Services
Three engagements, each with a defined shape.
Everything I sell is scoped in writing before you commit: what it covers, how long it takes, what you receive, and the fee, fixed and quoted right after our first call. Each engagement carries a published floor, so you can tell before you write whether we are in the same range. I do the work myself, and you will never hear “it depends” once the scope is set.
Market Entry Audit
The entry product, and where most engagements start.
Who it’s for
Producers weighing the US, preparing an entry, or re-planning one that underperforms.
You receive
- The full price walk for your wines, to to shelf, in your target states, built backwards from the shelf you can win
- The competitive set you would actually join, with observed retail and restaurant-list pricing
- A map of the distributors that actually fit your volume and price band, and the states worth opening first, in order
- Compliance flags where they change the plan. Control states, franchise states, label registration timing
- A written document you can act on without me, plus a working session to go through it together
- Duration
- Two to three weeks from the scoping call
- Fee
- From $7,500. Fixed, and quoted in writing after the first call
Distributor Search & Selection
Finding the partner your brand can matter to, then getting the terms right.
Who it’s for
Brands entering a state, adding states, or replacing a partner that has gone quiet.
You receive
- The universe of candidate distributors in your target states, mapped with tooling I built myself, including analysis of federal label filings (TTB ) that shows who really ships what, where
- A shortlist ranked by fit to your volume, price band, and channel, not by size
- The approach, sequenced. Who to talk to, in what order, with what story and what numbers
- Support through the conversations, and terms guidance before you sign, including franchise-state caution where it applies
- Duration
- Four to eight weeks, depending on the states in scope
- Fee
- From $12,000. Fixed, and quoted in writing after the first call
First-Year Commercial Management
The follow-through that decides whether the launch was an entry or an event.
Who it’s for
Brands with a signed distributor and a first year to get right.
You receive
- A monthly rhythm. review, reorder and inventory watch, price-ladder guardrails
- Distributor management. The programming calendar, incentives, rep engagement, and the questions that keep your brand visible in their book
- Account targeting by channel, and market visits prepared to move numbers rather than take photographs
- A written quarterly review. What moved, what stalled, what changes
- Shape
- Monthly retainer, minimum six months. Defined deliverables, not open-ended hours
- Fee
- From $5,000 a month. Quoted in writing after the first call
Not sure which engagement fits? One short call settles it.
During an engagement I load the Account Finder credits you need for the markets we are working, for as long as we work together.
Adjacent work
Not everything fits a fixed engagement.
Three kinds of work I take on around the core engagements. Each is shaped around your brand and scoped in conversation.
Label & packaging US-readiness
Your label read by American eyes before it ships. Federal labeling rules and readiness on one side; on the other, whether the pack holds the shelf against the set it will actually stand in.
Direct-to-consumer strategy
State shipping rules are moving again. Where DtC is worth the compliance load, how it prices alongside your presence, and when it quietly undermines both.
Launch narrative & trade press
The story the US trade hears first. Positioning that survives a buyer’s ten-second read, the press angle worth pitching, and a plan for the first ninety days of attention.
How it works
- 01
We scope it together
A first conversation to map your wines, your target states, and what you suspect. We agree exactly what the engagement covers, and the fee follows in writing before anything starts.
- 02
I do the work
Research, modelling, and trade conversations against current market conditions, not a playbook. You hear from me during, not only after.
- 03
You get it in writing
A clear document. The findings and the plan, with a prioritised list of what to do first, ranked by impact and yours to act on.
- 04
We debrief
A working session to walk through it together and agree the order of play. Where it points to deeper work, that is a separate conversation, never an assumption.
Method
Where the numbers come from
Every figure in a diagnostic or an audit traces to a named assumption you can challenge. That is the standard the work is held to: no number without a source, no source without a name.
A walk, not a guess
The pricing engine walks your price from ex-cellar to shelf in order: freight and insurance to CIF, duty and federal and state excise to landed cost, then the importer’s margin, the distributor’s, and the retailer’s, each taken on that tier’s own selling price, ending at an off-premise shelf price and an on-premise list. Every intermediate number is visible in the deliverable.
Named assumptions, by market
Freight per case, duty, excise, tier margins, and the restaurant multiplier are held per market, with state-level figures for excise and sales tax where they differ. When your real trade terms are known, they replace the defaults, and the document says which was used where.
A band, not a point
Each walk runs three scenarios, expected, low, and high, moving tier margins and freight within realistic ranges. You get the band a negotiation will actually happen in, not one false-precision number.
The legality layer
Volume discounts to retailers are prohibited in some states, restricted in others, and ordinary practice elsewhere. A state-by-state legality table sits underneath the model, so a discount structure is only ever proposed where it is lawful.
Two of these instruments are public: the price calculator runs a simplified, indicative version of the same walk, with margins that compress as the ex-cellar price climbs, and the state-by-state discount table is published in full.
Fit, before fee
I take a small number of engagements at a time, and every model, every shortlist, and every draft passes through my hands. That is the point of the practice, and it is also its limit.
So the first call is a fit conversation, not a pitch. If I am not confident the work pays for itself, I will tell you on that call and, where I can, point you somewhere better.
Questions worth asking
What does it cost?
The audit starts at $7,500, the distributor search at $12,000, and first-year management at $5,000 a month on a six-month minimum. Those are floors rather than quotes: the real number depends on how many states are in scope and how wide your portfolio is. You get the figure in writing right after our first call, before you spend a cent, and it does not move afterwards.
What do I actually receive?
A written document in every case. The audit findings, the shortlist and approach, or the quarterly review, each with a prioritised list of what to do first. Then a working call to go through it together.
How long does it take?
The audit, two to three weeks from scoping. The search, four to eight weeks depending on states. Management runs monthly.
Is what I share kept confidential?
Yes. Everything you tell me is treated as confidential, and I am glad to sign an NDA before we get into specifics.
Do you advise brands that compete with each other?
No. I take on a limited number of brands at a time and never ones that compete with each other. Confidentiality runs both ways, and I will tell you at the outset if there is any overlap worth knowing about.
You work in the US market yourself. Can you take my brand?
A fair question, and the concerns under it deserve a straight answer. Three things hold. I take a deliberately small number of engagements at a time, so no brand becomes the one that gets less attention. Your pricing, your accounts, and your plans are held in confidence and never shared or reused, without exception. And if a brief would overlap materially with work I already hold, I say so before we begin and let you decide, rather than you finding out later. Independence here means what it means with an importer: the advice has no other side.
Do you only do the US?
For entry work, yes, deliberately. The record behind it includes export and import roles across the UK, the UAE, the Netherlands, and France, which is why the US advice reads a European producer correctly. If your question is a different market, I will say so and point you to someone who covers it.
What if my need falls outside your specialism?
I will say so, and where it helps I can introduce you to a trusted colleague who covers it. The aim is to get you to the right person, whether or not that is me.
Start with the diagnostic.
Free, written, and yours before we ever speak.