Exciting Times Ahead

As you’ve likely heard, Inertia Beverage Group acquired the assets of New Vine on Monday, July 27th, in a public auction process. While there was a lot of media speculation and commentary leading up to the auction, I‘d like to share what we believe Inertia’s acquisition of the New Vine assets means for our clients, New Vine clients, Inertia, and the wine industry overall.

First, this acquisition means that all New Vine services will remain in place, up and running for everyone who is utilizing its logistics, fulfillment, and compliance services. In addition, there is no requirement that Inertia’s proprietary software be used in order to access the New Vine logistics, shipping and compliance services.

We are naturally very excited and feel fortunate to be able to incorporate the suite of New Vine services into Inertia’s offerings. As soon as possible we will clarify how this will be accomplished, what new programs and services this combining of assets will allow, and how we believe the combination of capabilities can positively impact the direct wine sales industry as a whole.

We are also eager to begin working with both businesses in a way which thoughtfully takes into consideration the needs and histories of both organizations’ clients.

IBG has always been a vocal supporter of the direct channel, especially on behalf of the smaller to mid-size wineries that struggle to gain market access via the traditional distribution system. Our vision is to improve the marketing and selling of wine by providing solutions at all levels of the wine industry supply chain.

This vision requires some very necessary components to ensure success, including marketplace technologies, compliance and fulfillment solutions. To date, IBG has successfully delivered on these components through our proprietary systems and industry partnerships, including the REthink Engine, the REthink Compliance tool, the WineRevolution.com Direct-to-Trade system, integrated logistics and shipping service partnerships, and many other essential tools. With the inclusion of New Vine into the IBG family of products and services, we will now be able to offer the first comprehensive and integrated set of direct sales solutions for the entire industry.

We believe we live in exciting times in the wine industry and that its best days are ahead as new sales channels, opportunities and solutions emerge for every segment of the industry. We welcome all those who are interested in learning more about Inertia’s integrated programs to contact us directly. Inertia clients may contact their Account Manager at any time, and I can always be reached at ted.jansen@inertiabev.com or directly at 707.603.2856.

In addition, Inertia is hosting several client gatherings in the next few weeks to provide an introduction to the ways in which we are leveraging our programs and partnerships to deliver new wine marketplaces for winery participation. We look forward to hosting more gatherings in the future, and providing New Vine customers and the broader wine industry with an opportunity to learn more about our programs and services.

Stay tuned – there are certainly exciting times ahead!