i29 Scoring Guide

This is the one metric where most iKAG clients score well. Brian doesn't take clients with bad wine — it's a prerequisite, not a variable. If a winery scores below 3 here, the engagement likely shouldn't have started. The real value of this metric is documenting the strength so it can be leveraged in the deliverables. A 5 here is the foundation of every recommendation — "the wine is the asset, now let's build the infrastructure around it."

Common Most iKAG clients score 4-5. This is by design — Brian qualifies clients on wine quality before engagement.

Red Flag A 2-3 here with a 5 on self-assessment suggests the winery has an unrealistic view of their wine's competitive position. Handle carefully — this gap needs to be addressed early, ideally through comparative tasting data rather than opinion.

At 4-5: Lead with it. "The wine is the asset." Use it as the anchor for every other recommendation — pricing, importer strategy, market entry. This is the foundation statement.
At 3: Acknowledge quality but note where consistency or distinction falls short. "The Torrontés shines — the entry Malbec needs more definition." Be specific about which SKUs.
At 1-2: Rare in iKAG engagements. If it happens, frame honestly: "Product quality must improve before market investment makes sense."

"I don't take clients whose wine I can't sell with a straight face. If I'm sitting across from an importer with your bottle, I need to know the wine does the talking. Yours does. Now let's make sure everything around it — the price, the story, the presentation — is worthy of what's in the glass."

Label and packaging is the single most visible gap between international wineries and U.S. expectations. What works in Argentina or France often doesn't translate. European labels tend toward minimalism that reads as "cheap" on a U.S. shelf. South American labels sometimes overcommunicate — too much text, too many medals, too busy. The fix is usually not expensive — a label refresh from a U.S.-aware designer can move this from a 2 to a 4 in one vintage cycle. This is where iKAG's design network earns its fee.

Argentina Labels often feature too much text and medal imagery. Gold stickers everywhere. Reads as "trying too hard" on a U.S. premium shelf.

France Minimalist labels that look elegant in France but anonymous on a U.S. shelf where the buyer has 8 seconds to decide. Needs more shelf shout without losing elegance.

Good Signal Winery is open to a U.S.-market label variant. This is the fastest way to improve shelf presence without changing the wine.

At 1-2: Connect to iKAG's design network. "One call to a label specialist." This is a tool-first metric — the connection is the deliverable.
At 3: "Label is professional but not working hard enough for the wine inside." Specific: what's missing? Shelf presence? Story? Compliance details?
At 4-5: Mention as a strength. "Packaging is doing its job." Move on.

"Your wine is better than your label. That's actually good news — it's the easiest thing to fix. I've got a designer who works with international producers for the U.S. market. One conversation, usually $3-5K for a full refresh. The wine stays the same. The first impression changes completely."

This is the metric that connects most directly to iKAG's portal tools. The Pricing Architecture tool, the LIFT Calculator, the Three-Tier Pricing Calculator — they all exist to move this score. A 1-2 here is the most common reason an otherwise excellent winery can't get traction. The math is relentless: ex-cellar × importer margin × distributor margin × retailer markup = SRP. If the SRP doesn't work, nothing downstream works. This is where Brian spends the most time in early engagements.

Universal Almost every international winery enters the engagement at 1-2 on pricing. They've priced for their domestic market or for European export, where the distribution chain is shorter. The U.S. three-tier markup is a shock.

Red Flag "We can't lower our ex-cellar." This is the most common stall point. The conversation needs to shift from "lowering price" to "finding the price that works for everyone." Sometimes it's an ex-cellar adjustment. Sometimes it's repositioning which SKUs lead. Sometimes it's accepting that the premium wine is allocation-only.

Gran Reserva Problem Premium tiers (typically $40+ SRP) almost always land in margin tension. The solution is usually positioning as allocation/prestige rather than broad distribution. This is a strategic decision, not a pricing failure.

