Woodinville’s Cru Selections closes

In recent years, the Pacific Northwest has seen a wave of independent distributor closures and consolidation. The latest came November 15^th, when distributor/importer Cru Selections in Woodinville, Washington announced it was closing.

“It is with profound sadness and embarrassment that I must inform you that, after exhausting all the options to push through and right the course, Cru Selections will be closing its doors today after 16 years in business,” owner Guy Harris said in an email to clients.

Cru Selections represented approximately 45 brands in Washington and Oregon. The company also sold wine from seven countries. Guardian Cellars in Woodinville was represented by Cru for 16 years.

“In the end, it’s left us with quite a significant amount of money lost,” Jerry Riener, owner and winemaker said of the closure.

Some of Cru’s customers will be able to sign on with other area distributors. Grape Expectations, an independent, west-coast based distributor that Cru pointed its clientele toward, picked up 11 of the company’s brands in the first 72 hours.

“My first thought was, how can I do everything possible to make a seamless transition so that everybody’s hard work and all the things they built at Cru aren’t lost?” said Jeff Miller, managing director at Grape Expectations. “We’ll be making sure that we touch every last placement within the next couple weeks so that there are no gaps in service.”

Guardian is one of the wineries that has already signed on with Grape Expectations. “The fortunate part, for us, is we will recover,” Riener says of Cru’s closing. “It’s going to take some time, but we definitely have the ability to go forth.”

Some might not be so lucky. In addition to significant lost revenue, Cru’s closure comes at a time when wineries have to pay harvest bills. October-November-December (referred to in the industry as OND) is also typically the busiest time of year for wine sales. Cru’s ownership and employees, meanwhile, have lost their livelihoods.

Cru Selections shuttering is part of a wave of independent distributor closures in the Pacific Northwest over the last decade-plus. Unique Wine Company, another mid-sized distributor, closed earlier this year. Cordon Selections and Vinum Wine Importing and Distributing closed in recent years.

There has also been consolidation. Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits purchased Cavatappi a number of years back. Winebow Group acquired Seattle’s Noble Wines in 2015. The end result is a group of large and small distributors with little in between.

“When the mid-sized distributors go out of business, that’s the tier that doesn’t seem to be getting replaced,” says Paul Zitarelli, owner of Full Pull Wines, an e-retailer based in Seattle. “They’re not volume and price competitive enough to fight it out with big distributors and big chain grocery, and then they also get nibbled at by all the small, boutique distributors who are hyper-focused.”

As this trend continues, it could present a significant problem for Northwest wineries, retailers, and consumers. The vast majority of Washington and Oregon wineries are small to medium-sized, family-run operations. That’s the type of producer that mid-sized distributors typically represent. With fewer distributors in that category, retailers, restaurants, and consumers may see more limited choices.

“This will likely impact the availability of wine from non-corporate wineries who aren’t able to self-distribute and can’t get picked up elsewhere,” Lisa Baer, owner at Baer Winery in Woodinville, said of Cru’s closure.

Overall, distributor closures and consolidation is part of a macro trend. Globally, the wine industry is contracting. As a result, there is a large oversupply of grape vine acreage, wine, and wineries. This presents a potential existential threat to wine-related businesses.

“We’re clearly in the middle of a reckoning, and it’s happening because there are headwinds across the alcohol industry generally and wine specifically,” said Zitarelli. “Best case is that it’s a short-term reckoning, and the industry comes out the other side healthier. But it sure feels like 2025 is going to be another year of pain for some folks.”

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