The story of Ghost Wines developed following many discussions with winemakers who were becoming increasingly frustrated at watching their much-loved brands languishing on the bottom of supermarket shelves in favour of the supermarket’s own wine label. A lot of love goes into each bottle so they found it disappointing that their finished product wasn’t getting the recognition it so deserves. From a financial perspective, hardworking winemakers were watching online stores dropping their label’s prices, significantly harming the label’s brand.
We saw an opportunity to buy premium wine from winemakers at the bottling stage, put our own label on the wine and market it direct to our valued online customers as quality, premium stock. We saw this as a win-win. Firstly, this helps the producer with their cash flow and gives them back control with regards to brand positioning. For this reason, we keep the winemaker and winery secret, hence the name Ghost Wines.
Secondly, we and our customers benefit by getting a premium wine selling 40 -70% below recommended retail price. How are we able to do this? Simple. Our costs are kept to a minimum. We only have to pay for our online shop, logistics, labels and storage. Liquor stores on the other hand have to pay for rent, staff, logistics, shopfront, utilities and advertising. In the end consumers and winemakers pay for these high operating costs.
We also want to differentiate ourselves from other online stores. We’re not interested in selling the wine wineries are keen to get rid of. We only want to supply wine that we’d stand by, that we’d be proud to say is a premium, quality product. In the end, our existence relies on building strong, trusting relationships. With our consumers: we deliver the quality product they’re seeking. With our winemakers: we safeguard their brands and we treat their wines with the respect they deserve.
Angela and I recognise that organisations don’t operate separately from the society in which they operate. Which is why we commit a percentage of our profits to different charities throughout the year. Over March and April 2016, our focus is on the Leukaemia Foundation.
To honour the integrity of our wines, we suggest the following: Decant our red wine for at least an hour then place in the fridge for 30 mins before serving and be sure to take our white wine out of the fridge 10 minutes before serving. This will ensure full flavour profiles of the wine can be enjoyed the way the winemaker intended.
Cheers Brett Harvey
