Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/40615
MANAGEMENT Restaurant chains like Bonefish Grill are recovering from the recession and providing opportunities for small wineries. contracts with grapegrowers and wooed distributors in states where Bridgeview had no market, but that Bonefish had targeted for expansion. The reces- sion threw a big scare into him. Bridgeview had made a lot of commit- ments and spent a lot of money, but Bonefish slowed its growth and looked for ways to cut costs and appeal to consumers with less money to spend. Landing a spot on Bonefish Grill's wine list has helped Oregon's Bridgeview Vineyard and Winery sell a lot of its Blue Moon Riesling. WINING By Tom Johnson Chain restaurants in a post-recession world ené Eichmannn, the second- generation winemaker at family-owned Bridgeview Vineyard and Winery in Cave Junction, Ore., has lived the dream. Bridgeview had expanded and needed to increase sales, particu- larly of its Blue Moon Riesling. One of the ideas was to try and score with a restaurant chain that could buy a lot of wine all at once. "It's really tough to break into that world," he said. "If you're small, you can't be in all the right places at the same time. We were in a few Northwest chains, and we were close with P.F. Chang's, but we weren't able to be at the right WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM meeting at the right time and the whole thing got dropped." Things changed when teamwork by Bridgeview's Florida distribu- tor and the winery's Tampa-based national sales rep sold not only the riesling but also Bridgeview's pinot noir to Bonefish Grill, an upscale "concept" chain with a handful of outlets and big ambitions. "All of a sudden," Eichmann said, "we went from scratching our heads, trying to figure out how we were going to sell riesling, to almost not having enough." As Bonefish added new out- lets, Bridgeview added produc- tion capacity. Eichmann signed "They scaled things down by eliminating quite a few wines," he said. "We were lucky that the buyer there stayed true and loyal to us." Today, with the casual dining segment showing the first signs of life in three years, Bonefish buys about 9,000 cases of Bridgeview wine a year. The how-are-we-going- to-sell-this riesling has grown into a 35,000-case-per-year product line. "We were so lucky," Eich- mann said. "We kind of grew with them." AT A GLANCE Casual dining chains are bouncing back from the recession. Wine has become a key point of differentiation among many casual dining restaurants. Chain interest in unique wines creates an opportunity for smaller wineries to break in and grow with the chain. Servicing restaurant chain cus- tomers requires organizational capabilities beyond just having inventory to sell. SEPT - OCT 2011 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 67