Sommelier turned wine consultant turned online wine retailer.  Thatcher Baker-Briggs, Founder of Thatcher’s Wine Consulting, has continued to evolve and expand his presence, helping clients drink better and navigate some of the intricacies of Burgundy and other fine and geeky wines.  He tells us about his journey, how email responsiveness is a competitive advantage, and how he believes some of the distribution allocations of top European wineries need to adapt to where the demand is.  An engaging and insightful episode of XChateau! Don’t forget - you can support the show on Patreon to help us keep bringing you excellent wine business content!Detailed Show Notes:Thatcher’s backgroundHe started cooking at 10, worked in restaurants, was in the kitchen for ten yearsPursued sommelier route, spent time in Japan, came back to SF to work w/ Saison HospitalityHelped collectors to manage the world of Burgundy and expanded from thereLaunched a small, online boutique website pre-CovidHas both an importer and retailer license (possible in California)Import focus is on 1st and 2nd generation winemakers, often younger (in their 20s and 30s)Wine ConsultingIt started when a regular guest at the restaurant asked for personal wine consultingHe had to rely on other retailers, which was challenging for some short turnaround needs, and built a small inventory of products, which got put online for the retail armClients are on an annual retainer basis - annual necessary to set goals for the cellar and wine educationInitial clients came from personal relationshipsNew clients are mostly through existing client referralYou don’t need a lot of clients to be successful and cap the client base so that each client can get enough attentionHe doesn’t source exclusively from TWC retail but from a variety of sourcesChallenges with wine consulting business - dealing with an old school wine world, inventory management, logistics of getting wine, and communicating “no” to collectors can be challengingWine RetailDifferentiation - wines highly curated by the teamAbility to source wines due to decades of experience and relationships with importers and retailers from sommelier experiencesSourcing rare wine is complex, as often wines can’t be fully authenticated - TWC usually takes a very conservative approach, e.g., buys DRC only with a Wilson Daniels back label and from an original buyerEssential to work with importers who are investing in building wine brandsGeneral importer margin - cost converted to local currency, 1.5x the cost plus a couple dollars/bottle for transportationSome importers take too high margins on hard to find wines, which leads TWC to need to source directly from EuropeTWC doesn’t undercut the market not to upset other wine merchantsEuropean wine distribution is often flawed and challenging, creating market dislocationsE.g., Raveneau - has low ex-domaine pricing, the wine immediately sells out, the family makes a great living, and doesn’t require work, but may have more wine in Switzerland than in the US where it sells for multiples higherWineries often are small businesses without a lot of people working thereNicolas Faure example - sells so cheaply ex-domaine that people buy everything upon release, primarily other retailers buying to resell for much higher levelsTechnologyHas a team of developersUses Zoho (CRM) and Shopify (E-commerce)Custom-built integration between Shopify and ZohoThe aim is to make the website faster, more efficient, have correct pricing, amongst other spaceHe believes there is a lack of core technology in the wine space, currently dominated by Wine-Searcher and CellarTrackerWine PricingBelieves Burgundy is a bubble, but it can’t burst due to lack of supply (particularly with short 2019, 2020, and 2021 vintages)Prices are so high they are pricing out drinkersLinks to ThatcherInstagramThatcher’s Wine Consulting Get access to library episodes Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for m