Wow
I was just using KJ as an example.... whatever Chardonnay that the restaurant is selling by the glass would work too. There are a few tiers at everyday local restaurants for Chardonnay by the glass. Whether you believe it or not, KJ resides at the second tier in many restaurants in Virginia... it is almost an automatic purchase for restaurants that have little wine experience. Yellowtail seems to be at the lowest tier, and I have a very difficult time competing with their pricing and replacing that product on the list. Just for chuckles, because it is so unlikely.... if Horton could replace all the KJ in just the Northern VA market, we would probably have to open another winery. One of the best ways for people to discover our wines is to try them by the glass at a reasonable price ($6/glass maybe) then hopefully they enjoy the wine and visit our facility. If the wine is just sitting on the list (not by the glass), it is usually the ones who know our wines and have already enjoyed them that buy that bottle off the list.
As an added point... if the same restaurant has great success with our Chardonnay, they are more likely to take a risk with our other wines, such as Viognier, Tannat, Petit Manseng, Cabernet Franc.... etc....
I guess that has been our approach...
Neil Glaser
Horton Vineyards