The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-27
OUR WINES ON THE LIST.
BIG EASTERN RESTAURANTS TO
MAKE A SPECIALITY OF CALI
FORNIA BRANDS.
HERMAN BENDEL's GREAT PLANS
FOR MARKETING Two CALIFoR-
MA Products.

Herman Bendel, president of the Wine
makers Corporation and the San Jose
Fruit-Packing Company, has returned
from five weeks tour of the East, with
information and ideas of very great i'm
portance to the wine and dried-fruit inter
csts of tie State.
"One-third OF our wine product is con-
sumed by 1000 900 here, but it has been
uphill work to make the other 70, 600, 900
consume the two-thirds," said Mr.. Bendel
yesterday. "You see something is wrong.
Here small dealers come in contact with
the people. In the East the wine is bought
in bulk by large wholesale liquor dealers,
anxious to sell as quickly as possible at
the most profit. There is no chance for
one to sample varieties and the best quail
tiles. l found that people there know very
little about California wines
81 tolds them that we wanted to intro
duce our better wines, and that we could
supply as good W ines as the imported at
less money. L have here wine list from
the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago. 1t shows
twentysix kinds of imported champagne,
and of other imported wines five kinds of
sherry, thirty-four kinds of claret, four
teen kinds of sauterne, nine Of red bur-
gundy, nineteen OF Rhine wine, and so on.
The onlv native wins listed as such is one
kind of zinfandel bottled in Chicago, and
it is so cents a pint. On this list are 135
kinds of imported wine and one of native
wine. That zinfandel could be laid down
in Oh icago at about % cents a gallon, and
gallon makes ten small bottles.
II found that people liked the idea l am
trying to carry out. They think it will
draw trade to certain extent-that of
people curious about California wines and
of Califorrians-and then 1t will be nov
city.
II want dozen or twenty of our best
brands sent to them and the Wine Asso-
citation. Captain Niebaum and two or
three others that l have had time to see
since getting back have approved the plan
and agreed to ship cases of goods on my
recommendation. This plan is better than
opening cafes, because the men have es-
tablished trade, and there Is no risk and no
storage. Everybody who makes good
creditabie wine will have chance, but the
wines sent in must be good. What have
done is only a start. l expect that ship
ments to these establishments will be
made in two or three weeks. In the East
an ordinarily good table wine costs rs
cents pint on the table California wine
of the same quality could be sold there at
25 cents pint, at profit Of 100 per cent
or more. The thing needed is to make the
East acquainted with our wines"
OF no less interest in the State Is the
plan in Mr.. Bendel's mind for raising the
dried-fruit business out of the mire it is
now in. A new method of marketing the
dried fruit product of the State and put
ting this interest on business basis was
the leading purpose of his Eastern trip.
"There has never been any method or
organization among the drled-fruit men
and the business could not be in worse
condition." said Mr.. Bendel yesterday.
"The producers all consign their fruit at
once to commission merchants in Chicago
and New York or sell it in advance to
agents from there, consequently the entire
product is yearly dumped into just two
markets where there i. glut.
1.-THE plan | wish to get the drIed-fruit
producers to carry out is this: Let safe
storage warehouses be provided in every
fruit district, and let the fruit be properly
graded in them and held. Producers can
then get needed advances on their ware
house receipts without selling at the wrong
time at ruinous prices.
"Now the dried fruit men are not getting
the cost of their product Peaches that
last year were run down to and cents
are now away down to 3 and 81 cents
Prunes are ruinously low where they ought
to be higher than last year. There must
be organization among the dried-fruit
men, and financial assistance from mer-
chants and bankers SO that they will not
be compelled to sell at ruinous prices"