A sign of a good distributor is not just how many wines and producers they have in their range, but how good they are at managing them and selling their wines. All too often when you talk to a drinks producer about why it has moved from one major importer to another and it will come down to how well they thought they were being looked after. Did they feel as though their wines were getting the love and attention they felt they deserved?
Just how good distributors are at managing that relationship has become an increasingly crucial factor in determining which wines are sold where and by whom.
The days when producers were just happy to be in the UK market, and did not ask too many questions about how and where their wines are being sold are long gone. The pressure for suppliers to deliver on their promises has been ramped up, just as the competition between the major distributors has intensified.
It’s why we have seen over the last five years the introduction of a new level of producer support in most of the major UK importers with a new tier of brand managers and brand management development teams.
It is their responsibly to work with and manage the expectations of their producers so that they know and are happy with how their wines are being distributed and sold into all their target channels of the trade.
Terlato Wines' Chuck Cramer, left with Hallgarten & Novum Wines' Monica Allan and Jim Wilson at Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill - one of the fine dining restaurants they are targeting for Terlato's premium Napa wines
It’s exactly the relationship that Chuck Cramer was craving when he was looking for the right distributor partner to help manage part of Terlato Wines’ premium Californian wines into the UK - Chimney Rock,Sanford & Paso D’Oro.
Brand support
Brand management has become an increasingly important part of its business, confirms buying director, Jim Wilson. It has really had to ramp up its brand team, he says, since it became part of Coterie Holdings and seen so many more producers come into the business.
In order to get the brand management side of things right you need to have clear lines between who is responsible for doing what between those on the brand, buying and sales side of the business.
As Wilson explains: “If you are expanding as we are then you need to have that channel management and segmentation.”
At Hallgarten it is the buyers who do the actual negotiating with producers when it comes to agreeing on a price and the amount of wines being bought.
It is then down to the brand team to then work with the producer in how those wines are then introduced into the market, working hand in hand with the sales team to deliver sales directly to customers in all the various channels of the market.
One of those new recruits was Monica Allan who joined Hallgarten in September 2024 in a new brand manager role after being part of the wine educator and brand management team at Bibendum for a number of years.
As well as looking after the fortunes of Californian and other US producers she also looks after wineries from England, China, India and Japan, which she believes gives her a good healthy understanding of what producers are looking for.
Voice in the business
Hallgarten's brand and sales teams are effectively the "voice" of their producers - like Terlato's Sanford Winery - in the UK market
“You are effectively their voice in the business and it is down to you to make sure they are heard,” she says. “The brand manager is there to anticipate what is happening in the market so that they can make a plan with the producer.”
Wilson says introducing the brand management side of the business has made an enormous difference to how effective and efficient the overall company is.
Which is exactly what Cramer in his position wants to hear. For he is there every day, pounding the streets of London and major cities in the UK, doing what he can to support the Hallgarten brand and sales team and help bring the stories to life about the wines they collectively want to get listed by their target customers.
Wilson says having someone so connected, committed and focused on what they are doing in the trade as Cramer is invaluable for Hallgarten.
Allan agrees: “Every supplier should spend a day in the trade with Chuck to see what he does and how effective he is with our customers. We need all the help we can get and Chuck is there in the market with us.”
Not all producers can have a ready made Chuck Cramer working full-time in the UK market, but Hallgarten strongly recommends they do.
“We encourage them where we can as it makes such a difference,” says Wilson. “Having Chuck in the market in that brand ambassador role makes such an impact on our sales team and it helps them learn and understand completely what he is looking for and what is needed.”
That is also how true partnerships really flourish, adds Allan. “If you have ambitions to grow as a producer in the UK then we you need to invest in the market. We have got to be together and we have got to work together.”
Terlato’s market focus
Which is exactly what Terlato Wines has done in order to have a constant, focused voice not only in the UK market, but its other key export markets around the world.
Cramer, for example, has been in his UK sales and marketing role for 12 years, which has expanded in time to cover Europe, the EMEA and now Asia.
In that time Cramer has been able to help Terlato fully understand the needs, pressures and opportunities in all those markets. In the UK, for example, its focus has switched from looking to build distribution for its premium Napa wines in mainstream, big accounts, to taking a more focused approach in building listings in fine dining where it is more the quality over the quantity of accounts.
Which is why he is working so closely with the Hallgarten team to build listings for its Chimney Rock, Sanford and Paso D’Oro wines in particular.
Smith & Wollensky in London has been a key strategic partner for Chuck Cramer and Terlato wines to build its presence in key London premium dining venues with Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Together they are looking to build stronger relationships with a growing core group of London restaurants - including the likes of Bentley’s, Smith & Wollenskey, JWM Steakhouse, Goodman Steakhouses, A Wong, Ivy Brasserie, Wright Bros, Franklin’s Wine Bar, Gold, Lucky Cat, Bread St Kitchen, Core by Claire Smyth, Novikov, Wild, Wild Tavern, amongst many others and then key “pockets of the UK”.
“We have refocused our strategy, particularly in London post-Covid,” confirms Cramer. “Central London is really doing the business for us now.”
Which also fits neatly with Hallgarten’s increased presence in London, following the Coterie deal, which has seen its sales team more than double in the capital to 20.
