You don't have to be rich to get exclusive wines

Wouldn't it be great if you could buy estate-bottled wine -- you know, the exclusive stuff that none of your friends have?

Even better, what if it was personally delivered to your door?

That's what a number of Ottawa wine drinkers thought when they changed the way they buy some of their bottles.

Wine agents, the folks who are more often seen as restaurant suppliers in the consignment business, are doing more door-to-door sales than ever before. And it's not just the Rockcliffe-dwelling upper-crust who are signing on. It's everyday folks who simply like good wine.

"I've got clients who live at some pretty prestigious addresses who have cellars that are quite elaborate, and I have clients who live in quite modest homes who just like to buy wine that maybe you can't get elsewhere," says Geoffrey Skeggs of Zymurgy Wines & Beers.

Skeggs, who grew up in Ottawa and moved back three years ago from a wine-selling job in Toronto, has about 40 private customers who buy his consignment wine monthly. But in total, some 100 clients called him last year for at least one delivery each. He has about the same number of restaurant clients who, as expected, place the largest orders.

"When I was in Toronto, my core business really was restaurants, but when I moved to Ottawa, I was starting with a much smaller client base, and because my family is in Ottawa and I grew up here, I now have far more private customers," he says. "My customer base has grown tremendously with referrals from existing consumers whom I've met at shows, or through my wife's work."

The way his home shoppers see it, it's a good chance to get high-quality wine at a reasonable price, delivered to their door, often by a sommelier. Many customers, such as Ian Rankin, develop a trusting relationship with the agent.

"I do it first and foremost for the relationship," says Rankin, a senior analyst with Citizenship and Immigration Canada who likes to talk wine with Skeggs. "I also appreciate his expertise. I may not know the wines on his list, but he certainly does. And I do it for the personal service."

Donna Chevrier, of Hobbs & Co. Wine Merchants, estimates she has 80 private clients, and they range from average, middle-class folk to high-rollers with 600 bottles in their cellars.

"A lot of the better restaurants buy consignment because they're not mass-produced," says Kimberly Leet, one of Chevrier's clients. "There's also the advantage that not everyone has it," says Leet, a native Cape Bretoner who works as a recruiter for IBM. "I like the value, the quality and the uniqueness. When I go to someone's house for dinner, I like to bring them a bottle of something that I know will start a conversation."

Like Leet, many people start out buying consignment after having a good wine in a restaurant, only to discover it's not available at the LCBO and must be ordered from the agent who represents the winery in Ottawa.

Some restaurants will share the name of their agents. If not, a simple web search will usually turn up the winery's website, with a "contact us" button.

Consignment wines aren't necessarily expensive, though agents can only sell by the case. Many customers get together with friends and share several cases.

Hobbs & Co. has plenty of wines between $15 and $20 per bottle and a couple of Italian Venetos for $11. The most expensive is a Bordeaux for $62.

Zymurgy has a Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc for $10, and goes up to a Portuguese Douro for $90.

Both Skeggs and Chevrier have had several referrals from restaurants.

"I have a client in Kemptville (The Dragon's Lair restaurant) and the LCBO is furious because people come in on a weekly basis looking for his wine," Skeggs says. "He shares my name and gives me great referrals."

But don't worry about the LCBO -- it gets its share. Chris Layton, a spokesman for the liquor board, says the program was set up in 1991 as a means to provide restaurants with wines not available on store shelves, wines where "there's not a lot of consumer demand" -- at least, by the LCBO's measure. The LCBO warehouses the wine and the agents, who are contracted to represent particular wineries, draw from it.

Skeggs thinks the increase in private traffic is partly due to the LCBO only buying wines that are produced on a large enough scale to stock stores across the province.

"The smaller producers are getting more and more lost at the LCBO. I have producers who give me six cases of six, which I can't sell to the LCBO. But it will find a home in someone's cellar."

Sales numbers from the LCBO show that overall consignment sales, including individuals and restaurants, are increasing. In 2006-07, consignment sales to individuals accounted for $10 million in sales, and a year later it was up to $12.2 million -- about 20 per cent of the overall consignment market. Restaurant sales jumped from $41.5 million in 2006-07 to $48.5 million the following year.

Bill Clelland, who took early retirement after selling Sharp products to the federal government for 25 years, says he still pops into the LCBO from time to time, but buys most of his wine from Chevrier.

"For me, the choice at the LCBO is so immense it's intimidating," Clelland says. "I want someone else who knows what I like to say, 'Bill, this is good value.' I trust Donna."