About Us
My name is Chadd Biehler, and I am the proprietor of Collectible Fine Wine. I have been in the wine business in one capacity or another since 2001.
I began my career in the wine business as an epiphany. Originally in the technology industry during the first internet bubble, as one of three founders of a 'streaming media development company' in the late 90's, the bursting of the first internet hit us especially hard. Enter epiphany. I went looking for something more tangible, as well as something 'i love that i can also make money doing.' It wasn't easy. I took a serious step back in my career and decided to use bartending experience gained early in life to with a restaurant wine program. I was very lucky to land in the perfect opportunity at Commune Atlanta. I was in charge of the day to day administration of the wine program, maintaining inventory, costing, managing deliveries while also working with the wine director and learing the ins and outs of being a true wine director. It was an amazing experience, and i feel very fortunate to have landed in such a nuturing environment. After a year and a half in this 'intern' position the wine director left to open a new restaurant and I ascended to the throne.
As Commune Atlanta suffered through lean financial times, and eventually closed, i accepted an offer as the wine director at La Tavola Trattoria, also in Atlanta, Georgia. That restaurant is a wine directors wet dream. Although I'd like to toot my own horn a little (i'll do that in a second) its impossible to fail as a wine director at La Tavola. Every table that comes in that restaurant orders a bottle of wine. It was a unique opportunity to really open the eyes of our clientele to new and obscure Italian varietals. And the staff...they genuinely loved and appreciated all of my efforts to teach and inspire my passion for wine. Prior to taking over the La Tavola wine program i feel as if it had artificial limitations due to the size of the restaurant (1300 sq ft). I didnt see it that way, quite the opposite in fact. Because the restaurant was so small, we didn't have to carry any particular wine in large quantity if we were doing our job and educating our clientele on everything we had to offer. I took the opportunity to expand the list by 30%, while increasing our profit margin, decreasing our inventory and increasing sales. Like I said, a dream wine director job.
From La Tavola i decided it was time to move out of the restaurant industry. It's not for everyone, and although I had a lot of great times and made a ton of great friends, i knew i wasn't interested in prolonging that style of living. From La Tavola I went to work for a fine wine broker, with the specific role of assisting in developing new business systems and sales avenues, as well as managing one of the largest private collections in the state of Georgia. Another great experience. I learned the ins and outs of the wine brokering business while working with an amazing wine collection, and drinking some the most amazing bottles of the last century. An absolutley amazing collection of wine, and an extremely generous collector who loves sharing with anyone that was willing to grab a stem.
I left this position for an opportunity open a wine retail store and lounge in the Castleberry Hill district of Atlanta with three other partners. Long story short, after two years of fighting to open our own place, i felt like my ship had sailed, and left the project December 31st, 2007. A few months later the plug was pulled on the project altogether. Timing is everything in life, and the timing just wasn't right for this project.
Here I am, i've been in the collectible wine brokering business for the last year. The ecommerce site is a new addition. I thought it would be a 'fun' project to attempt to install and implement the site myself, so i went open source and did just that. On the plus side, it didn't cost me anything, i learned a lot, and i was left with a sense of accomplishment. On the negative side, it took a LONG time to get it up and running.
I'm also involved in a few other projects. I assist wine collectors with installing inventory management systems and also work for collectible insurance agencies in establishing damage and replacement cost when one of their clients files a claim (branding and site still under development; http://www.collectiblefinewine.com), i'm am developing a wine cellar design company with a gentleman whom i've worked with on several other projects, he does absolutely amazing work, and is a generally good guy to boot (branding and site under development on this one as well; http://www.premiercellardesign.com). And an, as of yet, undisclosed technology project in the wine industry.
Whew. Thanks for tuning in.
Chadd
I began my career in the wine business as an epiphany. Originally in the technology industry during the first internet bubble, as one of three founders of a 'streaming media development company' in the late 90's, the bursting of the first internet hit us especially hard. Enter epiphany. I went looking for something more tangible, as well as something 'i love that i can also make money doing.' It wasn't easy. I took a serious step back in my career and decided to use bartending experience gained early in life to with a restaurant wine program. I was very lucky to land in the perfect opportunity at Commune Atlanta. I was in charge of the day to day administration of the wine program, maintaining inventory, costing, managing deliveries while also working with the wine director and learing the ins and outs of being a true wine director. It was an amazing experience, and i feel very fortunate to have landed in such a nuturing environment. After a year and a half in this 'intern' position the wine director left to open a new restaurant and I ascended to the throne.
As Commune Atlanta suffered through lean financial times, and eventually closed, i accepted an offer as the wine director at La Tavola Trattoria, also in Atlanta, Georgia. That restaurant is a wine directors wet dream. Although I'd like to toot my own horn a little (i'll do that in a second) its impossible to fail as a wine director at La Tavola. Every table that comes in that restaurant orders a bottle of wine. It was a unique opportunity to really open the eyes of our clientele to new and obscure Italian varietals. And the staff...they genuinely loved and appreciated all of my efforts to teach and inspire my passion for wine. Prior to taking over the La Tavola wine program i feel as if it had artificial limitations due to the size of the restaurant (1300 sq ft). I didnt see it that way, quite the opposite in fact. Because the restaurant was so small, we didn't have to carry any particular wine in large quantity if we were doing our job and educating our clientele on everything we had to offer. I took the opportunity to expand the list by 30%, while increasing our profit margin, decreasing our inventory and increasing sales. Like I said, a dream wine director job.
From La Tavola i decided it was time to move out of the restaurant industry. It's not for everyone, and although I had a lot of great times and made a ton of great friends, i knew i wasn't interested in prolonging that style of living. From La Tavola I went to work for a fine wine broker, with the specific role of assisting in developing new business systems and sales avenues, as well as managing one of the largest private collections in the state of Georgia. Another great experience. I learned the ins and outs of the wine brokering business while working with an amazing wine collection, and drinking some the most amazing bottles of the last century. An absolutley amazing collection of wine, and an extremely generous collector who loves sharing with anyone that was willing to grab a stem.
I left this position for an opportunity open a wine retail store and lounge in the Castleberry Hill district of Atlanta with three other partners. Long story short, after two years of fighting to open our own place, i felt like my ship had sailed, and left the project December 31st, 2007. A few months later the plug was pulled on the project altogether. Timing is everything in life, and the timing just wasn't right for this project.
Here I am, i've been in the collectible wine brokering business for the last year. The ecommerce site is a new addition. I thought it would be a 'fun' project to attempt to install and implement the site myself, so i went open source and did just that. On the plus side, it didn't cost me anything, i learned a lot, and i was left with a sense of accomplishment. On the negative side, it took a LONG time to get it up and running.
I'm also involved in a few other projects. I assist wine collectors with installing inventory management systems and also work for collectible insurance agencies in establishing damage and replacement cost when one of their clients files a claim (branding and site still under development; http://www.collectiblefinewine.com), i'm am developing a wine cellar design company with a gentleman whom i've worked with on several other projects, he does absolutely amazing work, and is a generally good guy to boot (branding and site under development on this one as well; http://www.premiercellardesign.com). And an, as of yet, undisclosed technology project in the wine industry.
Whew. Thanks for tuning in.
Chadd
