Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/646485
2 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m 2 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a r - A p r 2 016 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m and connecting small businesses with similar ideas:"Connecting people with the stories behind a unique selection of wines; building a community of people passionate about wine, regardless of expertise level; supporting independent and family-owned wineries; promoting wineries that follow sustainable practices in their farming, sourc- ing, winemaking and workforce; celebrating wines that exhibit a true expression of their origins and winemakers who believe in mini- mal intervention practices; serving as a neighborhood wine store that builds a reputation for friendliness, creativity, quality and passion; lead- ing a socially and environmentally responsible business." Wine Bottega's manifesto is more about a vision of the wines it's willing to sell, while Oakland Crush's mission statement is about linking together like-minded small businesses. A CLEAR VISION Oakland Crush founder Erin Coburn is a longtime employee of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and former chief offi- cer of digital media at The Met- ropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Coburn may be fairly new to the wine retail trade, but she has clearly been a wine appreciator for a long time and has a lot of ideas about the kind of wines she wants to promote and the kind of busi- ness she wants to operate. She also understands it's complicated. I asked her how she decides what wines she wants to sell and which ones she'd turn away. "It's a combination of a lot of things," she says. "Some of it is having met the winemaker or having visited the winery and the vineyards it sources from. Some of it is from working with really outstanding [wholesale] reps who very much know what persuade these new shops that their products fit in with the store's mis- sion, there won't be a placement. The manifesto of Boston's Wine Bottega is quite passionate: "The Wine Bottega stands in defense of real wine. Whether organic, bio- dynamic, natural or otherwise, real wine is born of the land. We are inspired by the farmers who break their backs for the benefit of their vines and use a gentle hand to guide the ancient act of fermenta- tion. As a result, each bottle holds more than just fermented grape juice, it holds the story of the land and the people who created it. We look forward to sharing those sto- ries with you!" To me, that manifesto seems optimistic, as well as a bit naïve and privileged. But who am I to judge? Now, by way of contrast, con- sider Oakland Crush's "Mission Statement" and how much more it seems to emphasize relationships MARKET WATCH TIM TEICHGRAEBER