XChateau Wine Podcast

Robert Vernick, Peter Yeung
  • 4.9 (105)
  • FOOD
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A podcast delivering wine perspectives ex-chateau. Insights, analysis, and perspectives on news and trends in the wine industry beyond winemaking, such as marketing, finance, and consumer trends. From noted wine blogger Robert Vernick (@wineterroir) and leading wine business consultant and author of Luxury Wine Marketing Peter Yeung (@winebizguy), this podcast navigates the business of wine with unique perspectives and insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 2H AGO

    Texture and Complexity for Asian Food & Wine w/ Sunny Liao & Philippe Venghiattis, Vinus Club

    If as many Asians drank wine as the average American, we’d have ~100,000 more wine drinkers.  And if Asian restaurants had wine lists at the average rate, we’d have ~5,000 more restaurants with wine lists.  This is one of the foundations of the Asian Wine Association of America (“AWAA”), whose mission includes bringing wine to Asian cultures, of which food is central.  Part of bridging this divide is exploring Asian food and wine pairing.  One of AWAA’s board members, Sunny Liao, Co-founder and CEO, and Philippe Venghiattis, Operations Manager of Vinus Club, delve into their extensive experience pairing wine with Asian foods.  Detailed Show Notes:  Sunny’s background: exposed to wine from 6, wine educator with Lady Penguin in China, Wine MBA, wine consultant for restaurants, board member of AWAA Philippe’s background: exposed to wine from 3, worked in wine auctions, then went to UC Davis and is a vineyard manager and winemaker as well as operations for Vinus Club Vinus Club is a wine club focused on introducing wine to Asian consumers, including a wine dinner series Asian food: texture is a big focus, meals often have a diverse assortment of food at once, often need more than 1 wine to pair Wine w/ at least 5-6 years of age are more accessible to a wider array of flavors and spice vs the pure fruit of young wines, more complexity helps for pairing Spicy foods work well w/ wines w/ a denser mid-palate that buffer the alcohol Philippe’s first challenge with Asian food and wine was at UC Davis with spicy hot pot Eastern palates tend to be more sensitive to acid and more into texture (e.g. - the texture of Petite Sirah attractive to Eastern palates) Pairing suggestions Aged Alsatian whites (15-20 years old) work well, they have texture, complexity, and mid-palate to buffer the spiceSmargad Riesling w/ a few years of age pairs well w/ Singaporean foodBraised duck and BaroloFlor de Muga Blanco’s aging process adds textureOrange and volcanic wines work for younger winesChampagne w/ a large amount of reserve wineJura wines a natural fit for a lot of categoriesNicolas Joly’s Coulee de Serrant w/ ~15 years of age often pairs well, but also shows a lot of variationHardest pairings:  Korean food; often has a hint of sweetness, hard to balance w/ wineIndian cuisine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    45 min

  2. FEB 3

    Modernizing Wine Collecting Productivity w/ Eric LeVine, CellarTracker

    With ~1M registered users, CellarTracker (“CT”) is one of the core consumer apps for wine lovers.  When Eric LeVine, Founder & CEO of CT, was last on XChateau in late 2021, they had just taken on investment to expand the business.  Eric gives us a rundown of what has happened since, like launching a new mobile app and adding AI features, as well as what is coming down the pipe.   Detailed Show Notes:  CT now at 1M registered users, with monthly active users +40-50% since 2021 Team has grown from ~10 employees during Covid to ~25Launched new mobile app 1.5 years ago (2023) ~10k reviews in Apple App Store / Google Play with a 4.9* ratingMore modern, visualFor subscribers: enhanced drinking windows, tasting notes, AI features (chatbot for wines you like, pairings, etc…)3x users registering on monthly basis vs 2021Continue to support old app to be more customer centric and work out bugs in the new appImproved data analytics; overhauled drinking windows, valuation of wines, “what’s poppin” identifying when people are opening wines Winery analytics: trialed with a couple wineries No obvious product market fitWineries interested in what other wineries were in cellars with theirsOne CA winery had 40% of their mailing list on CTHistorically did no marketing Doing more social media, email engagementSome paid search, App Store optimization is the biggest driverGet feedback on what improve with Frill, users can vote on improvements needed and pair it with product usage and usage flows New features on the horizon Starting in-app notificationsDeveloping research tool to identify what wines to buy and how much to pay (aggregates price data from reports and ~50% of users report price paid)Making AI embedded natively in the applicationAdd via receipt feature automatically adds (using AI) wines to cellar if you email add@cellartracker.com Product pricingWas early adopter of “freemium” modelPeople were confused by historic “voluntary payment,” only 1/1000 users could say what features are paidAdded more value to paying users (e.g. - drinking windows, AI features; including some things that used to be free), doubled user pay rateSuggesting what to pay is more hidden nowCan get an annual subscription on website, monthly on Apple App Store w/ 2 week free trial (Apple takes a cut and must cancel through Apple)Consumer trends People looking for values (e.g. - they ask “what’s a cheaper version of x?”) and diversity of winesNot seeing a lot of changes in user patterns (e.g. - consumption) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    39 min

