Thismagazinehasbeen craftedtoprovide comprehensiveupdatestoour luxurybusinessgroupand enterprisepartnersregarding branddevelopments,recent acquisitionsandcapability updatesthroughouttheyear. Ourcommitmentistokeep youinformedandempowered intheever-evolvingworldof luxury.
The Dispatch Interview
A Peek Into Martini’s Renovation An Interview with Zach Beauchamp
Sip & Discover
08 Pampering Every Occasion
A Look into the World of Concierge Services
Inspired Hospitality
Redefining OSC Consumer Experiences With Monica Sheppard
Advancing Brand Equity
A Spotlight on Key Developments in Brand’s Innovation and Communication Programs
Celebrate Our Teams
Recognizing Important Milestones
Louis M. Martini ‘The Gryphon’
Reinventing a Legacy: The Transformation of Louis Martini
From the Food Network's bustling Chelsea offices to the storied vineyards of Napa Valley, Zach Beauchamp's journey to leading Louis Martini's brand renovation is anything but conventional. Today, as he oversees one of the wine industry's most ambitious brand transformations, his diverse background in food, wine, and business proves invaluable.
"Wine is such a complex category," Beauchamp reflects on his early days as a sommelier at San Francisco's Nopa restaurant. "Understanding its full scope requires daily engagement with consumers, touching dozens of different tables, selling bottles from across the world to folks with widely different interests." This front-line experience would later prove crucial in his role at Martini, where understanding consumer desires became paramount. After honing his craft through various sommelier positions in San Francisco and later running wine programs for Boston's HK food group (Alden & Harlow, Waypoint, and Longfellow), Beauchamp felt the pull toward broader impact. This led him to Cornell's MBA program, strategically chosen for its unique combination of business, hospitality, and viticulture programs. His path to the Gallo Winery was clear from the start.
"When people asked what I planned on doing after graduation, I'd say, 'I'll probably go work at Gallo.' When it comes to having an impact in the world of wine, there's no better place to do it."
The Martini renovation, while in discussion before Beauchamp's arrival, gained momentum in spring 2022 with Allison Morales joining the Luxury Business Unit. The challenge was monumental: craft a vision that would propel a 90-year-old brand into the future while honoring its rich heritage.
"We knew that any great luxury brand is driven largely by its vision," Beauchamp explains. Working with a core team including Morales, luxury expert Blake Gilbert, and BU leader Joe C. Gallo, they began the meticulous process of reimagining Martini's future.
The transformation required hard decisions. After careful financial modeling with Colin Bauer, the team determined that Martini's future lay firmly in Napa Valley. This meant streamlining their portfolio from over 20 SKUs to a focused collection of twelve wines across four distinct tiers.
The search for a creative agency led them to Denomination, chosen for their work with Penfolds and their understanding of luxury wine brands. However, the renovation presented unique challenges. The team discovered that Louis M. Martini, the founder, had been somewhat averse to advertising and visual marketing, believing that wine quality should speak for itself. "While that's really admirable, and the sommelier in me absolutely loves that, the brand marketer in me does not," Beauchamp laughs. This meant the team had to largely start from scratch with visual design cues.
The breakthrough came with Denomination's proposal of the Gryphon concept. Drawing from Louis M. Martini's Ligurian heritage and his departure from Genoa, they discovered that the gryphon – the symbol of Genoa and a herald of courage and guardianship – perfectly aligned with their vision of stewardship. The design includes thoughtful details, such as each plume of the Gryphon's tail representing a generation of the Martini family. The symbol anchors a completely refreshed visual architecture that extends across the portfolio, from the introductory Gryphon tier to the prestigious Lot 1.
The renovated portfolio features four carefully crafted tiers: -The Gryphon: An introductory tier featuring Napa Valley blends
-Special Selection: A DTC-focused tier inspired by Louis P. Martini's experimental approach from the 1960s and 70s, offering "anything but Cabernet" options
-The Crown Collection: Single-vineyard expressions that spotlight specific vineyard sites rather than AVAs -Lot 1: The halo tier representing the pinnacle of Martini winemaking
“We knew that we needed to start with a vision - any great luxury brand is going to be driven largely by its vision.”
