just scratching the surface and who knows what it could evolve into over the next two to three years. But I think what's important, we're unique in that way that, you know, we have a large portfolio that is also diverse that we can really pull from and justify launching this dedicated online retail site because we have the diversity in our portfolio and can can showcase a lot of things from be it a Russian River Pinot noir by La Crama or Hartford or a Chardonnay from the Sellenbos region of South Africa. So because we had that diversity, we felt like this this just makes sense for us. But then on top of that, I think what I look at for, you know, individual wineries, you know, you don't have this vast portfolio. I think it's just a really good reminder that even if you have one brand and even just maybe five wines, you know, consumers like you said a moment ago, they're looking for that accessibility and that availability to buy. And I think that direct being the most profitable way to sell your wines. I do think it's important for, you know, all wineries large and small to really look at whether or not an e commerce platform for your business makes sense and could be a viable sales channel for you. Yeah. Absolutely. Because we know the logistics behind shipping wine in the US, especially when it comes to shipping into different states. Is is just incredibly complex. But I have to say my experience ordering wine on your wine store dot com was seamless. I think my wine turned around in two days, which was incredible. So that type of service too, I think, is a really important component of e commerce to keep in mind, you know, getting people to the site and buying the wine is one thing, but then the follow-up getting it delivered on time to getting it delivered quickly is equally as important. Right? And I I could imagine there's can be challenges on that side too. Absolutely. And I think you have to have a really good distribution partner for that reason. You know, we we we have that partner and we're really lucky to have, you know, good partners that, you know, house our wines, ship our wines, take care of our wines so they arrive not only on time, but in good condition and we're not shipping over, you know, hot weather periods and they and they know that. And so finding a good shipping partner is really important and I agree. It's extremely complex to navigate the different state laws and the shipping laws in this country. And because we do have, you know, businesses that had e commerce, you know, e commerce cart they had carts on their websites. So we had a lot of that figured out before we launched your wine store, of course. But at the same time, that's why I always say, I think that even if it's not an area that is viable for your for your winery. I think it's worth a conversation to think about whether or not it is a good idea and it is something that you want to go go down that path because for a winery that has never shipped out of state, be it let's say they're in California. They're a small winery and they've never shipped out of state. Yeah. It's it's a lot of there's a lot of logistics that and a lot of things you're gonna have to figure out and and do before you can actually deploy an area of that area of your business. So it's not as easy as just like, yeah, let's turn on and you let's turn on let's turn on a cart. Let's turn on a web cart. But I think I I just I would say it's worth a conversation to see if it to see if you you have customers that are looking to buy your wines that are in different states. And I think you can it's about listening to your customers. And seeing if you have that critical mass for demand. I think that if you have, for example, I think we get a lot of feedback through our social channels and also we get emailed directly by a lot of our wineries, but we listen to what our customers are asking for and and issues that they're facing and trying to find or access our wines. And we wanna be able to address that. And the last thing we want is a handful of customers in the United States or elsewhere that are clamoring for the wine and want the wine. And they they just can't find it and they can't get it. Absolutely. And I think for, you know, winery, if if you can't launch your own e commerce site, obviously, there's the options of looking at all the new websites that are launching these days for e commerce as well as those that have been around for a while and really nurturing those relationships and trying to build those relationships to get your brands online. Chacks and family lines have talked a lot about innovation in the company, in e com, and digital, and sales, but we know sustainability is such an incredibly important part of the business. So can you talk to us a little bit about Jackson Family's wine. Jackson Family Wine's commitment to sustainability. Yeah. It's I mean, it's definitely part of our DNA. But we also learned a long time ago that there's there's more to a vineyard than the vines. And that sustainably sustainability is also more than just about the environment and the land. It's about the people. It's about progress and, you know, for us, it's about accountability. And if you look at just how we farm, we farm according to our values to nourish a resilient and healthy ecosystem and that's from everything from preserving open space to, creating healthy soils, to monitoring our water usage and trying to reduce that as much as possible. It's about, you know, responsible land stewardship and it's about safeguarding the longevity of that land, not just for our own family business, but also future generations in our community. And I think that we also know as a company that it's our responsibility to care for the well-being of our people and our employees, but also the communities in which we do business. They're vital to, you know, the long term success of not just what we do, but, you know, the people that we need to help, you know, run this business. We don't do it. You know, it's not just one or two people. It's an entire, you know, group of people that we need to look after. And then, you know, going back to accountability, I mean, we really, we hold ourselves to very strict and exacting standards. And I said, and I always say, well, sustainability is not a new concept for Jackson family wines. You know, we farmed and made wines with that goal in mind since the beginning. And that was really our founder, Jess Jackson's belief. You know, we're not we're not complacent in our approach and he used to always say, you know, take care of the land and it will it will take care of you and treat people like family and amazing things will happen. And I think it's really important that people know this is not something new for us. It's it's something that our founder forty years ago believes so strongly in and the land has really always been the guide for Jackson Family wines. Everywhere we've gone in the world. It started with finding an amazing place to plant grapes and that was where it began. It wasn't about, oh, I'd love to to make a wine here, but I've never been there. It was always, you know, going back even to one of our more recent acquisitions in South Africa, which I mentioned recently, you know, Barbara Binky, who's Jess's, wife, and who is the owner and chairman of the company now. She went to South Africa and she saw this amazing place in Stellenbosch. And she toured the vineyard and she's