Swan and Lewis
Greentree Wine Company, California, USA
Greentree Wine Company has been producing premium wine in
the Napa Valley since 1980 and markets wine under the Brown
Canyon, Swan & Lewis and Stratclith labels. In addition, GWC
produces several private labels for both domestic and
international customers. Last year, GWC bottled over 500,000
cases between their own brands, private labels and custom
bottling contracts.
The Swan and Lewis label, which retails for about $10, grew
by 53 percent in 2012. Swan and Lewis includes a Chardonnay,
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir.
The package was recently updated and includes the slogan,
"Stick your nose in our business."
The company is headed by Tony Swan and Glen Lewis who
created the Swan and Lewis label in 1990. Paul Jones is
responsible for wine production and has worked exclusively
for the firm since 1992.
The primary reason Swan & Lewis experienced record growth
last year is that key distributors got behind the brand.
Swan said the secret of their rapid growth was "being with
the right distributors at the right time." He credits the
rise in the value of the euro relative to the U.S. dollar
for making reasonably priced California wines more
attractive to distributors that previously were interested
mostly in imports. "A lot of our distributors were strong in
imports but felt it wasn't a bad idea to have something from
California," he said.
"We need to be with medium-sized distributors, and we need
to be with medium-sized distributors that actually care
about us, which is not the same thing."
Swan commented that with many wines designed to retail for
$10, much of the emphasis is on marketing instead of what
the wine tastes like. "We depend on the wine," he said. "I
think $10 is an interesting price point," Swan said. "It's a
price where almost anybody can afford to buy but high enough
where you can do something slightly interesting as far as
the wine is concerned. I think the American consumer has
become more sophisticated and is looking at interesting
wines for around $10."
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