A new day . . . A new year . . . A new decade

A little chagrinned at my lapse in memory that blogging is intended to be real time:) But anyway here I am.

Having officially wrapped up 2009, our winery, our wines continue to surpass all of my/our expectations. January sales are on pace to surpass 2008 and 2009 sales, combined.

While I am emboldened by this good news, I am also accutely aware of the precarious times we face. Can you say Roshambo? Cool marketing with 'hip' ideas for the right audience and most important, sound wines. Gone! Or I think of a wine I recently purchased for a 'competitive set' tasting, solely out of respect for their brand, only to realize their winery had recently gone bankrupt:(

And you know, I just spent some time with someone I look to as 'iconic' in our industry and their comments weigh heavily on my mind:

"While I've enjoyed 30+ years of good times in our industry with some standard ups and downs, from my point of view, unequivocably, 2009 achieved elite status in history as our industry's most difficult. Sales on my estate wines have all but stopped, but you can't just quit and so here we are."

So, like many other wineries, we to at Ledgewood Creek have recently begun to walk through a strategic review, at times a contentious task at best:) And thanks to our loyal followers and curious consumers we're still here with bright and shining optimism.

Many of you know that we distribute across the country and the other day one our loyal wholesalers said to me:

"I wouldn't have been able to stay in business without your brand. Keep sending good juice!"

I was flattered really, but I would have done this anyway because at our core it's what I/my family believes in - personal and product integrity.

It seems to me, small production, family owned wineries using estate grown fruit to make 'value priced' wines may be dying breed as we face what I call the commercializtion of our industry. While we continue on the path . . . I hope I am not right.

Onward and Upward!