Having a widely respected and renown Californian wine range has taken a while for Roberson to build up, but now it has it’s a very good place to be, says sales director, Guy Young. In fact it’s grown to such an extent that even though it lists and sells more French wine, it makes more money out of its Californian portfolio.
But with up to 30 Californian producers on its books, Roberson is also very aware of the need to be representing each of the producers and wines in that range as effectively as possible.
“The range is settling down now and we need to make sure we can do justice to everything we have got,” stresses Young. “We have got a great team, a great resource and great skills sets and a terrific customer base and what we don’t want to do is to take on too much more from California because you then dilute your offer.”
Its main focus for those producers is to build distribution for their wines across the premium on-trade as that is very much where “a lot of our portfolio partners like to see their wines and that suits us well,” he adds.
Roberson Wine's head office in west London is also home for London Cru urban winery next door
With such a strong foothold in London, it is also important, says Young, for Roberson to be “be branching out much more regionally” and to build stronger ties in key areas of the country with independent wine merchants and wholesalers
It’s also where he thinks Roberson can help give local operators an edge and extra sales opportunity - particularly into Michelin and fine dining restaurants - as it is so much harder for those regional players to build up effective Californian ranges of their own, compared to sourcing direct from Europe.
“We just need to plug into the right regional partners,” says Young.
Building California
In terms of future Californian sales Young says it is well placed, thanks to its online sales platform, to see which wines, styles and prices are working well at the moment and it is an area it will be looking to “get more intel on”.
The good news is the market for premium Californian wines has remained strong, even with the backlash from President Trump’s tariffs and overall squeeze on wine sales.
When the market is so volatile it places even more importance on the strength of your trade partnerships, says Young, both with your customers and your producer suppliers.
“When it does get tough it’s really important you are in this together,” he says. “It’s about working closer together, it’s being supportive and finding out what you can do to help out in the marketplace.”
He says it might work with a lot of Californian producers but they all share a similar work ethic and a desire to do what they can to support Roberson out in the field.
He explains: “We encourage our supplier partners to come over and spend time in the trade and hit the pavement and go and see new people and hear first hand how difficult it is and what the challenges are and then come back and actually work with us and support us - that’s invaluable.”
California Wines partnership
California Wines UK's Justine McGovern and Damien Jackman have been key in providing the support that Roberson Wine needs to maximise the potential of its Californian producers in the UK
Which is why the UK team of California Wine Institute has such an important role to play, adds Young.
For having the right range is one thing, being able to promote it to as many people as possible is another, which is why Roberson is so pleased to work closely with the UK team of California Wines headed up by Justine McGovern and Damien Jackman.
“We have a very good relationship with Damien and Justine and they are very present in the market,” says Young.
What has been particularly successful is working with California Wines to fund a series of trade trips to California which has allowed Roberson to take out important customers to spend over a week with key Roberson staff visiting producers and seeing, and most of all experiencing, the state for themselves. As Roberson has such a broad portfolio it means customers get to see a rich variety of producers in different parts of the region.
Young has also been able to take advantage of the Global Marketplace events that California Wines hosts in the US which brings senior buyers and operators from all over the world together for a week of masterclasses, tastings and talks on Californian wine.
Then there is the support that California Wines in the UK is able to provide for its own Roberson tastings, as well as the opportunity to take part in the main Californian generic tastings over the year.
“They are very pro-active and everything they do has to be justified as a business unit and I think that really works well,” adds Young.
Benham agrees: “What they do is well spent, they are imaginative and they make people want to pay attention to what they are saying or doing because it is fun and links well with what the wines are like.”
Roberson Wine with some of its UK trade customers on a study tour to California - supported by California Wine Institute's Kickstarter programme - here tasting at Kongsgaard
It's an approach set right from the top of the California Wine Institute, says McGovern: "The UK is a crowded, noisy market, so we get as creative as we can to highlight the aspirational quality of California. But creativity isn't the goal – everything we do has to deliver a commercial result for our brands and their importers."
Jackman agrees: "Roberson proves the model. They're one of the biggest users of our Kickstarter programme – the more they invest in California wine, the more we fund ways to support them. And that door is open to every UK importer with at least two California wine brands, but the funding always follows the effort."
The Silver Oak opportunity
Roberson’s Californian range was given an added boost earlier this year when it took on a number of premium producers from The Wine Treasury - including Schug, Sine Qua Non, Hudson, Ovid and Silver Oak.
Silver Oak winery in Alexander Valley in Sonoma County, California
Taking on Silver Oak, in particular, has helped take Roberson’s already impressive Californian portfolio to another level - particularly at the fine wine end of Californian wine.
The Roberson team are pleased to be able to work with Sean O’Carroll, the UK based regional manager for Silver Oak for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, who says the winery is investing more and more in pushing both its domestic and international sales.
“We had a few new people come in to leadership roles who have brought some fresh eyes on to the business,” he says. “Fresh eyes” that have been able to “see where the challenges are” and come up with “fresh solutions” that have not been thought of before, he adds.
For as Young and O’Carroll agree it’s not possible to “do what we’ve always done” and expect to succeed in the future. The pressure is on both producers and suppliers to do things differently.
Silver Oak White
The new Sauvignon Blanc from Silver Oak
One of the biggest decisions the new Silver Oak management team has taken is to move into white wines for the first time in its 54 years - with the launch of Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc 2025.
O’Carroll says you can’t underestimate what a big decision that was for the still family-owned company to take. Not only did it mean working with a different grape variety - Sauvignon Blanc - it was also making wine using French oak rather than American oak for the first time too.
