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Andy Pates:

Hello, and welcome to Samples. Welcome back after the holiday weekend. It's Tuesday, 05/26/2026. It's the last week of the month. Three days left to make it happen.

Andy Pates:

Hit a number. Hit a goal. Qualify for that incentive or contest. Reach out to that elusive buyer one more time, send out some invites to a trade lunch or an event, get caught up on your emails, do a creative email offering. A lot can happen in three days, guys.

Andy Pates:

So let's get this. I hope everyone had a nice weekend. It was beautiful. Well, most of the weekend was beautiful, especially the holiday Monday. I hope everyone had a opportunity to spend some time with family and friends, relax, kick back, go to a barbecue, drink something nice, eat something nice.

Andy Pates:

Got me thinking with all this nice weather, it's time to get my bike out of the garage and get it all ready for Chicago pothole, don't door me, side road travel. So my I have a Bianchi Lupo. It's gray. The name of the bike is Il Grigio or Grige, and it got me thinking about one of my favorite categories of wine and and certainly one of Cream's stronger categories and that's Italian white wine. So Griges or Il Grigio is named after, the gray or one of our biggest categorically selling wines, Pinot Grigio.

Andy Pates:

But, you know, we're a lot more than just Pinot Grigio when it comes to Italian wine. I think we have one of the strongest in the nation. I went through and did a little bit of research and ran some reports that I'll share with you. But, you know, we have an incredible Italian white wine portfolio. And it really is, when you think about it, one of the greatest beverages in the world.

Andy Pates:

The versatility, regionality, the affordability, the rusticity, umami, natural, classic, mineral, zesty, seafood, oyster lounges. I could go on and on. I think that Italian white wine for me is is it. In the last rolling twelve months as a company, we've done about 17,000,000 in sales. 3,000,000 of that was white wine.

Andy Pates:

Now, you know, this is Chicago. It's definitely or Illinois Midwest, Chicago land. It's definitely a red wine, conversation as as most parts of of of the world. And we did about 4,800,000 in red wine sales. So red is, you know, definitely the biggest beverage category, but 3,000,000 of white wine is very impressive.

Andy Pates:

So white wine is our second largest category. It's bigger than tequila, which was 2,600,000, and bigger than sparkling, which was 2,300,000. So $3,000,000 of white wine is substantial. And as far as, like, how the countries, break down, France leads the way at 704,000 in sales the last rolling twelve months, then Italy is a second at 560,000, followed by USA in the third spot at at $5.00 9, 509,000. We have 76 Italian white wines currently in stock, totaling over 1,100 cases.

Andy Pates:

47 of those SKUs are cream imports, and that's 62% of the selection. And that's 758 cases or 69% of the inventory. So when you think of Italian white wine, you should certainly think of cream and you should think about cream as cream imports as the as the priority supplier. The largest quantity, the best price, the highest margin, the branding of the company, really just door openers for by the glass and independent retail stacking and wine clubs and larger store distributions. In terms of the marketplace, whoever is currently listing on seven fifty Pro V, I mean, they're all dropping like flies.

Andy Pates:

It's such a such a challenging platform, but it should come as no surprise that Maverick leads the way with 209 Italian white wines. They're larger than Breakthrough with a 194. Winebow, a 121. Bevyuma just inched out cream. I mean, maybe we're a container away from from passing them, but Bevyuma is at 86 Italian white wines, and then cream, 85.

Andy Pates:

Then it goes down to Massenoi with 73, Simple Farmer 71. That makes sense. That tracks. Burke Beverage, More Than Grapes, Compass. Lagniappe only has 33 Italian white wines.

Andy Pates:

Louis Glunn's 27. Acme, the the, the power trio of Mitch Einhorn, Dan Hodge, and Mick Swain coming in with 25 Italian white wines. And Grand Cru, obviously not placing an emphasis on Italy at Grand Cru selections with 19 SKUs. And it just goes down to Romano. It's really sad.

Andy Pates:

It goes down to Romano with 16, and I have never heard of this company called Intertrade. Fine Vines, the Burgundy House is showcasing 11 Italian white wines. And then it goes down to all the way down to our friend Colin Moody at Vomboeden with five. And so I think that that's Blake's back roads selections. So I wanted you to really to start thinking about Italian white wine.

Andy Pates:

I think I'm gonna just gonna do the the the Casa Casa dei Vini Bianchi. Basically, we are the White House, the house of of white wine. And I'm gonna start on a weekly basis featuring a particular Italian white wine producer, you know, one that speaks to me or one that we need to sell or a combination of the two. So definitely start getting yourself familiar with with that. I'm gonna be tasting a selection of some of the new drops today, Tuesday at the office, sometime after 11:00, probably between eleven and noon.

Andy Pates:

If anyone is getting samples or wants to come by and taste, I'm gonna be tasting them, taking some photos for the socials, writing tasting notes, and just, hopefully getting getting inspired further. And one we have two days to to put in samples for Thursday, but the one that I like would like based on the volume, the value, the the way that it will play in any sort of account, city, suburb, on, off premise, independent, corporate, natural, classic, is the Cola Stefano. The Cola Stefano, I'd like everyone to sample it this week. We have a 116 cases in stock. Fabio from the Marquee, he farms organically, high elevation.

Andy Pates:

Verdicchio, there's Verdicchio, JZ, and there's Verdicchio Metallica. We have the Metallica, which, you know, in addition to having a really cool name that's easy to remember and is very rock and roll and a nice conversation. Metallica typically is higher elevation. His vines are, I think, they're, like, over 450 meters. The Marquet is an absolutely gorgeous place that's just North Of Abruzzo on the way to Ancona.

Andy Pates:

It's rolling hills and mountainous, but not I mean, kind of like more Oregon or more South Syria or more, like, really lush and green and rolling hills, like these bowls of of agriculture, mostly mostly grape varieties. But The Marques is a wonderful place. The, Metallica region of Verdicchio is produce producing very precise, high acid, mineral driven, kind of that salty, sapidity, umami, but just, like, really, really crisp, fruits. And we can taste it at some point today or when you sample it. But I think that this is a wine that, you know, it it's certainly an alternative to Pinot Grigio.

Andy Pates:

I think when people get bored of the really popular Pinot Grigio, which is categorically our biggest seller in Italian white wine spread over multiple skews with Terre Gaia, Bolzano, Guaira, Guinigi, Calleo, Crazy Beautifuls, mostly a Tortello private label, but, the Bella Pazza. We have an incredible Pinot Grigio selection, but I think that Verdicchio can be an alternative to that. Know, we're selling a lot of the Vernaccia from Elisabetta from Montanitoli, the Tradizione Ale. That's one of our top Italian performing Italian white wines. And I know that it's a little bit macerated in orange and she's a legend, but I think that that also the Cole Stefano could also sit into a less expensive alternative if people if the pricing of Montanitoli is pushed out of by the glass, you know, you certainly have a sweet spot for that.

Andy Pates:

So that's all I got this week. I hope to see you in the office running around this week. It's a short week for me. I'm heading out of town on Thursday. I'm gonna be working remote from California for one, possibly two weeks.

Andy Pates:

But the pod does not sleep, will not stop, and Casa de Vini Bianchi is going strong. So thank you for your all your attention in the genre, and I hope everyone finishes strong with a terrific month. Thanks a lot, and hello, June coming soon.