In a recent post, I expressed my gratitude to my friend and mentor (and now customer), Bernie Vogel. And I briefly alluded to an important moment, where I wondered whether I was out of my mind for cooking up an idea at the corner bar, probably after too much Chartreuse.
That corner bar is now our second customer.
Idle Hour is a bar located in the Riverside neighborhood of South Baltimore. Owned by Randal Etheridge and Brendan Finnerty, it is a staple of the neighborhood, and is known for serving Chartreuse, so much that in some years it has been the #1 consumer of the herbaceous green liquor. It has a cool Velvet Underground vibe, featuring the works of local artists and, when not in the pandemic, local DJs who spin vinyl on weekends. And yet it is a neighborhood bar, where friends and neighbors meet ad hoc and enjoy each other’s company.
Since I have lived in the neighborhood, I’ve spent enough time there that when Siri–the digital iPhone assistant–offers to give me directions home, it takes me to Idle Hour. I find this amusing every time, and therefore have not taken action to correct it.
In September 2019, I had reached a point where I had an opportunity to leave my then-employer, and launch something entrepreneurial. It was at Idle Hour where I discussed ideas ranging from retail to importing, with Brendan.
Those ideas led to a business plan. From there, let’s map out the journey from Chartreuse-induced business planning to a bottle of wine that now sits on a shelf at Idle Hour, about 10 feet away from the barstool where I sat when I conceived the plan:
- Established relationships with several winemakers, and planned a trip to Italy that was delayed indefinitely by the pandemic
- Had my Federal Basic Permits for importing and wholesaling approved by Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
- Conducted tastings with winemakers over videoconference, evaluating products for launch
- As all labels on alcoholic beverage containers need to be approved by TTB and have certain required language (for example, the US surgeon general’s warning, “Contains Sulfites”, “Imported by Wide Roots, LLC”), submitted and got approval for labels
- Placed purchase orders for our launch quantities from Audarya in Sardegna, and Pietro Nera from Valtellina
- The winemakers printed the special back labels, and prepared the pallets for pickup
- Our forwarding company arranged transportation from the wineries to the Port of Livorno, outside Rome, and loaded into an ocean freight container
- The container was loaded onto a cargo ship, making several stops from Livorno to Port of New York
- The pallets cleared US customs
- The pallets were shipped by truck from New Jersey to Upper Marlboro, MD, our warehouse location
- We received approval for our state wholesale license from Maryland, allowing us to begin commercial activities
- After Brendan and I tasted together, he placed an initial 2 case order
- I picked up the cases in the warehouse in Upper Marlboro, drove them to Baltimore in my Mazda CX 5 and hand delivered them to Idle Hour.
- The wines are now on display on their bottle shelf, thanks to Aubree Ridge, the bartender at Idle Hour who looks after the display.
During the pandemic, Idle Hour has continued to float itself by becoming a bottle shop. It offers virtual tastings and carries an impressive and diverse lineup, curated with much assistance from Abby Hopper of Opici Family Distributing. Abby is passionate about the wines she represents, and their winemakers. She was also part of some of those Chartreuse-fueled business planning discussions, and was kind enough to introduce me to other contacts in the wine business world. It’s an honor to have our wines side by side with hers.
With Bernie Vogel and JeannieBird Baking Company being the most appropriate first customer for Wide Roots, I can’t think of a more appropriate second customer than Idle Hour. I’m so grateful to Brendan, Randal, and Aubree…for providing a neighborhood location that makes me feel like I’m home (Siri thinks so, too), and now for being a customer.