  3. JAN 20

    Leading with Vision w/ Arnaud Weyrich & Xavier Barlier, Roederer Estate

    After 40 years, Roederer Estate, the Californian arm of Champagne Louis Roederer has really started to hit its stride.  Arnaud Weyrich, SVP and Winemaker of Roederer Estate and Xavier Barlier, CMO of MMD USA, discuss its history, trajectory, and how Roederer Estate continues to create more reasons to believe in the brand and the wines.  This belief is grounded in a vision to make wines that look and taste like Champagne, but with Californian roots.  Detailed Show Notes:  Arnaud’s background: interned at Roederer Estate (“RE”) in 1993, returned to winemaking team in 2000 Xavier’s background: Moet Hennessy, Renault, Disney, then Roederer Marketing & Communications Roederer Estate in context Louis Roederer founded in 1776, began exporting to US in 1860-70’s1980s - acquired Anderson Valley vineyards and built Roederer Estate wineryMaison Marques & Domaines (“MMD”) founded 1987 for launch of 1st vintage of RE and distribution of Louis RoedererRE founded because during 1980s, not enough Champagne made to supply growing US market and land was cheaper than France; could also do the estate model, which was difficult in ChampagneAnderson Valley had the right weather, track record of other quality, local wines (Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer), and inexpensive land (was known for apple orchards)RE production 1st harvest 1985 (80s challenged by legal problems for wine w/ sulfite content)Late 80s-early 90s - 40-45k cases Mid-90’s-2000 - ~80k cases (bolstered by French paradox, internet boom, young chefs, and “sommelier” becoming an English word)2025 - ~100k casesLimited by estate model, remote part of CA (tries to attract talent by providing subsidized housing for 90% of staff, invested $3M over last 10 years)CA sparkling history Pioneers supported each other (e.g. - Schramsberg, Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse)Downturn in market (1987 stock market crash, 1989 phylloxera hit vineyards)Market reaction positive, particularly after Schramberg wine served by President Nixon in China at the 1972 “Toast to Peace”RE launch pricing Champagne was priced $10/bottle in 1980’s, created glass ceiling for CA sparklingRE priced $2-5 below ChampagneRE always wanted to look and taste like Champagne (used same varieties, techniques, including reserve wine)Accolades helped establish a “reason to believe” for consumers RE awarded Wine Spectator Top 100 12x since 1998 (#5 in 2019, #20 in 2024)Roederer philosophy to do “as little marketing as possible”2 types of marketing: 1) consumer focused, doing focus groups and market studies; 2) invisible marketing (e.g. - Steve Jobs), start w/ vision and dream (i.e. - be storytellers)RE is more product driven, not market driven; winemaking makes the wine, marketing tells the storyKeeping the brand fresh after 40 years Continue adding reasons to believe for REAs more is learnt about estate, launching new wines - Rose, L’ermitage (vintage, 1989), L’ermitage Rose (1999), Single Vineyards (2020)Single vineyards stem from 600 acres / 100 lots of wine every year; like grower wines in Champagne; wine geeks and sommeliers love it; intimate launch (mostly DTC, some on-premise to create buzz and interest)Create a community (e.g. - Arnaud often in market for tastings), turn consumers into clients and then into fans that tell the brand story to othersPrice of NV Brut has increased from ~$23 to $30 from 2016-2025 Be honest, transparent w/ wholesalers (e.g. - labor cost, cost of farming, materials), and give time for changes to work through 3-tier systemNeed accolades and marketing to support the idea that the wine is worth the price (“price fluctuates, value endures”) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min

