You may already know that I am not a great believer when it comes to the real value of wine competitions. Of course it’s nice to receive a medal now and again, but it’s simply that achieving the result can sometimes be a bit of a lottery. There are just so many variables involved during the judging process.

I have always believed that customer references are far more important. The quality of the people buying your wine and their total satisfaction is really what it’s all about. Having great importers is one thing, but then at the other end of the chain, the final consumer is ultimately the one that determines the success or failure of your product. If wine drinkers don’t like your wine then you might as well give up – your wine simply won’t sell – or rather you might well sell the first bottle, but then never the second.

So when a private customer takes the time to write to you simply to tell you how much they have enjoyed your wine, then this is almost as valuable as winning a gold medal in my book. Here we see a couple of our private customers enjoying a bottle of Castro Martin with a plate of oysters. Truly a marriage made in heaven. After all, what is it they say? The customer is always right!You may already know that I am not a great believer when it comes to the real value of wine competitions. Of course it’s nice to receive a medal now and again, but it’s simply that achieving the result can sometimes be a bit of a lottery. There are just so many variables involved during the judging process.

I have always believed that customer references are far more important. The quality of the people buying your wine and their total satisfaction is really what it’s all about. Having great importers is one thing, but then at the other end of the chain, the final consumer is ultimately the one that determines the success or failure of your product. If wine drinkers don’t like your wine then you might as well give up – your wine simply won’t sell – or rather you might well sell the first bottle, but then never the second.

So when a private customer takes the time to write to you simply to tell you how much they have enjoyed your wine, then this is almost as valuable as winning a gold medal in my book. Here we see a couple of our private customers enjoying a bottle of Castro Martin with a plate of oysters. Truly a marriage made in heaven. After all, what is it they say? The customer is always right!