6 Questions with Copper Cane Wines & Provisions Founder Joe Wagner

Oct. 10, 2016

Born into a legendary lineage of winemakers, Joe Wagner’s mission of launching his own line of wine wasn’t a matter of if, but when. As a young, talented and enterprising disciple of the Wagner Family of Wine–industry icons with 150 years of winemaking wisdom–starting a new company was a venture that Wagner was astutely prepared for. His most successful creation to date–the pinot noir Meiomi–sold for $315 million, providing Wagner the proper resources to unveil Copper Cane Wines & Provisions in 2014.  

 

Now, Wagner’s impressive portfolio includes six brands that are available for order through Breakthru Beverage Arizona, with the selections ranging from his classic Pinots to Sparkling Wine, a category on the rise this year. We were fortunate to be able to catch up with Joe Wagner during his recent visit to our Arizona office and get the latest on Copper Cane, along with his take on a variety of wine industry topics.

 

Breakthru: Tell us about Copper Cane and your progress in the first few years of business.

Joe Wagner: We originally established Copper Cane with the philosophy of bringing luxury to everyday life, and to us that means creating a consistent, high-quality wine for $20. Copper Cane delivers two or three times the quality of wine at that price point to the dinner table. We’ve had great success with the Elouan Pinot Noir from Oregon. That wine resonates with the consumers and it’s exposing the entire Oregon coastline to a broader base. Also, we have a very big on premise focus. So on premise and our by-the-glass pricing has gotten us into a large amount of restaurants and put us in a good position in the marketplace.

 

Breakthru: What’s been the success that you’re most proud of with your young company?

Wagner: What I’m most proud of since the establishment of Copper Cane is the creation of all the new brands and the launches into the marketplace. For a small company like us, each brand would typically take a long period of time to develop. We’ve been able to launch a total of six brands into the marketplace, most of them on a national basis and all having their own unique character.

 

Breakthru: What are some recent trends that you’ve seen in the wine industry that have caught your eye?

Wagner: Rosé. I’ve always loved rosé. Our Elouan sourcing in Oregon is really conducive to creating a very traditional, very bright and high-acid style of rosé, which is what I prefer. This is a 10 year or more ordeal, and finally the consumers are starting to adopt that style of rosé. They’ve moved completely away from white zinfandel and into a more traditional style. I love to see that trend. Along with that, sparkling wine. Sparkling wine has become more of an everyday part of life. It’s no longer the celebratory wine. I’ve long believed that sparkling wine is one of the best food pairing wines. I challenge anybody to try it. Every time you hear that pop, you know you’re going to have a good time. We just recently launched Steorra, the star in old English, as our Russian River Valley sparkling wine.

 

Breakthru: What’s you go-to fall wine and why?

Wagner: I’m really into a pumpkin spiced Merlot right now (laughs). My go-to fall wine is typically Zinfandel.  It has some of those spice components. It still has that depth and richness. That cold is starting to settle in. You want something a little less vibrant in acidity. You want something deeper, richer–something that has some of those Christmas spices as you get towards the holidays. It’s a great pairing wine for all of the cuisines to come. I actually think zinfandel is the best Halloween party wine. It seems to have this dark core to it. It also pairs very well with Thanksgiving feasts. Beran Zinfandel is one of our newer brands. We’ve had great success with it so far in helping resurrect the zinfandel category and we’re happy to be a part of that.

 

Breakthru: Any upcoming industry predictions?

Wagner: I’d say in the next year or two we will see a continued interest in wine consumption, as it is growing at a rate that is outpacing our production in California. There’s a lot of curiosity about wine. People seem to be trading out their everyday cocktail or beer for wine. People are starting to understand regional and varietal aspects of wine more than they did in years previous. That increase in knowledge and understanding is going to continue to drive our higher-end business as it pushes people into a newer and higher level of quality.

 

Breakthru: What’s next for Copper Cane?

Wagner: We are venturing into the spirits business. The next release we have after our cabernet will be a gin. I really like to have an artisanal aspect to everything we do, so I felt gin was the go to. We will use local botanicals through Sonoma County and that’s our basis. We’ll be coming out with samples within the next two months and we’ll be releasing it sometime the beginning of 2017. We have a name for the gin–Jirou. It is the traditional name in Japan given to the second son, and I have an older brother, making me the second son.

 

(Photo from Copper Cane)