Friday 31 October 2014
Competition Winners Announced
Cameron Hughes, Lot 467, Lodi Field Blend 2012 ($9)
Cameron Hughes, Lot 467, Lodi Field Blend 2012 ($9) originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/JctCP-FXY0M/
Protected: The Zinfandel Festival 2012: A new AVA to be reckoned with
Source: http://www.beyondnapavalley.com/blog/the-zinfandel-festival-2012-a-new-ava-to-be-reckoned-with/
Visiting Fattoria di Felsina in Tuscany
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| Fattoria di Felsina tasting room |
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| Their tasting room was one of the more refined we visited |
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| Take in a glass or two on this patio adjacent the tasting room |
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| Felsina cellars and grounds |
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| Cellar dimensions dictates barrel sizes used |
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| Striking cellars |
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| Broader lineup than I expected |
- Chardonnay
- Light oak
- Minerals
- Granny Smith Apple
- Lemony, bright
- Refreshing
- Very nice
- Blend of 11 vineyards
- Really nice slight touch of oak - hint of caramel
- Great value
- More structure (than the Chianti Classico)
- More acidity
- Firmer Tannins
- Regular bottling is better for today, this one needs time
- Really nice
- Big, rich fruit
- 60% new oak
- Single vineyard wine
- Just 13.5% alcohol but full of flavor
- Discovery of the visit for me
- 70% new oak
- Firm acidity with ample tannins
- 13.5% alcohol
- Rancia shows better for immediate consumption
Conclusion and Recommendations
Check 'em out:
Fattoria di Felsina
@FelsinaWines on Twitter
Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc Riesling Chenin Blanc Pinot Grigio
Stoudemire dunks himself in a red wine bath
Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks’ oft-injured forward who makes $18 million this season, is into wine. Like really INTO wine: he posted a picture of himself on Instagram taking a red wine bath as part of his recovery. The 31-year-old says he has been doing the “mostly wine” baths for about six months. He extolled the […]
The post Stoudemire dunks himself in a red wine bath appeared first on Dr Vino's wine blog.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/DGqyE0f0DpE/
Social Media Quick Tip: Tag Your Favorite Wine Brands on Facebook
Landon Winery Grande Finale 2002 Tawny port style wine
Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2014/01/04/landon-winery-grande-finale-2002-tawny-port-style-wine/
Thursday 30 October 2014
The Capital Grille Generous Pour 2014
Conclusion and Recommendations
The Capital Grill
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/6GfQ9Gs1pwo/i-was-in-and-around-boston-ton.html
Will Vente Privee make a success of flash wine sales? Probably
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/8d_zTSNbYzE/
St. Clement Staglin Stag\\\'s Leap Stags\\\' Leap Santa Barbara
Giggin? and Swiggin? at Shady Lane Cellars
Value Alert: 2012 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet 92 WS/$15
Some time back a reader sent me a link to a retirement speech from NASA Astronaut Michael Collins. At the end of the speech he says that these days he spends his spare time "worrying about the stock market" and "searching for a really good bottle of cabernet under ten dollars."
A lot of people will tell you it's impossible to find a compelling bottle of wine for $10. Don't even waste your time. And a lot of people would say the same after tasting the 2012 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon. It's overly oaked. Too rich. Manipulated. Whatever.
I've enjoyed wines from Columbia Crest over the years a great deal. I remember the first time I went out and bought a case of wine based on a Wine Spectator rating. It was for a Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot Harvey Steiman rated 90 points. You could find it for like $7. I bought a bottle and loved it. I then went back to Marty's in Newton and bought a case. I felt like such a mega deal hound!
More recently Columbia Crest has introduced this H3 tier of wines above their Grand Estates offering. It's been a reliably nice buy for me as well - consistently in the 87-90 point range. The H3 bottling has a release price of $15 but you can find it for as little as $9.99.
Today, Wine Spectator released (subscription required) a 92-point rating for the 2012 Columbia Crest H3 Cabernet Sauvignon. That's an insane QPR for a very popular category.
A really good bottle of Cabernet for under $10? Could be.
If you're sleuthing around for this wine online be aware that a lot of retailers will list this without a vintage due to its massive 160,000 case production.
