Warren Bogle - Our Family's Commitment

Jody Bogle sits down with her brother Warren Bogle, President and Vineyard Director.  Warren reflects on the evolution of practices over the past 27 years and discusses how the Bogle family has embraced change over three generations.  Listen as Warren shares the importance of commitment, not only over the last decades, but looking forward to the future of Bogle Family Wine Collection. 

To learn more about Bogle Family Wine Collection visit boglewinery.com.

Transcript

00:00 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
I'm excited about our commitment our commitment in the vineyards, commitment in the winery, commitment to our employees. We're committed to this business, we're committed to our quality product and the future is bright for Bogle. 

00:21 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Welcome to the Bogle story. I'm Jody Bogle and I'm so happy to be sipping here with you today. In the studio today we have my brother, warren Bogle, president and vineyard director. Thanks, warren, for coming in. 

00:35 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
No problem. 

00:38 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So, warren, you've worked at the company for the longest out of all of us. Bogles, when did you know you wanted to work for the family business? How did you get from being that kid on the tractor to where you are today? 

00:49 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
I was very lucky, you know, being a kid growing up on the ranch, driving tractor. I knew from an early age that I wanted to you know work in the vineyards work for the company. You know I'm fortunate in that respect. At a very young age I knew what I wanted to do. 

01:07 - Jody Bogle (Host)
When did you first start kind of full-time at the ranch? You always worked as a kid with all of us. 

01:11 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Sure, during the summers, but I came back full-time in 1997. I was 21. Our father had passed away and I took over the vineyard operations at that point and I would attend winery meetings here and there. But yeah, I started in 1997, and so this year was my 27th 27th. I don't know. 

01:36 - Jody Bogle (Host)
I lost track. 27th harvest. Yeah, still exciting, but not as—I don't get as excited as I used to, but it's still fun how is what you do today different from what it was 27 years ago, when you first came back? 

01:51 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
it's very different. I used to get dirty and have calluses on my hands and now I have pretty nicely manicured hands and I'm in meetings probably about 80% of the time. So it's definitely transitioned into more of a business role than a farming role. But you know, farming is still at the heart of what we do and it's still a big part of our business. 

02:16 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So, after being out there in the vineyards working for 27 years, you still oversee vineyard management. What are we doing today out in the vineyards? That's different than what Dad and Grandpa did. 

02:27 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Probably about three or four years ago. We have a lot of aging vineyards, and so we're starting to replant some of those older vineyards that Dad planted, and even some of the ones when I first came back, planted 27 years ago. We're starting to replace those with newer vineyards and we're designing those vineyards to be mechanically harvested, mechanically shoot thin, mechanically, leaf pulled, just so we can cut down on labor costs and be more economical in what we do in the vineyard. 

03:03 - Jody Bogle (Host)
What are you guys replanting out there? 

03:06 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
The majority of what we're replanting is Chardonnay. We're planting some Petit Syrah and Merlot. It's kind of site-specific, but those are the main varieties that we're replanting to Pinot Grigio pretty much all the varieties we have in bottle are the varieties we're planting. 

03:28 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So you mentioned labor and creating vineyards that are more efficiently managed by mechanical means. What are some of the other challenges that you see out there in the ag side of our business today? 

03:48 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
side of our business today. Probably the major challenge is trying to be profitable in the aspect that it costs a lot more to farm these days and getting the right balance of tonnage to quality ratio to be sustainable and profitable. 

04:01 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So you mentioned sustainability. We spoke with Stephanie Bolton about how important sustainability has been to the family, about the Lodi Rules and California Rules program. You were a big proponent of that. You brought that back to the family. You kicked that off years ago. Share more about why that's so important to what we do at Bogle. 

04:21 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
We looked into a few programs before we started the California Rules for Sustainability program. We felt it was the best program. At that time they had not taken the program outside of Lodi so I went to them and their director at the time was a gentleman named Cliff Omart and he was a big proponent of getting the Lodi Rules California Rules program outside of Lodi and so it was a great match for both us and the program and I felt it was the best program. I still feel it's the best program around. 

04:55 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Everyone always asks what does that actually look like? What does sustainability mean for the day-to-day what you're doing out in the vineyard? 

