Consulting
Choosing the right wine, the right distributor, the right market and the right approach.
DRW offers consulting services to producers, distributors and retailers throughout the wine industry. We have a history of promoting brand health, sales growth and margins for many of the great names of Australian and world wine. We maintain a strong focus on developing the healthy hospitality and service cultures that make the sales process easy.
Knowing how to educate and sell has made David Ridge a fixture in the Australian wine business. With over three decades of experience in hospitality, David has dealt with a broad number of scenarios, and across many fields and industries – from retail, hotels, restaurants and distribution to winery, wine industry bodies, importing, wine judging, education and writing.
David’s counsel might just help a producer understand their own proposition better, and how and where best to take it to market. He emphasises consistent and ethical behaviours, the value of good people, providing a clear vision, discerning fads from trends, whilst keeping in mind the vital focus on running a sound and profitable business.
He’s written hundreds of wine lists, conducted a thousand tastings, tasted tens of thousands of wines for import and export, and for numerous industry-recognised publications, tutored would-be show judges, advised or represented a galaxy of Australia’s and the world’s great wine names. He chooses as testimony the words of a large, old (and very successful) Barossa winemaker, who said: “Ridgey might be one of those sniffers and spitters, but at least he can sell wine.”
DRW helped the following
Our services
We offer a range of consulting services which include:
- Conduct a full analysis of producers’ wines and proposition
- Identify appropriate routes to market and alternative channels
- Provide distribution methods in preparation to approach and engage a distributor
- Plan sales and marketing strategy
- Evaluate wine range, qualities and intrinsic values
- Train staff in wine service and sales
- Direction, structure and style wine offerings and lists
- Write detailed tasting notes and sales propositions