Part Six: The Woman with Many Hats - Suzanne Frontz
20 Years of Cinnabar: 1983-2003
Owner Tom Mudd, GM Suzanne Frontz,
Vineyard & Estate Mgr. Ron Mosley,
Winemaker George Troquato.
"I thought they were down-to-earth — people you would want to live next door to," says Suzanne Frontz about her colleagues at Cinnabar. It was September 1997 and she was talking to Owner Tom Mudd, Vineyard Manager Ron Mosley and Winemaker George Troquato. "I interviewed three or four people at the time," says Tom. "Suzanne was the only candidate invited back for a second interview. She was so much better than anyone else."
Suzanne was attracted to Team Cinnabar's dedication, their love of the land, and the wine quality. "I saw a great opportunity for personal and professional growth," she says. "The wines expressed the land rather than a winemaker's heavy handedness. I knew I could sell them proudly."
Suzanne served as vice-president of the American Brandy Association (ABA) before joining Cinnabar in a multi-task role of sales and marketing, accounting and office managing. Her work with the ABA included international sales and marketing in Mexico, China, Canada and the UK. That experience, coupled with a profound instinct for "personal selling," would propel sales at Cinnabar.
She met her goals the first year and tripled them by 2002. Initially, she collaborated with a wine broker who fulfilled the role of national sales director. She assumed all sales and marketing responsibilities by 2000 and proposed a new business plan. "Suzanne encouraged us to make long-range plans and document goals," says Tom.
With Suzanne as general manager, Cinnabar now focuses on just 14 states to best serve its customers. "Suzanne helped change our approach to marketing," says Tom. "Formerly, our efforts were a mile wide and an inch deep. Now are puddles are small, but they are deep."
"The wine business is heavily based on friendships," says Suzanne. "Relationships with wholesalers, retailers and restaurateurs are very important to us because we are small. In turn, we can have relationships with them because we are small."
"Suzanne has brought George and I into her world," says Ron Mosley. "We occasionally work the markets with our distributors. It gives us a chance to meet customers and help sell the wine."
Suzanne also believes in offering a well-made product at a fair price. "We give customers more wine quality than they're paying for," she says.
Away from Cinnabar, Suzanne enjoys traveling and sailing with her husband Doug, is the chairperson of Family Winemakers of California, a member of the Wine Institute's policy committee, a member of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and a former board member of Women for Winesense.
