plonk’s posterous

The trials and tribulations of creating a wine label 
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January 22, 2009

Plonk Wine - looking for a Distributor in Colorado

It's approaching the end of January and it's time to try and expand distribution of plonk wines outside of Montana and Wyoming.  So, I decided to contact Blair Taylor of Enotec Imports in Denver.  For a young man, Mr. Taylor is one of the original fine wine importers in the States and his restaurant, Barolo Grill, is one of the finest in Denver.  I worked with Blair as a rep for his wines when I worked for a Distributor called Grand Vin.  I later sold his wines in my wine bar in Bozeman.  He's a true pro and a true gentleman.  He's why people love the wine business.
 
Anyway, I contacted Blair about Distribution in Denver and he suggested that I contact Kate Jankowski of Grand Vin.  I used to work with Kate and I'm hoping she remembers me.  I am going to try to set up a meeting and tasting sometime in late February.  I know, as my friend Kurt Winegardner says, if you want to present your wine to a Distributor, you'd better be holding it in your hand.  That means, don't just send the wine in a box and hope for the best.  They get thousands of wines for samples.  It's the story and the personality that will make the difference - at least that's what I'm hoping.  Stay tuned.

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Filed under  //   Barolo Grill   Blair Taylor   Enotec Imports   Grand Vin   Kate Jankowski   plonk   plonk wine   wine  

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January 2, 2009

Plonk Wine and the Vino per tutti wine club

Plonk wine has made its first move in to the wine club world.  A beautiful downtown Bozeman wine shop called Vino per tutti has graciously decided to feature Plonk wine for their January wine club.  The owner of the shop, Tim Christiansen, is very hands on in choosing his wines and they are selected based on his experienced palate and not on magazine scores or ratings.  If you see his store or check out his website, it's apparent that this is someone who is passionate about wine and loves to share that passion with others.
 
For a new wine label, being a part of a wine club is such an important step.  It shows that someone, other than me, is willing to showcase this wine to his or her most valued clients.
 
Now, I really have to finish the plonk.com website.
 
Cheers
 
MW
 
 

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Filed under  //   plonk   plonk wine  

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December 29, 2008

Plonk wine pics for the plonk.com website

Just wanted to share the good fortune in having my future wife, Jane Crites, be an amazing artist.  We just purchased adobe illustrator CS4 and a Wacom Graphics tablet so that she could learn how to create original images for the plonk.com website.  She has just gotten started but is already creating some great stuff.  Here are 4 wine bottles and a drawing of me.  I think at my age, drawings of me look a lot better than real life pictures so I love this idea. 
 
Anyone have any favorites they would like to vote on?

         
Click here to download:
Plonk_wine_pics_for_the_plonk..zip (303 KB)

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Filed under  //   Jane Crites   plonk   plonk art   plonk wine   plonk.com   wine  

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December 23, 2008

Social Media and Wine

So, as I now enter what is more or less the 3rd month of the launch of my wine label 'plonk' I've realized that I'm really enjoying writing about the progression of the wine.  My question is, can Social Media alone create a nationally recognized wine brand?  I would love some feedback or ideas about this.

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Filed under  //   plonk   plonk wine   social media   wine  

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December 11, 2008

Plonk loves the Good Food Store

Just had a great tasting with Jerod Peitsmeyer, the wine buyer of the Good Food Store. The place rocks and so does Jerod. It looks like they are going to stack it for the holidays.
 
My fingers are crossed.
 
MW
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel

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Filed under  //   Jerod Peitsmeyer   plonk   plonk wine  

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December 6, 2008

Wine Library TV and Plonk

Well, I just received an e-mail from Gary V from Wine Library TV.  I met him at Blog World Expo in Las Vegas and I told him about starting this wine label.  He seemed genuinely interested and asked me to send him some wine.  He said that he would put it on his show. 

I sent him the wine as well as an email and he was somehow able to respond within 1 day.  The guy must get thousands of e-mails a day so I was humbled at his quick response.  I have my fingers crossed that my wine will get a stellar review from Mr Vaynerchuk.  It would make my year and make finding distributors for my wine much easier.

I hope the Jets win the night before he decides to review 'plonk'.  

Cheers

MW

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Filed under  //   Gary V   plonk   Vaynerchuk   Wine Library TV  

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November 13, 2008

The plonk backdrop - to be filled in later

The idea to create this blog that follows the growth of the wine label "plonk" is something I wish I would have started about 4 years ago.  There are some great stories involving conversations with well known wine makers, lawsuits with former business partners, ins and outs of dealing with the United States Patent and Trademark Organization, Design firms for labels, State and Federal bureaucracy for working in the wine biz.  Here is a quick article about the bar posted in our local newspaper back in 2004

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2004/02/15/news/plonkbzbigs.txt

Toward the end of the article you can start to envision the kind of "partner" I would be dealing with later.

I will do my best to interweave these stories in to this blog as it unravels from this point.  Otherwise, I'll just have to just create a separate blog about that portion of the wine world.

Anyway, the story of "plonk" is in the infancy stage of finally being approved for me to ship it to my first distributor in Bozeman, Montana - Winegardner's Wines.  Why Montana?  Because that's where I live.  The wine is from Paso Robles, California and it's a delicious Syrah. 

It was finally shipped in to the Distributor about 1 week ago.  Here is the first pic of the first palette.

 Stay tuned

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Filed under  //   bozeman   plonk   wine  

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