We connect exceptional wineries with serious buyers to build a new class of exclusive brands.
Single-estate quality. Authentic brand stories. Margin-focused results.
Traditional distribution is built on churn. Placements come and go with the next rep, the next trend, the next incentive cycle. We offer something fundamentally different — direct relationships with influential buyers who are genuinely committed to your wine and motivated to champion it. High volume orders, prime positioning, buyer-driven marketing, and reliable reorders that traditional distribution rarely delivers.
Every wine producer is different, and so is every deal we structure. Some winery partners want a home for a single blend; others want a co-branded collaboration, a block contract, or a commitment for an entire vintage. We match the right buyer to your production availability, so every deal is built around you. Whatever the scale, our partnerships offer more than a new customer — it's a new channel.
Distributors are stretched. More brands, shrinking bandwidth, constant consolidation — which means less time spent on you. Our model lightens their load — low commission, efficient volumes, and reliable velocity. We work alongside your existing distribution partners, and our own, to streamline the economics for everyone involved.
When a property builds their program around your wine, they need it consistently and at scale. That's recurring revenue you can plan around — not a placement that disappears when the next rep walks in.
Hotels, restaurants, and retailers don't just list wines — they feature them, brief their staff on them, and build guest experiences around them. With an exclusive partnership, your wine becomes an automatic priority to the buyer — delivering the velocity and security that traditional placements simply do not provide.
Our partnerships reward quality, provenance, and cultural fit — not marketing budgets and incentive schemes. We don't leverage, we collaborate, so every partnership makes genuine sense for everyone involved. You don't have to be a global conglomerate to earn a seat at the table.
We personally oversee every partnership from first conversation through every reorder — managing communication, anticipating obstacles, and keeping every moving part aligned. If complications arise, we'll be the first to tackle them, and when new opportunities arise, you'll be the first to hear about them.
Your best selling categories already sell themselves. Whether it's organic Rosé, Sancerre, or Napa Valley Cabernet — we can build a program around it that benefits you. Controlling the categories that matter gives you command over your margins, competitor-proof pricing, and a supply chain you can count on.
Working with a trusted winery means your wines will have real provenance — estate vineyards, artisanal winemaking, and the exceptional quality that defines it. Your brand story will be anchored in a real place, transparent farming practices, and the authentic history of the family who crafted it — that gives you a compelling story worth telling and a wine experience your guests simply cannot find anywhere else.
Our direct partnership model gives you access to exceptional winery estates around the world. Your exclusive brand can be created with an annual blend from the cellar, a leased block in the vineyard, or a commitment to an entire vintage — whatever volume you need, we have you covered. We also manage brand design, compliance, and logistics so you can focus on your business while we handle the rest. Fast, simple, and seamless from first conversation to first pour.
Consumers today are sophisticated. They know what your competitors are charging for traditional brands, and they aren't afraid to do the math. Meanwhile you're battling a fractured three-tier system that adds maximum margins at every level, eroding your profits in the benchmark categories that you helped to build. It's time to take back control.
Our model starts with your vision. We source the perfect winery partner — terroir, style, provenance, and availability — built around your wishlist. While your winemaker crafts the wine, we collaborate on a brand story that weaves your vision together with the winery's terroir, history, and the unique narrative only they can tell.
Your wine cannot be found at a competitor's venue or retail shelf. It won't be discounted online or placed in channels that don't reflect your standards. This brand experience belongs entirely to your guest, in your space — defined by the standards you set. And that exclusivity has real commercial value.
Our direct winery partnerships don't just give you competitor-proof pricing — they also deliver economies of scale and a streamlined supply chain, creating meaningfully better margins that you control.
A brand built for you is a wine your staff can be proud of, talk about, and sell with conviction. Guests who discover a wine they love — one they can only get here — remember it. That's the kind of detail that earns loyalty, drives reviews, and brings people back. Don't compete. Differentiate.
Russ Stoner has spent 25 years working across the wine industry — hospitality management, fine wine distribution, brand building, private label, and production. That rare breadth of expertise and deep industry network is what sets Disruption Brands apart.
Russ began in hospitality management in London and North America before spending a decade in fine wine distribution and sales management. His portfolio included Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine Leflaive, Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Bryant Family, and Armand de Brignac — sold into global restaurant groups, Michelin-starred establishments, five-star resorts, and luxury airlines.
In 2018 he founded Disruption Brands and was initially engaged as a consultant by Obvious Wines. The work quickly outgrew the brief — Russ joined as a Partner & VP of Sales, and alongside the CEO, built the company into a nationally distributed brand, developed a California distribution operation (later acquired), and launched an exclusive private label business reaching thousands of cases annually with major national buyers. By the time he departed in 2022, the combined business was valued at $11 million.
Today, Russ continues his work with Disruption Brands — a model he recognised as the natural next step for a wine industry ready for change. He remains a Partner in Obvious Wines and lives in Paso Robles, California, where he manages two vineyards of his own and is deeply rooted in the winemaking and grower community. Russ holds the WSET Diploma (Level 4), is studying the UC Davis winemaking program, and is preparing for the Master of Wine entrance examination.
Whether you're a winery looking for a committed national partner, or a hotel, restaurant, or retailer ready to own your wine program — we'd like to hear from you.
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