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We
don't usually post the same text as the winery does on its site, but
Bill Hatcher is so witty, we just had to put his ruminations on Hatcher
Wineworks here:
"Not having paid attention
on Career Day, my occupational choices upon leaving my fourteen year
post as Managing Director of Domaine
Drouhin in 2001 were winemaker and accordion repairman. Doing a bit of
market research, I found that Oregon was already saturated with accordion
repairmen (2) but there weren’t nearly enough winemakers (250).
Thus, Hatcher Pinot Noir came to fruit in a manner of speaking.
To ginger the challenge, Deb and I decided that we should test the design
limit of a thirty-two year marriage in becoming business partners. Thus,
Hatcher Wineworks was conceived to create further amusement for their
friends, penal labor for their children and, oh yes, the A to Z and Hatcher
labels.
With every bottle you purchase, one dollar
will go toward the Hatchers’ marriage
counseling fund.
Winemaking
The raison d’être of my approach is that blending will almost
always produce an more complex and varied wine. To that end, we select
vineyards for their signature constituents…one perhaps for the
brightness of fruit, another for its aromatic qualities, another for
the structure it brings. As with painting, the finished work strives
for a layering, fusion and harmony of elements.
In creating the 2002 blend, only 16 of the 26 barrels produced were
selected, the remainder going to A to Z. I imagine that this ratio will
be continue to be the norm, not necessarily meaning that one third of
the production will be of lesser quality but that to create the ideal
balance of constituents, some very good wine must be culled as well.
2002 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
The debut offering is a blend of four vineyards: Goldschmidt, Stoller,
Aurora and Linda Vista, the latter two belonging to the Ponzi family.
The vintage was nothing less than glorious, arguably the best Oregon
has ever enjoyed. Flowering unfurled under languidly warm skies unpunctuated
by the familiar mid-June rains that so often perversely accompany the
Portland Rose Festival. The summer was warm but tempered by the cool
ocean winds that find their way inland each evening. Decisively, Indian
Summer lingered into the last days of October permitting a leisurely
picking schedule to the highest of elevations.
The resulting wines are a harmonious marriage
of the Valley’s
signature red fruit underpinned with crisp acidity and firm structure.
In warmer years such as 1994, 1998 and 2003, the red fruit characteristics
dominate as acidity transpires with the Columbia Gorge winds of September.
In later vintages such as 1993 and 1999, there is a predominance of black
fruits and more muscularity to the wines. The 2002 vintage strikes the
balance with grace, elegance, seemingly endless length and focus.
With respect to Hatcher, in a June 30 Wine
Spectator feature on our family’s lifestyle, Harvey Steiman described the wine as “silky
in texture with pure raspberry and cherry flavors.” I would concur.
There were 391 cases produced.
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A to Z Winery
A
to Z Pinot noir, Pinot Gris, and Pinot blanc are the creation of a partnership
between several of Oregon's most respected winemakers. Bill Hatcher,
formerly manager of Domaine Drouhin, and his wife Deb have joined the
business with their friends Sam Tannahill and Cheryl Francis. Sam was
winemaker at Archery Summit until last year, and Cheryl is co-winemaker
at Chehalem. (Sam and Cheryl are married). Founded in 2002, the initial idea behind A to
Z has proven so popular, we project as many as 15,000 cases of A to
Z wine will be produced from the 2003 harvest. The success of the wines,
delicious blends of grapes from all over Oregon, stems from their generous
and rich flavors and prices well below wines of similar quality.
Bill, Deb, Cheryl
and Sam choose from vineyards across Oregon to find the best blends-
thus the A to Z name. Vineyards
from "A to Z" are evaluated to find the best grapes for each
wine. The owners' long experience with Oregon winemaking and relationships
with many vineyard owners provide a depth of material for their creations.
The success of the "A to Z" products
has put Bill and Deb's Hatcher Wineworks label on hold. The A to Z
wines are found described as either A to Z winery or Hatcher Wineworks
in articles and wine revoews, so we will continue to emphasize the
name "A to Z"(as per Bill's request) while occasionally acknowledging
the Hatcher Wineworks connection.
Oregon
Wine Report Visits with Vinous Veteran Bill Hatcher
by Cole Danehower
Oregon Wine Report
Managing Director of Domaine Drouhin
Oregon for the past 13 years, Bill Hatcher has seen from the inside
how the state's wine industry has grown-up. Now, as he moves on
to new opportunities, Bill shares his unique-or as he says, heretical-opinions
on wine as art, craft, business, and passion.
Bill Hatcher
The story has been told many times about how the French came to Oregon,
and how their presence helped bring global credibility to Oregon's winemaking
status. But merely being here did not ensure a lasting impact. For that,
Domaine Drouhin had to accomplish two others things consistently well:
make great wines, and manage an Oregon wine business.
The two things went hand-in-hand. Domaine Drouhin Oregon (DDO in the
local parlance) established an enviable reputation as a highly visible
and involved member of Oregon's wine community, and the quality of their
wines continuously added to the reputations of both Maison Joseph Drouhin
and Oregon.
