We are the first winery in the uber-hot city of Worcester MA. Our wines are highly rated and available in the in-demand varietals people want. Wine is a high-margin, high-startup cost business, with high sales multiples when acquired. The business is as much about developing a high-value asset for sale as it is in creating a revenue-generating entity.
Sail to Trail is what is known as a négociant winery, or a "vineyard-less" winery wherein we bottle wines using contract wine-makers on the West Coast, using grapes or juice from other vineyards. This is actually a common business model utilized by many more wine brands than most consumers are aware of. Most négociant wineries are based in well-known grape-growing regions however and we saw the business opportunity to bring this model to New England.
Here in the Northeast, wine brands primarily bottle fruit or ice wines using locally grown produce, resulting in sweet wines of less=than-stellar quality. They are typically sited on picturesque orchards, and provide a wonderful outdoor experience for families. However the quality of the actual product is typically a secondary or tertiary attraction to their wineries. The négociant model allows Sail to Trail to focus on bottling high-quality examples of varietals that are actually well known and in demand. And in this endeavor, we have succeeded. We have submitted several of our wines for rating by Wine Enthusiast, garnering ratings as high as 89. In fact, our 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Walla Walla appellation was scored an 89, the same score as Drew Bledsoe's 2015 Flying B Cabernet Sauvignon, which is also from Walla Walla. Only our bottle is $40 while the Flying B is $70.
We are currently the highest-rated winery in New England, both in terms of the ratings of our wines (not a high bar, admittedly, however, our wines are also rated highly in a national context), as well as in terms of our Google rating. As of this writing, we are the only 5.0-star rated winery in New England with 120 ratings. Of those ratings, 118 are 5-star, 2 are 4-star. This is directly related to the high-quality experience we provide to our clients when they come into our urban tasting room in Worcester. Rather than try to bring a Napa or Sonoma-like feel to Worcester, we fully embrace our urban, industrial roots. Our vibe is much more brewery than it is winery in that we provide a relaxed place to enjoy outstanding wines without pretense.
On our team, we have a wide array of experience and industries. Our CEO, Chris Simpson is an engineer with nearly 30 years of experience in manufacturing, including 4 years in senior management at Tiffany & Co. On staff we have two WSET2 certified wine professionals and 3 consulting WSET3 wine professionals that assist in various capacities.
As of this writing, revenue has grown, on average, 7.29% week-over-week in 2021 and overall revenue is tracking to nearly double compared to 2020.
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