We’re Celebrating the Launch of Our “Shiner” Brand

When it comes to developing new revenue streams for Carpe Vino, Drew and I were about tapped.  The business school mantra is “grow or die,” and we’ve worried about that for a lot of reasons:  The restaurant is maxed out in terms of seating; the Wine Club is still growing nicely but not at the heady rates of a few years ago (we’re just about ready to hit 1,000); we’ve run out of room to add more sales staff; and our e-store is performing optimally.  So how do we continue to grow our little enterprise in Old Town Auburn?

Easy answer—short answer—is launch our own wine brand!

And that’s what we’ve done this month by introducing Shiner Wine Company and our first wine is a 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (Oak Knoll).  It sells right now at an established winery for $48 per bottle.  We’re pricing it at $35 retail; $30 for Wine Club members.  Buy six or more bottles and the price is $25 each. . .an astounding value for a wine of this quality.

By way of explanation, “Shiner” is the wine industry term for a finished bottle of wine that comprises the bottle, juice, cork and capsule. . .everything but a label.  We’re tapping into our extensive wine contacts across the West that we’ve developed over the last decade, and we’re aggressively seeking out the best wines we can find for our new label.

We’ve developed a win-win business model where we seek out winemakers with great wines (in partnership with a bonded producer), and then offer significant discounts to our customers designed to move the product quickly.  We will reveal vintage and appellation but not specific vineyard or winemaker.  Drew and I have an established reputation for honesty and delivering value, so we anticipate buyers will trust us and purchase enthusiastically.

That’s what has happened with our first Shiner release.  We blew through the first pallet (56 cases) in just a few days and we have another pallet on order.  We have our Shiner Cab open for tasting, so come in any time and try it yourself.

Moving forward, we’re on the hunt for new wines to showcase, so stay tuned.  For the full story on Shiner Wines, check out our website.