Good Fruit Grower

May 1

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www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER MAY 1, 2014 37 "So, we went the value-added direction with a winery," he said. They converted buildings at the vineyard into a winery, releasing their fi rst estate wines in 2009. Lori is winemaker for Don Carlo Vineyard, which is named after her grandfather. Tim assists his winemaker wife with cellar tasks, but his main duties are in the vineyard and marketing their wines. They both help prune the small vineyard. Tim and Lori have taken enology courses and seminars offered by the University of Cali- fornia, Davis, and Washington State University. Lori recently completed four years of study through Washington State University's certifi cate program, two years each for the viticulture and enology programs. "This is her dream, her venture," Tim said, "but I'm 100 percent behind her." Wine and chips Tim was prepared for the competitive aspect of the premium wine market, having worked nearly 20 years with distributors and bro- kers in the potato chip industry. However, he now works directly with consumers instead. "It's hard to break into sales in the wine industry because there are thousands of labels on the shelf," he said. "With potato chips, you're only selling against six or seven chip brands—though unlike wine, you do have short code dates of only nine to twelve weeks." The biggest difference he found between the two industries is the camaraderie and friendly competition of the wine industry. "Many local winery owners have been very open and sharing with us—they want all Walla Walla and Washington wines to succeed," Tim said, adding that even winemakers at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates are accessible for advice. The potato chip industry is intensely competitive and revolves around Frito-Lay and several smaller regional companies. "There's no camara- derie. Frito-Lay just wants to take you out," he said. "It's hard to compete against a company that has Pepsi behind it and can offer deals like buy one, get one free." Strong start For a small estate winery producing 1,200 cases annually, Don Carlo Vineyard is off to a strong start. In 2011, the Kennedys were one of the fi rst of six boutique wineries to open a tasting room in the Marcus Whitman Hotel. One of the perks to being located in the hotel is that Don Carlo wines are poured at hotel conferences and events. The winery has broken into the Portland, Oregon, market and sells wine in restaurants and grocery stores from Portland to Eugene and in fi ve other states. Additionally, Don Carlo wines are sold on the Internet through Amazon's wine site. Selling wine through Amazon involves fi lling out a lengthy form with detailed information about the wine, including things like cooperage manufacturer and harvest time of day. "Amazon came to us," said Lori, adding that Don Carlo wines have a huge following in Florida with folks that have never visited their Walla Walla tasting room, but are repeat buyers. Storytelling Every winery—especially a start-up— needs a story, a point of dif- ferentiation. "Our story is potato chips," said Tim. "I'm known in the Northwest for my chips, so we prominently use potato chips in our tasting room." There's a large painting of a bag of Tim's Cascade chips on the tasting room wall and baskets of chip bags adorn the room. On some weekends, Tim fries batches of kettle chips for visitors at the winery, and if you're lucky, he dips them in chocolate. Don Carlo wines have something else in common with Tim's Cascade chips. Tim's Cascade chips are packaged in bright red and white striped bags so they will stand out on the grocery shelves. Don Carlo red wines share those attention-getting stripes—white stripes circle the red foil around the tops of bottles. The white stripes helped identify the Don Carlo bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon poured during a 2012 episode of the television sitcom Big Bang Theory. Sales skyrock- eted shortly after the show, and winery visitors wanted "whatever Sheldon was drinking." Walla Walla Valley has 125 wineries all competing for the same wine consumer, Tim said. "Down the road, we'll be able to play down our chip connection, but in these early days, we're doing whatever it takes to get noticed." The Kennedys' prominent use of Tim's Cascade chips is a fi tting way to pay tribute to what helped establish the boutique Don Carlo Vineyard. • Tim Kennedy is the Tim behind Tim's Cascade Style Potato Chips. He sold the company to Bird's Eye Foods in 2005 and started a new career as vineyard and winery owner. "I'm known in the Northwest for my chips, so we prominently use potato chips in our tasting room." —Tim Kennedy PHOTOS BY MELISSA HANSEN

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