The commercial rollout begins February 2025, focusing initially on California's on-premise market. "I'm a little biased from my time in restaurants," Beauchamp admits, "but I really think that most luxury brands are built on restaurant floors."
Despite the comprehensive changes, the team maintained a delicate balance between innovation and heritage. As Beauchamp notes, "Luxury dies by consensus." By keeping the core decision-making team tight while actively seeking broader input, they've managed to create a renovation that respects the past while boldly stepping into the future.
The transformation of Louis Martini Winery stands as a masterclass in brand renovation – one that demonstrates how to honor a legacy while ensuring its relevance for generations to come. As the brand enters this new chapter, it carries forward not just nine decades of winemaking excellence, but a renewed vision for the future of luxury wine in Napa Valley.
“ANYTHING,
The average time spent on travel planning is 17 hours and 42 minutes, according to a survey by Go City, a leading sightseeing and attraction pass brand. Also, nearly a quarter of respondents find planning a frustration. After all, planning a successful vacation involves a multi-faceted process encompassing defining your goals, researching destinations, budgeting, booking logistics, and preparing for your trip. Also, no one wants to spend money on a vacation or other form of travel without making sure that every detail is in order.
That’s where Quintessentially comes in. A personalized concierge service with a single point of contact, Quintessentially’s mantra of “Anything, anytime, anywhere” helps secure impossible-to-get tickets, organizes global relocations, arranges special journeys and sources the world’s most coveted items. From the Oscars to Cannes Film Festival to dinner on the court at Wimbledon, the impossible becomes possible.
Lauren Wilt, U.S. CEO of Quintessentially, says, “Quintessentially provides tailored travel planning, whether members are booking lastminute getaways or scheduling years in advance. The service accommodates diverse preferences, from organizing multi-country expeditions to curating bespoke wellness retreats. Quintessentially ensures every detail aligns with members' specific goals and schedules, offering unparalleled access to luxury properties and experiences.”
Interested in seeing an art show in London or seeking a spa treatments with a sprinkle of spirituality?
Quintessentially can arrange that for you. In addition to individual memberhsips, Quintessentially’s corporate membership unlocks all the elements you need to reward your top performers and build loyalty with your VICs.
Private membership includes such services as: ease of access to an in-house travel agency, in-house specialists who develop and maintain relationships with the world’s best chefs and restaurants, from trending hole-in-the-walls to Michelin star venues; a luxury real estate service designed to assist with property sales and purchases worldwide – as well as home management, renting and leasing; experts who plan all types of events, big and small, from milestone celebrations to weddings to surprise destinationoriented happenings; bespoke education services by experts who can assist with each phase of education to maximize every student’s potential.
Quintessentially members are trending towards destinations like St. Barths, London, Rome, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand and Australia for holiday travel and larger trips. For off-the-beaten-path experiences, Bhutan, Antarctica and the Galapagos are popular. Wellness-focused retreats in Arizona, Costa Rica and Mexico are also on the rise, along with adventure travel such as gorilla trekking and hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro. Within the U.S., Hudson Valley, Tahoe, Aspen, Montana and the Berkshires are seeing an increase in interest, particularly for year-round retreats and wellness-focused properties.
Quintessentially members range from spontaneous travelers with flexible schedules to planners mapping out trips years ahead. They seek unique experiences, from expedition and adventure travel to wellness retreats. Many members also prioritize significant life goals, such as obtaining dual citizenship, and engage in extended stays in destinations like Portugal, New Zealand and Uruguay. There's also a trend towards integrating travel with lifestyle, as seen in areas like the Hudson Valley, where members increasingly spend more time at secondary properties.
