“The Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”  That was Ronald Reagan’s view on taxes.  I guess it makes sense; but, you can’t really understand the concept until it hits you in the coffers.

First off, the good news…Senor Sangria continues to grow.  BUT…when that happens in NJ you pay wholesale beverage taxes.  You see…going into June, Senor Sangria was paying a small amount of beverage taxes.  After sales from June and July were totaled, we calculated that revenues had increased considerably.  In the state of NJ, I guess this meant that we had kept the business moving.   For our efforts, we were rewarded by paying a lot more in beverage taxes!

Here’s hoping we keep moving in the right direction (and therefore paying taxes, I guess).  Cheers!

Every time we are at the winery for a production run there is such a great sense of energy that all you can do is just enjoy yourself and have fun.  Our 1.5 L run in July was no exception.  After all the Classic Red has been bottled and boxed, the next step is to add Senor Sangria labels to a large quantity of very white boxes.  The next step is very necessary; otherwise, you will be playing a guessing game trying to figure out what’s inside.   Now, in your average, run-of-the-mill massive production process, this is managed by a multi-million dollar highly intelligent robotic supercomputer that carefully calculates to the nearest 1000^th of an inch where the label should be placed on each box (at rate that would make your head spin).  Here at Senor Sangria, we regret to say that our robot is broken and the warranty expired.  So these days, this is a manual process and is completed by some of our phenomenal team members at the winery.  As you can see by the photo below, we really like to have fun during this process and for the first time ever we would like to introduce our new mascot for Senor Sangria.

So a few weeks ago I visited one of our new accounts in Garwood, NJ…Dittrick’s Wine and Liquor. I was BSing away with the shop manager about this and that, and he mentions that he’d placed an order for sangria about a week ago that had not yet arrived. He wasn’t exactly pissed about the delay, but he thought enough about it to make mention of it. Of course, in a perfect world, next-day deliveries of Classic Red would be commonplace (and Classic White would already be on shelves, gas would be free, and NJ would eliminate property taxes).

As I was leaving, a truck pulled into the parking lot. As my luck would have it, this was the Senor Sangria delivery! I walked up to the driver to introduce myself, and came to the realization that this was clearly something that this guy was not accustomed to (with the possible exception of drunks begging for booze from time to time, I suppose). I just wanted to thank the guy for being a part of what gets Senor Sangria from the winery to the shelf (plus, there’s nothing like the subtle pressure of a friendly reminder that you’re being watched!). I’m not so sure the guy was ever completely convinced of my sanity, though.

There seem to be so many ways these days to communicate, advertise, and collaborate online. As a wily robot named Number 5 once said, “Input…need Input!” (Yes, I just dated myself.) Call it what you want, it presents a great opportunity for Senor Sangria. Many of you out there are already aware that we are on Facebook (if not, check us out www.facebook.senorsangria.com). Senor Sangria also has a presence on Twitter (in fact, I recently posted important, breaking news regarding the shelf life of Classic Red in the fridge).

Anyway, the other day I caught the urge to see if there was any Twitter buzz out there on Senor Sangria, so I did a search. I found someone Tweeting about how good it was to be back with the family and Senor Sangria. I was a little confused initially (are they talking about us?), so I Tweeted back. It turns out she lives in Lyndhurst, NJ and loves our Classic Red (so much that she converted over from Carlo Rossi). If any of our fans are drinking anything other then Senor Sangria, we plan on converting you one fan at a time.

Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/SenorSangria

So back in June we told you about Hickory Stock, a mega-party hosted on an annual basis by our good friends Rick & Debbie.  I gave them a shout out at the time because (a) I love parties and (b) I love it when folks spread the good word about Senor Sangria.  And in the case of Hickory Stock, the good word reaches upwards of 200 partying people every year.  It would not be a stretch to consider Rick and Debbie two of our biggest fans.

Well…this time, the duo really out-did themselves.  And it had nothing to do with Hickory Stock.  Back in July, they set sail on a Champagne Cruise around Vermont…and guess what they brought along?   You got it!  Leave it to Rick & Debbie to bring a haul of Classic Red on a cruise that’s themed around champagne!  Not to boast or anything, but we understand that our sangria was quite the hit.  Not only that, it was preferred by most folks over the champagne that was packaged in with the cruise!

