Seth & Audrey Kitzke (@UsDoingWine) grow and make Upsidedown Wines, Kitzke Cellars, and The Devil is a Liar based in Richland, Washington.

About The Podcast Episode

To kick us off with the first episode of the relaunch of the Cru wine industry podcast, I sat down with Washington State’s dynamic duo behind Upsidedown Wine, Kitzke Cellars, and The Devil is a Liar, Seth and Audrey Kitzke.

I’m so excited to be back with the first podcast episode in a few years. I’m looking forward to sharing some wonderful conversations with the legends and disruptors of the wine industry in the coming weeks and months. So you’ll want to be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcasting app and leave a review!

You can find full show notes at CruPodcast.com

About Seth & Audrey Kitzke

Seth and Audrey reside in Richland, Washington where they grow and make wine for Upsidedown Wine, The Devil is a Liar, and their family label, Kitzke Cellars. Seth grew up planting the vineyard with his dad, not knowing that one day he would be making the wine. He had a career shift in 2014 and went back to school to study Enology at the Northwest Wine Academy in Seattle.

He then went on to work with Charles Smith, Brennon Leighton, Brian Carter, and Charlie Hoppes before moving back to Eastern Washington to take over winemaking for Kitzke Cellars and starting their labels. Seth & Audrey have immense respect for the land and the grapes that they grow. Striving to produce the very best fruit while staying true to the region’s unique terroir.

They have a two-year-old daughter, Sage, whose curiosity usually leads her into the vineyard and winery with Mom and Dad.

Our Podcast Partner

Before we get into the episode, I would be remiss to tell you about our presenting podcast partner, Monday Wine.

Monday Wine helps wineries grow their direct-to-consumer sales with digital marketing strategies and tactics that actually work. They'll save you time, headaches, and money while growing your mailing list, wine club, and DTC revenue. If you own or are responsible for the sales and marketing of a winery and growing your DTC sales has been a struggle, click the link in the show description or visit their website at Monday.Wine to apply for their services.

Our Affiliate Partner

This episode of Cru is also brought to you in affiliation with Notion.

If you’re anything like me, you probably have anywhere from 15-20 different browser tabs open at one time, too many Excel sheets, and multiple projects you’re trying to manage. To keep your head above water you’re probably using too many tools. And things are a little, maybe a lot, chaotic, I would venture to guess. You can silently nod your head in agreement.

With Notion, all your work can be done in one place. You can easily collaborate with team members at the same time or across various teams and time zones. I use Notion for managing and publishing this entire podcast. I also use it in my marketing agency to manage my daily operations and everything for my clients. It’s a seamless experience between desktop and mobile. From managing a social media content calendar to planning and forecasting an entire wine release, I use Notion to manage it all. Get started with Notion for free today!

Welcome to Cru! I'm your host, Chappy Cottrell, and I'm here to take you on an exhilarating journey through the captivating world of wine. As an award-winning wine marketer, podcaster, sommelier, and wine director, I've dedicated my life to uncovering the hidden gems of the industry.

Episodes can be listened to on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or CruPodcast.com

Every Monday, we dive deep into the essence of wine, bringing you exclusive interviews with the true legends and fearless disruptors who are shaping the future of this remarkable industry. Get ready for a weekly rendezvous with the most intriguing minds in the wine business, as they unveil their profound thoughts, share their incredible experiences, and provide invaluable insights.

Whether you're a seasoned sommelier, an aspiring business owner, a master winemaker with years of expertise, or someone embarking on their very first steps in the industry, this podcast is an absolute must-listen. I guarantee that you won't want to miss a single episode!

Imagine having the brightest stars in the wine cosmos whispering their secrets and wisdom directly into your eager ears. With Cru, you'll gain unparalleled access to the minds behind the labels and business, their stories interlaced with passion, ambition, and a sheer love for wine.

But let me share a little secret about Cru's humble beginnings. Back in 2016, Cru started as my personal quest to learn from the industry's most revered figures, asking them the burning questions that fueled my curiosity about starting and operating a wine business. After a brief hiatus, Cru has returned with a renewed purpose: to continue seeking answers to those questions, exploring every facet of growing, making, marketing, and selling wine.

My mission is simple: I want each and every episode to arm you with strategic and tactical insights that you can apply directly to your own journey in the industry. I’m here to empower you, to fuel your aspirations, and to make your path in the wine world that much brighter.

You can find Cru on all major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Simply search for Cru Wine Podcast, and our exhilarating episodes will be right at your fingertips.

