The Dolans
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In case you missed it!
Ken and Daria Dolan talk to the co-founder of Best Cellars about creating the anti-wine store.
August 4, 2005: 1:07 PM EDT
Best Cellars New York, the mother-ship.
Best Cellars New York, the mother-ship.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Welcome to the Dolan's Unscripted new web column - In case you missed it! This is an excerpt from the May 7, 2005 show.

Ken: If you're new to DOLANS UNSCRIPTED, what we try to do is look behind the headlines. What does they mean to us and how they will change your life today and how can your family and mine have a better life next week?

We don't report the news as much as we discuss it, and it's one of the few shows on national television you can actually call in and get on the air, or e-mail us and give us your opinion on the kinds of things we're talking about.

It's really your program.

Daria: Well, Mother's Day is tomorrow, hint, hint. But what to buy for mom? Well, traditional gifts like flowers still work. But have you thought about a bottle of wine to share with the special lady? The problem is there are just so many choices.

Well, I met one entrepreneur who is simplifying it all, hoping to tap into a whole new generation of wine drinkers.

Joshua Wesson, co-founder Best Cellars: I wanted to create an anti-wine store, a wine store for people who hate to shop for wine. The answer was to not talk about wine by place, not talk about wine by grape, but talk about wine the way that people talked about wine, which is the way that it tastes.

Daria: I'm gathering, then, that's why on your wall behind the register there, you have a sign that says fizzy and fruity and juicy.

Joshua: They're food words, really. So someone coming in here just has to look up at the sign and say I am a medium bodied white wine lover. I love soft wines. They don't have to know about Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc or Vilene. They don't have to know about France or California.

We will take a wine that sells for $10 and put it in a bag and then take a wine that sells for $20 or $30 and put it in another bag, pour it out for people and say you tell me which one is the $30 bottle and which one is the $10 bottle. And if we've selected well, which we think we have, you can't tell the difference.

Daria: Is there a part of the world or an area of a country that is the most under appreciated, unknown source?

Joshua: I think the next big thing is going to be Eastern Europe and Central Europe, former communist countries that have been making wine but were never appreciated because the infrastructure wasn't there and the money wasn't there to develop the industry.

Daria: Who's your competition or who do you think you have to worry about coming onto this concept and taking it and running with it, as well?

Joshua: Well, when you're selling wines that are $5 to $15, your competition is really Starbucks or it's people buying beer or people buying alternative products that are beverages that they can enjoy for $5, $6, $7, $8, $9, $10, not so much the wine store around the corner or the supermarket.

Since so few people in this country drink wine, 90 percent of the wine is consumed by 10 percent of the adult population. We're not after market share. We're after a bigger market. So we want to grow that pie and we think there's plenty to go around for everyone.

Daria: And by the year 2008, America will be the world's top wine consuming country.

Ken: Wow! I happen to be very partial to the California pinot noir. We always have a -- not always. Well, I had one glass of wine last night, just one glass of wine. But almost every night we'll have a glass with our dinner.

Daria: And I have one while I'm cooking.

Ken: Then we -- well, that's a whole other story.


For more on great wines, click here.

For more on cool businesses to start, click here.

To see how to turn your business around, click here.  Top of page

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