  4. JAN 6

    Managing Allocated Offerings w/ Peter Yeung & Byron Hoffman / Tyson Caly, Offset

    Guest hosts and a host as the guest in this episode.  Byron Hoffman and Tyson Caly, co-CEOs of Offset, a leading e-commerce platform for allocated offerings, interview host Peter Yeung about his new course, Allocated Wine Offerings: Best Practices. They get into the content of the course and also a wide range of topics related to allocated offerings.  Detailed Show Notes:  Co-hosts: Byron Hoffman, Tyson Caly, Co-CEOs of Offset, a wine e-commerce platform and brand studio Peter’s background: helped managed wineries (Realm Cellars, Kosta Browne, CIRQ Estate) which used Offset’s e-commerce platform, including managing the allocation systems and then consulting for other wineries; McKinsey; co-author of Luxury Wine Marketing, which has high-level strategy around allocations Allocated Wine Offering course More operational strategy for allocationsGoes through the entire offering processIncludes some benchmarks of key metrics Are allocations still relevant? Yes, for 1) scarcity or desired perceived scarcity and 2) large number of SKUs (hard to do a wine club) Allocated Offering definition: allocation (limit to purchase) + offering (distinct time frame to buy) One of the oldest allocated offerings - Vega Sicilia Other industries that use allocations: watches, cars, sneakers Uniqueness of wine allocations: price per bottle relatively low, number of bottles relatively high compared to other luxury goods, regulation of alcohol → has made wine allocation systems more advanced Timing of offerings clustered at key times (“spring” and “fall”), alternatives tend not to work as well Best practice examples: timing of offerings, wish setting strategy Supply-demand balance makes a difference in what strategies to use Allocation methods:  Offering types: first come, first serve; guaranteed allocation; order request; wine clubs; hybridsAllocation types: group based or individualNapa winery started first come, first serve and group based; winery got several 100 point scores, e-commerce system crashed, created buzz and scarcity, and customer service issues amongst old customers; system evolved to guaranteed allocation with individual allocations; led to 40% more customers buying Most important factor in allocations: creating value in allocations (waitlist, secondary market premium, loss of value if they don’t buy) Hybrid models: e.g. - Shafer sold high production wines in online store/club, Hillside Select was allocated; adding multiple models increases operational complexity AI automation for allocations: could do targeted marketing, might be able to create allocations, likely won’t create allocation rules Setting allocations is quick for first come first serve / group based allocations, more complex individual / guaranteed allocations take longer, but can be accelerated with templates and formulas Predicting and identifying potential good customers challenging because wine interest is not easy to determine and not correlated with wealth RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) a way to prioritize customers  Leveraging unique experiences to wine buying and building community can drive performance Managing waitlists (e.g. - Sine Qua Non sent a postcard / letter / email every offering to let people know they couldn’t buy wine; intro offerings can engage people right away; drip campaigns also work) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    54 min

  5. 12/23/2025

    US Wholesale Masterclass w/ Pete Przybylinski, The Duckhorn Portfolio (Part 2)

    Having helped grow Duckhorn from $5M to $500M in revenue and the sales team from 1 to >100 people, Pete Przbylinksi, former Chief Sales Officer of The Duckhorn Portfolio for nearly 30 years, has a deep understanding of managing US wholesale markets.  In part two, Pete discusses selling into on- and off-premise chains, pricing, marketing, and more. Detailed Show Notes:  Selling on-premise takes more time, need to present the wine, sell 1 case at a time, but more marketing value ROI skews towards off-premise if you ignore brand equity Calera / Kosta Browne targeted 65-70% on-premise, but hard to enforce Can’t tell distributor where to sell since they own the productIf retailer asks for it, some states legally require it be offeredSelling off-premise chains Rely very little on distributor, need to build relationship on your ownIf brand is small, can use agents/brokers or distributors to get initial discussionsTakes patience and perseverance, and need a compelling storyBig retailers don’t care about the winemaking process, they care that customers will buy the wineIn-store displays Retail product managers fight with each other for displaysIf displays don’t deliver value, they will lose floor space to othersConstellation research: most product pulled from shelf, not displays; displays act as powerful billboard for shoppersShelf placement Cold box similar to displays - limited real estate, hard to get in and get the desirable locationsNeed to communicate to wholesaler merchandising teams where you’d like to be (e.g. - x shelf next to y competitor); need to keep message simple Stick w/ message for ~2 years, takes a long time to see impact, needs patienceLarge on-premise accounts Look at ACV (volume) to identify top targetsSimilar to off-premise with limited real estate (wine list slots) and they need the wine to sellCan take fewer wines vs off-premise (2-4 max)Longer lead times, programs can be 1-2 years, need to be ready when windows openBTG great, but creates some pricing complicationsNeed to show up where buyers are, e.g. - major events like Pebble Beach or Aspen Food & WineDecoy’s success driven by off-premise Safeway in CA launched brand, then went to other regions and retailers and grew from thereDuckhorn brand equity gave Decoy a springboard to launch, but was able to stand alone and now most Decoy drinkers don’t know the tie to DuckhornPrice increases Get all the data you can (competitor, consumer behavior, demand elasticity)The nuances of consumers and differences in brand equity are impactfulAny decisions take time, may not affect retailers for ~120 days, could take 6-12 months before you see an impactDiscounting Key for the grocery channelDiscounting should be done after all other options exhaustedThe more it happens, customers think that’s the price of the product, erodes brand equityImpact of marketing on sales Duckhorn did very little traditional marketing, mostly sales support (spent ~1.5-2% of revenue)LVMH spends ~30% on marketing, CPG average is ~10% of revenueDid some testing of advertising in 1 market for 1 year and measured impact to determine if it should be expandedPartnerships w/ other products good for grocery channel, can often secure displaysAdvice for a tough wine market Set up production to align w/ honest and believable sales planLong-term impacts of cutting opex will hurt growing the top-line Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    35 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    US Wholesale Masterclass w/ Pete Przybylinski, The Duckhorn Portfolio (Part 1)

