Duke of Bourbon - Rare Wines - Fine Spirits - Personalized Service - David, Judy and Ron Breitstein - 20908 Roscoe Blvd - Canoga Park CA 91304 - Phone: 818/341-1234 or 800/4-FINE-WINE - Fax: 818/341-9232
20908 Roscoe Blvd • Canoga Park CA 91304
Hours: Mon - Sat • 9AM - 6PM		 Phone: (818) 341-1234 • Fax: (818) 341-9232
Outside California: (800) 4-FINE-WINE

The Art of Wine Buying

The Duke of Bourbon Focuses on
Wine's 'Gem Quality'

David Breitstein doesn't like to be rushed into a wine buying decision. 'In the fast pace of Los Angeles we make too many decisions too quickly on wines,' he says, adding that many of the most important purchasing decisions for his store, the Duke of Bourbon in Canoga Park, are made in a somewhat non-traditional location.

'I make a lot of decisions about how much wine I'm going to buy when I'm at home alone with my wife, Judy-sometimes even in the Jacuzzi-relaxing and having time to analyze the bottle without outside forces coming in,' says Breitstein.

Making buying decisions in a Jacuzzi? That may sound like a tired joke at the expense of southern Californians, but David Breitstein is quite serious. Tasting wine with his wife and partner, Judy, whom he affectionately calls his 'co-palate,' is a key part of David Breitstein's cautious approach to wine buying.

'It's very easy to overbuy.' asserts Breitstein. 'We do not want to buy more win than we think we can properly sell, so that we're not under pressure to sell it. And we can also properly pay for it. If you overbuy, you won't be able to pay on time. Or, you'll have to close it out to get your money back in.'

No Ordinary Shop

Breitstein's commitment to what he calls 'the art of wine buying' has helped propel his small store in the West San Fernando Valley into one of the most reputable and firmly established retail operations in the L.A. metropolitan area. At first glance, the small store in an unprepossessing suburban strip mall may not look like a superstar. But inside, the immaculately tended array of sought-after Californian bottlings hints that this is no ordinary wine shop. Then there's the lineup of hundreds of carefully captioned color photos, each showing David and Judy Breitstein or their son, Ron, in the company of the international celebrities of the wine world-Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Joe Heitz, Jean-Michel Cazes, Robert Mondavi, Donald Hess, Aubert de Villaine and Lalou Bize-Leroy, and the list goes on.

Back when David Breitstein opened the Duke of Bourbon in 1967, the West Valley was a sleepy, smog-free bedroom community. 'I came to Canoga Park because at the time, it didn't matter where I went; there was no one selling wine in Los Angles, basically - just a couple of outlets,' recalls Breitstein. 'Wine was not 'in.'' Although he always intended for the store to specialize in wine, he named it the 'Duke of Bourbon' after the two Valley liquor stores that were owned by his parents. Recently, one of the Breitsteins' sons, Ron, joined the business, extending the family's involvement in wine and spirits retailing to a third generation.

In the store's early years, there was so little traffic going to and from the West Valley that customers from as far away as Beverly Hills and Pasadena would routinely drive over on weekends to check out 'the Duke's' selection of hard to find offerings from California wineries like Stony Hill, Schramsberg, Heitz, Sterling, Diamond Creek and Caymus.

But the West Valley grew up around Breitstein's store. Now, the Duke of Bourbon is just up the street from the sprawling Warner Center commercial development. Canoga Park and it's surrounding communities of Tarzana, Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Agoura and Hidden Hills have evolved into affluent and desirable residential areas with multi-million-dollar homes.

At the same time, the wine market had matured. Once, Breitstein's store was one of only a few places in Los Angeles where customers could find top-class California wines. Now, quality-oriented, small-production California wines are available at chain supermarkets here, and a half-dozen local wine shops offer a broader selection than the Duke of Bourbon.

Hand-Picked Selection

But David Breitstein never set out to have the biggest collection of labels in Los Angeles. Rather, his approach is to offer a hand-picked selection of bottlings, chosen with a careful eye to price point and the taste of his customers, and to hand-sell them in the tradition of a British wine merchant.

'I want a limited amount of wine available, because I think it's too confusing for the consumer to walk in and see too many brands,' says Breitstein.

As a result, the Duke of Bourbon has a highly individualized product mix. The selection leans heavily toward California wines, with several French bottlings, a handful of Italians and a modest selection of Australian offerings. On a recent visit, French Champagnes were stocked, although the selection did include both Dom Perignon and Roederer Cristal. The California sparkling wine selection is more comprehensive, but it leaves little doubt as to David and Judy Breitstein's favorite.

'We were among the very first customers of Jack and Jamie Davies (of Schramsberg Champagne Cellars),' says David Breitstein with pride. 'I feel when you have the best available - and in Champagne, people want 'the best' - why sell them anything else?'