Wilt adds, “By proxy of the Quintessentially ecosystem, Quintessentially members are some of the most connected people in the world. Through deep-rooted and global connections, Quintessentially's team is able to tap into shared networks to gain access to coveted events beyond the typical event requests. In each market, we work with local vetted experts and suppliers, who are eager to go above and beyond for Quintessentially. We’ve spent the better part of 25 years building our global reputation, which coupled with the known caliber of our members, ensures we get the best access across the board. While membership with Quintessentially does mean tickets to Taylor Swift's Era's Tour and F1 races, we’re also talking about a private tour at The Macallan whiskey estate or Superbowl LIX tickets that include a Kendrick Lamar’s closed set dress rehearsal.”
We encourage you to familiarize yourself with them:
www.quintessentially.com
Orin Swift Tasting Room
Diego: Give us a bit of your background. What was your journey to becoming Member Services Manager at Gallo?
Monica: I really landed in the wine business by happenstance. Post-college, I worked as a landman in the Oil and Gas Industry here in California, and …well…my job was boring. Spreadsheets, driving, chaining titles, and looking up lot books at the county recorder’s office...I wanted to find some more exciting activities to fill my spare time.
One of my best friends who was very wellconnected in Napa hooked me up with a parttime tasting room gig at St. Supery. I knew I loved hospitality and making connections with people. I would drive from Napa to Sacramento every Saturday for about a year until I moved on to other things. It wasn’t until years later that I got pulled back into the wine business.
“I think building a team where we feel empowered and have trust in each other to make the right decisions...is so important.”
The company I’d been working for at the time sold off, and I started my own business doing flower arrangements for weddings and special events. I wanted to find something to fill in the gaps in my schedule, so I decided to work on
Eventually, the events manager I was working for took a new role to help open a brand new tasting room in St. Helena and asked if I would like to come over there to help a few days a week. I decided to check it out. My first impression of the wine labels was they were really weird and out there. But I figured I would give it a try. Later, I decided to simplify my life and close the floral business in order to work full-time for Orin Swift. That was right about the same time Orin Swift was acquired by Gallo.
The transition from a mom and pop run business to big company was jarring. I am the only remaining original member (besides Dave) to stay on with Gallo and I feel very fortunate that I have.
My role in Gallo began as a back office/wine club/admin role that eventually transitioned to a manager of the rest of the admin/wine club team. I went multi-brand in 2020 overseeing wine club and admin for J and Orin Swift and was also promoted to a Sr. Manager in 2024. This last June with the transition to the estate model my position changed a bit and I am now the Sr. Manager of Direct to Consumer for Orin Swift. This means I am overseeing wine club, admin, ecommerce and wine club working closely with brand and wholesale.
Diego: How do you define and approach hospitality in your role, and what is your philosophy on providing a memorable guest experience?
Monica: I think building a team where we feel empowered and have trust in each other to make the right decisions especially when it comes to hospitality and consumer decisions is so important. It is one of those things where there is a lot of gray area so giving some guardrails and guidance and empowering the team to do what they think is best. A memorable guest experience really comes down to creating easy and positive interactions with our consumers while we work to establish and build those meaningful relationships.
Coming into my new role, Lexie and Katie had really laid the foundation with training and getting the tasting room running smoothly in the first year and delivering a great guest experience. There has been so much thought into every detail, tons of training and lots of tweaks along the way. With the implementation of a new tech stack last year, we also have been working on thinking through a guest experience from booking to receiving their wine delivery when they get home. There is always room for improvement and iteration and sometimes it’s a big idea that we implement while other times it is just small changes along the way that add up to something bigger.
“We have launched several new journeys and are working to leverage all channels to the best of our ability. I’m excited for 2025 because there is so much more coming to enhance our guest’s experience digitally, in person, and on the phone.”
Diego: How has the new OSC tasting room affected consumer perception of the brand? Do you see any shift in the demographics of the guests visiting the tasting room?