    Having helped grow Duckhorn from $5M to $500M in revenue and the sales team from 1 to >100 people, Pete Przbylinksi, former Chief Sales Officer of The Duckhorn Portfolio for nearly 30 years, has a deep understanding of managing US wholesale markets.  In this two-part episode, Pete dives into every aspect of managing a wholesale sales team, including incentive structures and collaborating with distributors. Detailed Show Notes:  Duckhorn went from 50k cases / ~$5M in revenue / 14-15 employees (1995) to ~$500M revenue (2024) The Duckhorn Portfolio Duck themed: Duckhorn Vineyards (1978), Decoy (2nd label originally), Paraduxx (1994), Goldeneye, Migration, CanvasbackAcquisitions: Calera (2017), Kosta Browne (2018), Sonoma Cutrer (2024)Keys to Duckhorn’s success Brand equity - focused on Merlot, which was hot in 1980s-1990s and catapulted wineryKey assets - #1 people, #2 brand equityThe French Paradox (1991) created big demand for red wineTable stakes are good scores, showing up in the market, hosting guestsSales team grew from 1 person to >100 (~85 in the field) No perfect way to calculate ROI for sales people1st method: too many cases & distributors to manage, needed more people2nd method: quantified expected incremental sales from more people (data was full of holes)Final method: managed to target of 8-10% sales opex / revenue, because a KPI for SLT and BoardSales team roles Regional Managers, over a series of states (50-60% of time working w/ distributors, the rest out in the market or internal analysis and reporting)District Managers, geographically concentrated, go into accounts you want to be inNational Accounts, on and off-premise; a challenge to determine which accounts are national vs regional, ended up doing it case by case and assigning accountsDistributor consolidation led to wineries needed to do the work they cannot do E.g. - identifying underrepresented accounts and coming up with action plan by regionIdentifying top salespeople Look at overall contribution margin for the regionShare of business in market (using IRI, distributor reports, account base)Gross Profit%, identifies amount of trade spend usedHow responsive they are, their handle on the market, their decision making#1 method: do they bring new ideas to the tableIncentivizing salespeople Bonuses must be meaningful (25-35% is meaningful), higher for higher levelsLook at contribution margin relative to budgetUsed a curve (90% budget - no bonus, above budget - scale increased, which helps end of year motivation)District Managers may have market specific goals (e.g. - increasing depletions, PODs for particular products) that are short term (3-6 months)Overall, incentives are difficult to manage, data can lag; make it objectiveRecognition is helpful, e.g. - unexpected gifts like a signed 3L from the CEODistributor collaboration best practices Show them a plan and explain why it makes sense (e.g. - buyers are lined up) and get mutual agreementKeep it simple, the info needs to be passed on to othersIdentify what you’re prepared to do in the marketplace (e.g. - market visits, funding BTG programs, incentives, etc…)Do monthly check-ins and more formal quarterly reviews to see progress against plan and to adjust tactics and strategiesOptimal size of sales territories Depends on # of distributors in region (e.g. - TN had 8 distributors = 8 days/mo of meetings)Try to align with target sales opex / revenue ratios (~8-12%) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  7. 11/25/2025

