Wine Product Management

In 2008’s Bottle Shock, we learn the story of the 1976 Judgement of Paris, a wine competition judged by France’s premiere sommeliers and wine critics which pitted some of France’s most covetted chateaus against previously overlooked vintners emerging from California.

Spoiler alert: Californian wines won both competitions for best white and red vintages, and the wine industry was never the same again!

NB: In the following I’ll be referring to some real AND fictionalised events in the movie portraying the now Chateau Montelena CEO, Bo Barret. Bo is played by Chris Pine, with an amazing wig (before he was THE Chris Pine in Star Trek or Wonder Woman) alongside Rachel Taylor (before she was in Grey’s Anatomy). Sadly, the real Bo Barret tells us there was no young attractive intern, as played by Ms Taylor, but y’know, Hollywood!

California Wine

The aforementioned tasting experiment was organised by Steven Spurrier, an Englishman who started a wine shop in Paris (yes, seriously), called L’Acadamie du Vin, which ran tastings to promote the knowledge and appreciation of wine. Curious about the emerging industry in California the movie shows him flying to the West Coast to find some of the best examples to see how they would compare to the best French wines.

Sadly, Steven Spurrier passed away earlier this year, but his legacy to the wine industry is immense and will no doubt live on. In the movie dramatisation, Steven is portrayed by the late, great Alan Rickman.

Consider the following, in part, a tribute to both of these fine, vintage gentlemen…

Truth Seeker

Now, you may be wondering what drew me, of all people, to a story about an eccentric, ever-so-slightly pompous Englishman who drives around beautiful parts of California in the sunshine drinking exquisite wine? I’ll let you come to your own conclusions…

However, there within lie some great product management lessons. Let’s go!

Steven Spurrier is a truth seeker. In 1976, the wine world, especially the French wine world think French wines are the best (well I am sure the French still think this). Well as they say in product management “that’s an assumption” and an assumption that no-one had ever been curious enough to explore, let alone test if it was true or not.

Monsieur Spurrier sets out to prove or disprove this assumption. There is an uncommon devotion, and drive as he unflinchingly researches and learns about his subject matter. A product leader if ever there was one…

Removing Bias

Steven knew that French critics would have a bias for wines from their home regions, which they were already both familiar with and fond of. And, they would have a disregarding bias against the Californian wines, if they tasted them knowingly in isolation.

So in order to remove this bias and produce fair test results, the competition is run as a blind tasting, with judges unaware of which wine they are tasting as they score each sample.

Methodology

Great wine is like good product. An adherence to fundamentals, to methodology. You have good ‘terroir’ the combination of environmental factors, soil type, aspect, elevation. Then follows skilled practice of vine cultivation and wine making processes, including my favourite wine-making terminology, ‘elevage’.

In the the interests of full disclosure I should mention I aspire to vineyard ownership. As they say, “The best way to make a small fortune in the wine business; start with a large one.” I’m just a wine entrepreneur in search of a large fortune, but I digress…

Similarly, in product you will face the multitude of factors that lead you to the equally sacred product-market fit. An adherence to customer centricity with a commercial eye will serve you well. Understanding your domain and your customer is key, as Gustavo says “You have to have it in your blood. You have to grow up with the soil beneath your nails. And the smell of the grape in the air you breath.”

In product management you must understand BOTH your product AND your customer!

Product Management in the Wine BUSINESS

Whilst both the critics and winemakers strive towards a wine nirvana of sorts, one should not forget that the story revolves around the wine industry; it is a commercial endeavour… a business.

Jim Barret in fact is acutely aware of the financial pressure he and Chateau Montelena are under. Similarly Steven at the start of film is seemingly struggling to make his wine shop business successful as his neighbour gives him commercial and marketing advice.

A product manager’s challenge is to overcome the tensions between of offering value and a great experience to customers (UX) and driving value (money) back into the business employing them. I’m sure many a winemaker like product managers have succeeded at one but not the other.

Brand

As ever in product, brand is never too far away. Wine is a product enveloped in brand. We have already observed the snobbishness of wine critics. The intractability of product (the problem, solution, features…) and the brand that ‘packages’ the product is never more true than for wine.

For examples in consumer tech, why did Amazon’s phone fail to grab premium consumers? Amazon is blessed with the resources and technical expertise to build a fantastic product. But prevailing sentiment observes the Amazon phone failed due to emotional associations with the Amazon brand vs that of Apple, far and above anything to do with the quality/usability of the device itself. Apple devices still command far bigger profit margins than Samsung etc. And why don’t we aspire to own a Dell phone?

The super brands of wine are much to do with regions. Think of sparkling wines, they are named after their regions; Champagne, Prosecco, Cava. And often the naming of these wines if fiercely enforced by the winemakers in these regions. There is no Champagne, except for Champagne from Champagne.

The geographical brand control of wine is possibly the closest literal example of what business analysts call a ‘moat,’ a barrier or advantage that one business has or can build to make it difficult for other businesses to compete with them. One can make the best wine in the world, but couldn’t call it Champagne, Burgundy etc…

Even where the associations are looser, there is something emotional about our selection of wines. Our choices of a French, Australian or Californian chardonnay says less about our appreciation of grape varietals or fermentation processes than it does about our social and emotional connection with these regions and cultures. When travelling you might choose to buy products from the local region. And somehow whilst you’re there watching the sun set over the sand or hills of wherever it is, it really DOES taste nicer! What else can explain all those once opened-never finished bottles of Ouzo?!

Mission and Vision

Its not just Steven who has a clear vision and mission. Both Jim Barret, proprietor of Chateau Montelena and his wine maker, Gustavo both have immense passion for wine making. They both make significant sacrifices and take risks in order to attain their dreams.

While Steven has a privileged background, his main motivation for organising the tasting is seemingly less about his own personal gain but that of disrupting and developing the industry and art that he is so emotionally invested in. The Judgement of Paris we assume did NOT have quite the financial impact for him that it did for the vineyard owners of Napa Valley where bottles now retail for well over $100!

Steven did ultimately turn his hand to wine making, planting chardonnay vines in Dorset, ENGLAND to make sparkling English wine; a bit like Champagne, but one assumes better and more English!

Global warming has its upsides…

Steve Spurrier’s vineyard: https://bridevalleyvineyard.com/