Cramer is also quick to praise the work of the California Wine Institute which looks to help key US producers working in the UK through its Kickstarter programme that allows them to host, through Hallgarten Wines, winemaker dinners and special tastings for their trade customers, by providing 80% of the cost.
Hallgarten and Terlato Wines has, for example, recently hosted a sommelier dinner with Jackson Family Wines for both existing and potential new fine dining customers to promote its Chimney Rock, Sanford & Paso D’Oro Wines
“It creates more interest for the sommelier as they know they are going to get the opportunity to taste a wider selection of premium Californian wines and network with fellow sommeliers,” says Cramer.
Allan agrees: “Sommeliers in London, in particular, are spoilt for choice and it is highly competitive and if you can get 14 sommeliers together for a dinner then that makes such a difference.”
Being creative
It is all part of looking at ever more innovative ways to get your wines in front of key restaurant buyers, he adds.
“It is so much harder to compete to get your wines on a list so you have to be creative and do things differently.”
Allan says restaurant buyers and sommeliers are looking even more for those wines that give them an edge, and an authentic story to tell to their customers. Be it the history, the winemaking, the story of the producer, or a combination of a number of things.
Sales of Terlato's Chimney Rock, Sanford and Paso D'Oro wines are up 68% in the UK on-trade since working with Hallgarten & Novum Wines
Whatever Terlato and Hallgarten are doing is working as sales of Chimney Rock, Sanford & Paso D’Oro and Stanford are up by 68% since they started working together.
Cramer says that despite all the issues the on-trade is facing there are still “big opportunities out there” to gain listings and build the business up.
“I see it every day. There are opportunities for those that are out there looking for them,” he says.
Pushing Napa
Wilson says that is also very much the case for high end Napa wines that have the cache and the styles of wine that fine dining restaurants and their customers are looking for.
Allan agrees: “People will spend more on premium Napa than they would, say, for premium Australian wine. There are also still lots of people looking for some oak in their wines, with ripe fruits, but they also want that acidity which California has in spades thanks to the ocean.”
Cramer says Napa is now benefiting from the fallout in sales of Bordeaux & Burgundy wines that “have just so expensive”.
“A Sanford Chardonnay or Pinot Noir is a bargain by comparison - particularly by the glass,” he says.
Time to build relationships
Cramer says the vital factor in gaining a new listing is quite simply “time”.
If he can have time with a sommelier, the restaurant buyer, to sit down with the Hallgarten team to go through the wines and explain what they are about then that is when the magic happens.
It is why he is happy to invest so much of his own time in taking sommeliers and prospective buyers out for dinner.
“I don’t stop until they tell me to go away!” he says. “I am all about bringing the American spirit to them.”
When he has a listing he will then make sure he then takes contacts and members of the Hallgarten sales and brand team to then eat in those restaurants and show them support that way too.
Allan adds: “Chuck literally brings them new business too. It is great to see and works really well. He really does help us do our jobs.”
Luigi Conca, head of wine at the Corrigan Collection, says he hugely appreciates the attention and time he is given by Chuck Cramer and the Hallgarten sales and brand team
It is also massively appreciated by the restaurant customer, confirms Luigi Conca, head of wine for the Corrigan Collection that includes Bentley Oyster Bar & Grill, which has been working with Hallgarten for over 30 years.
He says to Cramer: “The first time you came here you said you had the perfect wine for our list and showed me a Sanford Pinot Noir. And you were right. It has been on our list since then.”
He says that in such challenging times seeing your suppliers come and spend time in the restaurant is even more valuable and makes such a difference to the relationship.
“We want a wine supplier that understands our needs. Of course, price point is key, but so is the support they can give us in terms of bringing people here for lunches, dinners or for private dinners,” he explains.
“In this world of AI, the personal relationship is so important and it is all about giving something back. Having that in market support is key. Just coming here for a chat, for a glass of wine, it makes us feel like you care. I love that person to person interaction.”
Before adding: “Some suppliers don’t even know my name. Or they might come in and say ‘can you give this wine to Luigi to taste’”.
Cramer says it is also about taking the time to truly understand the individual restaurant and its needs and where the genuine gaps are on their list. Only then would he go and recommend a particular wine. He certainly would not be go in and look to sell three or four wines from the start.
You have to build the trust first.
“I look at their list and work out what they need and what I can provide that they are going to like,” he says.
At Bentley’s it is all about understand that 70% of its customers are regulars that might eat there once or twice a week. They therefore want wines they can trust and come back to time and time again, that they can’t get from their own cellar, says Conca.
“We even have grandparents coming here to introduce their grandchildren to the restaurant,” he adds.
The Terlato wines available from Hallgarten include Chimney Rock, Sanford and Paso d’Oro. They include:
Elevage Blanc, Chimney Rock
Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, Chimney Rock
Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District, Tomahawk, Chimney Rock
Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso d'Oro
Chardonnay, Sta. Rita Hills, Sanford
Chardonnay, La Rinconada , Sta. Rita Hills, Sanford
Pinot Noir, Sta. Rita Hills, Sanford
Pinot Noir, Sanford & Benedict, Sta. Rita Hills, Sanford
Pinot Noir Founders Vine, Sta. Rita Hills, Sanford
Paso D'Oro Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles
- To find out more about Hallgarten click here.
- To find out more about Terlato wines click here and contact Chuck Cramer email chuck@mrcawine.com.
