My dad co-founded Costco. If you know Costco, you know the ethos. Take care of your employees. Keep your margins honest. Never sacrifice quality to hit a number. I didn't go into retail. I went into wine. Napa Valley. Luxury. By every surface-level measure, the opposite end of the market. But the operating principles are exactly the same. When we built Sinegal Estate, I didn't set out to create "the Costco of wine." That would miss the point entirely. What I carried forward was the belief that how you build something matters as much as what you build. We pay our vineyard team well. We don't cut corners in the cellar to save money. We price our wines to reflect what they cost to make, and we don't apologize for it. We treat every sommelier, distributor, and retail partner like they're going to be in our lives for 30 years. Because if we do this right, they will be. People keep asking me about the "future of the wine industry." Everyone wants a macro answer. A trend. A silver bullet. I think it looks like this: a small number of producers who are genuinely excellent, who treat people with respect, and who have the patience to build something that lasts longer than a vintage cycle. The market correction everyone's panicking about is just the slow process of finding out which brands were built on substance and which were built on momentum. Take care of your people. Make something excellent. Build it to last.
Rick Carlson
2w
David, Well Done! The Apple didn’t fall far from the tree…. Good People, Hard Work, and a touch of Good Luck🍀… Life will throw you lots of challenges, it’s up to you to meet each one of them! Doesn’t mean you win them all, hell we lose a lot of them, but the lesson is, You Show Up and meet them head on! Be well, Stay Focused and Surround yourself with good people! Cheers Rick
Carol C. R.
2w
I love this so much David! Your dad & Costco set a new standard for the world that you can treat people well, compensate them well, and beat the pants off of the competition at scale. I think he further solidified not just that you can treat people well but you must if you want a sustainable longterm business that thrives. Thank you! 🙏
Randi Winter
2w
Your family ethos in principle and in practice should inspire and give people real life aspirations. In addition to building things to last, it is to build them as beacons from foundation to fruition, and to honor all that were there and contributed to the journey. When predictions are that 80% of today's 5 year olds will never have to have a J_O_B, but rather indulge in their passions, the qualities you talk about are going to be the bedrock of society, where "doing the right thing" and "being THAT person" are going to matter more than ever.
Carin Oliver
2w
David, I’ve always admired what you’ve built at Sinegal. It’s rare to see a winery operate with that kind of long-term discipline, especially in an industry that can sometimes get pulled toward short-term trends. The respect you show for your team, your partners, and the craft itself really comes through in the brand. It’s a great reminder that the strongest businesses, wine or otherwise, are built on principles that don’t change with the market cycle. That kind of patience and integrity is rare, but it’s exactly what creates brands that last.
David Sinegal Thank you for sharing your philosophical approach in building and managing the wine business. Leadership teams often are pressured to make the numbers attractive and satiable to the investors and general public. However, the ‘sustainability’ of the business is curated by the approaches you’ve outlined and practiced in your business. Without a healthy relationship with everyone involved in the entire economy of the wine business, it won’t last, it won’t be remembered, it won’t stand out in the competition. People are still a scarce resource in the AI era, and respect, fairness in profit sharing can take the business far and make it a legend.
Fundamental. I can’t get over why is this not widely understood. Also - creativity in welcoming people. Not gimmicks, but true experiences that make everybody feel better. And by better, I mean visitors, hospitality staff, vineyard & winery teams - everyone. ⭐️
The line about treating every partner like they’ll be in your life for 30 years — that’s not a strategy. That’s a value system that either runs through your organization or it doesn’t. You can’t install it after the fact. What you’re describing is the difference between building a brand and building a business. A lot of people in hospitality and food and beverage conflated the two during the boom years. The correction is clarifying. The producers, the operators, the teams who survive it will have one thing in common: they never needed the momentum to believe in what they were doing.
It was so easy in the 50's wasn't it... spend 12k on a 4 bedroom house with a backyard and 40 years later it's work 2 mill
PriceSmart•6K followers
2wDavid Sinegal we don’t know each other but I couldn’t agree more with your post. Scale and growth done right should deepen the values that give a business real longevity — not dilute them. And how you operate is as important as the outcomes you generate. Thanks for writing this.