At 1-2: Always a top-3 priority. Reference Pricing Architecture tool by name. "Open the tool. Run the models. The math will show you the path." Never say "your wine is too expensive" — say "the economics need adjustment for this channel."
At 3: "Core pricing works. Premium tier needs resolution." Name the specific SKU and the specific tension.
At 4-5: "Pricing architecture is in place." Reference in context of Investment Planner alignment.

"The U.S. market doesn't care what your wine costs to make. It cares what it costs on the shelf relative to what's sitting next to it. Your Torrontés at $21 SRP is competing against established brands at $15-17 that have marketing budgets you can't match. We need to work backwards from where the wine needs to land, not forwards from what it costs you to produce."

Portfolio strategy is where Brian's experience shows most. The instinct of every winery is to send everything. The discipline is sending the right 3-4 wines in the right order. "Lead with the Torrontés, the Malbec follows" — that's a portfolio strategy, not a tasting note. This metric measures whether the winery has made those strategic choices or is still trying to put 15 SKUs on a U.S. shelf.

At 1-2: Frame as a strategic exercise, not a cut list. "We're choosing what leads, not what gets left behind." Reference the door-opener concept.
At 3: "Portfolio is defined. Now refine the roles." Which wine opens doors? Which builds volume? Which is the prestige anchor?
At 4-5: Reference the portfolio logic in the importer strategy. "The lineup tells a story an importer can sell."

"You have 12 wines. The U.S. market doesn't need 12 wines from you right now. It needs 3, maybe 4 — and they need to make sense together. Which one gets you the first meeting? Which one gets you the reorder? Which one makes someone say 'what else do you have?' That's your U.S. portfolio."

Story is the multiplier for everything else. Two wines of equal quality at equal price points — the one with the better story wins every time. In the U.S. market, sommeliers sell stories as much as they sell wine. "This is from a fourth-generation family in Mendoza at 1,200 meters" is infinitely more sellable than "this is a nice Malbec from Argentina." Most international wineries have an extraordinary story — they just can't tell it concisely in English for a U.S. audience. That's Gina's specialty.

At 1-2: Flag in the QB action sheets. "Send Gina your 200-word origin story in your language — we translate and shape it." This is a Gina deliverable.
At 3: "The raw material is excellent. The presentation needs work." Specific: what's the hook? What makes a sommelier retell this?
At 4-5: Lead with it in importer strategy. "The story gets you the meeting." Use specific story elements in deliverable narratives — don't be generic about a specific story.

This metric connects to iKAG Signals and the competitive intelligence tools in the portal. At 1-2, the winery is flying blind — they don't know who's already on the shelf where they want to be. iKAG Signals changes this. At 4-5, the winery is using competitive data to make strategic decisions. The Aurora Torrontés strategy is the textbook example: in a market saturated with Argentine Malbec, the Torrontés IS the competitive positioning — it's the variety gap nobody else is filling.

At 1-2: Reference iKAG Signals. "The data shows where the gap is." Use competitive context to frame every pricing and portfolio recommendation.
At 3: Sharpen the "why us" argument. Be specific: "At $14.99, Aurora's Torrontés competes against X and Y — and wins on Z."
At 4-5: Competitive positioning becomes a narrative tool in the deliverables. Use it to frame wins and opportunities.

This metric overlaps intentionally with Portfolio Breadth & Focus (metric 04) but measures something different. Breadth asks "what do you have?" Rationalization asks "what should you send and why?" The distinction matters because many wineries have a strong portfolio but haven't done the work of curating it for U.S. entry. A 2 on this metric with a 4 on Breadth means "you have the wines — you just haven't made the strategic choices about which ones lead."

At 1-2: This becomes a priority in the MRA. "Before importer meetings, define the U.S. lineup." Action sheet: "List your wines. Assign each a role. Cut anything without a role."
At 3: "Lineup is set. Now sharpen the roles." Reference the door-opener strategy specifically.
At 4-5: Brief. "SKU strategy is clear." Reference in portfolio context of QB when discussing what's working and what's not.

