August 8, 2005
Message on a bottle | With SoPo Wine Co., Doug Watts and Catherine Oster distribute small, independent wines
By Michaela Cavallaro
Ever notice the little redemption stickers on bottles of wine sold in Maine? If not, you're not alone ˆ but Doug Watts plans to change that fact. When Watts and his wife, Catherine Oster, started South Portland Wine Co. a few months ago, they decided to focus on interesting boutique wines from independent producers. And since the state requires that distributors "sign" their bottles with a redemption sticker, Watts and Oster thought it'd make sense to use that space to draw attention to their company.
So rather than the standard grocery store price tag that shows the distributor's name in plain type, Watts and Oster's wines sport a slightly larger tag that says SoPo Wine Co. in an appealing font that appears to be (but isn't) hand-lettered. The goal, says Watts, is to raise awareness of their company, and to get consumers who don't know a lot about wine to look for their sticker as a seal of approval. Or, as Watts puts it, to have wine shoppers see a SoPo Wine Co. label and say, "Hey, these guys do good stuff."
Watts and Oster, natives of Louisiana and Ohio, respectively, have worked in the wine and food industries for more than 20 years. They moved to Maine 18 months ago when Oster inherited a home on Lake Webb in Weld that has been in her family for seven generations. Early on, Watts worked at one of the state's four large distributors (he prefers not to disclose which one). Friends in the industry would call him from time to time, asking if he was interested in picking up their wine. However, says Watts, "The company I worked for was not really receptive to small, interesting wineries. They'd say, 'Why do I need that when I've got Kendall Jackson?'"
After a while, Watts and Oster began to feel that Maine had what they describe as "a huge gap in the market ˆ people want something you can't get everywhere." So they started compiling a list of interesting wines and began to work on the federal and state paperwork necessary in order to open Maine's 11th wine distribution company. Then, one day last fall, Watts' employer let him go ˆ a consequence, he says, of the fact that he was about to become a competitor. When he returned to the couple's South Portland home that afternoon, an envelope from the feds approving his paperwork was in the mailbox.
Since SoPo Wine Co. was officially launched in March, Watts and Oster have developed a list of about 15 wineries and 100 vintages, ranging from a 2002 Jepson sauvignon blanc from Mendocino, Calif. that retails for $9.99 to a 2003 Two Hands "Lilly's Garden" shiraz, an Australian wine that sells for $60.99. Their focus is pretty simple, according to Watts: "Our wines taste good," he says. But, he adds, the wines also have good stories behind them. "We as much sell the people who make the wine as we do the wine itself," he says.
That indie approach has led SoPo Wine Co. to sign up steady customers that include restaurants and wine shops from Kittery to Belfast, and as far inland as Wilton. But Watts and Oster, who run the business out of their home and a warehouse space in South Portland, don't want to grow too quickly, since serving each retailer is time-intensive. In addition to educating store employees about their products, they've created so-called "shelf talkers" with information about each wine; the cards include their logo, in another effort to brand their company to consumers. "If someone's going to give me space in their store to sell my wine," says Watts, "I should sell my wine ˆ it's not their job."
So rather than the standard grocery store price tag that shows the distributor's name in plain type, Watts and Oster's wines sport a slightly larger tag that says SoPo Wine Co. in an appealing font that appears to be (but isn't) hand-lettered. The goal, says Watts, is to raise awareness of their company, and to get consumers who don't know a lot about wine to look for their sticker as a seal of approval. Or, as Watts puts it, to have wine shoppers see a SoPo Wine Co. label and say, "Hey, these guys do good stuff."
Watts and Oster, natives of Louisiana and Ohio, respectively, have worked in the wine and food industries for more than 20 years. They moved to Maine 18 months ago when Oster inherited a home on Lake Webb in Weld that has been in her family for seven generations. Early on, Watts worked at one of the state's four large distributors (he prefers not to disclose which one). Friends in the industry would call him from time to time, asking if he was interested in picking up their wine. However, says Watts, "The company I worked for was not really receptive to small, interesting wineries. They'd say, 'Why do I need that when I've got Kendall Jackson?'"
After a while, Watts and Oster began to feel that Maine had what they describe as "a huge gap in the market ˆ people want something you can't get everywhere." So they started compiling a list of interesting wines and began to work on the federal and state paperwork necessary in order to open Maine's 11th wine distribution company. Then, one day last fall, Watts' employer let him go ˆ a consequence, he says, of the fact that he was about to become a competitor. When he returned to the couple's South Portland home that afternoon, an envelope from the feds approving his paperwork was in the mailbox.
Since SoPo Wine Co. was officially launched in March, Watts and Oster have developed a list of about 15 wineries and 100 vintages, ranging from a 2002 Jepson sauvignon blanc from Mendocino, Calif. that retails for $9.99 to a 2003 Two Hands "Lilly's Garden" shiraz, an Australian wine that sells for $60.99. Their focus is pretty simple, according to Watts: "Our wines taste good," he says. But, he adds, the wines also have good stories behind them. "We as much sell the people who make the wine as we do the wine itself," he says.
That indie approach has led SoPo Wine Co. to sign up steady customers that include restaurants and wine shops from Kittery to Belfast, and as far inland as Wilton. But Watts and Oster, who run the business out of their home and a warehouse space in South Portland, don't want to grow too quickly, since serving each retailer is time-intensive. In addition to educating store employees about their products, they've created so-called "shelf talkers" with information about each wine; the cards include their logo, in another effort to brand their company to consumers. "If someone's going to give me space in their store to sell my wine," says Watts, "I should sell my wine ˆ it's not their job."
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