If you find value in our show - and I’m certain you will - I kindly ask you to consider subscribing and leaving a glowing review. Your support goes a long way in helping remarkable industry professionals like yourself discover the wealth of knowledge Cru has to offer.

And speaking of support, I'm thrilled to announce that Cru is proudly presented by Monday Wine!

Monday Wine is a pioneering digital marketing agency dedicated to empowering wineries and growing their direct-to-consumer sales. If you're a winery looking to enhance your direct-to-consumer revenue, expand your mailing list, or attract more passionate wine club members, head over to Monday.Wine to apply for their exceptional services. That’s Monday.Wine to apply.

Thank you for joining me on this exhilarating journey through the world of wine. I’m just getting started, and I couldn't be more excited to share these captivating episodes with you. Stay tuned and subscribe!

-Chappy, host

Heather Daenitz is the founder and photographer of Craft & Cluster, a photography and social media consulting company focusing on brands in the wine and beer industries!

It was while working for a vineyard management company in Santa Barbara County that Heather rediscovered her love of photography and found a previously unknown interest in social media management. She was asked to start an Instagram account to showcase the practices of the company and decided that if she was going to do this social media thing, she was going to do it right; opting to only post high quality, original images that told a story.

After almost two years of photographing, upgrading her camera equipment, and learning everything she could about social media management for the company she worked for, she decided it was time to create her own business. She wanted to help wineries and breweries create beautiful imagery that would tell the stories behind their brands. Thus, Craft & Cluster was born!

In this episode we dig into the years of learnings, practices, experimenting, and trial and error that Heather has gone through to now being a sough after wine industry photographer. There are only a handful of incredible photographers in the California wine industry that I consider to be top notch, and Heather is one of them. She’s going to give us some very useful strategies and tactics when it comes to visually telling our stories in an authentic manner, how to take your own gorgeous photos when you can’t hire pros like her, and some fantastic resources to use as a constant reference. We previously recorded this chat via Instagram Live, so there are a few times were we take audience questions from Instagram and the interview lends itself to being more of a natural conversation. Some resources • StoryBrand • Later App • Plan That

Find Heather On... Website Instagram

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As you know, I generally interview amazing wine folks to learn about their stories and coax out a bit of knowledge and advice. Today’s podcast is a little bit of a different format however. Here’s what’s up. The other day I reached out to an incredible power couple of the wine world, Kathryn and Tug Coker who together are married with two tiny humans running around the house, operate all things Esters Wine Shop & Bar in Santa Monica, and have recently launched a new wine podcast called The Long Finish where they take time to unwind, recap the week, what’s inspiring them in this time, and of course pop a bottle to enjoy and discuss. So we hoped on an ever so handy Zoom call and spent a while hanging out to record a collaborative podcast episode chatting about chillable red wines and life to co-publish it on both of our podcasts. Fun, right?

The question that led to The Long Finish starting is, “What are we drinking tonight?” So, what did we drink? 2019 Las Jaras Glou Glou from Mendocino. A super gulpable, hence the name, refreshing chill able red wine blend of mainly Carignan and Zinfandel that I very quickly consumed the entire bottle of. You should definitely snag a few bottles of this guy either from Esters, the winery itself, or your local wine shop. I grabbed mine from Miracle Plum, a cute little boutique market & goods shop here in Sonoma County. 

Towards the end our chat we’re talking about work and inspiration an I mention a new project I’m launching called SommTable. It’s a new kind of online wine shop where you can shop my entire wine list from Barndiva made up of a lot of very well priced Burgundy & Champagne, join our wine club that’s not really a club more just fun way to discover delicious wines for $75 per month for three killer bottles of vino, and my favorite part, a daily wine deal texted to you. Simply, you text me to signup, I text you a wine at an insane value everyday. The prices on these wines are well below any other retail prices that I see and they all have a sustainable focus. It doesn’t cost anything until you actually buy wine too. To jump on that list text SOMMTABLE to 31996. You should also go follow my new instagram handle for the shop @sommtablehealdsburg. 

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A Virginia native, Martin was present at the inception of what is now considered one of that state’s premier wine producers, Boxwood Estate Winery, in 2005. As Executive Vice President of Winery Operations, Martin’s job was to oversee all facets of production, sales and marketing of Boxwood’s award-winning whites, rosés and Bordeaux-style red blends.

Martin’s forward thinking led directly to Middleburg having its own wine identity separate from the more generic Virginia designation, making her well suited to again start from scratch with Oceano Wines. Jancis Robinson noted Martin’s marketing savvy in her book “American Wine.”