Breitstein adds that the Duke of Bourbon is Schramsberg's largest independent retail account in Southern California - a fact confirmed by Jamie Davies of Schramsberg. 'David is one of those retailers who has a strong sense of how to market and merchandise wine,' says Davies. 'And he knows how to sell wine at full market value. When we travel around the country talking to distributers and retailers, we like to use him as an example that you don't always have to sell on price, no matter how competitive the market is.

Over the years, David Breitstein has worked hard at building relationships - both with suppliers and customers. when he can, he likes to buy California wines directly from the wineries (which is permitted by law in the state). 'That way, you can really create a relationship with the producer, the artist who created the wine,' says Breitstein.

Close Relationships

The close and long-standing relationships that Breitstein has cultivated with California vintners permit him to make buying agreements in which he commits to buy a specified number of cases over six to twelve month' time. That ensures Breitstein a ready supply of wine along with a manageable payment schedule. 'If you look at the wineries that I'm doing business with, they're in good financial order, just like we are,' he notes. 'So they can afford to hold onto the wine a little longer, and have a normal, stable distribution network.'

Breitstein's customer relationships are a major focus as well. He builds allegience to the store through the Wine Association of the Duke of Bourbon, a wine club that costs $15.00 a year to join, and which holds periodic tasting events featuring top winemakers, winery proprietors and importers. The events, which are run by Judy Breitstein and Julien Lieberman and cost $50-$75 a head, usually give guests an opportunity to buy featured wines at a discount.

Four or five times per year, the Breitsteins mail a newsletter, the Vine-Line, to a list of several thousand customers. In the publication, David Breitstein's latest 'finds,' as well as new releases from favorite wineries, are highlighted. 'In the 20-plus years we've been writing the newsletter, we have never written a negative thing about a wine,' says Breitstein. There's enough positive things available to talk about that there's no need to dwell on the negatives.'

Breitstein also builds customer loyalty by showcasing wine rarities. Interested customers are escorted into the Duke of Bourbon's temperature-controlled 'wine vault,' adjacent to the main selling floor. There, one's eyes are immediately drawn to an impressive display of grand-format bottles, many etched and painted with one-of-a-kind artworks by bottle artist Gaye Frisk, and most acquired through Breitstein's frequent forays to the Napa Valley Wine Auction. (He was the fourth-highest bidder in 1990, spending $27,510.00.) There's a set of three Nebuchadnezzars of Diamond Creek's 1987 single-vineyard cabernets from Gravelly Meadow, Volcanic Hill and Red Rock Terrace. There's a vertical collection of magnums of Grace Family Vineyards cabernets from 1984, '85. '86 and '87. There are imperials of Chateau Petrus 1985 and Chateau Lafite-Rothschild 1985. There is a one-of-a-kind imperial of Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1974.

It's a magnificent array, and it's not for sale. But neatly stacked around the display racks are cases of top-class California and European wines that Breitstein lays down for aging, plus recent arrivals that are too scarce to put out on the floor.

Breitstein's allocation of the Hess Collection 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon 'Reserve' just arrived, and he's doling it out as carefully as he bought it. 'We made a list of every customer who had indicated that they were interested in this wine, and we sent them a postcard telling them there were two bottles available for them at $33.50 a bottle,' says Breitstein. 'They have a month to pick them up. ...I've lost some good customers because I wouldn't sell them cases, but I think it's more important to look after the broad base of customers.'

Gourmet Variety

'The Duke' focuses on wine, but David Breitstein admits that other elements are important to the store's overall profit picture. This past summer, Breitstein added a small specialty food department offering pastas and sauces, gourmet groceries and fancy vegetables. Beer is a strong category, contributing about 10 percent of the store's sales. Breitstein says that his emphasis on popular micro-breweries and his insistence on keeping the beer cooler immaculate are two reasons for the healthy sales figures.

Liquor accounts for roughly 15 percent of the store's sales, but Breitstein says that he and other independents have been 'eaten alive' on liquor by supermarkets, chain stores and warehouse clubs. 'They sell liquor for considerably less than we pay for it,' says Breitstein. I make my living selling liquor, beer and wine. ...Yet you pick the top outlets for alcoholic beverages in our city - they are not in the liquor business! They are using our products, that we make our livelihood from, as loss leaders.'

Fortunately, says Breitstein, he still sees a strong demand for the personal touch in wine and spirits retailing. 'There still is a clientele out there that is willing to support family-owned, independent businesses,' he says.

But there's something more that allows Breitstein's operation to thrive in one of the most cutthroat wine markets in the country. Something that makes customers want to buy wine from the Duke of Bourbon, when they might be able to find it cheaper elsewhere. Maybe it's the respect - even reverence - that the Breitsteins have for the product they sell.

David Breitstein says that when he sells someone a case of top-quality cabernet, he likes to think about how proud the customer is going to be when they serve that wine. 'To ignore the gem quality of wine is a mistake,' says Breitstein. 'Because they are gems. If you stood there, like I do, and sell wine to people, that's their prized possession. It's their jewelry; it's their new car; it's their boat. They want the wine to be real, real special, so you can't sell them just anything.'

Jean T. Barrett, a Los Angeles-based freelance writer, is a frequent contributor to Market Watch
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