Only now the wine is made and in the market can everyone in the business look back and say "that was a great idea,” he adds.“It wasn’t taken lightly, but it was considered the right thing to do. I’m really excited about what it can do.”
There has, perhaps not surprisingly, been a “pretty phenomenal response” to the wine since it was first introduced to the US market as an on-trade exclusive on June 6, he adds.
But, on reflection, it was also a natural and sensible decision to take and means Silver Oak can now take advantage of the increased demand for bright, fresh premium white wines and appeal to a new “younger consumer base, with a different palate, at a different price point”.
What’s more it has a sister winery, Twomey Cellars, already making high quality white wines with its own premium vineyards in Napa Valley and Sonoma County.
Fruit from those vineyards are now being used to make the Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc that is very much the on trend fresh, zesty, mineral style of Sauvignon Blanc made from cool climate grapes.
That almost 50/50 split between the warm Napa Valley grapes and cool climate Sonoma means the wine has the citrusy, acidity and freshness on the front palate and the richness on the back palate, adds O’Carroll. All of which combines to make a “refined, food friendly” wine.
“It’s a very Bordeaux style of Sauvignon Blanc,” he adds.
But it still packs a Silver Oak punch coming in at 14.2% ABV and despite the use of a little new French oak “there is no perceptible oak flavours in the wine,” says O’Carroll.
Value for money
Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc is now available in the UK through Roberson Wine
The Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc also offers great value for money coming in to the trade at around £40 to £45 retail compared to the £100 plus price points associated with the Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignons.
“The beauty of this is it opens us up to people who are not necessarily Cabernet Sauvignon drinkers and not able to pay that kind of level [for those wines],” he adds.
O’Carroll believes the new Sauvignon Blanc is particularly well placed to pick up good by-the-glass listings, particularly as it has had such “good success” working with Roberson to get a number of new by-the-glass listings for Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon - particularly the Alexander Valley and “the value it offers”.
“If people can have it available by the glass then it is even more affordable to sample and trial,” adds O’Carroll. “You are then getting new people introduced to Silver Oak who can then go on a journey learning more about the rest of the wines.”
He is particularly hopeful that it can lead customers on to the Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon which for a Californian red is far lighter and fresher than people might expect.
Roberson’ Benham is confident the Silver Oak name, combined with the opportunity to introduce a new “Californian white wine” to customers will draw a lot of interest from its premium restaurant customer base. The fact it comes from Silver Oak and all the prestige and reputation that brings is good news for the Californian category.
Global footprint
Silver Oak's Sean O'Carroll has extensive experience working for major brands and producers - including Treasury Wine Estates - and helping them build distribution in key export markets
Young says being able to work with a Californian producer that has such a global footprint is a major advantage as he explains: “We are very lucky with Sean who has a really good international understanding of what else is going on. He is here in the market and I think that’s really key.”
That commitment to being in the market is how Silver Oak has been able to get distribution in over 60 countries, says O’Carroll. That and its ambition to get the international profile and recognition of Silver Oak somewhere near the esteem it is held in the US.
To do that it is all about developing relationships and “long term collaborations between people”. Which is why, he adds, Silver Oak has been willing to invest in having dedicated people in the market “who would really make the difference and know where the opportunities and challenges are”.
It’s also why Californian producers like Silver Oak rely on and appreciate the support they receive from California Wines in helping them to push and drive their international strategy.
O’Carroll, says Silver Oak’s export teams rely on and work with California Wines all over the world.
“We work very closely with them and they are super important from a Californian winery’s perspective,” he says, pointing to initiatives like the big in-market trade tastings it organises which will see a number of major Californian producers travel with California Wines to host tastings in key markets like Asia and the Middle East.
“It’s going into the market and going into the right places,” he adds. The UK activity, in particular, works so well because “they try and do things that are a bit different,” he adds.
Like providing support to help introduce the new “ground breaking” Silver Oak Sauvignon Blanc to members of 67 Pall Mall at its July summer party, says Benham. As well as the support and introductions of Napa Valley Vintners, stresses O’Carroll.
“We want to show that London and the UK are delighted to host these kind of events and the California Wine Institute enable us to make as much as we can out of it,” he says, as well as providing the platform for “forward thinking wineries that are are thinking outside the box and doing new things”.
It’s why London remains such an important market for a producer like Silver Oak, says O’Carroll, as it knows it attracts the “very affluent, very engaged international visitor that want internationally recognised brands that confer their status and that they are making the right choices”.
Drilling deeper
Roberson Wine's own urban winery, London Cru, is the ideal setting for its producers to hold tastings and masterclasses for trade and consumers
All of which re-inforces and re-energises Roberson that it is following the right strategy putting so much focus and attention on Californian wines.
It’s why, says Young, Roberson so is committed to “drilling deeper and getting deeper” into California. That is how it is going to continue to get and grow new listings for its Californian producers wines in key restaurants and bars around the UK.
O’Carroll says its experience at Silver Oak shows Californian wines priced above £20 a bottle have remained resilient thanks to a strong, loyal customer base.
“At that higher price point you can get that loyal consumer that is still staying loyal to what they know and what they like and what they trust,” he claims. “That’s not so say it’s not hard, it’s just a different market.”
Yes, the market conditions are tough, adds Young, but it means it is even more important that Roberson lays the foundations and builds its distribution for its Californian wines, listing by listing, so that when the wider wine market bounces back it is in the best position possible to benefit.
* You can find out more about Roberson Wine here.
* You can find out more about California Wines here. California Wines are a commercial partner to The Buyer.
* You can find out more about Silver Oak here.
