2008 - The Year In Review
We had a pleasant (if a little lean) Christmas here chez Kelly and hope yours was one of hope, cheer and good health. As the year draws to a close it's time for me to look back over the highs and lows for Westwood in 2008, and forward to 2009.High: We closed with our new financing partner, Silicon Valley Bank. This was huge for us, and validated the efforts we have made with the vineyard and the brand.
High: Sales in 2008 started out well! We opened new markets: Pennsylvania, New York, Arizona and Southern California. Sales here in Northern California were steady, if not spectacular, and growing. A steady stream of visitors to the Salon kept things interesting and fun.
High: Improvements to our business practices have lifted some responsibilities off me, allowing me to focus more on improving the grapes, the wines, and sales.
Low: Hindsight is 20/20. In retrospect I saw signs of slowing sales due to the weakening economy as early as May, though it was July before I recognized it. The situation continued to deteriorate through the start of harvest – when Springboard Wines, our Northern California broker, trimmed us from their book in part due to developing resistance in the market to $60 Pinot Noir – through the end of the year.
High: We pruned the Estate vineyard later than usual, and dodged a bullet when we missed damage from a huge late-season frost.
Low: Bad weather during the set of the Rhône varietals – Syrah excepted – led to really uneven cluster developement. We had to drop about 50% more crop than expected; some clusters remained stubbornly green after the bulk of the crop in these varietals completed veraison. This cost us yield for Westwood and $$$ in grape sales.
High: Harvest was a breeze, and wine quality is outstanding. I had excellent help in the cellar from intern Eddie Townsend.
Low: Sales have been unbelievably weak through the end of the year. So 2008 ended on a low note.
Looking forward to 2009:
We are already seeing some signs of possible economic recovery – new Wine Club sign-ups, and requests for samples from a couple of distributors, for example.
We are moving forward with plans to plant another 8 acres of the Estate Vineyard. This is really exciting – these blocks will give us new options for grape sales and for developing Westwood's lineup.
In 2009 I will get my first commercial crop off the Pinot Noir clones 943 and 777, which should give a notable increase in the complexity of our Dijon-clone bottling. Plus, I will get my first indication of how the Haynes Vineyard selection of Pinot performs at the Estate.
We are going to re-open the Tasting Salon full time, and bring in new help in direct and wholesale marketing.
Bottom line – for the time being I'm feeling optimistic in the face of the current challenges. It should be no secret that the wine industry as a whole – and the upper-end especially – has been hurt by the problems in the larger economy (c.f. "Constellation Cuts...," "In The Red," "Wine As An Economic Indicator," "...Consumers Turn Cautious," and on, and on...). But we have weathered downturns before, and if 1,000 new acres of grapes in Napa, a new million-gallon custom crush facility opening in Carneros, and successful sales of brands such as Sebastiani and Flowers are any indication, we will get out of this one as well.
posted 12/31/2008 09:14:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home