Samples

What is Samples?

cream team news

Andy:

Hello and welcome to Samples for Tuesday, 06/02/2026. Coming to you live on recording from Culver City, California in the heart of Los Angeles. I hope everyone is doing well. Congratulations to the Payne family, Grandpa Payne on the new baby boy, the addition to the family. Mother and father are doing well.

Andy:

James Daniel, welcome to the Cream team. Future wine salesperson, grab your robo bag and head out into the West Loop and prosper. Also, I really enjoyed my weekend. My daughter Sophia graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design, AKA SCAD on Friday. I'm so proud of my daughter.

Andy:

And she has a job. She was working as a senior already, so she had a job in Los Angeles. And so on Sunday night, early Monday morning, we both went to Los Angeles to get her set up in her new apartment and for her to start a new life and her next adventure. And I'm just really proud of my daughter. And so I'm just hanging out here in Los Angeles with all the beautiful people, all the influencers, all this natural wine.

Andy:

And I'm just trying to figure it out. So I don't really have that much to go over for samples this week. I don't really have a theme. I mean, if I was going to if I was going to cheese it up, would say, you know, Savannah reminds me of the historic series line from Rare Wine Company and we've got the Savannah Verdaglio, the Charleston Searcyon, the Boston Bulgol, the New York Malmsi. Those are all basically sweetness levels if you're not familiar.

Andy:

There's the outlier with the Baltimore rainwater, which I think is the best one. But it maybe doesn't have quite the venosity or the grip. But Charlson Searcyl is going be the highest acid. Then I think like the and I'm pronouncing it the way they pronounce it, the Verdellio. The Savannah Verdellio is probably in between the Charleston Circional and the Boston Bul in terms of weight.

Andy:

The Boston Bul probably makes the most sense just because the vintage side of things, there's a lot more vintage of wall available so you can get your clients to have the historic series line on the back bar and then sort of like upgrade their selections with vintages, whether it's a birthday, an anniversary, showing a little bit of age as far as the upgrade for the pairing or upsell. We all know the wines are indestructible so you can sell them by the ounce and maximize your profit. So that's like one idea. And then also thematically, I am in Los Angeles. And there's the Wonderwork boys, Samu and Andrew that live here.

Andy:

And they're doing Wonderwork LA. We have the new wines in stock. Everything is new except for the marinara. And I don't know when that new packaging is coming. But you know, the whole idea of Italia, California, the new package, we certainly are crushing it with the leaders.

Andy:

But I think Alfresco and Riviera, the time is nigh. They are coming in to do a Sporty's Pizza Miche backyard barbecue in July. More on that to come. I think it's maybe the nineteenth or whatever that Sunday is. And they're, of course, wanting to work the market.

Andy:

I told them no, hell no. They said, Hey, we're already here. Can we do Binney's tastings? I said, Hey, no, it's not in Binney's yet. We're working on it.

Andy:

So I'll let them know that they're on their own, but if anyone can use them on the Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday after that sporties event, please let me know. But I am telling them that not to come. I'm not to come, but I'm telling them that if you do decide to come, we really appreciate it. But we are completely tapped out as far as work withs. We're done.

Andy:

We're dead eyed. And what are you doing to us? So they're cool. They're still going to come in. But if anyone wants to work with them or do anything with them or do an event, let me know.

Andy:

But absolutely no pressure. I know that there's been a lot of events, especially the back to back seminar that we have this week with Takisuki and Abe and then with Matchbook and Paul. And I know that that takes a lot out of the team, but it really is good for sales and vibes and education and energy. So thank you for that. But just know, the portfolio management team and myself, we really have a plan to limit the amount of visits, events, market work in the second half of the year so we can kind of correct all of that extra time and focus it on the fantastic sales that we're doing.

Andy:

Don't sweat it, don't worry about that. So as far as sampling goes, I think that it would be really nice if with the start of summer if everyone cleaned off their sample shelves and really looked at everything that you've pulled thus far, especially the hoarders in the company. If you could try and monetize some of those expensive sample pools that are sitting on your desk, you know who you are. And those of you that take your example pools and stick them in your basement or your wine rack or your cooler, please go through and take a look at that and figure out how you can monetize that expense. If the vintage has expired, then why don't you either drink it or use it as some sort of a friendly bribe for that particular server, the valet driver, the account, maybe even when you're hanging out with your friendsclients at a BYO, bring an older vintage and show them, hey, we got the new vintage in.

Andy:

So those samples do cost money. I do need to figure out how to get a return on the investment for that. So why don't you do that this week for samples? And then I'm just going to go because it's so beautiful here. The sun is shining at 75 degrees and I'm just going to go walk and get a taco or something.

Andy:

So I'll let you guys get to it. Congratulations to all the graduates out there. All of the birthdays and just everyone that has completed a level of education or rite of passage or a family reunion or a wedding, let's just raise a glass and say toast to the Cream team, the extended family of the Cream team, all of our alumni, alumna around the world. Life is good and here's wishing you a great week and happy selling. I don't know what California or LA song I can sing for picking up checks.

Andy:

Love LA from Randy Newman. I also love California girls from the Beatles, even Katy Perry, if I'm being honest. And then California Dreamin' probably is the best, especially that Wan Car Wai Chunking Express scene. Is that I don't know if that's a laundromat or if that's a restaurant, but why don't you do your own imagination and sing picking up chicks and selling wine. You know, we do this all the time.

Andy:

Picking up checks, selling wine. Picking up checks, selling wine. Picking up checks, selling wine.