Subscribe to Wine Spectator
Search for it on Wine-Searcher
Buy it on Wine.com
Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine or prior vintages of Columbia Crest H3? What did you think?
How About Having a Classy Pack of Beers!
You must know that beer is a drink known to man from olden times and is one of the favourites with most writers. While a number of people enjoy having a less costly and light beer, there are some world?s most luxurious beers also available in the market. One such priciest beer is Brewdog?s ?The […]
The post How About Having a Classy Pack of Beers! appeared first on Vagablond.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/axtfw9lKiz0/
Rockin? at Wine & Cars
Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Story Edition
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
Words aren’t enough
I give to thee…the worst wine ad of all-time and that’s without delving into the ponderous name of the wine or, why, inexplicably, the back of the laptop in the photo has a big sticker for Ass Kisser ales…
…In the main visual, three people are huddled around the boss giving him “Ass Kisser” wine…Isn’t the point of being a brown-noser to do it subtly? Who randomly gifts their boss right before their employee review?
Even if you view this ad as schlocky hipster irony, it’s still bad and makes you wonder if the advertising sales guy at Wine Enthusiast couldn’t do a solid for his client and suggest creative that, well, actually makes sense.
Or, maybe being horrible was the plan – like a movie that becomes a cult hit a decade hence…so bad that it becomes a lofty ideal for bad, enjoying a following because of its campy nature.
Bad Week for Eric Asimov?
On both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Eric Asimov, the New York Times chief wine critic was taken to task for different reasons by Matt Kramer at Winespectator.com and Steve Heimoff at his blog of the same name.
This is interesting because wine writers of a certain stature very carefully call their shots amongst their peers.
Normally the shots are fired up (Parker) or down (bloggers), but usually never sideways amongst writers in the same strata.
To watch Asimov, as seemingly decent of a guy as you’ll find, called onto the rug by two notable wine writers, to me, speaks to something much bigger.
With Parker stepping aside and Antonio Galloni receiving glancing admiration for hitting a stand-up triple by dint of his current position at the Wine Advocate, at the same time that the wheat and chaff are separating with wine bloggers, somebody has to step into the fray as a public foil for other wine writers to target.
Unwittingly, it might be Asimov for reasons entirely opposite of Parker’s hegemony. Asimov’s palate for wine seems food-friendly and balanced; he takes an egalitarian approach to wine for the people without pretense and he doesn’t score wines.
In other words, Asimov is bizarro Superman to Parker’s swashbuckling empiricism and, perhaps, even a greater danger to the Ivory Tower of legacy wine media than the mere jealousy that passed for poking at Parker.
Just a thought…
It’s all about the story
The wine business has always been excellent at storytelling. Virtually every winery has their origin story and that of their dirt down pat, even if not very compelling.
So, it is with interest that I’ve been watching Facebook’s recent changes keeping in mind that founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized emotional resonance, narrative and storytelling – factors that extend well beyond consumers using Facebook to “Tell the story of their life,” as Zuckerberg noted. This will be inclusive of the brands that use Facebook for engagement, as well.
I was further intrigued after reading parallel news reports that Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), is singing the same song.
He notes in an article in Advertising Age, “Technology innovations are irrelevant to the future of advertising and marketing unless a more fundamental activity is understood, honored and advanced: the craft of storytelling.”
A quick Google search for “Mark Zuckerberg F8 Keynote” and “Randall Rothenberg MIXX Keynote” will yield a number of stories all occurring in September. There’s no question about Facebook’s influence and the IAB is the thought-leader for digital advertising. Between the two of them, they present an imposing shadow of influence on digital marketing.
If I were a winery with an understanding that digital marketing is a tsunami of change that is important, I might start revisiting my winery story for some fine-tuning…
Two books that I recommend to bone-up on the elements of good business storytelling are: The Story Factor and Made to Stick.
On Sweet Wines
In an article this week from the San Francisco Chronicle called “Beginner drinkers get a crush on sweet red wines,” E.&J. Gallo VP of Marketing, Stephanie Gallo, noted: “There is a major shift going on in the U.S. wine drinking culture. First, we noticed that regional sweet red blends were doing particularly well in Indiana, Texas and North Carolina. Second, our consumers were asking if we produced a sweet red wine after tasting our Moscato at events.”
