FROM THE CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF FILES (SILENCING RUMORS OF GRATEFUL PALATE’S IMMINENT DEMISE)

There have been a great many reports about The Grateful Palate in the past few months pertaining to their impending bankruptcy/demise/dissolution. Many things about this renowned Australian importer have been incongruous to say the least.

I have been an ardent supporter of TGP for nearly 10 years, ever since I first had the opportunity to try them while eating at one of my favorite restaurant’s on Earth, The Winds Café in Yellow Springs, OH. Winds Wine Temptress Mary Kay has always been one of my biggest influences in this business, and her discoveries of the many wines from TGP were my first introduction to what Australia really had to offer the wine world (outside of Penfolds and Rosemount). We’ve been proud to carry the wines of TGP here at DEP’S Fine Wine & Spirits, and have honestly built our Aussie Wine selection around these wines.

Last night, my Bryant rep and good friend Jimmy shared with me an email Grateful Palate owner Dan Philips sent to him personally, and after checking with Jimmy to make sure it would be alright, I thought at first to just hit the high points Dan made to Jimmy on all things concerning TGP. However, in rereading the letter, I thought I’d let Dan’s own words dispel any recent rumors, and set straight the record that has been bent out of shape by several wine writers, most notably, Wine Spectator columnist Harvey Steiman:

“Dear Jimmy,

Throughout my career I have been the subject of malicious gossip and I like it. I have had a policy of never responding but soaking up all the free publicity and promotion every time my name is mentioned. Success and sales provide the best answers to critics and competitors. As I’ve always said, “Don’t get mad, get their money.” But now Harvey Steiman has written two articles in The Wine Spectator that are factually incorrect and I cannot remain silent and let errors go uncorrected.

I personally own all of my brands and the trademarks in the U.S. The brands were always intended to be US brands to benefit my distributors, accounts and consumers who have been and remain generous supporters and buy my wines. Chris and I have always held that the most important, and indeed sacred, of goals is to care for the customer. The wines and brands we have invented have had a singular purpose: to make the customer happy.

R Wines was set up to be a production entity. It primarily owns bulk wine, but also owns two amazing icon vineyards and the rights to R Wines brands in Australia. It was never intended to be anything other than a vehicle for producing wine. From the very beginning, Chris and I have shared a belief in what is most valuable: our brands, our good will and our distributors and hence, have always kept these close and within our control. In essence, R stands for Ringland, and Philips (that’s P, two letters before R) so R exists wherever R and P exist.

In summary here are some facts that I’d like to state that will correct what was printed in the press:

1. The brands that R Wines produces for The Grateful Palate in the US are not for sale.
2. Neither R Wines nor The Grateful Palate are bankrupt nor insolvent.
3. R Wines has been profitable for every year since it was launched, and showed nearly $5M profits over the past four years.
4. It is simply not true that we have not paid our growers in two years as Harvey wrote. Many of our growers have been paid off in full. Each and every one of the other growers have been paid a good portion of what is owed and each and every one of them has been on an agreed upon payment plan. Chris and our vineyard manager, Justin McCarthy, have been scrupulous in meeting face to face with each and every one of them on a regular basis and keeping them informed. Our GM/CFO Jason McFadyen has managed our cash flow so that the growers have been paid regularly according to the schedule proposed and accepted.
5. We have been in negotiations with our lender and other entities for over nine months now and I had hoped to have a resolution and news by now, but it has been painfully slow, as these deals can be. It is especially difficult, because there are many points of information I cannot discuss nor reveal, that would clarify much of what has been occurring. But, in time, all will become clear.
6. The Grateful Palate will continue to represent brands that Chris and I own and produce, but it’ll also continue to represent the small, estate driven, visionary independent producers that launched the Australian revolution and defined Australian fine wine as we know it today. I have many thoughts and ideas about what Australia is and will be moving forward, but I’ll save those for another email…

Thanks for your support.

Best,

Dan”

I hope that both Jimmy and Dan are okay with reprinting (the majority of) this email, but I thought it prudent to at least help Dan clear the air a bit, for the sake of the many fans of all TGP wines.

TGP is not going anywhere. That’s good news.