Why it matters:
- Josh Cellars has evolved from 1,400 cases in year one into the number one premium table wine in the country.
- A recent entry into the growing alcohol-free beverage category has resulted in its Non-Alcoholic Sparkling becoming the fastest-growing domestic nonalcoholic sparkling wine in the United States following a limited regional release. The wine has since launched nationwide.
- Social media and a series of viral memes in 2024, as well as strategic product placement on shows from Top Chef to Saturday Night Live, have helped demystify the wine’s reputation and grow brand visibility with younger consumers.
It was an unlikely journey. Growing up in a mill town in upstate New York in a blue-collar family, Joe Carr didn’t envision himself one day launching a multimillion-dollar wine empire. “We didn’t have a vineyard. Everyone’s favorite white wine was Budweiser,” joked the Co-founder of Josh Cellars, the number one premium table wine in the country.
Fate intervened in the late 1970s. Carr and his twin sister Lisa were heading off to college, the first in the family to attend. But first, Carr hitchhiked across the country, ending up in San Francisco where he was told to check out Wine Country. In Napa Valley, he found transplants from France, Spain, and Italy, among others. “They brought their culture with them and gave me things like cabernet sauvignon to try,” he remembered. Smitten with the romance of the place, he vowed to return.
He soon found himself working in a restaurant while in college. “I was the worst busboy they ever hired. But the owner liked me and appreciated my blue-collar work ethic,” said Carr. “He gave me a book of wines and told me if I read it, he’d give me a job. It took me to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany, Napa. I fell in love.”
Carr got the job and worked as a wine steward through college, eventually becoming a sommelier working at restaurants and hotels throughout the country. (“My dad would comment, ‘What a great country. My son gets to taste wine and tell people about it,’” he noted.) Carr eventually worked in wineries all around the world, holding executive roles like Vice President at Beringer Vineyards.
Our go-to-market strategy was to start with restaurants rather than put the wine on a shelf. ... Once customers tasted it in restaurants, they would look for it in stores.Joe Carr, Founder of Josh Cellars
‘The Steve Jobs of wine’
The attacks of 9/11 impacted Carr’s direction, as he lost friends in the World Trade Center. He realized he wanted a change. As a next step, he refinanced his and wife Deirdre’s (Dee) house for a $200,000 line of credit. “It’s not the thing you want to tell people who are starting a small business, but that’s the reality of what happens,” he pointed out. “I didn’t get venture capital or private equity. I worked out of my garage, which I thought was romantic, like the Steve Jobs of wine.”
Carr’s business model was a “négociant,” a French term for a vintner who purchases other growers’ grapes. By 2002, he was producing Cabernet Sauvignon under his own label, the eponymously named Joseph Carr.
A few years later, grape prices doubling led to financial burdens and a pivot. (“In business how you overcome hurdles is how you survive and grow,” he added.) Friend and Sonoma-based Winemaker Tom Larson recommended sourcing grapes outside of Napa, where the cost would be lower but the quality good. Carr took another chance, cashed in his 401(k), and began making a new wine from areas such as Sonoma and the Red Hills District of Lake County to help alleviate his cash flow issues. He knew he was on to something while blind-tasting. “We’d have someone line up four bottles, and I kept choosing my own,” he recalled.
Along the way, Carr’s father had passed away. When he was looking for a name for the new label, his mother suggested Josh. Carr’s dad, a lumberjack, U.S. Army veteran, and volunteer firefighter, also had been a stock car driver before Carr was born. Unbeknownst to his son, Josh was his nickname. Carr’s mother even did the calligraphy on which the label is based. “My dad is the one who instilled in me a sense of hard work and community,” said Carr.
Letting the customer set the value: ‘That’s a selling tactic I used’
Josh Cellars launched in 2007 with 1,400 cases in year one, and Carr sold them out of the trunk of his beat-up Land Rover. “Our go-to-market strategy was to start with restaurants rather than put the wine on a shelf,” explained Carr. “Once customers tasted it in restaurants, they would look for it in stores.”
Carr’s other strategy was to not tell restaurant owners how much the wine cost. “I’d have them tell me, and repeatedly they would say about $25 to $30. And I would tell them it was $14 a bottle. That’s a selling tactic I used for getting them to set the value,” he said.
Josh Cellars eventually expanded into retail, which meant Carr and his wife Dee, Josh Cellars’ Co-founder and President, would travel on the weekends doing demos. “It’s a sacrifice you make when starting a business,” he noted.
Today, Josh Cellars produces upwards of 7 million cases annually, with most bottles priced around $20 and under. The line includes 11 varietals and a Reserve collection. Wines are produced in Paso Robles and Mendocino in California, as well as Oregon and Italy, where two types of Prosecco are made. Beyond the United States, Josh Cellars is sold in Canada, the Caribbean, Denmark, Guam, Japan, Panama, Mexico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
In 2011, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, a Connecticut-based beverage conglomerate acquired Josh Cellars, providing the money Carr needed to scale. “They saw the potential in the brand, and we talked a lot about values before we got involved financially,” Carr noted. Deutsch controls sales, marketing, and production while Carr remains the owner and face of the company.
[Read more: Global Flavor Trends Drive New Sweet and Salty Snack Innovations]
Viral memes and product placement on shows from Top Chef to SNL help change perceptions of Josh Cellars' brand
Originally, Josh Cellars’ core customers were Gen X and baby boomers and skewed female.
Demystifying wine was important to expand reach, especially to younger consumers, and social media played a critical role. In 2024, the brand went viral with a series of memes that played on the common name Josh and the brand’s reputation as a value wine. Josh Cellars is also a regular at music festivals and has been placed in shows like Top Shelf Chef and Yellowstone, as well as in three skits on Saturday Night Live.
“Millennials and Gen Z saw us on social and looked behind the curtain to see that we were genuine, not a concept brand made up by an agency,” said Carr. “Brands can get discarded. People move on. Josh Cellars is based on a real person and I’m a real person behind it. We aren’t complex, we’re personal and not intimidating. Customers respond to that.”
In fact, Josh Cellars aims to remove wine’s highbrow reputation and instead position it as something to enjoy at the beach, a barbecue, or a family gathering. To help communicate an accessible image, Josh Cellars has begun offering custom labels where shoppers upload a photo and message and the labels are shipped to them to apply to bottles. (“I see a lot of dogs,” Carr laughed.)
In line with its values and community focus, Josh Cellars contributes to various charities, especially supporting first responders, military, and police. “We get involved, not just writing a check,” Carr emphasized. For example, the company paired with Singer Josh Groban to donate a piano to a veterans’ home.
[Read more: Innovation and Artisan Options Driving Opportunity in Adult Nonalcoholic Beverages]
Breaking into the nonalcoholic wine category
Seeing the trends toward nonalcoholic beverages, a market expected to increase 18% in volume from 2024 to 2028, Josh Cellars recently launched Non-Alcoholic Sparkling. Following a limited release in select regional markets, it became the fastest-growing domestic nonalcoholic sparkling wine in the United States and has since launched nationwide. While he is tight-lipped about future expansion, Carr noted that “we don’t do it unless we know we will be the best in class in the category.”
And the category is very competitive, Carr cautioned fledgling winemakers. “You have a lot of international wine companies that want to be in the U.S. because that’s where they make money. Every year 1,000 labels are launched and 1,000 are discontinued,” he said.
Courage and conviction are necessary: “If you don’t have those [traits], don’t show up on the ball field,” he continued, adding that having people who believe in your venture helps. “I was very lucky to have a wife who was behind me all the way,” he said. “You have to be willing to work hard. My dad gave that to me.”
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