Monica: The original Orin Swift tasting room was a standing room only bar. We didn’t accept reservations unless your group was 6 or more people and even that reservation wasn’t exactly a reservation. On weekends we would see a few hundred people in that small tasting room. With COVID restrictions in place and needed to host people outdoors, in 2020 we shifted our tasting room over to Louis Martini. At that point, I think our consumers changed because we weren’t getting that foot-traffic that we otherwise saw on Main Street in St. Helena.
With appointments by reservation and experiences shifting to seated we saw a tremendous increase in average revenue per guest. This was the spark behind the model of the new tasting room. It feels good to have a space that is truly representative of the brand and embodies Dave’s vision and even more stories for guests to discover when they visit.
LUXURY BUSINESS GROUP
On March 18th at 2:00 PM, the Orin Swift team is excited to host an engaging Instagram Live session featuring winemaker Dave Phinney. This event aims to spotlight new SKUs during this designated focus month, offering viewers an in-depth look at our product range.
Dave will share insights into our wines, including their unique characteristics and the stories behind them. We encourage everyone to join us for this interactive experience, where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and gain a deeper understanding of our offerings. Mark your calendars for this special event!
"Louis M. Martini celebrated the installation of Abraham Cruzvillegas' new site-specific work, titled Two Untitled Maps (An Alchemical Self Portrait), at the winery on January 24th with an amazing meal prepared by his friend, Chef Elena Reygadas.
"Chef Reygadas runs renowned restaurant Rosetta in CDMX, where she is known for her ability to craft dishes that tell stories of heritage. She partnered with Louis M. Martini Estate Chef Aaron Meneghelli to source local Napa ingredients to share her perspective on Mexican cuisine for a truly amazing meal with the artist, winery and press."
A Conversation with Hospitality Leaders Megan Foley and Eddie Maria on Creating Extraordinary Guest Experiences
Hospitality is defined as “the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.” When world-class hospitality is achieved, it creates extraordinary customer experiences and drives brand loyalty. Megan Foley, Rombauer’s Hospitality Senior Manager, and Eddie Maria, Manager of the Sierra Foothills Tasting Room, discuss how they define true hospitality, its role in Rombauer’s relationship with consumers, and how they inspire and instill its importance in their teams.
What does world-class hospitality look like to you?
Megan: World-class hospitality starts with being authentic for your brand. Hospitality can look like many things but at its core, it is about genuine warmth and service so if any part of that is delivered in an inauthentic way, customers can feel it.
The experience is immediately discredited. Hospitality also needs to start at the top. It needs to be modeled at all levels of the organization, and it needs to be a business priority.
Eddie: All decisions are made based on the guests needs. That is the number one driver for delivering world class hospitality, and it is not simply an action or a goal. Hospitality is a habit.
What’s the difference between hospitality and customer experience?
How do they drive customer loyalty?
Megan: Hospitality feeds the customer experience. Without hospitality, the customer experience is unfulfilled. The greater the hospitality, the better the customer experience. The better the customer experience, the stronger the customer loyalty.
Eddie: Hospitality is a choice. It is controllable and it is an investment. We use that to deliver incredible customer experiences. Consistently great customer experiences build trust between the customer and us. It becomes more than an experience, it becomes a relationship and the relationship, based on experiences rooted in hospitality, drives loyalty. If you do it right, that loyalty will last a lifetime. That’s our goal at Rombauer.
What is the one thing you hope customers walk away with when they leave Rombauer?
Eddie: I want them happier than they were when they arrived. I hope their smiles are bigger and that as they leave, they are already thinking about when they can come back.
How do you instill the importance of hospitality to your team?
Megan: Pay attention and experience it! As hospitality professionals, we are easy to please and truly appreciate when we’re on the receiving end of hospitality delivered. Recognize how that makes you feel. Find inspiration as you walk through life.
Eddie: Remind the team that providing hospitality is their primary function. Guests are coming to the tasting rooms for more than just wine. The guests are excited to be here, and they deserve us to be excited back.