Marbue Marke earned his enology degree from Davis and, subsequently, added to his academic resume with an MBA from Sonoma State University. His practical experience began at J Winery in Sonoma, followed by a series of moves, each adding another piece to the puzzle that is winemaking. At Cosentino Winery, he learned about the rarefied world of high-end Napa wines. He was then a barrel enologist at R.H. Philips. For two years, Marke was charged with cooperage studies, an offshoot field that many winemakers are not experienced in. During a stint at Benziger, he was immersed in that family’s heightened concern for soil and winemaking purity.

From there, Marke made a seemingly counterintuitive jump to Gallo. He reasoned that it’s always a good idea to revisit the basics of one’s craft, and given Gallo’s depth and breadth of resources, it was the perfect place for him to hone all of the skills associated with the production process.

But perhaps the most pivotal move he made, at least in terms of his future connection to Oceano, was his decision to sign on as John Caldwell’s winemaker. That Marke began working with Caldwell turned out to be prophetic for Rachel  . She met Marke by way of her very own connection to Caldwell. She sourced the plant material for Boxwood Estate Winery’s first vineyard block from him. Marke has since taken over as the Director of Winegrowing at Italics Winegrowers in Coombsville, one of Napa Valley’s cooler climes and another serendipitous similarity with Spanish Springs Vineyard.

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Winc is a unique winery in that they make over 100 individual SKUs of wine from around the country at a range of price points. On top of that, their direct-to-consumer first model and mass utilization of Digital marketing mixed with a heavy dose of customer feedback has enabled them to continue to craft wines that their audience is looking for. With a 684% increase in new member sign ups between March 15 2020 and March 28 2020 and an 80% increase in revenue in March over February, the company is seeing some incredible growth.

Previous to founding and growing Winc with his partners, Brian founded successful finance and fashion startups. Additionally, he created the wine program for the tech-enabled Clo Wine in New York and founded the millennial cult brand Jolie Folle rosé.

SEE THE SHOW NOTES HERE: https://crupodcast.com/show/reimagining-the-path-from-grapes-to-glass-with-brian-smith GET 10% OFF FROM EPISODE SPONSOR, BRICK & MORTAR AND DELTA WINES WHEN YOU SHOP NOW! ENTRE CODE CRU AT CHECKOUT. LEAVE A REVIEW ON APPLE PODCASTS

This is a bonus episode of sorts. Recently I sat down with Carey Vanderborg @careydrewsomm on Instagram Live to turn the tables and interview me, Chappy! For those who don't know Carey he is a sommelier at Press Restaurant in St. Helena, California. In this down time he's started interviewing some of the top talent in Napa Valley Kellie White, Chris Phelps, Carlton McCoy, and many more. He's going live at 5pm each week day on Instagram. 

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A native Californian, growing up in St. Helena, Natalie came back to the Napa Valley after graduating college and fell back in love with the beauty of the Napa Valley. Growing up with a Master Sommelier father, she knew if she wanted to change career paths to the wine industry she would need to do something different.

Natalie did a harvest at Etude in 2010, embracing the long hours, manual labor, and comradery that comes with cleaning. She was hooked! Natalie spent the first part of the 2011 vintage in the Southern Hemisphere at Villa Maria in New Zealand and the second part of 2011 at Littorai in Sebastopol, getting her first experience with biodynamics working under Ted Lemon. Not knowing where to go next, a conversation with her longtime friend, Samantha Rudd, turned into an opportunity to work harvest at Rudd Oakville Estate in 2012.

“It was like finally coming home”, Natalie says. “I grew up playing in the vineyards and running around the property as a kid. Something just felt right.” When harvest finished, Natalie began hosting guests who were visiting the Estate, hoping to continue working at Rudd in any area she could. In 2014, Natalie joined the Winemaking team fulltime as a cellar hand and became the oenologist in 2016. An opportunity of a lifetime presented itself, allowing Natalie to travel overseas to work harvest at Château Pétrus in 2016. Coming back from her travels refreshed and rejuvenated, Natalie became the Assistant Winemaker in 2017 at Rudd Estate, and the following year the lead Winemaker for Crossroads.

If you haven't already listened to the round table discussion on the Wine Business x COVID_19, listen to it here!

