It's not hyperbole that the top executive of St. Helena-based Duckhorn Wine Company grew into the role, long before Alex Ryan became chief operating officer and general manager in 2000 then president in 2005.
Though his connections to Duckhorn go back to its early days, Mr. Ryan joined the company full-time in 1988 and became vineyard manager in the early 1990s. Later he was vice president of vineyard and winery operations, developing the estate wines program.
At the Impact Napa Conference on Thursday, Mr. Ryan is set to be part of a panel discussing the balance between Napa Valley "quality of life" factors and of the economics of the county's largest industry. The Journal asked Mr. Ryan about his nearly three decades of living and working in Napa Valley and how the wine business has approached that balance.Tell us about the business and your connection to the it and the industry.
ALEX RYAN: Duckhorn Wine Company was founded in 1976, and the first harvest was in 1978. The company was started by Dan and Margret Duckhorn and a small group investors. There has been strong, consistent growth from the first release of wines in spring 1980.
The business has gone from a single brand with 1,600 cases the first vintage. This year we expect to produce just under 500,000 cases after 37 vintages so far.
We now have six significant brands. Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley is the largest. Paraduxx is a blend of Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon--based blends. Goldeneye in Mendocino County's Anderson Valley is focused on pinot noir. Migration is Russian River Valley pinot noir and chardonnay. Decoy is a new fireball brand made from Sonoma County wine, but the brand has been around 25 years. Canvasback comes from Red Mountain in Washington state, and the focus is cabernet sauvignon.
Each of the brands has a unique, passionate winemaker working in appellations where the varieties do best, so there are six winemakers. The focus is not just on the brick-and-mortar winery but on estate- and grower-raised fruit. There are active direct-to-consumer sales. In California we go direct to trade, which is unique for a company of our size. We have robust three-tier sales in 49 states.
We have about 150 super-great employees in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties and one guy in Washington. We're doing business the way we did day 1 -- very hands-on and very direct. We like direct connections with consumers. On a larger scale, everyone here has passion for Duckhorn brands, with actual winemakers and actual grapes. We've been blessed by great success.
I've really only held one job. My first paycheck was with Duckhorn in 1981. I got the opportunity to work here from my best friend's father, Dan Duckhorn.
My family moved to Napa County in 1975. In high school I met John Duckhorn and fell in love with his father's drive for his business. I attended Fresno State and earned a degree in viticulture, then I came back in 1987--88 and climbed through the ranks at Duckhorn. I was only the second person to hold the position of CEO after Dan Duckhorn.
Our goals are pretty simple in a complex business. We want to have our wines sold wherever luxury-tier wines are sold around the world.How has the way the industry operates in the county changed?
ALEX RYAN: It's changed a lot, but it also hasn't. The spirit and passion of residents has been the same. We've always complained about traffic.
I think what's changed is the need for the customer -- whether the trade customer or the consumer customer -- to get closer to their product. They can find and buy our wines anywhere in the world and in the U.S. And many times it's cheaper than from us, because we're not going to undercut our local retailers.
It's important for customers to get behind the scenes and get to know the local winery. If we were selling bowling balls, I don't think there would be a need for customers to go to the local factory to see how they are made.
But a great wine is a social process. People have a need to get closer to their brands. The first way is to meet the local retailer, and the second is to meet the restaurateur. But the best way is going to the winery and tasting room -- and maybe meeting the winemaker.
It's not just the wine industry that does this. Look at the way marketers in other industries use direct-sales tools like developing an app or some way for the company to get closer to the customer. They expect your bowling ball to be perfect and expect your wine to be best in world and will not accept anything less.
All wine regions in world are getting hot, exciting and unique and trying to sell an experience. I believe competition with other winegrowing regions is real, and they are getting very aggressive. Social media is being coming a big part of this. There are now wine regions from southern California to Canadian border.