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Grass Valley's Foothill Flowers Teams Up With Sideways Wine Club
Published on Apr 22, 2009 - 6:45:44 AM
By: Dixie Redfearn, YubaNet
GRASS VALLEY, Calif. April 22, 2009 - Foothill Flowers co-owner Mark Johnson says the city of Grass Valley will get a "small sales tax boost" as the result of his partnership with the Sideways Wine Club, an online wine club based in the Bay Area. Johnson says Foothill Flowers has had a beer and wine license for 30-plus years, and has sold wine from the shop in prior years.
Dave Chambers, who owns Sideways Wine Club, was looking to move his inventory and shipping to the Foothills, but he didn't have a beer and wine license. Johnson knew Chambers and once they got to talking he knew he had the solution.
"He'll ship about 40 cases of wine out of here every two months," Johnson said, adding that each wine club member receives 2 to 3 bottles in each shipment, depending on which of six plans they are signed up for.
And Johnson and Chambers are toying with the idea of offering wine tastings this summer, maybe at the Thursday Night Market. That plan hasn't been finalized yet, Johnson said.
"His wine club offerings come from around the world. There were local Nevada City wines in last month's shipment," Johnson added.
Chambers discovered white wine in the 80s and gradually came around to the reds at the insistance of friends. He began taking -- and then teaching -- wine appreciation to learn as much as he could about wine and its culture.
Chambers describes his plunge into his own wine club on his Web site, www.sidewayswineclub.com.
"I'd been working in corporate America for two decades, growing increasingly disenchanted but unable to tear away from the lucrative cash flow. I began working in tasting rooms on the weekends, just to keep learning about wine, and began traveling to France, Italy and other wine-producing regions to learn in situ. But it wasn't until the dot-com meltdown of 2001 that my cash flow was severed and I decided to launch my wine career.
"At first I leveraged my professional background by offering online marketing services to wineries. For one client - Bonny Doon Vineyard - a six-week project expanded into 2 ½ years. It was more fun than most people ever get to have at work (or with their clothes on, for that matter!) but it also made me realize I couldn't reach my financial goals while consulting for wineries.
"Coincidentally, about the same time I was winding down my consulting arrangement with Bonny Doon, the movie "Sideways" was released in October, and was a well-established surprise hit and likely Oscar nominee by December. As I was casting about to see what was next for me, I began making inquiries about launching my own wine club under the Sideways license, and finally launched the entity on April 1st of 2005. "
Two of the current offerings are a Labyrinth 2006 Pinot Noir, Bien Nacido Vineyard for $35 and a Sanford 2006 Chardonnay, Santa Barbara County for $19.
Chambers says his online wine club is still personal.
"How does it differ from other retail enterprises? It may sound trite, but the real difference is the people involved, more than simply its unique brand. Very few enterprises have a face behind the brand these days. I mean, who can you contact at Wine.com? Wine Commune? BevMo?? Even some of the great wine retailers are completely anonymous, especially online, and some of the best local merchants are nearly invisible online. We still have humans on the front lines, my name on every email, and a personal reply to each inquiry. More than our unique brand, that's what differentiates us."
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