Discover Texas Wines – Sommly – Part 3

Sara and Erik Wagner created Sommly.com in 2022 to provide a source to learn about – and buy – Texas wines.

Sara’s background is in management consulting, technology product and portfolio management. She leads corporate strategy and business transformation at Whole Foods Market and is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sommly. Sara received her MBA from Rice University and her BS from Texas A&M University. She is a Certified Level 2 Sommelier by the National Wine School and is enrolled in WSET Level 3 to further her wine knowledge. Erik leads marketing at a global software company. Together they are making waves to increase bottle sales for wineries across the state.

With a cold glass of Texas Roussanne in hand, Sara shared how she and Erik dove into Texas wine. “We planned a weekend getaway in the Texas Hill Country for our first anniversary back in the spring of 2015. We both had been to the region on a handful of occasions and were individually already members of two clubs, but that weekend was when we became huge Texas wine advocates. On our way to one of the wineries, we made a last-minute decision to stop in at the Kuhlman Cellars tasting room that had recently opened its doors – the permanent sign wasn’t even up yet. Our Sommelier-led wine and food pairing experience was unforgettable. The French-style wines were really high quality, and even in this winery’s infancy, the experience they offered reset the bar for what we seek out in craft wine – and we were thrilled it existed in Texas.”

During the pandemic and associated shutdowns, the couple realized the boutique wineries they had grown to love were in serious financial peril. Most small wineries were not selling their wines at retail stores and were forced to be closed because they did not operate as a restaurant. And they had an idea of how they could help. So they spent most of 2020 doing market validation, research, and early software development. In February of 2021, they incorporated Sommly and took steps to launch the following year.

Of the 11,000+ wineries in the US, the vast majority do not sell through retail because of the three-tier system. This system requires wineries to sell their products at a wholesale price to a distributor who then sells the bottles to a retailer. The retailer and the distributor both take a significant amount of the winery’s margins which can be in the range of 50% to 80% of the gross margin per bottle. And the distributor does not work to generate demand for the wine. Only the largest producers can afford to operate in this model.

Meanwhile, consumers don’t have access to these artisanal wines unless they physically visit the winery’s location which is often not close to where you live. Or you can purchase directly from a winery’s website, but you’d need to already know of the winery to find it.

So, Erik and Sara built Sommly to help consumers discover artisanal wines and make them easy to buy. The platform connects wineries with consumers ultimately helping these small businesses grow their most profitable channel of direct-to-consumer sales.

Consumers enjoy purchasing from a marketplace platform which is what we see from top sites such as Amazon, eBay, and VRBO. It’s convenient and exposes you to a wider variety of products. And now Sommly offers this marketplace for Texas wines. And while making the purchasing process easy for the consumers, wineries benefit from added exposure and ultimately increased sales.

If you happen to be a winery owner, learn more about how Sommly can help build your brand. Jump on the website to see for yourself, or reach out to [email protected] for more details.

Sommly also provides an avenue to see reviews of wineries and receive suggestions for wines you may like based on what you have purchased or reviewed in the past. But don’t take my word for it; visit Sommly.com today and create your free account to discover more Texas wines for yourself!

Our fellow Texas wine lovers get a special treat. Every first-time shopper who places an order on Sommly.com before April 30th, 2023 will receive a $10 rebate on shipping. Just follow @sommly.wine on Instagram, and send a DM with the code TWL+SOMMLY and your email address. Cheers y’all!