Good Grape readers had the scoop on this months ago when I wrote:
How Sweet it is – The Growing Sweet Wine Trend in early October, 2010
And
Move over Moscato and Make Way for Sweet Reds in February of this year
Just saying…
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_story_edition/
Wednesday 29 October 2014
How to Cancel Wine.com StewardShip (before you forget)
In talking to friends face to face about this the past couple weeks I can see there's some confusion on this deal. And a sense that there's a "this is too complicated" feeling about the deal. That's okay. Because out of confusion and complication comes amazing deals if you're willing to do the work. :)
But the deals can be amazingly compelling if you optimize this opportunity. For example, 2012 Caymus for an effective price of $38.99 if you buy it along with a $40 wine like the 2012 MacPhail Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir ($42.99 is effectively dropped down to around $27.84 with discounts) to get an order at just over $100 and take advantage of all the savings opportunities.
Again, it takes some sleuthing but I think it's worth it. By the way, those links are affiliate links so if you use them I get a commission. You'd be better off shopping through a portal for an additional 5%+ savings (be your own affiliate!) but if you don't want to hassle with portals it would be great if you used these links.
One aspect of the deal that's important is that you avoid being automatically subscribed to their $49/year StewardShip program. It's a fine program but deal hounds know to avoid subscriptions of all kinds if they can avoid it. So be sure to cancel your StewardShip free trial before 30 days are up.
Here's how...
Step 1: Log into your Wine.com account
Step 2: On the left hand side of the page, click "StewardShip Settings"
The default setting is for StewardShip to auto-renew. But if you opted *not* to save your credit card on file when you placed your order they, kindly, won't be able to charge it to renew StewardShip.
But to remove all uncertainty click "Do Not Renew" (even though it's greyed out).
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| Yes, Renewal is spelled incorrectly |
If you signed up for multiple Wine.com accounts, be sure to do this for each of them.
Let me know if you have any questions: wellesleywinepress@gmail.com or @RobertDwyer on Twitter.
Would you like a Gold or Silver with that Red or White?
Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=51
Riesling Chenin Blanc Pinot Grigio Sémillon Gewürztraminer
Tuesday 28 October 2014
Vacation Tasting Report: Bachelor Ben's Envolve Winery Pinot Noir
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| 2011 Envolve Winery Lennox Vineyard Pinot Noir |
The best shop in town for wine is The Depot. Every time I go in there I'm amazed at the quality and assortment they offer in such a tiny shop in such a small town. The prices aren't bad either. I like to pick up a few summer beers here too but it's always nice to have some red wine on hand for relaxing evening consumption.
See also: Beer's Inherent Summer Advantage
The wine that jumped out at me this year was a bottle of 2011 Envolve Winery Lennox Vineyard Pinot Noir. You might recognize the Envolve name from Bachelor Ben Flajnik's involvement. Ben always struck me as a likable regular guy on the show so I made a mental note to pick up a bottle of his wine if I ever saw it around. Curious what Ben is up to these days? This article provides a nice little summary.
Especially after visiting Sonoma last week (Kosta Browne, CIRQ, Radio-Coteau) I was going through California Pinot Noir withdrawal so this bottle hit the spot.
Envolve Winery is a collaboration between childhood friends Ben Flajnik, Danny Fay and Mike Benzinger (yes the Benzinger wine family). Just so there's no confusion: This isn't a winery that Bachelor Ben started to leverage his fame. Winemaking was his thing when he showed up for the show.
Leveraging his fame from The Bachelor to increase the visibility of his wines must be a tricky proposition. Wine Spectator has done a few articles about Flajnik over the yeras. They've rated the Envolve wines mostly in the 86-89 point range. However, I was surprised to find not a single tasting note for their 2011 Lennox Pinot on CellarTracker. That's unusual even for a low production wine.
