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WEIMAX WINES
& SPIRITS
1178 Broadway
Burlingame CA 94010
SIR
PETER MICHAEL
Peter Michael Winery
12400 Ida Clayton Rd.
Calistoga
CA
94515-9507
June 30, 2006
Dear Sir Peter,
It has been with great pleasure we have been able to offer some of our
customers your various wines over the past two decades (since your first
vintage, actually). We were
sad to receive a photocopy of a letter written to Our Valued
Distributors dated
April 18, 2006
.
We are one of those beloved off premise wine shops you are banishing
from your realm in favor of selling your wines directly to consumers now
that the avenue for direct sales has fewer road blocks.
We've appreciated the tiny allocation we've received from your lovely
San Francisco
distributor, Chambers & Chambers.
We recall, when you first started, how our sales representative had
been obliged to restrict the sale of your lovely Chardonnay to us, even
though, as she said we were the only ones with a clue
about Peter Michael wines! The
on-sale license bottles were sold to a local sandwich shop that had an on
sale license.
As your wines continued to improve in quality, your reputation grew.
Prices have increased handsomely and today you're able to ask $70
a bottle for Chardonnay and more than $150 for a bottle of Les Pavots. Wine
consumers don't just fall out of bed one day and start paying these
lofty prices for bottles of wine. They
are educated by shops such as ours, led by the hand to good,
sensibly-priced wines and on up to more deluxe offerings.
You can certainly turn your back to these sorts of establishments,
but your ability to ask such premium prices is owed, at least in part,
because we work diligently to cultivate this market.
Your winery, like many other
California
vintners, seems to view wine merchants such as us as competitors.
Top European vintners, on the other hand, with long range
perspectives (both historically and to the future) view us as
ambassadors. We
have more contact with consumers and a longer history as a wine advisor
than do most of the sommeliers in the various premier restaurants
which you so highly favor. Further,
most top wineries in
Europe
do not sell their wines directly to consumers.
Our
little wine emporium has been in its present location since 1961.
As noted earlier in this letter, we've supported your winemaking
enterprise since its inception, far longer than most of the premier
restaurants listed on your web site. In
fact,
Aspen
s
Renaissance,
Boston
s
Ambrosia on
Huntington
,
Boulder's
Dandelion,
Cincinnati's
Maisonette and
Philadelphia's
Ciboulette are still listed on your web site today, even though some
closed more than 3 vintages ago!
The life span of a bottle of Peter Michael Chardonnay is far longer
than the life span of the typical fine dining establishment in this
country.
Happily, we don't rely on your wines for our livelihood.
We appreciated having the wines in the shop and know some customers
will be disappointed in not being able to purchase these here in the
future. There are, however,
many vintners around the planet, who do recognize the value we add to
their wines.
I must say, as well, I'm a bit disappointed you did not send your letter
directly to me. Rather, you
merely had your distributor make photocopies of your missive and hand them
out to those accounts that are now deemed unworthy of purchasing your
wines. I would think someone
who wears the title of Sir, might have the integrity to send out
such a letter addressed to the supporters whom you are now abandoning (at
least for the present time to quote your epistle: Hey honey, I want a
divorce, but if the new arrangement doesn't work out, I may return!).
You put your distributors in a difficult position, asking them to take the
slings and arrows from many customers upon whom they must count on
for success. These firms still
have to deal with their customers, even if they wont be selling them
any Peter Michael winery wines.
An article I've read recently dealing with the Codes of Chivalry
covers various attributes of one possessing the title of Sir.
Amongst these are Largesse, Humility, Faith,
Courage and Loyalty. One
might expect Sir Peter Michael to have a bit more of this last
feature, especially towards those who have supported his enterprise right
from the start.
Sincerely,
Gerald Weisl
Wine
Merchant |
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