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Send us Fan Mail Episode #17 shares with you, the listener, the events of the night I resigned as Vice President of Sales after over 4 years at William Hill Winery.  After the '21 Club Event in May 1987, it became clear that it was time for me to move on from William Hill Winery. In the Immortal words of Kenny Rogers, you have to know when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em.  For me it was time to fold them. The question then became: when? Well, it happened on the afternoon of April 12th, 1988, just before a Black-tie dinner William Hill Winery was hosting at Jasper's Restaurant in Boston. We had bought the restaurant for the evening and had reunited Lydia Shire and Jasper White to collaborate on a dinner once again after several years of them departing the Bostonian Hotel, where they had worked together.   That afternoon, in a streak of dashing bravery with no new career position on the horizon, I resigned just several hours before the dinner. Needless to say, Bill was a bit stunned. But we had a terrific dinner, and he was on top of his game as he dazzled and charmed the trade and press we had invited to share in a retrospective tasting of the most recent 5 vintages of William Hill Gold Label Cabernet Sauvignon.  Take a listen and let me know what you think. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail This Episode captures the moment and evening event when what became known as The White Burgundy Club was established. I called this new event the White Burgundy Club, and it ran for many sessions during my career. The first is detailed here and occurred on the evening of October 11, 2005, less than six months after recovering from a Heart Attack and 5-level bypass surgery, when I was clinically dead on the emergency room table.  I recaptured the fun and magic of this club a second time in October 2012 while I was at Jackson Family Wines, later in July 2021 during one of my Podcast Episodes with Virginia Vintners, and for several years after that. Nothing beats sharing a wonderful bottle of White Burgundy from France with folks who know the wine's value and appreciate the opportunity. Listen to the Episode or read the transcript below. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail In my career, I learned many valuable lessons about business and life that I share throughout my book, Fine Wine Confidential. In Episode #15, I recount a small sampling of the lessons that helped shape my successes, which were not necessarily apparent to me at the time. This Episode will give you a feel for what I experienced, and I will let my record speak for itself. My Tell-All Memoir, Fine Wine Confidential, is now published and available on Amazon and other online book sites.   https://www.amazon.com/Fine-Wine-Confidential-Fred-Reno/dp/1946637475/ref=sr_1_1  Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #14 is focused on the principle and importance of maintaining brand relevance. In my case, this episode takes you into a Sonoma-Cutrer board meeting back in 1988, at which I proposed what was thought to be a radical idea at the time: to take Chardonnay off the front of the label, à la Burgundy, France, and put the vineyard name in its place. I had only been VP of Sales & Marketing at Sonoma-Cutrer and on the senior management team for less than 90 days at the time.  It was a bold move; however, it was increasingly apparent that, with the popularity of Chardonnay during the 80's among the wine-drinking public at large, we ran the risk of being lumped into the sea of average Chardonnay that was beginning to appear in the market at lower prices. Take a listen Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #13 will take you into the room where Ken Starr was the guest speaker to a group of interested winery owners and personnel to discuss the next steps to take just 90 days after the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Granholm v Heald that opened up direct shipping of wine from the producer to the consumer in most of this country back in 2005. I was a participant at this luncheon, albeit reluctant at first, as I was six weeks into my recovery from a heart attack and a 5-level bypass surgery. But, I became active and found myself taking charge as the majority of the winery personnel in the room stayed on the sidelines when Ken Starr was explaining he believed that the Federal Trade Commission would be willing to go further to help knock down more of the anti-competitive barriers that wineries still faced as a vestige of the post-prohibition era. I stood up and started speaking when I should have stayed seated. But I couldn't let this opportunity to take on Franchise Laws pass us by. I ended up founding an organization I named Wine Free Trade Coalition, or W FTC if you will to establish a 501 (c6) non-profit organization to fund the effort.  Take a listen. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #12 takes you through the event that led up to what became a fitting tribute to Bill Bonetti and his retirement from winemaking, not just at Sonoma-Cutrer, where he was from the beginning back in 1981, but from his illustrious 42 years of winegrowing. I had always looked at Bill as the Leonardo da Vinci of the wine business. He was always tinkering, trying to find another way to perfect the process of winegrowing from the vineyard to the bottle. From the day I met Bill back in 1988 during the interview process for the position of VP of Sales & Marketing at Sonoma-Cutrer, I felt I could learn something more from him that would increase my appreciation for the process of winegrowing, and I can say I did. This episode will highlight how I turned a low-key Beer & Chips celebration on a Friday afternoon at the winery into a full-blown promotional event with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Group and the properties where they had recruited and put in charge of their Dining Rooms Michelin Star chefs from Europe back in 1991 and 1992. Take a listen or read the transcript below. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #11 details the testimony I gave at a joint hearing of the California State Senate & Assembly on the Direct Shipping of wine to consumers in November of 1997, when I was President & CEO of Henry Wine Group in California. Henry Wine Group was the only Wholesale Distributor of wine in the country at the time and to this day still, which spoke out and backed the right of the wine producers to ship directly throughout the country to  the consumer without going through the 3-tier system.  I was also a member of the Board of the Coalition for Free Trade (CFT) and later served as Vice-Chair from 1999 to 2001. CFT is the advocacy group that would successfully have a lawsuit go all the way up to the Supreme Court. In May of 2005, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the entity that we backed in this action. A significant event that changed the world of wine shipment, albeit with limitations that are still being fought today.  It was amusing to me in retrospect to be pitted against Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, i.e., WSWA, in this battle.  I believe you will enjoy this escapade. Take a listen or read the transcript below. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #8 is an insider's view of the Henry Wine Group Board Meeting in the fall of 2007, when I was President & CEO. While reviewing some sales data for several of our top-end California producers, I noticed a disturbing trend that alarmed me. When I opened the meeting, I said, "Gentlemen, I have noticed some significant slowing down of the sales for a number of our most expensive California wines, and I believe something is happening that we should be paying close attention to. My comments were dismissed mainly by the board, which was composed chiefly of Republican-leaning businessmen. Their response was to comment that the economy was doing fine, especially on Wall Street. I opened the next Board meeting in March of 2008 with the following comment. "Gentlemen, I wish I had been wrong back in September, but it appears my intuition was correct". Like good Republicans, they all looked at their shoes and would not look me straight in the eye. I explain in this snippet why the Wine Business is a Trailing Economic Indicator not a Leading Economic Indicator. Take a listen.  Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail In this Episode #7, I detail how I unwittingly jumped in and tried to make a significant change in the wine industry by trying to undo the Franchise Law protection that the alcoholic beverage wholesale distributors have in this country. These Laws are a vestige of the repeal of Prohibition and harm the wine producers in the most unfair way possible in well over half of the states in the country. I started a new organization on the heels of the Coalition for Free Trade's successful Supreme Court ruling that was issued on May 16, 2005, which allowed the direct shipment of wine from the producer to consumers throughout most of this country.  The new organization was aptly named Wine Fair Trade Coalition (WFTC), as the goal was to provide the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with a roadmap for them to investigate and help, as they did in their work that helped set a course for the CFT's successful fight. However, it turned out to be a fool's errand in the long run. Take a listen. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode #6 describes my initial encounter with the bureaucracy in the wine business. It was when I went to work at William Hill Winery back in 1984 and was introduced to the world of Franchise Laws.  Franchise Laws come in many shapes and sizes in the country, but essentially, what they are written to do is protect the alcoholic wholesaler distributors in this country. In the case I outline, it is in the state of Georgia, which has far and away the most protective and egregious law in the land. Literally, if a wine producer signs on with a Georgia distributor, that distributor now owns the rights to the brand for life. The only recourse a producer has is to withdraw from the market for three years or have their brand transferred to another distributor in the market, which may or may not be any better. Crazy stuff. I guess because Georgia was initially established as a Penal Colony, they like the thought of having the wine producer in leg irons, where they are the Judge and Jury. You are not going to believe what you are going to hear in this Episode. Take a listen. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail This Episode shares a firsthand account of some of my early wine-buying visits to top California wine producers in 1981 & 1982. It is just a small sample of what I encountered at a time when the early wine producers were just beginning to become well known on the East Coast, thanks to my and my best friend Jim Arseneault's efforts as we introduced them to our respective wine-loving consumer clients in Washington, D.C. I profile 3 wineries, Mayacamas Vineyards, Kistler, & La Crema Vinera. The latter is not to be confused with the wine producer known as La Crema today, which is owned by Jackson Family Wines. I know you will find this snippet informative and entertaining at the same time.  Listen below or read the transcript. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail In this snippet from my upcoming book, I share a story about my first time on the streets of New York, calling on accounts and selling William Hill wines in only the second week after I had taken the position as VP of Sales for the  Eastern Division at William Hill Winery. Some Division, I was a one-man show and responsible for half of the country east of the Mississippi.  In this episode, I detail my account call at the famous Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan. It would become even more infamous a year later when Paul (Big Paul) Castellano would be whacked sitting in his car outside of the restaurant in a Mob-related reputedly ordered by John Gotti. This account call posed an immediate challenge to both my instincts and sales ability. However, I put to the test what I believed based on my experience, and that was, most people buy wine based on the way it smells, not on how it tastes. Take a listen or read the transcript. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I share a story about one of the actions I took early in my career that change the course for me.  It was 1979 and I had just been hired 5 months before at a Retail Wine Merchant in Washington, DC. I was promoted by the owner of A & A Wine & Spirits, Harry Cook, to be the American Wine Department manager.  I wanted to test him right away to see if I had both the responsibility in this new position, along with most importantly the authority to order for purchase the wine I believed we needed to build our selection into one of the finest in the city. It was quite the test, and he passed. I believe you will enjoy this brief excerpt Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail Episode 2 provides a brief overview of what my book is about and my goal in writing it.  To sum it up quickly, let me say that I have been fortunate to have had many unique and challenging experiences in my 46-year wine career, and I want to share these with anyone who is interested and curious about what really happens behind the scenes in the wine industry from growing grapes, producing wine and then the obstacles that wine producers face in marketing, selling and the distribution of their wine through the bryzanine archacia distribution system that was set up in the aftermath of the repeal of Prohibition. The Wine Industry is a patchwork of laws that make it like selling wine in 50 different countries. There is nothing uniform about it. You will be left shaking your head once you have read my book and question why anyone would want to be in this industry. Unless of course you are one of the protected class, read Liquor & Wine Distributor. Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com

Send us Fan Mail The Fine Wine Confidential Book Podcast is a series of audio excerpts or snippets from my upcoming book, titled Fine Wine Confidential.   This new Podcast series will share insider information about what really happens behind the scenes in the Fine Wine business. Everything, from the up-close look at how marketing, sales, and pricing decisions are made to the sometimes crazy notions winery founders and owners have about who they are and why they have had success.  I will tell you from my experience that most of their success is a result not of their decisions but the recovery efforts by their staff or outside help to overcome the not-so-brilliant direction they were headed. You couple that with good timing and other market conditions that were not of their making, and that usually explains the success they enjoyed. I will lay it all out there for you to decide for yourself once you have heard the stories.     Thanks for being a listener to the Fine Wine Confidential Podcast. For more information go to www.finewineconfidential.com