I was glad I grabbed it for $35 since it carries a retail price of $59. After tasting the wine I was even more pleased. Here's my note:
2011 Envolve Winery Lennox Vineyard Pinot Noir
14.8% Alcohol
$59 Release Price
Appealing black cherry, cola, and dried herbs on the nose. The mouthfeel oscillates between round viscosity and ultra-fine tannins. Long, powerful finish. Very nice stuff.
91/100 WWP: Outstanding
Check 'em out:
Envolve Winery
http://envolvewinery.com
@EnvolveWinery
Question of the Day: Have you tasted the Envolve wines? Visited them? If so, what did you think?
Coming Soon: Cliff Lede Wine Dinner at Del Frisco's Boston
Related Reading:
Cliff Lede Vineyards? finest wines perfectly paired with delicious seasonal dishes in five course dinner
WHAT: Del Frisco?s Double Eagle Steak House, one of Boston?s premiere steakhouse destinations know for it?s juicy, prime steaks, exquisite wines and exceptional service, invites guest to explore the bold and flavorful wines of Napa Valley winery, Cliff Lede Vineyards. Cliff Lede General Manager, Lee Abraham will be onsite to meet with guests.
Guests will enjoy a five-course seasonal dinner perfectly paired with a selection of the vineyard?s finest wines.
To make a reservation, please call (617) 951-1368. For more information, please
visit www.delfriscos.com.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 17th - 6:30 p.m.
COST: $195 per person + tax and gratuity
WHERE: Del Frisco?s Double Eagle Steak House, 250 Northern Avenue, Boston
Telegraph Hill Luxury Robes
If you are looking for a special gift for pretty much anyone, look n further than one of the luxury robes offered by Telegraph Hill. The robe I chose was the Chocolate Seersucker. It is made of 100% miccrofiber, and may be one of the most comfortable garments I have come across. The microfiber was […]
The post Telegraph Hill Luxury Robes appeared first on Vagablond.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/8rAsIb854UY/
Wine around $20: Copain Syrah Tous Ensemble
The signature characteristic for syrah from the Northern Rhone is an alluring savory character with a note of black olives. This Copain Syrah, “Tous Ensemble,” 2011, comes from three vineyards in Mendocino County and sees nine months in neutral oak. It’s in the Northern Rhone vein, favoring restraint instead of anything over the top–no “gobs” […]
The post Wine around $20: Copain Syrah Tous Ensemble appeared first on Dr Vino's wine blog.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/7NxaVhTNpw8/
Wine shops as jewelry stores?
The good folks over at NPR’s Planet Money had a short piece on pricing at jewelry stores recently (Episode 572, mysteriously not on their website). Frustrated with why jewelry stores hide the price tags of items in the case, the reporter wondered whey they would do that. It turns out that then shop owners can […]
The post Wine shops as jewelry stores? appeared first on Dr Vino's wine blog.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/4ZJvcoGDaMY/
The Liberty Hotel ? Boston, Massachusetts
Luxurious?yes. Elegant?yes. Comparable to any other hotel?nope. The Liberty Hotel is a perfect storm of all the elements you would expect from a historical landmark turned luxury hotel. The Liberty Hotel is ideally located in the heart of Boston?s Beacon Hill neighborhood near just a stones throw from the Charles River and its Esplanade. What […]
The post The Liberty Hotel – Boston, Massachusetts appeared first on Vagablond.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/_Sqo_DYxoxs/
Champagne Sparkling White Wine Rose Alex. Vall. Vyds Andrew Murray
Monday 27 October 2014
L. Mawby Fall Food Truck Fun
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/uvC7q9rNmr4/l-mawby-fall-food-truck-fun
?Hock, Moselle And The Rest?
“Hock, Moselle And The Rest” originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/vCcjl5q3VIo/
Academy of Wine Communications:Twitter Basics Immersion for Wineries
New Releases from Sojourn Cellars
So I was very pleased to receive samples of their 2012s to give me an
2012 California Pinot Noir has been a tricky vintage for me to get my arms around. After the 2009 vintage where Wine Spectator called it the best ever and I felt like I was throwing a bulls-eye every time I popped a bottle, 2012 has been tricky.