Key to DDO's success was Robert Drouhin's early
decision to hire Bill Hatcher as the business's Managing Director.
A poet as well as a businessman, Bill brought to DDO both the artistic
sensibility that respected the craft of winemaking, and the day-to-day
pragmatism of running a business. Now, after a long and successful
tenure, Bill has decided to leave DDO. Recently, he sat down with the
Oregon Wine Report to talk about what he's learned.
This has been a great
experience for me," says
Bill Hatcher as he leans back in his chair and with a swooping gesture
toward the window, takes in a swath of Domaine Drouhin vines. "I've
spent thirteen years in this magnificent setting . . . I've learned
so much . . . I've worked with such wonderful people and made enduring
friendships. . . many warm memories reside . . ."
He stops speaking
for a moment, and then continues. "But
there comes a time for everyone in any situation to move on."
And Bill has moved
on. This April was his last month at DDO; at press time he was not
yet in a position to discuss
what he was moving on to. But, he said with a smile, "I'm looking
forward to being able to take my own stupid ideas and see if they work!"
Branded a Heretic
"Stupid" is not an adjective that leaps to mind (no matter how facetiously
used) when listening to Bill present his views of the state of the wine industry.
"Heretical," by his own admission, is nearer the mark. "I have
deeply held beliefs about this business," he says, "that sometimes
are thought of as sacrilegious because they challenge the mythology."
Bill states his "heresy" in its simplest form: "Wine is
becoming a branded business. The world of entitlement has passed. The
rules that applied twenty years ago, and the niceties of the business
are being aggressively challenged."
For Bill Hatcher, the world of wine-and the Oregon wine industry in
particular-is at a critical juncture. "The challenge today for
Western European producers, and for Oregon as well, is to recognize
the importance of
brand, marketing, and competition in what has become a global wine business."
He explains further: "Twenty years ago winemaking was still an
art form. It was passed down almost ritualistically within families.
But
today that knowledge has been codified and disseminated to allow someone
now to go out and hire a winemaker, not unlike one can a software engineer.
This may sound blasphemous to the artistic sensibilities of winemaking,
but in their own right, those who design software would equally
consider themselves craftsmen, if not artists."
What this has resulted in, Bill believes, is that quality wine is now
simply the price of admission to compete.
"Because there is wide understanding of successful viticultural methods
and winemaking technology, it is now possible to cope enologically and viticulturally
with more difficult conditions-whether warm, cold, dry, or wet-in global regions
thought heretofore to be marginal for wine production," he says.
"In short, there is no longer an excuse not to produce good wine."
This dispersion of wine expertise is forcing dramatic changes in how
the wine business is managed, says Bill. Most notably, increasingly large
companies are competing in a global marketplace with a wider range of
wines. Given the leveled playing field of quality, winning in the market,
for these global companies, is a matter of marketing. And as product
quality becomes less differentiated, the differentiation of value to
the customer-real or perceived-becomes more dependant upon brand identity.
"For Western Europe, and regions like Oregon," says Bill, "the
challenge is not to abdicate one's patrimony and aesthetic, but rather to translate
these attributes into perceivable value to the customer." In other words,
help the customer understand the value in the wine they are buying.
To illustrate his
point, Bill cites how the market perception of Australian wines has
changed over the years. "Fifteen
years ago Australia was thought of as capable of only producing a $6
Lindeman's Chardonnay. Now you see Penfolds rated a 95 by the Wine
Spectator and selling for $120 a bottle."
A New Competitive Wine World
"So, how do you compete against a region, or even companies within a region,
with millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars to spend to condition market
perceptions-and the ability to deliver the real wines that back up their marketing
claims?"
Too often, Bill claims, the approach is to deny that the rules have changed. "Some
wineries believe that as long as they continue to make fine wine, it
will sell itself."
That has only been true in the past, says Bill, because competition
was sparse. And it may continue to work for awhile as old reputations
cling.
But it won't work in the long run, thinks Bill, because producers who
don't "communicate their values in the marketplace" will be
squeezed out by larger or more nimble competitors.
"Nothing drives me crazier," says Bill, "than to hear a winemaker
complain that 'they just don't understand my wine'. The simple reality is that
few people are willing to invest themselves in appreciating what the market-right
or wrong-defines as idiosyncrasy. It's wine, not James Joyce," he concludes.
From the consumer's point of view, Bill says by way of illustration,
it is difficult to decide how to risk their money on an unfamiliar wine. "A
consumer looking at a row of Chardonnays in the $15 to $30 range has
no idea how to choose-except that they know they liked that Jacob's Creek
over there, so that's what he or she ends up buying."
In buying the wine they know, says Bill, they may have passed up a more
finely crafted wine that cost more, and which might also deliver more
flavor and experience. But this hypothetical consumer may never know
that because the power of, say, the Jacob's Creek brand was too effective,
and the risk/reward ratio of the unknown wine is just too high.
"I believe that in the long run, unless they adapt, it will become more
and more difficult for smaller regions like Oregon-and even Burgundy and non-mainstream
parts of California-to compete because branded products are going to grow. Economics
is the perfected form of Darwinism."
