Disrupting Tradition: Joe Wagner Pushes Boundaries With Copper Cane Wines
Joe Wagner, CEO and Founder of Copper Cane Wines
'The level of hate mail is finally starting to dissipate,' said Joe Wagner, CEO and Founder of Copper Cane Wines, headquartered in Napa Valley, California.
Joe was referring to the response of many of the old guard of winery executives in Napa Valley when he and his team started posting fun-hearted videos of daily activities at his winery to TikTok. These included Joe demonstrating how to put red wax on a bottle of his Belle Glos wine, which garnered more than 150 million views and many positive comments.
Even though it is legal for wineries to post and advertise on TikTok as of August 2024, very few wineries have entered this domain yet.
'The other winery owners have told me that I am not upholding the image of wine as it is traditionally represented,' explained Joe when I visited him at their Rutherford winemaking facility, where Joe and his team are currently leasing the facility to produce the wines of Copper Cane: Quilt, Belle Glos, Boen, Threadcount, and Araciel.
But being a TikTok wine trailblazer isn't the only disruptive business practice Joe has engaged in. From an early age he has seen and created new businesses, such as the highly successful wine brand, Meiomi, which Joe launched in 2006 and then sold to Constellation for $315 million nine years later.
That early success has spawned new wine brands and other business ventures. So when I caught up with Joe, I was curious to learn more about this very successful entrepreneur pushing boundaries and stirring up controversy in the industry.
During the course of our conversation, it became apparent that Joe employs a combination of strategies that include utilizing smart financing tactics, listening carefully to consumers, adopting innovative winemaking practices, creating a strong and creative workforce, and staying true to his vision of what makes a good wine.
A Bottle of Belle Glos Pinot Noir Wine With Red Wax Seal
Growing up in Napa Valley as the fifth generation of a winemaking family, Joe began working in the family vineyards as a teenager. The fact that his father, Chuck Wagner, founded the very successful Caymus winery, allowed Joe to understand how the wine industry works at a very early age.
Perhaps it was this strong understanding of the traditional way of running a wine business that allowed him to create new and different models for success. So instead of planting a vineyard and building a winery, Joe decided to purchase grapes from top vineyards in California and Oregon and produce wine in custom crush facilities (leased space) in Napa Valley.
This allowed him to save millions of dollars in overhead costs and focus on building his wine brands via strong distributor relationships – a key to success in the wine industry, and something Joe learned working with his father at Caymus. Copper Cane's marketing efforts are led by Jessica Morris working in partnership with Joe.
This is the method Joe has used to build all of his wine brands to date, and what made the $315 million sale of Meiomi so unique – because no physical assets came with the brand.
However, in the past few years, Joe has been purchasing high-quality vineyards when they came up for sale. 'I believe in investing in vineyards, and we now have over 900 acres of vines in Napa Valley and other locations,' said Joe.
If you tune into 'Joe the Winemaker's' Tiktok platform, you will see how the simple video demonstrating how to dip a Belle Glos wine bottle into hot red wax has morphed into a series of videos. These all came about because of comments from viewers and consumers asking if Joe could mold the bottles together in a trio, in a circle, and in other configurations.
'I believe in engaging with consumers and getting them interested in the winemaking process,' stated Joe. 'Many have told me that they enjoy drinking fruity, smooth wines, just like I do. So that's the style of wine I strive for in all my brands.'
This consumer-centric focus has paid off because Copper Cane had one of the best growth levels in the wine industry by the end of 2024, according to wine market expert, Danny Brager, of Brager Beverage Alcohol Consulting and Former leader of Nielsen's Beverage Alcohol Practice.
Joe and his team are also connecting with consumers in the urban tasting room they opened in downtown Napa along the riverfront. They purchased a historic building and designed a 3-story visitor center that includes a drop-in tasting room and the experiential activity of dripping wine bottles into hot wax. There is also a private event space and a rooftop bar where all of the Copper Cane wine brands are available, called Quilt & Co Tasting Room.
'It is important to let consumers get involved in winemaking – to get their hands dirty,' said Joe. 'It is for this reason that we are planning to build a more immersive experience where people can make their own wine. It will be a membership-based club and people can choose the grapes they want for their wine, help with fermentation, aging, and the whole process.'