Crops were abundant, but a bunch of healthy fruit doesn't directly lead to wines of depth, complexity and concentration. Restraint is required in the vineyard otherwise you'll wind up with thin, non-descript wines. That's been my experience tasting through appellation wines, even from well-regarded producers I've previously enjoyed: 2012 is good, but not necessarily as good as 2009.
These 2012 single vineyard Pinots from Sojourn are well-crafted. Some are extraordinary. Here are my notes...
2012 Sojourn Silver Eagle Pinot Noir
325 Cases Produced
$59 Release Price
Classic California Pinot Noir. Wonderful.
95/100 WWP: Classic
2012 Sojourn Ridgetop Pinot Noir
450 Cases Produced
$59 Release Price
2012 Sojourn Campbell Ranch Pinot Noir
275 Cases Produced
$59 Release Price
91/100 WWP: Outstanding
2012 Sojourn Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
Pop and pour. This flirts with greatness but a few off notes mar an otherwise very pleasant experience. I got a touch of band-aid on the nose. And a bit of a campy note on the palate. I waited a few weeks after it arrived but if I were to open another bottle soon I'd give it a couple hours of air. It may help.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Riesling Chenin Blanc Pinot Grigio Sémillon Gewürztraminer
A Doon Quintet
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/BXnnBnly5Fo/a-doon-quintet
Bingo! Play the Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience Game
While we're waiting for that exercise I thought it would be fun to have a warm-up game. More of a puzzle really, that's targeted at identifying the best wines to taste at this year's Wine Spectator New York Wine Experience Critics' Choice Grand Tasting.
This tasting is similar to the Wine Spectator Grand Tour that occurs at about 3 venues across the country each April. See event reports for Boston, Las Vegas, and Chicago.
But the New York Wine Experience includes several days of programming including sit-down moderated tastings that cost a couple thousand dollars to attend. But within the New York Wine Experience you can attend just the Grand Tastings which are Thursday and Friday night October 16 and 17, 2014. The cost of just the Grand Tasting is $275.
Now, $275 might seem like a lot of money for a wine tasting. And it is. But from past experience at Grand Tour events I can say that these tastings are the best I've found anywhere for enjoyably establishing a relatable frame of reference for the world's greatest wines.
Wine Spectator Senior Editor James Molesworth shared this blog post about strategies for getting the most out of the event.
At first glance I thought the vendors were set up in random fashion as opposed to by region. But thanks to James' article they're set up progressively by weight. So you could sweep across the room going from Pinot to Port as you'd normally do in any tasting. Clever! Maybe Urban Grape's progressive retailing layout is catching on.
But here's the puzzle. Identify the grouping of the most amazing wineries you can find in the floorplan. For example look at this blockbuster grouping. Kosta Browne, Schrader, Flowers, and Black Kite. Talk about a crash course in the great wines of California.
And that's where you come in. Have a look at the floorplan below and tell me which little row or cluster has the most amazing wineries pouring.
Here's a link to a pdf or click the images below to enlarge:
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| 5th Floor (click to enlarge) |
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| 6th Floor (click to enlarge) |
For more information and to purchase tickets visit the New York Wine Experience website.
Sobering: America?s skewed drinking
We know that a third of Americans abstain from alcohol. Another third don’t drink too much. But the Wonkblog has a striking graphic showing that the top decile really pound the stuff, drinking an astonishing ten drinks per day. That’s about two bottles of wine a day. Paging Gerard Depardieu! The data come from Paying […]
The post Sobering: America’s skewed drinking appeared first on Dr Vino's wine blog.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/JSOjVIxu3vM/
Sunday 26 October 2014
Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Media Edition
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
Rex Pickett
If you’re not reading Rex Pickett’s (author of Sideways and Vertical) blog, you are officially remiss.
Pickett is a gifted writer who cranks out perfectly incubated long-form posts with turns of phrase that are both wry and rich, offering insight into the machinations of publishing, film and stage that few culture vultures grasp.
Pickett recently wrote an extensive (3900 word) post on the reasons why a film sequel to Sideways (directed by Alexander Payne) would not be made from Vertical, Pickett’s book sequel. In doing so, Pickett offered a discursive meditation on Payne’s artistic pathos and the factors that may be playing into Vertical’s stall on the way to celluloid.
