Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/111102
EDITOR'S DESK Best OF THE Best At this year's Wine Market Council seminar, Gregory Carpenter of the Kellogg School of Management gave a presentation focusing on the themes of consumers, producers and growth. One of the most interesting points that he made, in my opinion, was that customerfocused companies, like Apple and Intel, are often the most successful – even when their competitors offer similar products at significantly lower prices. Carpenter went on to share what he learned in interviews with winemakers and winery executives in the United States and France. When discussing the workings of the wine business, several common threads emerged that could be said to be the hallmarks of any successful company: a spirit of collaboration, a feeling of responsibility to the land and the community, a sense of legacy, greatness, humility. It's simply not enough to offer a great product. That brings us to the cover feature for this issue. We often profile successful winemaking and grapegrowing operations in the pages of our magazine, but not quite as much space is devoted to the companies that support those vintners and growers. Behind every winery or vineyard is a team of suppliers – from barrel makers to bankers – which helps to make the magic happen. While we could have selected companies to feature in our "Best Wine Industry Suppliers" issue based on product offerings and 10 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | Mar - Apr 2013 other factors, we felt it best to let you – the customer – decide which companies deserve the spotlight. Back in January, we invited the industry at large to take an online survey, voting for their favorite suppliers in 13 categories: Barrels, Corks, Bottles, Alternative Closures, Label Printing, Software, Financial Services, Banks/Lenders, Legal Services, Nurseries, Tanks, Lab Services and Winemaking Supplies. To be honest, we were hoping to receive a couple hundred responses. In the early days of the survey, I checked the results obsessively and breathed a sigh of relief when we finally crossed the 100-response threshold. I needn't have worried. Before long, a flood of responses poured in, bringing our final vote tally to 697. Apparently, the industry has a few opinions to share on this subject. I'm not going to give away the results here, but you'll find them on page 39. As Carpenter pointed out at the Wine Market Council seminar, the best companies are those that think beyond their own bottom lines – about the communities that surround them, about providing the best-possible products and, most of all, about their customers. Salute! Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m