Comments on: Positioning Ultra Premiums - OIV Day 7 http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/ A blog about starting and building a family winery in the Russian River Valley Fri, 25 Jul 2008 05:38:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Alex http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1222 Alex Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:39:46 +0000 http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1222 Not to spark a different kind of discussion, but if you are THAT wealthy, it is financially advantageous to have one company that always loses money because you get a tax break on the companies that you own that do make money. But that's not related to wine...*) Why on earth would anyone need business cards that cost $1 each? The people that can afford to buy cases of Hanzell wine wouldn't be impressed by something like that, and neither would the professional buyers or restaraunteurs who deal with much higher-end clients than Hanzell. Oh well...very interesting comentary, Josh! I wish I had the cash for a vanity brand. Not to spark a different kind of discussion, but if you are THAT wealthy, it is financially advantageous to have one company that always loses money because you get a tax break on the companies that you own that do make money. But that’s not related to wine…*)

Why on earth would anyone need business cards that cost $1 each? The people that can afford to buy cases of Hanzell wine wouldn’t be impressed by something like that, and neither would the professional buyers or restaraunteurs who deal with much higher-end clients than Hanzell. Oh well…very interesting comentary, Josh! I wish I had the cash for a vanity brand.

]]> By: Josh http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1221 Josh Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:34:29 +0000 http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1221 Alex, Yeah. I completely agree with you about where your dollars are going. I think the winery is run more as a vanity brand rather than a real business. The family that owns it is rich enough not to feel the pain when it doesn't make money, and so they are content with 52 years of no profitablity. The problem with giving "advice" to other luxury brands that basically says to "follow our lead" is that, well, a lot of us simply don't have that kind of cash! Tax shelter or no, its just a very strange, very aristocratic attitude to bring to a business venture. Alex,

Yeah. I completely agree with you about where your dollars are going. I think the winery is run more as a vanity brand rather than a real business. The family that owns it is rich enough not to feel the pain when it doesn’t make money, and so they are content with 52 years of no profitablity. The problem with giving “advice” to other luxury brands that basically says to “follow our lead” is that, well, a lot of us simply don’t have that kind of cash!

Tax shelter or no, its just a very strange, very aristocratic attitude to bring to a business venture.

]]> By: Alex http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1220 Alex Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:58:45 +0000 http://www.pinotblogger.com/2006/07/19/positioning-ultra-premiums-oiv-day-7/#comment-1220 Wow. As a potential consumer, it's one thing to buy a wine that costs $90/bottle because, well, the terroir and the grapes are valuable enough to warrant the cost because they create such good wine. But to pay $90/bottle so some dude at the winery can attend expensive dinners and have flyers printed up that are pretty well pointless...well...that's enough to make me want to avoid a winery altogether. A winery that has made no profit in 52 years of operation? I wonder how many other wineries are similarly unprofitable. Maybe it's a tax shelter for other companies that the owner runs that do make money? Wow. As a potential consumer, it’s one thing to buy a wine that costs $90/bottle because, well, the terroir and the grapes are valuable enough to warrant the cost because they create such good wine. But to pay $90/bottle so some dude at the winery can attend expensive dinners and have flyers printed up that are pretty well pointless…well…that’s enough to make me want to avoid a winery altogether.

A winery that has made no profit in 52 years of operation? I wonder how many other wineries are similarly unprofitable. Maybe it’s a tax shelter for other companies that the owner runs that do make money?

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