I’m hoping there isn’t a security desk at check-in dedicated to sniffing out “contraband cargo” because of our success (ok, maybe I need to deflate a little bit).  Heck, if no one’s taken notice, maybe we should up a Senor Sangria cart dockside so folks can load up before departure!

So, we have shared a number of stories about our loyal customers showing up to their local liquor stores with empty bottles of Senor Sangria inquiring about our product.  These have been some of the easiest sales we have had to date.  Well, it has happened again!   A few weeks ago I received a call from the owner of Don’s Wine and Liquor Shoppe located in West Orange, NJ placing a 5 case order.  I couldn’t be happier and more honored that these owners/managers have enough confidence in our product to place orders without even tasting it.  Please help us welcome Don’s Wine and Liquor Shoppe to our Senor Sangria Family!  I would also like to send a special thanks to all our devoted customers for your constant support.

Up until this point we have relied on word of mouth and our phenomenal sales force for advertising Senor Sangria Classic Red.  About a month ago Alan landed an account Max’s Beer, Wine & Liquor.  There are 5 stores that fall under this wine and spirits and you can find our sangria in 4 of them.  Go Alan!  Keep up the great work!   We recently received a copy of Max’s monthly flyer for August….and guess who is on there?  You got it, we are!  We are so grateful to the folks at Max’s for taking the time to spread the word about our product.  This really boosts our confidence for the future in-store tastings we will be scheduling at all their locations.  Thank you so much for all your support and we wish you continued success in all of your stores.

It’s that time again!  If you weren’t able to join us last year, we hope to see you this time around.  All you can drink wine, sangria, and great bbq??? Do I have your attention now???

 Wine & Sangria Pig Roast Festival

Date: Saturday, August 28^th

 Time: 1:00p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

 Location: Brotherhood Winery

           100 Brotherhood Plaza

           Washingtonville, NY 10092

What’s on the menu?

 Roasted Whole Pig, Barbequed St. Louis style Spare Ribs, Smoked Turkey, Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Salads, Sides, Cornbread, Cookies, Brownies, Snacks and of course all the SANGRIA you can drink!

 Price: $46 pp

 Tickets are selling fast and need to be ordered in advance. 

Please call (845)496-3661 or order online at http://www.brotherhoodwinery.net/bro_event.taf?_function=details&view=event&evid=93

 Last year’s festival was a great success….Maria and I can’t even count how many cases of sangria we poured.  We expect this year to be bigger and better and hope all of you can be a part of it.  Cheers!

So after some searching, Senor Sangria has moved to some new digs.  We’re now located in Maplewood, NJ!  Having moved several times throughout the years, I personally have been through the various pains that it entails.  One of the most irritating aspects of moving…mail!  You try to get all your addresses changed.  If you’re smart you set up mail forwarding and pray that (a) it works and (b) stuff (i.e. b ills) gets forwarded in time before your credit rating takes a nose dive.  Something always seems to leak through, though.  The solution?  P.O Box, baby!  Totally worth it!

On a sad note, now that we are have a delivery service, it looks like a member of the Senor Sangria family will have to be let go.  Molly has been a respected member of the Senor Sangria team; but, we simply don’t require her services enough to justify her expense.  The fact is Senor Sangria has continued to grow beyond her ability to contribute consistently.  In business, when that happens, management has to make hard decisions.  With a heavy heart, we will be selling her to [hopefully] the highest bidder.

That’s right, we’re selling the van!

In this industry, when you are a new and growing company there are a few rules that you try to follow day-to-day.  Never look back.  Never take a break.  Always grow; but, do so at a sustainable rate.  There are also a few cardinal sins you make sure to avoid.  One of those is about as simple as it gets…never let your supply go dry. Makes sense, right?  People can love your product six ways from Sunday; but, if they can’t find it, they will inevitably look elsewhere.  And the last thing you want to have happen is lose customers because you weren’t on top of your business. 

So needless to say this is something we strive to avoid, especially as we watch our sales numbers improve month-over-month.  In fact, we recently we ran a production run to restock our stores with 1.5 liter bottles.  We brought the first two pallets to the warehouse to sit before delivery, and before we knew it we took orders that accounted for every bottle on those pallets.  Now, we have to get back to the winery to further stock the warehouse to keep inventory on hand.  With the dog days of summer upon us, folks are thirstier than ever.  The potential for growth is exciting…but at the same time it makes for some hectic times.  Fear not!  Keep your pitchers handy!