“If you do it right, that loyalty will last a lifetime. That’s our goal at Rombauer.”
What’s the biggest opportunity you see for organizations to get better at world class hospitality?
Megan & Eddie: It can be easy to overcomplicate hospitality. True hospitality starts with knowing who you are and with everyone working towards the same, clear goals. Another miss can be hiring based on skills versus talent and passion. You need to find people who love hospitality, who love creating joyful moments and core memories. Create an environment which attracts those people. Finally, a big one is when people don’t walk the walk. There can be a sign on the wall and speeches about hospitality, but without follow through, hospitality will fall flat.
What do you do when a guest has a negative experience?
Eddie: Genuinely apologize and follow through. Mistakes are made but just as the teams are empowered to deliver excellent experiences, they are also empowered to make it right for the guest if something went wrong. Be humble, be genuine, make it right.
What part does hospitality play in Rombauer’s mission?
Megan: One of our founding values is to “Create Joyful Moments.” It’s both that simple and that complicated. We understand the importance of hospitality and its impact of the success of our overall business. High touch and genuine warmth have been important to Rombauer for 45 years, driving lifelong loyalty across our customer base.
Eddie: Our definition of high touch is not necessarily the same as it is across other brandswe have no ambition for a Michelin star. Our focus is on creating a welcoming, comforting experience that over delivers. We try to create a home away from home for everyone.
Megan: Listen to guest feedback, be patient, and find the teachable moment. Find a company where you are genuinely passionate about what they do and what they stand for – it will make your life easier and more rewarding.
Eddie: Ultimately, you need to love service. Enjoy the fact that you work somewhere where people go for fun. Guests want to have a good time and make memories. To have a job like that is rare and lucky. Don’t take that for granted.
NicoleHitchcock|GerardoJuarez|GavinHartley|JuanAnaya |JamieCordell| MiguelGonzalez|RebeccaDelSolar|MarcusDelira|EllieKnebel|Samantha Simpson|DeeJordan|JeanConnelly|NathanDonnelly|HannahMoore|Jennifer Green|AlmaHunter|GregoryClinnin|NadiaNouri|MichaelClaypool|Chyna Thomas
AllisonMorales|JessicaLimon|IsmaelDiaz|EliseoRaya|GloriaTorresJuarez| TylerMenane|PadenGaitlin|AaronMeneghelli|MalenyNunez|MonicaTorrez| TerryAllard|ThereseWasley|CindyMiner|JoseGarciaBarriga|JaimeHulbert| NessiaFlugger|StephanieCruzGreen|EthanWhittlesey
AlexandraSheedy|NatalieWeststeyn|LauraMaguire|LeylaShariati|Siena Scuderi|TaylorWillis|EdwardMaria|CaitlynMoore|KateMathiason|Noemi Rodriguez
JANUARY
Ethan Whittlesey
Anna Payne
Kelly Faulkner
Stephanie Cruz Green
Megan Keovanxat Bertani
Madison Garzoli
Chyna Thomas
FEBRUARY
Martin Guzman - 28 years
Diego Del Pino - 6 years
Camille Donoho - 4 years
Emma Morgan - 1 year
Raul Murillo - 8 years
Dee Jordan - 5 years
Jacob Hoyt - 5 years
Carly Cunial - 3 years
Nikolas Lucero - 3 years
Jeffrey Sigala - 2 years
Virginia Schratz - 1 year
Deniro Keck - 1 year
Giavani Chantavong - 1 year
MARCH
Suzanne Denevan-Brown - 21 years
Juan Cerano-Ramos - 16 years
Julia Tang - 8 years
Louis Ayers - 6 years
Louis Gray - 6 years
Edward Maria - 6 years
Manisha Bains - 3 years
Margaret Hayman - 3 years
Amanda Reis - 3 years
Hannah Moore - 4 years
Brittany Delgado - 3 years
Kate Mathison - 3 years
Jake Morrissey - 1 year
Lyndsey Arnheiter - 1 year
