There is a site that from time to time I pluck out of my “slush sites” in my google reader. They’re the sites that you really don’t enjoy reading daily, but from time to time, have a nice little tidbit or two to talk about. This particular one is called Noticias del Vino, which translates to “Wine News”, more or less. Today, in an effort to keep up a personal New Year’s resolution to read more information in Spanish, I stumbled across a fairly well written article titled “Claves del Exito para Vender en los Mercados de Exportación“, which translates to, “Keys to Success in Selling to Export Markets”. What follows is a list of 10 keys listed in the article that appear in no particular order:

1. The Vineyard
2. The Winemaking
3. Packaging
4. Quality Control
5. Commercial Department
6. Know the market
7. Stable Prices
8. Service
9. Marketing
10. Innovating and to Renew

After giving some thought to the article, I figured I would chime in with my own ideas and explanations about what matters in selling to an export market from Iberia and why, while at the same time, attempting to put them in some semblance of order. Now to be clear, these are my suggestions to a winery that is new to the game. Maybe someone with some money who just bought a plot of land with a dream to make wine, or a local producer who figures they can make a little extra money by trying to export. This is not meant to be a guide for established brands or brands that have a name that sells their product, ie. Vega Scilia. Rather, this is for the startup winery, and I’ll assume that they are in …

D.O./Region: Alentejo, Portugal
Address:Quinta do Mouro 7100 Estremoz, Portugal
Telephone:+35 126 8332 259
Fax:+35 126 8337 585
Email:luís.louro@sapo.pt
Web:
Founded: 1990
Hectares of Vines: 22
Wine maker: Luis Louro, Luis Duarte (consultant)
Total Production Liters:70,000
Grape Varieties Grown:Aragones, Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet, Touriga Nacional, Cabernet Sauvignhon, Merlot, Petit Shyrah
Wines Produced: Quinta do Mouro, Zagalos
Exporters in the UK and USA: Eric Solomon in the US

Have you ever gotten directions from a friend like this, “Yeah! Two lefts, a right and then call me from your cell phone and I’ll tell you the way from there.”? So, being a good friend, you trusted their directions and followed every ‘right’, ‘left’ and ‘straight’ only to find your cell phone out of minutes and your pockets completely empty of change when you needed to call him. Well, I just explained my exact situation arriving in Estremoz - one of the more beautiful walled cities in the Alentejo, which is somewhat like saying that sunflower in front of you is the most beautiful amongst the field of flowers that it rests in.

I had been given the name of Luis Louro, the son of the owner and winemaker at Quinta do Mouro, as a contact to visit during my trip, and the one to give me the ever so vague instructions that would lead to close enough to the Bodega that I could call him upon my approach and be directed the rest of the way. Unfortunately, being out of both minutes and change, I found myself driving down a remote vine-lined road that sat just on the outskirts of the city wall which, just so happened, to take me directly in front of the gates of Quinta do Mouro!

Getting out of my car, I noticed above the white arch …