Unfortunately, Pickett removed the post after re-publishing a second version that deleted much of the armchair psychologist rumination he originally channeled from Payne’s psyche. An email inquiry to Pickett on why he removed the post (in either iteration) has gone unanswered.
If I were a muckraker, I would publish the post because Pickett’s deletion of the post from his site did not delete the post from RSS feed readers like Bloglines or Google Reader. But, I’m not a muckraker…
Hopefully, Pickett will revisit the topic in a manner that is less confessional and more elucidation because it was worth the extended read time. Until then you can read the other posts on his site and gain tremendous insight into the vicissitudes of the publishing process, what the afterglow is like after capturing the cultural zeitgeist and how he’s helping bring Sideways to the theatre with a stage version.
It’s definitely recommended reading.
A Discovery of Witches
While we’re on the topic of books and authors (and with Halloween around the corner), a reinforcing mention goes to Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20. Earlier this year a little book she wrote called, “A Discovery of Witches” was published and immediately shot up the best sellers lists. The movie rights were acquired this summer by Warner Bros, likely securing Harkness’ financial future in the process.
While I read fiction infrequently (the last fiction book being Vertical by Rex Pickett), those that I know who can tell the difference between kindling and a classic call A Discovery of Witches “mad genius.”
Any conversation about a wine blogger doing good should begin with Deb Harkness who is now dabbling in rarified air. Pick up her book if you haven’t yet.
Bargain Wine Books
There’s little doubt, in the prolonged US economic malaise we’re experiencing, that “value wine” and “bargain wine” are hot topics. Heck, an entire channel of business has been defined with “Flash” wine sale sites. Given that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a couple of wine books would be published with this specific focus.
What is a surprise is that the books are authored by wine writers with real chops engaged in offering a deeper narrative than the slapdash compendiums of wine lists that has passed muster in years gone by.
Just in time for the holidays, Natalie MacLean has Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines publishing on November 1st and George Taber, a wine writer on a tear with his fourth book in six years, has A Toast to Bargain Wines: How Innovators, Iconoclasts, and Winemaking Revolutionaries Are Changing the Way the World Drinks publishing on November 15th.
An Idea worth Duplicating?
Celebrity deaths come in threes and new wine ideas come in twos.
We’ve seen this duplicative market entry in recent years with winery reservation systems CellarPass and VinoVisit and now we’re seeing it with quasi-wine search engines.
WineMatch and VinoMatch are both in the early stages of launch purporting to help a consumer match their likes with wines they might enjoy.
Meh. The problem with these sites isn’t that consumers don’t need help finding a wine they like, the problem is that most wine consumers don’t understand what kind of wine they like. Yes, it’s the tannins that dry the back of the mouth and its residual sugar that makes that K-J so delectable…
By the time consumers figure out their likes and dislikes graduating beyond the “go-to,” they don’t care about having somebody help them “match” their wines to their tastes because they’re on their own adventure.
It’s just my opinion, but these sites face looooong odds of finding consumer success and short of the slick willy seduction that happens with some wineries who haven’t been bitten and as such aren’t twice shy, they won’t find *any* success. But, I’ve been wrong before, at least once.
Pictures and Pithiness
While we’re on the topic of online wine services, I’m not sure whether I should be happy or aghast that I’ve been a habitué of the online wine scene for long enough to see a derivative – it’s like watching a remake of the movie Footloose when I was saw the original in the theatre.
There’s a new wine site called TasteJive that takes the concept of a wine blog called Chateau Petrogasm, popular in 2007 and 2008, to new heights.
Around the premise that a picture is worth a thousand words even if that picture has nothing to do with wine, they have created a site that provides nothing but visual metaphors with a 140 character description for finding wines you might like.
I loved the idea of Chateau Petrogasm, I like the idea of a perfectly crafted 140 character slug, but I’m very uncertain about the community aspect of TasteJive—the users who control the uploading of pictures and descriptions.
As noted mid-20th century photographer Diane Arbus said, “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.”
Not exactly a recipe for success in bumping into a wine.
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_media_edition/