Communication is the leading indicator for every other Partnership metric. If the client isn't responsive, nothing moves — priorities stall, deadlines slip, and iKAG spends time chasing instead of building. A drop in this score between quarters is an early warning that something has changed — burnout, internal politics, loss of commitment. Flag it before it becomes a pattern.

Time Zones South American clients are in similar time zones — responsiveness is rarely a time zone issue. European and Australian clients have legitimate gaps. Score should reflect whether the client manages the gap or hides behind it.

Red Flag Score drops from 4 to 2 between quarters. Something changed internally — the person may be losing organizational support, facing burnout, or the winery's commitment is wavering. Address directly in the QB Watching section.

At 4-5: Mention as a strength: "The partnership works because the communication works." Reinforce the behavior.
At 2-3: Don't lecture. Frame through impact: "Faster responses accelerate every timeline." Keep it one sentence in the observation.
At 1: This is a Brian conversation, not a deliverable note. A 1 here may mean the engagement needs restructuring.

Strategic alignment is the difference between a partnership and a transaction. Most wineries enter the U.S. with a vague goal — "sell more wine." That's not a strategy. A strategy has markets, channels, timelines, and shared accountability. This metric measures whether the winery and their U.S. partners are building from the same blueprint. Low scores here predict every downstream frustration — pricing disputes, channel conflicts, unmet expectations.

At 1-2: Priority in the MRA. "Before we build, we align." Frame the strategic plan as the foundation for every other recommendation.
At 3: "Strategy exists. Tighten the gaps." Name the specific misalignment — is it pricing, channels, or timeline?
At 4-5: "Strategic alignment is an asset." Reference in the context of joint planning and shared accountability.

Trust is earned, not demanded. A 2-3 in the first quarter is normal — the client doesn't know iKAG well enough yet to be fully open. This score should increase over time. If it doesn't — or if it drops — something is wrong. The most common cause: a recommendation didn't work as promised, and the client lost confidence. Brian needs to address this in person, not through deliverables.

At 1-2: Don't mention trust in deliverables — it's a relationship issue, not a report topic. Brian handles this directly.
At 3: Build trust through the deliverables themselves — accurate data, honest assessments, no sugarcoating. The deliverable IS the trust-building mechanism.
At 4-5: The transparency is what makes the recommendations specific. "Because Aurora shared X, we were able to recommend Y." Show the value of the openness.

Engagement consistency is the partnership's pulse. One great market visit means nothing if the follow-through dies. This metric captures whether the winery sustains effort between the big moments. The QB "What We Said / What Happened" section is the direct measurement tool — it shows, quarter by quarter, whether commitments convert to actions. A drop in this score between quarters is an early warning signal.

At 1-2: Simplify the action sheet. Fewer commitments, more achievable. Set them up to succeed. Don't pile on.
At 3: "Engagement is consistent." Name the follow-through wins. Reinforce the rhythm.
At 4-5: "The engagement cadence is a competitive advantage." Connect consistency to results.

This metric overlaps with Financial Stability (Health pillar) but measures something different. Financial Stability asks "can they afford it?" Willingness to Invest asks "will they spend it?" A winery can score 4 on Financial Stability and 2 on Willingness — plenty of money, won't release it. The Investment Planner is the tool that bridges this gap: when spend is tracked and tied to outcomes, the release gets easier.

At 1-2: Connect every recommendation to ROI. Don't ask for money — show the math. "The Investment Planner shows that a $2K sample budget generates X importer meetings."
At 3: "Investment discipline is solid. The next step is proactive allocation — budgeting for opportunities before they arise."
At 4-5: "Investment posture supports the strategy." Brief. Don't dwell.

This is the retention metric. Clients who score 4-5 here renew. Clients who score 1-2 churn — they blame iKAG for a timeline that's actually structural. The deliverables exist partly to manage this expectation: the phase indicator (Foundation → Align → Innovate → Elevate) visually reinforces that progress is happening even when revenue hasn't started. Every QB should reconnect the client to where they are in the arc.

