Leading Rare Wine Retailer Benchmark Wine Announces Operational Partnership with Foundational Retailer Wine Spectrum
Napa, CA, April 18, 2024 – Benchmark Wine Group proudly announces its operational partnership with Wine Spectrum, Inc., a foundational Sonoma wine retailer renowned for its high-touch sales model and exceptional customer service.
The partnership, initiated by David Parker, the Owner and Chairman of Benchmark Wine Group, and Glenn Siegel, the Founder and Owner of one of the pioneering rare and specialty direct-to-consumer wine retailers, Wine Spectrum, marks a significant milestone in the fine and rare wine sector. Both parties recognized the synergies between their businesses and are committed to enhancing the customer experience and expanding their service offerings.
“Glenn Siegel proposed that we join forces and form an operational partnership. As we examined how our respective resources and abilities complement each other, we became increasingly convinced that this partnership would benefit our customers and teams,” said David Parker. “Benchmark has industry-leading information, communication, customer service, product knowledge, and more. These resources supplement Wine Spectrum’s high-touch sales model, loyal customer base, and special relationships with producers and resellers in the industry.”
Since its inception in 1990, Wine Spectrum has cultivated strong relationships with top wine suppliers and prioritized personalized customer interactions. Glenn Siegel emphasized, “Having known Dave for years and admired Benchmark’s technology and marketing prowess, I thought the two companies would complement each other well. The more I worked with his team, the more I saw both groups’ common views and the match in our corporate cultures and philosophies. In this changing market, working together cooperatively made much more sense than regarding each other as competitors.”
As the President of the National Association of Wine Retailers, David Parker is leading efforts to promote industry-wide support and foster collaboration over competition in the fine and rare wine sector. This approach benefits both retailers and customers alike. David Parker added, “I have had a role in working to support all wine retailers, and our philosophy at Benchmark is that the fine and rare wine industry is so diverse in products and customer requirements that there is much more for all of us and our customers to gain by a cooperative philosophy than a competitive one. Benchmark’s President, Jay James, MS, will lead the effort in identifying areas of mutual benefit and coordinating activities between the companies that will serve to support both. His deep background in managing major initiatives at some of the country’s leading restaurants, distributors, and wineries makes him the perfect person to head up this effort.”
With Jay James, MS, leading the way, the emphasis will be on finding avenues for collaborative work and shared objectives. His extensive background in hospitality management will prove invaluable to the partnership, which is dedicated to offering wine enthusiasts exemplary service and support. Both companies are aligned in their commitment to improving customer benefits through their collaborative partnership.
Benchmark, which has the country’s broadest inventory of rare wine, will make it available to the Wine Spectrum sales team and their clients. In return, Wine Spectrum will offer the products it receives from top contacts to the Benchmark sales team to offer their customers. Additionally, Wine Spectrum will allow Benchmark’s customers to store their products at its Santa Rosa Wine Storage facility. Meanwhile, Benchmark’s affiliate, CellarPros, will offer Wine Spectrum customers the option to transport and store wine at its facilities.
“Most important to us was expanding the product and services our customers receive. Benchmark will provide appraisal services for Wine Spectrum customers who wish to sell, thin, or change their wine collections,” says Jay James, MS. “The companies will work together to provide mutual support in marketing, operations, IT, product sourcing, and other areas. We’ll continue to investigate how our employees, customers, and vendors can mutually benefit from our partnering activities. I’m excited about the future and look forward to continuing to work closely with Glenn and his team.”
Activities begin this week with a formal signing of the agreement, and both companies have plans in place to immediately expand the services they offer their customers and each other.
About Wine Spectrum
Founded in 1990, the Wine Spectrum was created to offer the greatest wines in the world to customers nationwide. Wine Spectrum’s focus is on creating meaningful, long-term relationships with customers who value their sourcing, educational, and fulfillment prowess. Utilizing modern technology along with a seasoned, knowledgeable, and relationship-based human sales force, the company continues to be a major player in the wine industry.
About Benchmark Wine Group
Established in 2002, Benchmark Wine Group is a licensed importer, distributor, and retailer in California and the leading source of rare and back-vintage wine for wine retailers, restaurants, and collectors around the world. Based in Napa Valley, it acquires the most sought-after wines from top producers, resellers and private individuals. Its affiliates – Brentwood Wine Company dba Benchmark Wine and Spirits in Washington, DC; First Growth Technologies, Inc, publisher of The Wine Market Journal & Spirits Market Journal; and CellarPros, LLC, the bespoke high-service wine facilitator and storage company – and their staff collectively draw on over a century of industry experience, and are dedicated to providing exceptional selection, provenance, pricing and service.