    Believing in your wine w/ Luisa Amorim, Mirabilis

    Building a new wine category is not something that is easy to plan.  It often is more like a startup, where belief in the product and market is just as critical as a defined strategy.  That's how Luisa Amorim, CEO of Amorim Family Estates, launched Mirabilis into being an iconic still white wine of the Douro Valley.  She outlines priority markets, views on scores and social media, and her belief in word of mouth marketing.   Detailed Show Notes:  Luisa’s background: hospitality, marketing; started in the family business at 23; spent 3 years in a global rotation program Amorim Family Estates 3 regions in Portugal (Douro, Dao, Alentejo)Each property has its own winery and team and does hospitality with a culture and food componentDivision of bigger Amorim cork company and family Mirabilis (part of Quinta Nova) Produced white wine from the beginning (2000)First an unoaked white, then a reserve, then Mirabilis (Latin for “marvelous”)White was not popular in Portugal at the time, production processes were not set up for whitesTook 2 years of experimentation, 1st vintage 2011 (2,000 bottles) Whites still have pricing barriers vs reds Douro white differentiation: close to Atlantic, schist soils, native grapes, and blending Introducing Douro whites: older people were harder to get on board, younger were more open to exploration Need to have belief in product and its viability over having a detailed marketing plan Marketing focus has been on teaching Portuguese wines (including culture and traditions) Geographic focus for Mirabilis Portugal 1st - need to be well respected in the home countrySwitzerland, Benelux (lots of Michelin Star restaurants)Not Scandinavia (targeting higher end of the market)Brazil (speak Portuguese)USA, Canada 5 people, based in Portugal, work internationally; travel 3-5x/year to each market While design and packaging, price positioning are important, the sales team and their relationships are critical in the wine industry Having a good wine is more important than press or reviews, people are paying less attention to reviews Consumers now look at peers and friends for recommendations and they need to trust the wine producer Social media - “should be doing more” - hiring younger people into marketing Wine marketing needs to capture the “soul” of the wine Make things simpler, less technical talkMore provocative, “sexy” vs saying the same thing all wineries say Has not done any paid advertising Relies on word of mouth (people taste, buy, and talk) and partnerships Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min

  8. 11/12/2025

    The Long View to a Global Icon w/ Lamberto Frescobaldi, Ornellaia

    With 30 generations in the wine business, the Frescobaldis have a long-term view of the wine business.  This mindset has enabled Ornellaia to become a global icon.  Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Frescobaldi, discusses how Ornellaia established and maintained its status as a global icon.  Detailed Show Notes:  Background: grew up in the Italian countryside, studied at UC Davis, learned the wines of the world working at Corti Bros in Sacramento Frescobaldi family 30 generations in wineNow in Tuscany, Northern Italy, Oregon, & SicilyFocused only on wine Ornellaia overview Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot basedBolgheri not historically known as a wine region, not good for SangioveseSassicaia, Orenellaia, & Masseto put Bolgheri on the mapFrom year 1, quality was consistently goodFounded by Antinoris, Mondavis invited Frescobaldis to partner (Feb 2002), when Mondavi sold to Constellation (2004), Frescobaldi bought out Ornellaia (April 1, 2005)Frescolbaldis have long-term view, have owned Castiglioni since 1052 Distribution is mostly allocated due to limited quantities Consistent in giving allocations to people who bought the year beforeGrew distribution globally to maintain scarcityFocused on top restaurants first, get in the right accounts 3rd party validation (wine critics, famous artists, top restaurants) key to building reputation Vendemmia d’Artista Great artists interpret the wineEach vintage given a name (e.g. - power, elegance)Partnership w/ the Guggenheim globally introduces wine to art collectorsArtist label on large formats and 1 bottle of each 6 bottle case Ornellaia Blanco 1st planting by Antinori was Sauvignon BlancCooler, north facing site, small amount producedAged same amount of time as red, not aromatic, but complexMonitors secondary market to help learn about wine’s age ability, if prices dropping, implies inability to age Not sure if people buy Ornellaia from seeing it on social media, but allows winery to connect directly to customers Negative macro market conditions and trade wars not impacting Ornellaia much, 3rd wine (Le Volte) more susceptible, but haven’t seen impact yet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    53 min
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4.9
out of 5
105 Ratings

About

A podcast delivering wine perspectives ex-chateau. Insights, analysis, and perspectives on news and trends in the wine industry beyond winemaking, such as marketing, finance, and consumer trends. From noted wine blogger Robert Vernick (@wineterroir) and leading wine business consultant and author of Luxury Wine Marketing Peter Yeung (@winebizguy), this podcast navigates the business of wine with unique perspectives and insights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Robert Vernick, Peter Yeung
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    212
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2020 - 2021 XChateau
  • Show Website
    XChateau Wine Podcast

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