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Commitment to Leadership in Competitive Collaboration: St. Supéry Rocks International #SauvBlanc Day

Sat, 06/23/2012 - 14:14 — rich
On June 21, 2012 (aka #SauvBlanc Day) I set up and manned a pouring table at St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery for the parts of the Pasternak Wine Imports portfolio which represent the varietal.  Loaded for bear, I was packing:

Joining me were more than 17 winemakers, including:

This was the second time that I've presented to the public with a group of winemakers shoulder-to-shoulder at St. Supéry in the house that the Skalli Family built.  Better than ever, the executive demonstration center had been remodeled and greatly improved in its' visual aesthetics as well as its' educational effectiveness. 

This unusual winery enterprise shared space with smaller wineries around a global varietal celebration.  St. Supéry understands and practices competitive collaboration in a leadership role as only a handful know how, understand why and are poised to leverage the experience into one part of the tactical implementation in an ongoing successful corporate strategy.  Leadership and participation in a varietal celebration day creates the most value when they work together to foster discussion that travel far, wide, and deep. The positive impact on brand recognition /mindshare in the aisles and shelves of the retail world are accompanied by easily measured increase in reputation and respect.  Those metrics will be mirrored by upticks in IRI Cash Register data. (ed. note, this is merely my interpretation of what is taking place, so any errors therein are strictly a product of my own doing, my own vine buzzing).

The air was ripe with the bouquet of a homecoming, and charged with the electricity of a crowd tuning in to the many expressions of the varietal (clones, terroirs, cultivation models, yeasts, pressing methods, fermentation styles, maturation schemas, tonelleries, blends, and winemaker personalities).  Those growers, makers and shakers who hold a stake in the varietal day game enhance their reputation by pulling together.  At the end of the day, everyone who knows why they're putting so much of themselves into it has created lots of value for their enterprise.

Lesley Keffer Russell, St. Supéry's director of sales and marketing, lent me prime space, ice buckets and stemware for the purpose of delighting and educating the public with the wines that I had been put in charge of to honor Sauvignon Blanc on this day.

I enjoyed meeting the continuous stream of tasters, of whom there numbered about 50 during the 90 minutes alloted for this pouring event.  Some of those checking in at my table are good friends, while most of the rest became new friends.  What is there that is as rewarding as helping visitors find a new favorite to add permanently to the supply chain in front of their cellar, their fridge, or their cooler?  That's why I aspire to become a tasting room associate. 

Sarah Elliman, co-founder of Cellar Pass, is looking for the one Sauvignon Blanc that she's going to promote to the top of her favorites list and share with her friends. 
She's intrigued by the complex aroma of the Les Domaines Barons De Rothschild Lafite Réserve Spéciale Bordeaux 2011.  Sarah likes the flavor profile complexity and clout of this 60 percent Semillon blend.

Brian Kropf, the managing editor of Mutineer Magazine, the
journal of the millennial lifestyle in wine country, is seen here on the prowl for quality, prestige, and value in the economy price range.  He brought a research colleague, Eduardo, who helped him to consider his attraction toward the Los Vascos 2011 Cañeten Valley,Colchagua Province, Chile

Michelle Mandro, Saint Helena-based independent wine educator favors Le Jaja de Jau Ben 2010 for the unique aroma in this Côtes de Gascogne terroir.  It's worlds apart from Bordeaux.  Formerly the Sales and Marketing Manager at O'Shaughnessy Estate Winery, Michelle is looking for greater challenges.  Perhaps drinking more of Le Jaja de Jau Ben will inspire her or, at least, make the journey that much lovelier.


Jenna Bergna, PR Coordinator, St. Supéry, is warming up to the Le Jaja de Jau Ben which I'm putting into her stemware.  She's finding this wine from Côtes de Gascogne more compelling in its' distinctness than any other wine on my table, but she is also feeling something seductive about the Goldwater 2010.  We agree with each other that the Wairau Valley of Marlborough is unquestionably on the rise, an opinion which is re-inforced elsewhere in the room by other wines from that district.

Mark Buckley, Marketing Coordinator, Hahn Family Wines, has a keen palates for the Central Coast and many the other California AVAs which are south of Napa.  He was attracted to the Morro Bay - Split Oak Estates2009 Sur Lie, yet very open-minded toward the French and Chilean wines. Mr. Buckley also shot many of the photos that appear in this report.

When time runs out, I enjoy a few minutes wrapping up collective impressions with (from left to right) Nayeli
Burgueno-Acevedo (Marketing Coordinator, St. Supéry), Jenna Bergna, Mark Buckley, and Jackie Loertcher (Wine Educator, B Cellars).

We treasure the opinions that we have garnered by meeting and tasting with so many people face-to-face, and value that experience more so as we combine it with interpretive online analytics and visualization.  I bid my colleagues a good evening, and head to ToutSuite Social Media in Napa to attend the production of a global livestream discussion surrounding #SauvBlanc Day.

The discussion panel of five persons interacted with call-in video-enabled members of the global audience.  Being a member of the in-studio audience at ToutSuite is a special form of entertainment, for two reasons:

  • the special content cannot be found elsewhere.
  • the potables are excellent and frequently rare.

The panel consisted of vintners who grow and/or make Sauvignon Blanc (from left to right) Boris, Wayne Dalton, Pam Starr, and Ray Coursen, as well as moderator Didier Loustau (who was not on camera at this moment). Here's how it played out:

Whitney Post  (WSET and Sommelier), a  wine consultant and assistant wine buyer at Jacob Liquor Exchange in Wichita, Kansas was asked by Pam Starr what she was drinking for #SauvBlanc Day.  Whitney answered:  "Greywacke!"  A roar of laughter echoed through the studio, as we had just passed one of those around.  Whitney added that Greywacke was the best selling Sauvignon Blanc brand from New Zealand in her practice at the moment, though it is the lower-priced Chileans that beat any other region in her market place.  She says that the best selling California SB is the Ferrari-Carano Fume.  Her personal favorite is the Cliff Lede. 

Two days after the fact, the initial rush of global interaction has run through its' initial phases, and everyone is ready to replay with the Moritz-Stefaner application:



For better or for worse, Moritz-Stefaner selects what it determines are the top 200 tweets, and then throws it all away after eight days.  It's time to dig in and find the best tweets and conversations:


Here's @CellarPass (Sarah Elliman) picked up by @TampaWineWoman, and RT'd by @LeslieSB (Leslie Sbrocco), whose broadcast is picked up in New Zealand by one of the wineries presented at St. Supéry, @NautilusEstate (Katy Prescott). That's deep.

A well-crafted tasting tweet about @PineRidge from @WineTom (Tom Cutts) is retweeted by @JFouts (Janet Fouts)

A pair of ThirstyGirls @JFouts and @SenoritaVino (who has a lot to say about World Sauvignon Blanc Day on her blog, Latina Wine Blogger) http://latinawineblogger.com/2012/06/21/today-is-world-sauvignon-blanc-day/ have a happy discussion about food pairings with St. Supéry Dollarhide.