READ THE SHOW NOTES https://crupodcast.com/show/exploring-the-crossroads-of-farming-winemaking-with-natalie-bath

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Born in Tel Aviv, Guy grew up between California and Israel, building a strong bond with both lands. After a harvest internship in Napa Valley, Guy decided to pursue winemaking professionally, and he graduated from the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology in 2013. He has worked at Cliff Lede Vineyards and Whetstone Wine Cellars in Napa Valley, Domaine Francois Villard in the Northern Rhone, and Clonakilla winery in Canberra, Australia. Most recently, before moving back to Israel to join Dalton Winery as head winemaker in 2015, Guy worked at Broc Cellars in Berkeley, one of California’s preeminent urban wineries.

GET THE SHOW NOTES: https://crupodcast.com/show/making-contemporary-wines-of-israel-with-guy-eshel

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CRU COLLECTIVE WINES: 2019 Delta California Chenin Blanc There are only a handful of producers in California making stunning Chenin blanc and Delta is one of them. This wine full of characters classic to Chenin like lemon verbena, jasmine, Bartlett pear, apricot, blood orange, and my favorite tasting note that for me is the sign of a quality Chenin blanc, fresh persimmon. An odd one, I know! Super tasty! This Chenin is sourced from some chilly-willy vineyards way out on the Cali coast and fermented partially in stainless steel tanks and partially in neutral wood barrels which allows for a micro oxygenation during fermentation to develop more texture and provide a bit more lees contact. It’s also 12.5% alcohol so if you’re trying to stay a bit healthier, this is a solid wine for you.

So Delta is the new project from Alexis and Matt Iaconis, who just happen to be friends and neighbors of mine. Matt & Alexis first met while both working at the three-Michelin starred The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa and now have a beautiful family, own and make wine for there primary label brick & mortar, and now have Delta. What I love about the Delta wines is that they are California appellation, but that in no way means that they are of a lower-quality than the higher-end brick & mortar. Production is still small and their commitment to sustainability is even more so in focus while $1 of every bottle sold is donated to their non-profit partners like the The Surfrider Foundation and Cool Effect to help fight for environmental change, something that is near and dear to my heart having studied sustainable development in college. What’s even better though is that this Delta Chenin is $15 a bottle, a steal of a value! But, as a listener of Cru and because I love this wine so much, you get it for $13.50 a bottle when you shop on the Delta Wines website, winesforchange.com. Just enter the promo code CRU at checkout and Matt & Alexis will give ya that 10% off. Also, if you are yearning to explore the brick & mortar wines, which the 2015 Sweet Water Springs Vineyard Blanc de Blancs from the Russian River which drinks like blanc de blancs from my favorite village in Champagne called Vertus, you can snag 10% off all of the brick & mortar wines at brickandmortarwines.com too! I’m stoked, I hope you are! And I hope that you’ll enjoy this Chenin cause it is yummy!

 

A few days ago I had the idea to get a handful of amazing wine professionals together to discuss what’s actually going on in the wine industry right now during this COVID_19 quarantine time. I wanted to get a pulse on how everyone is feeling, what sales are looking like in various markets, how this immediate transition to everyone pushing sales online is both working and not working out for folks. I wanted to understand what people are doing to authentically connect with their audiences while offering support and where these professionals think the industry and market as a whole will be when we come out of this thing. I sat down with 9 incredible professionals from Sonoma and Napa Counties to enjoy a quarantini, but more importantly to have a real conversation of the trials and tribulations we’re going through. These amazing folks provide a lot of insight and new perspective along with actionable tactics, strategies, tools to apply to any kind of wine business you’re running or working in. We also discuss the programs that have been setup to help those who have now been rendered unemployed, are homeless, or have shut their businesses all together.

PANEL INCLUDES

Blair Guthrie, owner/winemaker of Guthrie Family Wines and Stewart Cellars in Sonoma and Napa

Amanda McCrossin, former wine director of Press restaurant in St. Helena and long-time YouTuber, Instagramer, and marketer

Dan Petroski, owner/winemaker of Massican and winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Calistoga

Josh Phelps, owner/winemaker of Grounded Wine Co. in St. Helena

Sara Morgenstern, former Sonoma County beverage director and director of operations for multiple small brands such as Ruth Lewandowski Wines

Michelle Lipa, owner of Trig Collective a marketing and branding agency based in Napa

Chelsea Boss, a marketing and management consultant based in Napa

Woody Hambrecht, co-founder & co-CEO of Haus, a venture backed low-alcohol aperitif

All of the questions that we discussed will be in the show notes along with the links to all of the recourses we mention throughout our chat.

RESOURCES

Ship Ohi: Ohi enables same-day delivery for e-commerce brands by building the ‘Amazon Prime Now’ experience with next-generation technology.

