E-mail of the Week.
Boy do we get letters!!
Most of the comments that come into FERMENTATION are just that…comments in the comment section. Sometimes, however, we get e-mail that speak to issues covered n this blog. And I got a doosy yesterday in response to our post about the new Wine Shipping & Sales rules signed into law yesterday in Arizona.
I can’t figure why the anonymous e-mailer was 1) anonymous and 2) didn’t just post it in the comments section. So, with a tad of editing, I am re-publishing it below:
"Tom, you are nothing but an ignorant shill for California wineries and don’t know F*ck (edit) all about the wine business. You sit there in your cozy little Glen Ellen office and deliver sh*t (edit) about Arizona’s three tier system with no idea what it’s all about.
Without distributors your state’s crappy wines would never see the light of day in our state. Now you think the three tier system should be scrapped. What would your prissy a** winemakers do without us?
It’s all about money to you guys. You want all the profit for yourself so you can buy more F*cking (edit) BMWs. But who cares about the people doing all the work: the distributor.
Keep your sh*t (edit) eating mouth shut for once and your p*ss (edit) stained fingers off the keyboard."
Don’t you love getting e-mail!! I do.
Let me just confirm a few things. I’m not merely a "shill" for the CA wine industry…I’m a huge supporter of it and want to see it expand. Also, I love the work distributors do and recognize the necessity of having distributors everywhere. I just don’t think it’s appropriate that the state mandate their use as though they are some divine entity we ought to all be forced to bow down to if we want to sell wine.
As for our prissy winemakers, I’d like to introduce you to Gary Eberle sometime.
Keep those emails coming!!!
“It’s all about money to you guys.”
And we all know that distributors are donating their time and efforts simply for the love of the game….
Vini..
Yea!! Then there’s that. I simply thought it best to stop myself instead of parsing the whole thing.
Wow. He seems a little upset. Has anyone had the wine from AZ before? I’ve never had, but by the sound of it, it should really kick our a$$’s here in California … …
He sounds angry. Someone give that man a glass of wine.
“But who cares about the people doing all the work: the distributor.”
I’d love to be able to lighten your workload Anonymous! Thats why I’m so excited about the new legislation.
Classy guy, too. Anonymous and with colorful language. He sounds like a sales guy behind plan and on a performance plan po’d at the industry or slighted by a winemaker in his geo.
Obviously not an MBA, or he would have a better understanding that in free market economics where a market finds a customer, distributors are really like taking a sandwich to a picnic.
Hi Tom! I just found your blog today. I’m adding it to my blog roll with the description “Ca. Winery Shill” so people won’t be misled when they click through!
Some of us bloggers have a term for email like this: Monkey Mail.
Of course, this Monkey didn’t bother to demonstrate that *he* knows anything about the wine business.
Speaking from personal experience, the AZ distributors are doing a F*cking awesome job delivering your state’s prissy a** winemaker’s sh*t to consumers there, because that’s about all you can find in most AZ eateries.
In short, I get the idea that it ain’t so hard to do.
Maybe Mr. Monkey Mail should try flogging some of Arizona’s wines, because they seem to be conspicuously absent on lists there. Then he’d really have have something to p*ss and moan about.
If a consumer from AZ visits my winery and decides to join my wine club, I win and my AZ distributor also wins. My customer will share my wine with their AZ friends, who will quite possibly enjoy it, and quite possibly recognize it or even seek it out at local stores and restaurants. I value my AZ distributor – they do a great job of selling my wine. Direct shipping gives me an additional opportunity to create interest and pull through the distribution channel. Isn’t this a f*cking no-brainer? – j
As a winery from a neighboring state, New Mexico (one of our 50 is missing?) I have tried numerous times to get AZ distributors to carry wines. It seems just getting them to call you back is a real chore. Needless to say that there are more than just pr***y A** CA winemakers that want distrubiton. What about the rest of the U.S? And yes if you can get a good distributor they can be very helpful. One very large winery in N.M. has to distribute it’s own wines as it has had disimal failures with working with distributors in the past. Now they are kicking the F*** sh$# out of some of the distributors here.
P.S.
I drive a 1994 Plymouth Voyager with 175,000 miles on it.
Yes, you should introduce him to Gary! I got an out-loud chuckle at the vision of this inebriated saleswimp waterboy meeting a former Penn State linebaker. (Unfortunately, Gary would be too much of a gentleman to tackle him.)
Once again we see the salutary effects of the monopolistic mind set. As competition begins to erode state protectionism, these spoiled brats will end up as what… members of some government union I suppose… Tom too
Actually, instead of gentle giant Gary E, it’s too bad “Curmy” isn’t still with us. Jerry Mead would have had us all laughing, bewitched by his wicked prose, with Mr. Sweetness ending up cowering in the corner.
I just checked my a** in the mirror. It’s not prissy. And looking out in the parking lot I see my 1987 Jeep Wagoneer is still there, waiting for the inevitable f*cking BMW.
Sorry for the late rplay on this one. I’ve been out of town and no internet access (the horror!).
To paraphrase Kurt Vonegut, using profanity gives people a simple excuse to not listen to you.
It’s a shame this individual chose to post anonymously and use that language/attitude instead of engaging in a constructive conversation.
I’d honestly enjoy hearing a more coherent take on his position.
Maybe he’ll write another letter explaining that to you. In the meantime, I’m going to open a bottle that I bought directly from a favourite vineyard.
I just wanted an excuse to use expletives.