Mike Best MW on the Cellar Door Experience

This show was published Saturday, September 10, 2022

Overview

Mike Best became a Master of Wine in 2020 and was the youngest ever MW at the time. He wrote his dissertation on Cellar Door sales and the tasting experience and did a stint on the cellar door while working a vintage in 2014 in Adelaide Hills, Australia.

For Mike's dissertation, which was focused on the UK market and drew on statistics and research from Wine GB, he also contacted wineries in Oregon in the US where the cellar door market is much more well established.

A key finding was that smaller wineries tended to be more focused on selling wine at the cellar door compared to larger wineries who have other key routes of distribution and are less dependent on direct sales. For them, the cellar door was more about offering tasting room experiences and delivering the softer benefits of brand loyalty and brand building. The number one priority for wineries was delivering the best possible customer experience, ranking higher even than having staff with deep wine knowledge.

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Music

The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.