Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/33511
Throughout his career, Deutsch has practiced what he calls “the six Ps”: People, Product, Package, Price, Promotion and Potential. “When all the Ps are there, you know the product is going to work,” Deutsch says. Trendsetter Deutsch has had a knack for finding consumer trends just before they’re hot. In 1982, back when château-etching labels were the norm, Deutsch brought to market the first French wine with a flowered label. That was Georges Duboeuf’s Beaujolais, which has since become the number-one-selling Beaujolais brand in the United States. “What I saw then was a young man trying to make the best Beaujolais he could, and it was much different in taste from the other Beaujolais on the market,” Deutsch says. “Duboeuf’s creative packaging gave me something different to work with. I saw something there.” That same instinct helped Deutsch spot the market for Australian wines in the late 1990s. For this, he tracked more than just wine sales. Americans were traveling to Australia, and as a country, the United States had had a close relationship with Australia since World War II, he noted. Meanwhile, there was a trend of consumers searching for $9 wine at the supermarket. “Australia was making good wines, and I thought we should find a family producer,” Deutsch says. He found John Casella and, after a failed first attempt with the first brand, Casella “came back with this funny bottle with a funny label called [ yellow tail ],” Deutsch remembers. “I tasted the wine and it was delicious. It was very promotable. The packaging . . . I wasn’t sure, because I had never seen a kangaroo on a label before. But Peter [his son, Peter Deutsch, now CEO] said, ‘No dad, it’s unique.’ So how could I not listen to the youth of that time?” Shortly after Deutsch introduced [ yellow tail ] wines to the world in 2001, it became the number-one Australian wine in the U.S. and the number-one imported on-premise brand. [ yellow tail ] now sells more than 12 million cases a year in more than 40 countries. “Many consumers don’t even know it’s an Australian wine,” he says. “They know it as [ yellow tail ].” Spirits Since creating the spirits division in July 2009, Deutsch has applied the six Ps and signed Villa Massa Limoncello, Cognac Ferrand’s Landy Cognac, Luksusowa Vodka and now, The Original MOONSHINE. “After 50 years devoted to wine, I thought with mixologists becom- ing like sommeliers, there’s a niche market out there for specialty products,” Deutsch says. “We’re doing the same thing with spirits that we’ve been doing with wine for all these years.” As he’s talking about his spirits division, Deutsch grabs the only product bottle on his desk—a jug bottle of The Original MOONSHINE—and cracks a big smile. It’s like he’s found [ yellow tail ] all over again. He has good reason to be giddy. The whiskey market is growing at such a high rate that noted distilleries such as Buffalo Trace have started selling their clear own whiskey. And what mixologist worth his cocktail shaker doesn’t want to put moonshine on his cocktail menu? The Original MOONSHINE, made in Culpepper, VA, is 100-percent clear corn whiskey and has sold extremely well in select markets where it has launched, according to Deutsch. “We knew the mixolo- gists were experimenting with new things,” he says. “When we tasted The Original MOONSHINE, we thought this could be a huge success straight up and in cocktails.” If we’ve learned anything from watching his track record, it’s that Bill Deutsch is usually right. When The Original MOONSHINE was presented to us, we thought this could be a mixolo- gist’s delight.” —Bill Deutsch Bill Deutsch with Andrew Lakin, Wine and Beverage Director for BLT Steak White Plains, NY. june 201 1 / the tasting panel / 81