At 1-2: The phase indicator in every deliverable is doing heavy lifting. "Foundation complete — entering Align" reminds the client that the plan is working. Never defensive — always forward-looking.
At 3: "Expectations are realistic and grounded." Reinforce with specific progress markers.
At 4-5: This is the client who will be your best ambassador. Acknowledge the partnership explicitly: "Aurora's patience with the process is a strategic advantage."

"I've seen wineries pull out at Month 8 because they expected results at Month 4. They were on track — they just couldn't see it. That's my job: to show you what 'on track' looks like when there's no revenue yet. Trust the arc. The infrastructure you're building now is what makes Year 2 possible."

This is the operational foundation of the Partnership pillar. Strategic Alignment (metric 02) measures whether the winery and importer want the same things. This metric measures whether the importer can actually deliver it. A winery can have perfect strategic alignment with an importer who can't get wine to Florida on time. The system has to work, not just the relationship.

At 1-2: Flag in the MRA action sheet. "Before you sign, audit the system." If already signed, the QB should track specific operational failures and whether they're improving.
At 3: "The importer works. Tighten the gaps." Name the specific operational issue — is it state coverage, compliance lag, or bandwidth?
At 4-5: "The system runs. Focus on growth." Reference in the context of expanding to new states — the infrastructure supports it.

"I've seen wineries fall in love with an importer because the buyer was charming at a tasting, then spend 18 months fighting over logistics. The charm doesn't get your wine on a shelf in Houston. The warehouse does. The compliance team does. The delivery truck does. Ask the boring questions before you sign."

This is the outcome metric for the entire engagement. Every other metric — compliance, pricing, importer strategy, market visits — exists to move this number. A 1 here at engagement start is expected and normal. A 1 here at Month 12 is a failure. The trajectory is what matters. In the Annual Annual Position, the before/after comparison on this metric tells the Year 1 story.

At 1: Expected at start. Frame through the plan: "Distribution begins after compliance + pricing + importer are in place." Never treat a 1 as a failure at Month 1.
At 2-3: This is where most clients are at Month 12. Celebrate it: "Wine on the ground in two states" is a Year 1 win. Reference specific accounts if possible.
At 4-5: The engagement is working. Shift narrative to optimization — depth vs. breadth, depletion velocity, channel expansion.

"Distribution is the score that everyone looks at — but it's the last thing to move. Everything we do in the first 6 months is building toward the moment wine hits a shelf. When it does, that's not the finish line. That's the starting line."

Trade awareness is the metric that moves fastest in Year 1 — and it's the leading indicator for everything else in Market Presence. One good trade tasting, one sommelier champion, one well-placed review can move this from a 1 to a 3 in a quarter. This is where María Elena's market visits and Gina's trade materials pay off directly. When writing deliverables, trade awareness progress is the most reportable early win.

At 1-2: Reference the market visit calendar and trade tasting plan. "The October NYC trip is designed to move this score."
At 3: Name the specific trade wins: "Two sommeliers in Miami have listed the Torrontés." Concrete beats abstract.
At 4-5: "Trade awareness is self-generating." This is the inflection point where the engagement shifts from push to pull.

Consumer recognition is the slowest-moving metric in the entire scorecard. It takes years, not months. A 1-2 in Year 1 is completely normal. The danger is setting expectations that this will move fast — it won't. What moves fast is trade awareness (metric 04). Consumer follows trade. The deliverables should focus on trade-level visibility and let consumer recognition build organically.

At 1-2: Don't dwell. This is expected. Frame as a long-term build: "Consumer recognition follows trade adoption." One sentence, move on.
At 3: Note the emerging signals. "First U.S. press mention." "Social engagement growing." These are leading indicators.
At 4-5: This is the Year 2-3 payoff. Celebrate it: "The brand has recognition that precedes the sales call."

