Carl at the Wein-Bauer Distributor’s 2016 Trade Show
This past Monday afternoon I had the opportunity to participate in the Wein-Bauer Distributor’s 2016 Trade Show in Chicago. Wein-Bauer is my wine distributor in the Chicago-area market.
Wein-Bauer, Inc. (importers) and Wein-Bauer Distributing, Inc. run as two separate operations and were founded in 1993 by Manfred Bauer. Manfred has grown the company from its humble beginning to a mid-size wine and distilled beverages wholesaler.
At the Wein-Bauer 2016 Trade Show
The company now has representatives in various cities around the U.S. and is starting a European distribution company as well. The new company will be headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and the operations will be led by Chris Bauer, Manfred’s son. Chris leaves the U.S. next Wednesday for Vienna. Sounds like great fun to me.
The location of the Wein-Bauer event was at the City Winery on West Randolph Street in Chicago.
Monday’s event was held at the City Winery on West Randolph Street in Chicago. If you haven’t visited the winery you should do so. This was my first visit there and I was impressed with the decor and the staff. I didn’t get to taste any of their wine but it did look like a great place to hang out. There were 31 different distributors that participated in Monday’s event…each of us offering tastings of wine, spirits and/or beer from various places around the world such as the U.S., Europe, Mexico and South America.
We were all told to expect as many as 300 attendees throughout the day. In reality there were just over 100 people who attended the event. It was a rainy overcast day in Chicago, which we believe hindered the attendance.
The five wines that Carl produces and poured at the event.
Overall it was a good day for Tiedemann Wines. We poured the five wines we produce and, for the most part, received great reviews on the quality of our wines. The fun part of wine, as it should be, is that what we produce doesn’t fit everyone’s palate. That makes for interesting conversations. We picked up one new account for sure and five to six table visitors said they would strongly consider adding some of our wines to their wine lists or inventory (in the case of wine shops).
Another area of the Wein-Bauer 2016 Trade Show at the City Winery showcased beers and other beverages.
These possibilities are exciting and of course necessary to build our market penetration in Chicago. Chicago, like most markets, is price sensitive and difficult to grow business in. Thankfully with Manfred agreeing to take a chance on handling our wines, we are growing our sales in the city. I should mention that in today’s wine world, most distributors aren’t interested in handling a producer’s wines if they don’t produce at least 10,000 cases per year. They feel that under this production level the producers can’t bring positive pricing or brand identity which is so important to distributors.
Carl was at Table 1 for the event.
At Tiedemann Wines we produce between 350 and 550 cases of wine per year. With such low production it is very difficult to get representation by a major distributor. Wein-Bauer Distributing has been helpful in not only selling our wines but assisting us in building our brand. We appreciate their support.
As always, I appreciate your support of our wine blog and encourage you to share it with family and friends. If you care to share your comments on this blog posting or other topics, please do so in the comments section below.
Until next week,
Cheers
Please join us for these Upcoming Tiedemann On Wines Wine Club dinners:
August 25, Uptown Kitchen’s 9th Anniversary Wine Dinner, Uptown Kitchen in Granger, 6:30 p.m. Click here for full information on this amazing event.
October 13, Old World Versus New World Wines, Dinner at McCarthy’s on the Riverwalk in Elkhart, 6:30 p.m.
November 10, Spanish Wine Dinner at McCarthy’s on the Riverwalk in Elkhart, 6:30 p.m.