05:02 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Sure, so it involves water management, pest management, employee management. There's a human resources chapter, so it really encompasses all the things we do on a daily or monthly basis in the vineyard. 

05:16 - Jody Bogle (Host)
With the goal that, at the end of the day, we're leaving the land the soil. Everything better than we found it Sure. 

05:22 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
I mean, the whole goal of being sustainable is being able to pass it on to the next generation and leaving the environment better than when you got it. 

05:32 - Jody Bogle (Host)
And we've passed this along. We've asked our grower partners to be a part of this program as well. 

05:39 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
A couple years after we got our vineyards in the program, we made a commitment to our outside growers and really encouraged them to get enrolled in the program, get their vineyards certified and being farmers first. We didn't just ask them. Well, we did ask them but we also paid them. So we pay a $25 a ton bonus if our outside grower partner is certified through the California Rules for Sustainability Program. 

06:12 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Which leads to about 96% of all the fruit that we bring in is certified. That's pretty incredible. Today you, ryan and I, manage the winery together as the third generation. Your day-to-day obviously looks a lot different than it did 27 years ago. What is your day-to-day look like now at the winery? 

06:33 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
It looks a lot different than it used to. There's been so many changes in those 20 years. The winery's grown so much. There's so many aspects of the business that we're involved in which makes it fun being involved at least what I do on a daily basis. I'm involved in the vineyards, I'm involved in the production, I'm involved in the sales. 

06:53 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So it's definitely changed 2024 was a big year. We had a lot of transition. Talk a little bit about all the changes we made this year and what that was like for you. 

07:06 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
It was exciting. We made some big moves. We made I think it was 13 or 15 distributor changes around the country. We made some significant investments in our sales force and we're excited to see what those changes will bring in 2025 and beyond. I think it was our commitment as a family to grow and change. I mean, we probably in the last 10 years we've made two distributor changes in the last 10 years this year we made 15. 

07:40
So those are big changes and we're equipping our sales force with the tools they need to work within that new alignment. 

07:51 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Not only did we make the distributor alignments, we were kind of fleshing out our executive team at the winery. We brought in a new VP of marketing, we brought in a VP of operations to kind of take some of the load off of what Eric was doing at the winery, and we obviously have kind of restructured the sales department. All of those things, all of those investments, are going to bring more efficiencies. 

08:17 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Sure more efficiencies, but also their investments for the future, their investments for the company to grow and to allow everyone to do a better job at selling more wine is what it comes down to. 

08:33 - Jody Bogle (Host)
These podcasts? Definitely, the original goal was to share information with our sales force so that everyone has the same information. I know I was in a presentation one time and our salesperson told a story that probably I had never even heard before. That wasn't even remotely correct. So I know that for me, I think, making sure that, like you said, our sales team and the folks out there have the right tools, our goal is for not only our salespeople to use these podcasts, but for the distributors they work with to use these podcasts. 

09:05
So many people are out there, way down the line selling bottles of Bogle who we haven't met. We haven't been in a market yet, and so I know that I'm really excited about being able to share information straight from words from Eric, words from Dana, words from you and Ryan, chris Smith, and just being able to give everyone information that they can take out there and share about the authenticity that our family has, the fact that we're a real family. You know we've been doing this a long time, but there are people still behind every single bottle and, like you said, we just want to keep sales up, keep things going forward. Speaking of going forward, warren, what are you most excited about going forward? 

09:44 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
I'm excited about our commitment our commitment in the vineyards, commitment in the winery, commitment to our employees. We're committed to this employees, we're committed to this business, we're committed to our quality product and the future is bright for Bogle. 

09:58 - Jody Bogle (Host)
All right. Last question, warren. It's the weekend. What are you drinking, what are you eating and what are you listening to? 

10:04 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Well, I know I'm drinking Bogle Savignon Blanc with my wife Stephanie and I'm probably listening to whatever my kids are playing on their iPhones. Wife Stephanie and I'm probably listening to whatever my kids are playing on their iPhones and probably eating with a Sauvignon Blanc, probably a halibut coconut curry stew. 

10:20 - Jody Bogle (Host)
That sounds delicious. Thanks, Warren. 

10:23 - Warren Bogle (Guest)
Yep, you're welcome. 

10:31 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Thank you for listening to the Bogle Story. We are happy to have you be a part of it.