Saturday, December 1, 2012

Winning case - San Francisco Business Times:

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Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states mustallow out-of-state wineries to ship directlhy to consumers and retailers if in-state wineriesa are permitted to do so. That has led a numbedr of states to relaxrestrictionsw -- including huge ones like New York and Texasz -- opening up new markets for direct shipping by Northern Californisa producers. "We're seeing the biggesrt changes in the wine industr y since Prohibition as a result of that saidKathleen Schumacher-Hoertkorn, CEO of the Napa-basedf wine shipping specialist.
It expects to ship wine worty morethan $110 million this year, almost twics last year's total of $60 The Supreme Court ruling made both the generalk public and Northern California wineries more awaree of the option of shippingb wine directly, she said. "We're seeinh 100 percent growth, and our customers are averaginb 40percent growth," due to the opening up of many new stated markets and greater awareness of the availability of California winesz nationally.
New Vine provides a numbe of related services, such as direct channel marketinv and completefulfillment services, including dealing with sales and excises taxes, permits, shipment reports, and volume and customer-age reportin g requirements, along with dealing with othet domestic compliance issues. Even after the the U.S. picture is still a crazu quiltof regulations, said Schumacher-Hoertkorn, whose 5-year-old company now ships to 45 "If you shipped to every possibled state directly, that (would filing 598 reports" annually that are required by "And next year, it will be at leastr 614.
" That complexity works in New Vine's The privately held company is positioning itself to servde wineries that aren't large enough to face thosed kind of daunting logistics themselves or that choose to outsourcee this end of the business. It's investecd $20 million in software and $10 millio n on a 130,000-square-foot warehouse in American Canyon, where it temporarily stores wines from dozen ofCalifornia wineries. Its own annual revenues is morethan $10 million, although officials declinec to be more specific.
Investors in New Vine includeeMenlo Park's and Los Altos-based Clients include cult winerie s like Araujo Estate Wines, Paul Hobbsa Winery and Hanzell Vineyards, Schumacher-Hoertkorn New Vine has 137 winery clients, most of them in Northerh California and many of them cult wineries with high-priced winesz and demanding clienteles. Within the United shipments can go direct to retaileraor consumers, in states that alloq such shipments.
Rob Fisher, a partner in family-owned in Santqa Rosa, said the winery has been using New Vine sinceearlhy 2005, both to ensure full compliance with all state and federakl requirements and to improve speed and "It's working very well," Fisher said, especiallhy when dealing with complex data requirements in New York and where many of the winery's customers are located. "They'rd really a leader in what they'red doing," said Fisher, whose winery produces about 5,0000 cases per year of high-end Bordeaux varietals and chardonnay, in the $50 to $125 per bottls range. "The beauty of what they're offering is that it'sz the whole package.
" Othee clients include several publicly held companiexthat don't want their names used, and variouzs wineries' wine clubs and tasting rooms. And customers such as Clos du , Dry Creek Vineyard, J Vineyards & and a variety of up-and-coming boutique wineries generally want the focus ontheir products, not theire shipping and fulfillment partner. "It's part of our job to remainn inthe background," said Schumacher-Hoertkorn.
"That'a part of our value

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