Market visits are where the Organizational Readiness metric (Health pillar) meets Market Presence. María Elena can't do market visits if she's also running compliance, export, and production. This is the metric that breaks when bandwidth breaks. Brian flags this connection in the "Here's What I'm Watching" section of the QB. If market visits drop, check Org Readiness — the scores are linked.

At 1-2: "The October NYC trip is the most important week of this engagement." Frame the first market visit as a milestone, not a routine event.
At 3: "Visit cadence is establishing." Name what each visit accomplished.
At 4-5: "In-market presence is consistent and productive." Reference Touchpoint Map data.

Press matters more in the U.S. than almost any other market. A 90+ score from Wine Advocate or Wine Spectator changes the sales conversation overnight. European scores (Gambero Rosso, Decanter) carry some weight but are not the currency of U.S. trade. A winery with great European press but no U.S. reviews is starting from scratch in the eyes of a U.S. buyer. This metric measures whether the winery has invested in U.S.-specific press strategy — submissions, PR, media relationships.

At 1-2: Action sheet item: "Submit top 3 SKUs to Wine Advocate, Vinous, and Wine Spectator this quarter." This is a Gina task — she manages the submission calendar.
At 3: "First reviews are in. Build the PR cadence." Name the specific scores and where they can be used.
At 4-5: "Press profile is a commercial tool." Reference specific reviews in deliverable narratives — scores sell.

The importer relationship is the single most important commercial relationship in the engagement. Get it right and everything accelerates. Get it wrong — wrong fit, wrong geography, wrong portfolio balance — and Year 1 is wasted. This is why Brian builds targeted shortlists (5-7 importers, scored by fit) rather than letting the winery respond to inbound interest. The Touchpoint Map tracks every conversation. This metric connects directly to that tool.

At 1: This is a priority in the MRA. "Targeted importer strategy" is almost always Priority #3 (after compliance and pricing).
At 2: QB tracks the pipeline: "3 meetings scheduled. One strong fit." Name the progress without overpromising.
At 3: "Importer signed" is a Year 1 headline win. Name it in the Three Biggest Wins of the Annual Paper.
At 4-5: Shift narrative from "getting an importer" to "activating the partnership." Reference Touchpoint Map activity.

Digital presence is where iKAG's design and web network adds value. At 1-2, the fix is usually a website refresh and U.S.-focused social content — one call to iKAG's web design partner. This is not a metric the winery should try to fix themselves. The iKAG network does this faster and better. At 3+, it's about content strategy — what to post, when, for whom. Gina often manages this directly for clients.

At 1-2: Connect to iKAG network. "One call to our web design partner." Action sheet item, not a paragraph of advice.
At 3: "Digital foundation exists. Content strategy needed." Specific: "More U.S.-facing trade content. Less winery scenery."
At 4-5: Brief. "Digital presence is supporting commercial activity." Move on to metrics that need more attention.

This metric separates wineries that are building a U.S. business from wineries that are collecting placements. Most international wineries arrive wanting national accounts because that's where volume lives. The reality: national accounts require volume consistency, aggressive pricing, flawless logistics, and a brand that communicates at shelf without a sommelier explaining it. This metric tracks whether the winery is building toward that, or whether it's a premature ambition that would hurt the brand.

At 1-2: Do not recommend national account pursuit. The MRA should frame this as a Year 2-3 goal. "Build the independent and on-premise base first — chains come when you have proof of concept."
At 3: "Ready to test." The QB can include a chain account as a Priority 3 item if volume and pricing are confirmed.
At 4-5: "Channel strategy is an asset." Reference in the APP as evidence of commercial maturity. The Decision Support Tool models channel-specific scenarios at this level.

"Every winery wants to be in Whole Foods. I get it — it feels like validation. But if you land a chain placement and can't fill the reorder, you don't get a second chance. You get delisted. Build the base first. Prove the wine sells. Then the chains come to you — and when they do, you're ready. That's a fundamentally different conversation than begging for a meeting."