Milwaukeeans will have a few new red blends to add to their wine repertoire this summer. Bright Cellars, a wine subscription startup, has introduced its private wine label, Folk & Fable, to the Milwaukee market.
The monthly wine club uses algorithms to match members with personalized wine recommendations. Once members receive the wines, they are invited to rate and review the selections, providing the company with valuable insight into users’ taste buds, and allowing wine lovers to discover new flavors from the comfort of home.
Since launching in 2015, Bright Cellars has matched more than 2.5 million bottles of wine to its mostly urban millennial customers, according to the company.
In a crowded industry constantly competing for palates, launching a wine brand poses a unique challenge. Yet, Bright Cellars says it is wielding its trove of data to its full advantage. The company developed Folk & Fable based on member feedback gathered on its platform, and tested its red blend with customers online, selling nearly 50,000 bottles in the process.
Unlike with traditional winemaking where winemakers often select and create blends tuned to personal taste preference, Bright Cellars’ data allows the company to take a consumer-first approach, CEO and co-founder Richard Yau said.
“We realized that we were doing something unique for the wine industry — measuring feedback from our customers,” Yau says. “We’re not marketing our famous winemaker. We’re not relying on old-school wine critics. We have no entrenched, longstanding relationships in the industry. We’re launching a great product supported by data.”
Produced in California by an unnamed winemaker, the Folk & Fable red blend is aged for three months in bourbon barrels and contains stewed berries, baking spices and plum, as well as notes of hazelnut, vanilla and oak.
Folk & Fable will be available at Milwaukee-area restaurants including the Rumpus Room, Sugar Maple, and The Diplomat — with more Milwaukee bar and restaurant locations to be announced this summer.
The company has partnered with General Beverage Sales Co., a wholesale distributor based in Madison, making the wines available in stores in both Wisconsin and Illinois.
Yau says launching Folk & Fable in Milwaukee was a natural choice.
“We think there are barriers to entry for restaurants and bars and we aren’t marketing this wine in a traditional way,” explained Yau, adding that Milwaukee has been its largest source of support. The company recently completed an $8.5 million Series A round. “Our goal is to translate the success we’ve seen for particular demographics and wines online to brick and mortar … to launch widely successful wines based on consumer feedback.”
