Growing new product lines and paying attention to trends and legislation are among ways some wine-producing companies are continuing to grow in a crowded marketplace complicated by rising costs of labor and production.
In Clarksburg, California, Bogle Family Wine Company’s largest growth driver last year was the continued growth of its Juggernaut line, which continued to gain new accounts both off and on-premise.
“We expect Juggernaut to continue to drive growth in 2023, and with the release of our new Juggernaut Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, we expect to gain many new points of distribution for the entire Juggernaut line,” said Ryan Bogle, VP of Bogle Family Wine Company.
Bogle said his company was always looking at new trends in the market.
“In 2023, we’re looking at a number of new innovations in product development — primarily with the use of alternate packaging,” Bogle said. “With inflation likely to continue to apply upward pressure on prices for many products, we believe consumers will purchase wines they are traditionally familiar with or from brands that they trust. Which means they may be less likely to experiment in new wines at higher price wines without some familiarity with the wine/winery. We also believe that we will see some customers trading down from higher to lower price points.”
Keeping an eye on laws set to take effect in the future is also part of Bogle’s strategy to encourage progress.
Beginning in 2024, California will include wine bottles in its recycling program to help reduce glass waste. This new development will factor into Bogle’s story going forward, but they’ve already begun to introduce environmentally friendly changes.
“We are embracing this new legislation as it falls in line with our sustainability efforts,” Bogle said. “We have taken many steps to reduce our carbon footprint at the winery and in 2022 we began the introduction of new, lighter weight glass. As members of the Wine Institute, which supported the effort, we are encouraged to see this expansion of the recycling program.”
In Canton, Ohio, Gervasi Vineyard General Manager Scott Swaldo said his Canton, Ohio wine resort also kept on the move by focusing on customers’ future needs, introducing new features, new facilities and new products.
“People want convenience and they want shipping, and we are building an underground wine cave and a warehouse,” Swaldo said. “The warehouse side will help us be more efficient with shipping DTC. This is growth potential driven by what people want. People want to be on their iPad or phone and order stuff, and have it shipped to their house.”
Swaldo added, “With the wine cave, we get space for not only barrel aging, which we desperately needed space for, but also a wine tasting room. It creates opportunities for exclusive products and experiences and a specific place to access it.
“This fall, with this harvest, we started three new programs under our black label brand — super-premium products like a premium Napa Cab. We’ll be able to tie these super-premium products to our wine cave.”
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