If he is right, then what hope does Bill see for the craft producer of
fine wines-which includes mostof Oregon's wineries?
"Don't misunderstand," protests Bill, "I don't believe our best
wineries have to compromise their craft to compete. The underlying qualities
that create grace, nuance, and finesse are what makes wine so wonderful. In fact,
these are the very things that we have to become better at marketing in order
to thrive, if not survive, in this new world of mass branded, increasingly homogenized
wines."
"The partisan response," he continues, "would declare it unthinkable
that 'me-too' refinery offerings could ever displace finely shaded wines on the
consumer's palate. Then again, forty years ago no one would have predicted the
demise of roadside diners with their myriad regional nuances at the hands of
monolithic fast food chains."
"Unfortunately," Bill laments, "a lot of wineries would still
prefer to believe that all you have to do is plant your vines and make a few
basic commercial decisions in order to have a successful wine business."
Summing up the new business challenge Bill believes faces wineries, he
asks this question: "When you can walk into Trader Joe's and buy
a $4 bottle of Chilean Merlot that is absolutely drinkable, how do you
make the argument to a consumer to spend $20 or $30?"
Market the Uniqueness for Success
The
answer, Bill believes, is for quality producers to embrace brand marketing
in the same way that the big commodity wine producers are doing-but
to focus their messages to consumers on what is special about their
wines: brand the nuance that makes them unique.
"Wine professionals can talk about how the subtleties of a $75 bottle of
wine make it better than a $20 bottle, but to a consumer, those differences are
often marginal," says Bill. "They don't necessarily translate into
value to the consumer."
So, he says, the craft winemakers must develop a strong marketing appeal.
An appeal that is commensurate and reflective of the wines they produce,
in order to induce consumers to buy their offerings rather than the heavily
branded produce of the global wineries. "Better winemakers," he
claims, "will sell a certain amount of wine just on the pull of
their name, but at some point inertia is insufficient to keep the product
in orbit."
The trick is to persuade the next consumer to the marginal values that
differentiate the craft producer's wine in quality and cost. What gets
confused in Oregon, Bill thinks, is that "what passes for marketing
is merely advertising." And advertising alone, says Bill, does not
constitute a marketing plan. "You can buy the finest steelhead gear,
but if you fish in the park frog pond, you won't catch anything."
"What Oregon does have, is an image from afar that it is one of the last
pristine places." This, combined with its reputation for wineries that are
small family businesses focusing on quality artisan wines, provides, in Bill's
view, a unique platform for differentiated marketing.
"I'm not denying the importance of the art and craft of winemaking," cautions
Bill. "It is the sine qua non. However, I steadfastly believe that you have
to find a balance between preserving the art form and making it commercially
viable."
Preserving the Art; Marketing the Value
Bill sums up his marketing vision this way: "It is to preserve the
art in winemaking while at the same time communicating its value as perceived
worth to the consumer. For example, most bottled water is purchased for
intangible reasons, convenience, image, etc., whereas twenty years ago
the idea of a two dollar bottle of water in a gas station convenience
store was ludicrous. Similarly, who would have thought twenty years ago
that you could sell a cup of coffee for three bucks, let alone create
a worldwide chain of stores to do so?"
Bill believes that craft winemakers-in Oregon and throughout the specialty
wine regions of the world-must bring new sophistication, resources, belief,
and will to their business and craft. "Not to be submerged by these
market forces," he points out, "but rather to ride the crest
of the wave."
"Our thinking must become more sophisticated about how to market our products," Bill
explains. "We must cultivate the resources and the mindset to think in terms
of the marketplace. That means knowing who our customers are, or could be, and
why they (would) buy our wines. How much is attributable to the intrinsic qualities
of the wine itself, how much to the image the winery projects, how much to the
public personality of the winemaker and so on. It also entails an understanding
of market trends with their associate risks and opportunities. And, it involves
strategic partnerships such as those fostered by special bottlings, preferred
customer premiums or key retailer/restaurant alliances that project the brand."
The risk, as Bill sees it, is that if such principles aren't applied, "then
we allow the wine business to become a commodity business, and treasures
like Burgundy and Oregon risk being compromised into something that will
become that much more 'white bread.'"
"If," he continues, "in twenty years people have forgotten the
wonderful nuances of these wines, we will all find ourselves drinking pretty
much the same McWine, differentiated only by extra oak or extract, like double
cheese. Nuance will be a mere redolence, like the memory of the best piece of
apple pie in the world at that little café in Bakersfield."
Concluding his convictions, Bill cautions "I'm not claiming to be
an oracle; I'm simply defining a problem that's wholly apparent. I'm
not saying 'here is the way we need to market this industry;' rather,
I'm saying, 'we need to identify what makes us different-both as a region
and as individual producers-and craft that message just as we craft our
wines'. The answer is neither singular nor is it static; we need to continually
remind an increasingly distracted marketplace of ourvalue."
And lest anyone think that Bill is giving
up on wine in his life after DDO, he has a heretic's final thought: "You'll
probably have to burn me at the stake to get rid of me."
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