Duckhorn CEO on how the pure-play, -2-

But we bottled, essentially, everything we normally bottle, some smaller versions. There were some health issues, we couldn't put pickers out there. But even if you are rich, and you skip a vintage, how are you going to give your employees a bonus next year? How are you going to buy new equipment? That's a lot of money to forgo. It affects years to come.

MarketWatch: Do you think there were some other 2020s that made it to the market that maybe shouldn't have? Because they do taste like an ashtray?

Ryan: Sure there are. But would they be better skipping? I'm not sure about that. If you are a $4 bottle of wine, nobody cares. But a $20, $40 or $60 bottle of wine, your customer deserves the opportunity of continuity. [Duckhorn also said it wouldn't release any wines that weren't high quality.] That isn't just a smoke thing, it's everything. We routinely declass things. It could be smoke or other things, because it's just not good enough.

MarketWatch: When did you have your first glass of wine that you remember?

Ryan: My dad was working for Beringer. He was in charge of sales, and they had an import division. I was 11 years old. My dad had to go on a trip for five weeks seeing all his suppliers, in Europe, to Germany, Italy and France, and he visited all of his suppliers. Mom and I went. I said, "This lifestyle is kind of cool. It's different than America." We sat at the table, we all drank wine together, little sips. But it was just very interesting and I was fascinated with it.

Then, I came home and I said, "Dad, I want to start a wine collection." He helped with some wine bottles, I put them on a shelf. I was in the fifth grade and I had a little wine collection, with boxes in my closet, I just fell in love with it.

-Joy Wiltermuth

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07-22-23 1134ET

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