Turrentine Brokerage.com

Bulk Wine. Grape Brokerage. Strategic Brands.

What a (TURRENTINE) Broker Really Does


Marketing advice and performance information.
  At Turrentine Brokerage, our brokers offer expert guidance to buyers and sellers in assessing fair market values. With our extensive experience, we broker grapes from all areas of California and bulk wine from the U.S. and abroad. We stay up-to-date on supply and demand dynamics, allowing us to provide our clients with an accurate pulse on the current market. Fair market value is determined by several factors.  These factors include demand, grape or wine quality, appellation, quantities, and payment terms – with demand being the most critical. However, determining quality can be subjective, and demand can fluctuate unpredictably. This means that guiding clients on pricing requires both experience, size of company, and humility, as it is far from an exact science. Fortunately, reliable market information can prove invaluable, adding significant value to the final price whether you’re a buyer or a seller. 


Avoidance of a multitude of totally inappropriate matches. To optimize your chances of a successful sale, it’s essential to connect with qualified buyers as a seller. Conversely, as a buyer, visiting suitable vineyards and sampling fitting wines is vital. Finding the right matches requires identifying qualified and appropriate individuals and avoiding unfitting ones, saving considerable time and effort. That’s why a broker’s core responsibility is to discover as many ideal matches as possible while minimizing mismatches. When dealing with thousands of wineries and growers, each with multiple varieties, unpredictable production, and sales, everyone has surpluses and deficits that rapidly fluctuate. Brokers, who specialize in creating a market, keep up continuous communication through various means: in-person visits, phone calls, emails, texts, newsletters, and websites with potential sellers and buyers.  Turrentine Brokerage sees a wide range of industry trends because of the number of brokers, number of client listings, and number of transactions we are involved in with grapes, bulk wine and casegoods.  Our clients value the breadth of what we know.


Follow up.  A successful Broker ensures samples are received and get tasted and – if possible – result in negotiations for a sale.  In addition to basic follow up a vital aspect of the broker’s role is to establish and maintain protocols for grape and bulk wine sales to maintain trust in the markets.  Although actual problems are infrequent, potential problems are numerous. Some of the potential problems with regard to wine in bulk are: wines may be moved or blended after samples are sent, buyers or sellers can change their minds after agreeing to a deal, the potential buyer who makes the first offer may not get a proper chance at a counter-offer, the wine may not seem to match the samples when the truck arrives, the buyer may not take all of the gallons agreed to, the buyer may not ship the wine by the date agreed, the buyer may not make deposits or payments according to the terms agreed upon. Grape sales have at least as many potential problems as bulk wine sales.

Legal agreements may not address all potential issues effectively. To avoid these problems, relying on a trustworthy intermediary is the ideal approach. Those who regularly engage in bulk grape or wine transactions prioritize maintaining a reputation for fair business practices. This reputation enhances accessibility to numerous buyers and sellers. Consequently, most Turrentine brokered transactions proceed seamlessly, and any challenges are promptly resolved.  


Avoidance of an up-front fee. Our policy is to not require any up-front fees. We cover the marketing expenses and only collect payment once the transaction is finalized, the grapes or bulk wine have been successfully delivered, and the payment has been received from the buyer. We also provide support in resolving any issues that may arise.


Confidentiality. Grape and bulk wine sales and purchases are kept confidential by us.  Another key function of a broker is credit information. Actually, it’s more than credit information; our role as a broker goes beyond that and may be referred to as performance information. Whilst the wine industry has evolved to become more formal, trust and cooperative relationships remain vital in the grape and bulk wine markets. Buyers and sellers typically follow an established protocol in terms of presenting wines, setting prices, negotiating offers, finalizing agreements, and honoring them. In instances where one party does not adhere to the protocol, brokers may need to intervene to encourage compliance, albeit potentially uncomfortable.


Long Range Planning: Our business has expanded to include a significant focus on medium and long term strategic planning for our grower and winery clients. We assist in developing suitable customer bases for grape growers, as well as ensuring a flexible, high-quality, and competitively priced supply of grapes or wine for wineries building their brands. We also analyze potential suppliers’ strengths and weaknesses, predict price trends over the next few years, and determine whether long-term commitments are reasonable. Having conducted 50 years of grape and wine brokering, we have the expertise to minimize risks and maximize rewards.  Although, no guaranteed strategies exist in navigating the fickle nature of both consumers and Mother Nature.


In summary not all companies that list your bulk wine or grapes for sale offer these services or put effort into providing them.  Team Turrentine’s services include all of the various functions, such as connecting potential buyers and sellers, eliminating ill-suited matches, furnishing pricing and performance data, and facilitating dispute resolution.  Our clients tell us that provide these brokerage functions better than any of our competition.  Give us a call and learn for yourself.