like, this, she tasted wines from the area and she's like, these are world class. I want to be a part of this and this this is the place. I feel like we can really create an amazing winery and a foundation in South Africa. And I think it's really it's really amazing to work for a family that has had sustainability in mind from the beginning and the land always being that guide when it comes to moving into new places. Right. No foundational values that are are just fundamental right to moving forward and absolutely Can you tell us a little more how Jess Jackson and the family ended up in in tuscany with Tunit de Archino in a little bit about the history of that brand? Yeah. Well, it's kind of similar. So same same same idea. They they they went there and there was this area that we are now in is Janutha Araciano. It's a very large area that, you know, I think we plant less than ten percent of it is actually planted divine. It's in the heart of Keonti Classic. It's about an hour outside of Sienna in this very small town of San Guzman. We We make County classical from Sanjay, but we also with our winemaker, we also do bordeaux varieties. So we've actually planted a lot of cabernet franc on that property as well as Merlo. So we do our Conum and Valadorno and Elfano, which are all Alberto based, blends as well. And so that we we came into that area in the early two thousand or even earlier than that, but it's been an amazing addition to the Jackson portfolio. It's the only property we own in Italy and it's always been that gem. And, you know, I look at when you think about our commitments to sustainability and, you know, those commit and span all of our properties globally. But I think, like, in our channel, particularly, it's really unique. And each place, each in your in each community and each ecosystem is so unique and you really have to expect that. And what might work in California, for example, may not work in Italy, but you can still have those same principles and you can still deploy them. They just might look a little different. I think that's always important you remember too, is that you can't have that one size fits all mentality when it comes to to land and farming land. And and then also cultivating an important ecosystem and then also supporting a community because all the communities are different and they all have different needs. I think that's what's important to acknowledge. Yeah. And adapting and working with your local teams to accomplish some of the same goals with perhaps, you know, using different methods or working with the practices they might be haven't been employed for, you know, hundreds of years. Right? So can we find Chanute zero channel on your wine store dot com? Yes. You can find it in other online retail spaces too. But, yes, you can absolutely find it on your wine store dot com. So, Krista, you mentioned delivery services earlier as being one of you know, a a key point of innovation in the last year. What else do you see coming next for the beverage alcohol industry in terms of e commerce? Anything anything else on the horizon that you think we should be on the lookout for? I don't know if we need if think we should always be on the lookout for some new form of technology that is convenient for consumers getting something that they want in their hands quickly, easily, and seamless because that is the expectation I think a lot of consumers have now and they should because we have we have that technology that has allowed that feasibility of purchase and, you know, acquisition and like getting that product in your hand that night to an extent with some of these some of these opportunities, but I think the silver lining and I think we're all looking for silver linings in the pandemic. Right? I think it shines such a huge spotlight on the importance of wineries to take their digital strategy seriously, invest in it. At least have a conversation about it. And I say that for a few reasons. And as a communications professional, I think that as I mentioned earlier in this podcast consumers are finding out about wines and discovering wines from so many different communications channels. And while it may have just been from word-of-mouth and the, you know, wine, the wine trade publication and a score, that may have been the traditional way for a lot of consumers and a lot of consumers still find find information that way. They're finding it through so many different channels. And I think that it's made public relations a much more dynamic and intense career because you're having to really manage manage and outreach to all those channels and work with all those, you know, different via influencers via people in the trade that have, you know, a digital presence and are, you know, taking their credentials to the next level and becoming these like digital experts in wine. Just more people are accessing information from different ways. So I think that you have to understand like what those communications channels are and if they're digital, really making sure your voice is there. And then it also I I remember Shopify put out their annual e commerce report. And the one thing that they said was kind of the overarching thing was the pandemic really left in enduring work on the consumer landscape, then that years of change, years of change happened in a week and weeks. And I think online offline spending shifted to online products that were rarely bought online. I think wine absolutely fits that are now these staples and e cars. And so that immediacy, that convenience, and that speed of that consumer demand, that's become the new normal. And I think when you look at products that were not traditionally bought online or consumed on, you know, found online, delivered to your home, delivered to your place of work. Wine definitely fell into that, and I don't see that changing. I think that if people think kind of post pandemic that we're all just gonna go back to the traditional way we bought wine and abandoned the online aspect of that. I think that would be a a that would be wrong to assume that. And I think that this is the new normal. And if you haven't started talking about it for your own business, I highly recommend you do because people are gonna continue to seek wine out online. Yeah. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more and that's been a theme throughout this entire podcast series, to be honest. It's just that that conversation, and it it's not going away. So it's a good reminder. So thank you, Kristen, for being here today. This is such a great conversation. We learned so much about Jackson family wines and your wine store dot com, but also really great to hear your take on communications and digital and how things have evolved and and how they're they will continue to evolve. So thank you again for being here today. Thank you. It was great chatting with you about all of these topics that I live and breathe every day. And to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. Be sure to check out your wine store dot com to learn more and join us next week for a conversation with Aaron Sherman of seven fifty. Thank you. See you again next week on the Italian wine podcast for another episode of wine business talk brought to you by Colangelo and Partners. For more information on this series, you can visit colangelo and partners at w w w dot colangeloPR dot com. And remember to rate our show wherever you listen to our podcast.