Copper Cane is currently working on the permits to open this new experiential visitor's center outside the town of Calistoga in Napa Valley. They plan to dig a real wine cave to house the winemaking equipment so visitors can return multiple times to check on the progress of their wine.
Other consumer-facing activities include a weekly podcast called 'Go With Your Palate,' which Joe describes as 'about wine, entrepreneurship, and whatever the F else.' This is co-hosted by Chris Rubio, Digital Marketing Manager
Meanwhile, Copper Cane has expanded their reach on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube with social impressions now tallying over 1 billion. These efforts are led by in-house Social Media Manager, Sabina Ballestrazze.
Roof-Top Patio at Quilt & Co. Tasting Room in Downtown Napa
In order to deliver the taste profile that consumers want, the Copper Cane team sources from high-quality vineyards along the West Coast, as well as their own vineyards. However, from this point onwards Joe's winemaking methods deviate abruptly from the norm.
'I like to wait to harvest the grapes when they look like a dimpled golf ball (slight dehydration for concentration) and the canes on the vines have turned a copper hue,' explained Joe. (Thus the name for the company – Copper Cane.)
'This, along with tasting the fruit, tells me that the crop is ready to be harvested with the perfect amount of maturity needed to achieve the wine style we want to make,' Joe continued.
At that point the grapes are harvested and immediately frozen in special containers and transported to the winery in Napa. In this way, Copper Cane can source grapes from along the West Coast and keep the fruit fresh before fermentation.
This is the method that Joe used to produce his Oregon-based brand El0uan, which caused an uproar in the Oregon wine industry because Joe was transporting Oregon grapes to California to make wine. However, Elouan was recently sold to The Stoller Group, headquartered in Oregon, so the brouhaha over that disruptive move has abated.
'What is great about this method (Cyro-Extraction) is we can keep the grapes frozen as long as we want, and it doesn't hurt the quality of the wine,' explained Joe. 'In fact, it helps us start a long cold ferment that maintains the freshness and fruity aromas of both our red and white wines.'
This method also results in creating a smoother texture in the red wines, along with the rich velvety texture that many consumers enjoy in the red wines produced by Copper Cane.
Joe Wagner Working in a Napa Valley Vineyard
Another important strategy that has helped Copper Cane to be successful is Joe's focus on creating an empowered workforce and maintaining a flat hierarchy. He hires energetic, creative people who are interested in pushing boundaries and experimenting with new marketing ideas.
'We focus on teamwork and try new things. Of course, we have some failures along with successes, but we are learning together.'
'We focus on teamwork and try new things. Of course, we have some failures along with successes, but we are learning together,' said Joe. 'Teamwork is very important.'
In addition to an innovative marketing team, Copper Cane employs around 45 people in winemaking operations. 'Since we are freezing the grapes, we can ferment year-round, rather than once a year. Therefore, we need a large team in the cellars,' explained Joe.
In touring the very large leased winemaking operation, I met employees who were very excited about the barrels of wine they were making from different vineyards. They talked about the art of blending and described how the bottling line worked.
When we finally arrived at the location where the Belle Glos wines receive their telltale red wax, the employees expressed a strong sense of pride over the special waxing robot machine. Joe worked with a company in Italy to design it, and also created a special seal so that consumers can easily open the bottle without destroying the wax.
'Of course, our red wax bottle created a little controversy with other packages like Maker's Mark Bourbon, because they also have red wax bottles. However, we explained to inquiring customers that winemakers have been sealing wine bottles with wax since the 17th century, so we reached an understanding,' said Joe with a grin.
Copper Cane wines are widely available in many wine shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and online. Price points range from an entry level price of $22 to luxury-priced wines topping out at $150 for a 750ml bottle.
Belle Glos - Named in honor of Joe's grandmother, Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, who loved pinot noir, Belle Glos features rich velvety pinot noir wines from special vineyards throughout California. Also includes still rose and sparkling wines. Prices range from $25 to $85 per bottle.
Quilt - Award-winning cabernet sauvignon-based wines from distinctive AVAs within Napa Valley. Prices range from $35 to $150 per bottle.
Threadcount - An extension of the Quilt portfolio focused on easy-drinking wines, primarily red blends, with an average bottle price of $22.
Böen - A range of chardonnay and pinot noir wines from across California. Prices range from $24 to $45 per bottle.
Following is one of the videos on TikTok of Joe the Winemaker.
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