Wholesale plethora benefits consumers

Last update: July 9, 2009 - 10:22 AM

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WINE OF THE WEEK

Schloss Gobelsburg "Brut Reserve" NV (Non Vintage)

The experience: This is not a Champagne (it's from Austria), but it sure could pass for one, and an especially elegant one at that. It's got that baked-bread aroma, refreshing apple flavors and a fleeting sweet note on the palate, and a laser beam of a finish. The teeny-tiny bubbles are not only fun, but a mark of the wine's quality.

The setting: Wedding season has slowed, but this wine is a great exemplar of how versatile a food wine bubbly can be. Try it with any and all shellfish, strawberries, fried chicken or Marilyn Monroe's favorite accompaniment: potato chips.

The back story: This wine is 15 percent each pinot noir and riesling and 70 percent gruner veltliner.

The tab: $30, available at Surdyk's (retail exclusive), Red Stag Supper Club, La Belle Vie and W.A. Frost.

BILL WARD

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There are a lot of reasons why wine drinkers are fortunate to live in Minnesota.

For starters, this is a "reciprocal" state, meaning that consumers can order up to two cases a year from wineries in other reciprocal states, such as California, Oregon and Washington.

But a far bigger benefit is the state's abundance of wine wholesalers, whose numbers have hovered around 60 for several years. By contrast, Texas has two licensed wine distributors. That duo wields tremendous clout with politicians (they made $2.6 million in political contributions in 2006) and merchants.

With so little competition, the wholesalers not only can hammer retailers on prices, they also control the availability of wines.

Here? Not so much, as fierce competition helps consumers. Earlier this year, for example, a local wholesaler lost its biggest-volume brand, Castle Rock, to a rival. But it quickly picked up Rabbit Ridge, which had not been in this market for years.

"It's always nice to have more selection," said Stephen Low, manager of Bacchus in Shoreview. "I can find wineries like Malvira from [small local distributor] Domace Vino."

"The selection is definitely bolstered because of it," said Ray Zemke, wine buyer for the Cellars chain. "I can have five different falanghinas [an Italian white varietal], whereas in Idaho you might be lucky to find one. It also keeps things competitive. Argentina's been hot, and so a lot of the distributors have been down to Argentina to flesh out new wines."

Still, retailers and restaurant managers can be overwhelmed by wholesaler calls. "Everybody's trying to get something in my mouth," said Zemke, "and sometimes I have to say 'sorry, I can only meet you once a quarter.' "

The ultimate winner, of course, is the Minnesota consumer, who has a cornucopia of options -- even if knowing where to find them can be a challenge. That's reason No. 257 to develop a strong relationship with at least one retailer: Even if they don't carry a wine you like, they can try to find it. Low said a lot of customers come in after discovering a wine in their travels. "We write it down and cycle through the distributors to see if someone has it."

Even if the wine is not sold here, a buyer such as Zemke might be able to change that. "In some cases I beg directly with a winery like Copain or Panther Creek, tell them I will sell a certain number of cases and help them get in restaurants here. And then I'll set them up with a distributor and in some cases an importer.

"Sometimes wineries might not be that interested in being here, because we're only 1 1/2 percent of the national market. And it's difficult because with 50-plus distributors, who do they go to?"

Blessedly, we consumers don't face such a quandary.

Bill Ward • bill.ward@startribune.com Read Ward on Wine at startribune.com/blogs/wine.

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