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Photo Credit: Clay Williams
As a professional sommelier, Doreen Winkler also had a preference for discovering – and drinking – orange wines. Fueled by her passion, she founded Orange Glou, a wine subscription service and bar, so she could share her love of these wines with the world. Doreen spoke to us about the inspiration behind her business and how she’s been able to keep delivering wines – and joy – throughout the pandemic.
SQUARESPACE: As an expert sommelier, you created Orange Glou, a wine subscription service and pop-up bar, to share your knowledge of skin contact wines with the world. What inspired you to create this business?
Doreen Winkler: I have been obsessed with orange wines for the past 7 years. That's all I want to drink and orange wine is my favorite thing to buy as a natural wine sommelier. Since the best bottles are highly allocated, friends were always asking me to help find them. I had always planned on starting something like Orange Glou. Finally one friend said, just do it so I did!
SQSP: What are skin contact wines, exactly?
DW: I prefer to use the term orange wine rather than skin contact wines because making red wine and some roses involves skin contact as well. Orange wine is made from white grapes that have been crushed and the juice, skins and seeds are all kept together, instead of separating the juice from the skins when making white wine.
How have you had to pivot your business in order to address Covid-19 concerns?
DW: When I started Orange Glou last November, we were holding monthly events that allowed me to introduce the wines and the subscription service in person. We had a few monthly events in NYC and an orange wine popup in L.A. right before the pandemic happened. Because we could not hold any tasting events, I wanted to stay in touch with orange wine lovers by hosting regular Instagram live tastings. I also introduced one-time and limited edition wine boxes (3 & 6 bottles) in addition to the monthly subscription boxes. They turned out to be very popular as people wanted to try the service before committing. We gained many more members thanks to these new offerings.
SQSP: In such a stressful time, a good glass of wine can be a welcome respite for many. How have you seen your customers incorporating wine into their routines?
DW: I had a lot of customers asking me which wineries to visit on their roadtrips. Mainly New York State destinations like the Finger Lakes and Long Island, Vermont and also California. And there seems to be a wine and yoga trend at the end of the day.
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