Kevin Kelly's One Thousand True Fans: If you could get 1000 True Fans to support you by buying $100 worth of what you create every year, you would earn an income of $100,000 a year. That sounds a bit like a get-rich-quick scheme. 1000 True Fans is not that. It's a get-a-good-income-slowly income model. It requires hard work, but once you’ve built up 1000 True Fans, you are free forever to live as an independent creator earning good money making what you love.

A Theatre Guide to Technology (or How I Learned to Live with Corona): Dear wonderful humans, artists, entrepreneurs and educators, you are heroes. Fuck this shit. Let’s make things, shall we? Deep breaths, follow the bullet points, and when you feel confident enough… Get creative. It’s what we do best. Right? You got this.

Compline Wine Bar: Buy our health care workers and first responders a meal!

The Independent Restaurant Coalition: formed to the save local restaurants affected by COVID-19. IRC is founded on the simple belief that there is power to affect legislative change if we unite our voice. This national movement is quickly growing and EVERYONE is welcome to join. Together, as small businesses across this country, we represent up to 4% of the nation's GDP.

Dining Bonds Initiative: Due to the impact that the coronavirus COVID-19 has had on the restaurant community, a collective of restaurant industry professionals have set a global initiative in motion to get funds into the hands of restaurants NOW, even if they are temporarily closed. A Dining Bond works like a savings bond, where you can purchase a "bond" at a value rate to be redeemed for face value at a future date.

ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants): ROAR stands united to act immediately. We know that decisions are being made right now. These decisions will shape the future in ways both known and unknowable. We must act swiftly to give our community the best possible chance for a positive outcome. Here’s is our 8 point plan to be in a position to reopen, rehire, and eventually help our community:

 

QUESTIONS

-At the end of the first week of shelter-in-place here in Northern California, Carlo what is the general feeling from the consensus of people in your peer groups? How about for you Sara?

-Michelle and Chelsea, on the communication front how are you and clients communicating with client’s current customer base offering them reassurance and how are you asking for support? What’s the language you’re using?

-As we all know, tasting rooms are closed which make up roughly 28% of sales for many companies and in-person tastings are obviously no longer occurring as with restaurants, which make up roughly 20% of sales for businesses, have essentially halted. In an effort to pivot and keep driving sales and cash flow, Blair, what are you all implementing in your businesses and seeing other companies doing?

-Josh, how are retail sales currently factoring into your sales mix and are those sales holding on?

-Dan and Josh, at the higher-end price point of the market, are we seeing a shift in sales of bottle prices say over $50?

-Many people are bottling this week and last week which means that many people will be sending out their spring releases soon. Woody, Haus launched a brand new product last week. First, what was the response like from your customers and secondly, is there anything that you learned in launching during this time that has differed from previous launches? Is there anything that brands should be aware of when sending out new releases and launching new SKUs over the next six months or so?

-Amanda, currently the cost of paid advertising has gone down. Facebook Ads for example are very affordable currently for the . How are we seeing more companies utilizing these cheaper resources right now for both paid and organic marketing?

-How does a brand balance retaining a level of exclusivity while still getting it's name out there in a bigger way through virtual tastings, etc?

-If we look at China and their timeframe of the economy coming back online, we’re looking at a 4-5 month runway. With those projections we’d be looking at June 1st coming back up for air. Michelle, how are you in your businesses planning for the next 4-5 months and what are some of your predictions of what the market could look like come June 1st?

-What are some benefit and/or aid programs that are starting that people who have been laid off can take advantage of?

When you discuss wine, context is everything. Whether the topic of conversation is a specific region, grape varietal, producer, the context in which that topic is discussed leads the participants and audience to understand what the story and purpose is. In order to tell a story, how do you create that context?

Insert Matt Morris. For over a decade Matt has been working with some of the top wine and food producers and brands in northern California such as Abreu, Bond, Cornell, Heitz Cellars, Herb Lamb, Lorenza, Realm Cellars, The Restaurant at Meadowood, Charter Oak, Press Restaurant, Quince, Noma in Copenhagen, Goop, Skywalker Sound, and many many more. His work has focused on telling stories visually in a not-so-obvious manner by providing audiences the context of a deeper meaning. In recent years, Matt made the leap into winemaking originally with winemaker Benoit from Realm Cellars and now Francoise Peschon of Arujo, Vine Hill Ranch, and Cornell. Matt & Francoise are focusing on the revival of Charbono, a grape originally from north western Italy, but now only 70 acres remain and they all happen to be planted in Napa Valley.

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