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words karen macneil alloutwine 2006 hess collection monterey chardonnay whole foods wine kelly fleming cabernet the new yorker travel oregon vignoles wine technology rick mirer wine wine certification adobe road the the lost symbol santasti kevin zraly paul clary blog clos lachance wine branding beaux freres us wine sales dessert wine c.g. di arie amazon wine constellation wine wine bard weds '47 cheval blanc hugh macleod patio wine corkd top chef hardy wallace burger wine where the hell is matt australia wine indiana miss america dark side of the rainbow rockaway wine topps augmented reality expensive wine wine spectator top 100 2009 obama inauguration noble pig wine spectator wine reviews karadeci vintage of the decade markham mark of distinction adler fels 2008 food & wine winemaker of the year texas bbq wine pairing oregon food and wine iphone wine apps. viktor frankl barack obama + wine sanford pinot noir conundrum stormhoek wine and music oh wine tycoon video game terroir california wine for dummies global wine partners wine terroir little zagreb adam strum generation y. wine livingston cellars
March 10 2010
…Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
ISO Wine Tasting Glasses
We’re all somewhat familiar with the small tasting glasses that are de rigueur in tasting rooms and juried, comparative wine competitions across the country, but I would hazard a guess that few consumers have them in their possession save for the keeper glass that was purchased at a winery tasting. This is too bad given that these glasses have scientifically been found to be the best wine tasting glass for concentrating aromas in a technical evaluation.
And, while I find the book The Wine Trials to be interesting if just a bit disingenuous, author Robin Goldstein absolutely nails one thing that is positively correct –finding International Standards Organization (ISO)-certified wine tasting glasses in the U.S. is near impossible.
Using ISO glasses for his blind-tasting experiments, Goldstein is also prepping to sell the small, elongated egg-shaped wine tasting glasses on his site. And, frankly, it’ll probably become the immediate go-to source for consumers interested in tasting (not drinking) from the correct vessel for home wine evaluation.
With my interest piqued about these hard to find glasses, I went on an Internet search for my own set of ISO wine tasting / evaluation glasses and came up nearly empty. Amazon.com doesn’t have them. Amazon.com in the U.K. doesn’t ship them here, and there are precious few other resources here in the states. I suppose, there is a winery supplier that would sell in small quantities to consumers, but I didn’t find them. Ultimately, while I came up empty on the ISO glasses, I did find a web site that sells L’institut National des Appelations d’origine (I.N.A.O.) certified wine tasting glasses that are essentially the same glass shape and size.
If interested in evaluating wine at home with the *correct* glass (Riedel need not apply), check out this site, or wait for inventory to arrive at The Wine Trials site.
Wine Loves Glass
A couple weeks ago Alder at Vinography wrote something of a scathing indictment against a new web site that launched in February called, “Wine Loves Glass.”
Like much of Alder’s writing, his analysis of the web site and PR campaign (developed by Owens-Illinois), the world’s largest container glass manufacturer, is reasoned and reasonably air tight, giving indication that not only was he probably debate team captain in high school, but he might have also gone undefeated in match play.
He summarizes a well-substantiated piece by saying:
“This web site is a complete waste of money in my opinion, no matter how much fun some PR firm and design agency had making it. A huge swath of wine consumers would never buy wine in alternative packaging because none of the wines they want to drink come in such containers. A whole other segment of the population have tried wines in alternative packaging and come to the justified conclusion that 99% of the wines that come in such packaging are positively awful. And then there are the rest of the folks that are content to buy wine in boxes and bags and cans, half of whose minds can’t be changed and the other half of whom Fred Franzia’s Two Buck Chuck convinced to switch to wine in glass bottles anyway because they feel all “upscale” while doing it …
… this is yet another example of an industry thinking defensively instead of creatively.”
Playing devil’s advocate, over the course of the last couple of years, one of the lessons I’ve learned is that while many say “content” is king, I believe that “content” rides shotgun to “context” in the Internet realm. What I mean is, there is simply too much available information. Taking something at face value (or as presented in the form of a press release and a web site) is foolhardy, particularly when “transparency” really means that motives are available to tap into. Therefore, free content is great, but it really means very little without enough context to place it into a frame of understanding or meaning.
In this situation, with Owens-Illinois (O-I), the context is that the marketers did a bunch of research, both business-to-business and consumer (and available with journalistic query), and they found that every generation except for Gen.Y had set packaging preferences.
From the research:
“The most significant difference in packaging option consideration by age group is that the millennial age group (21-34) are more apt to consider using alternative package types.”
Quoting an email dialogue with Kelley Yoder, Wine Marketing Manager at O-I:
Millennials continue to surface as an audience with very high wine consumption levels. Industry data has shown that Millennials favor wine over beer and spirits close to 25% more than the average U.S. consumer. O-I’s 2009 consumer research showed that while 86 percent of consumers tend to purchase wine in glass bottles, Millennials are more open to considering alternative packaging and are intrigued by new shapes, labels and brands. We wanted to share the benefits of glass packaging with Millennials and we chose to do this through social media—the medium they are most
comfortable with. Thus WineLovesGlass.com was born.
So, while the “Wine Loves Glass” web site may be “dumb” the fact of the matter is that it was born out of research, addresses a perceived need and is tactically the right fit for the goals.
As a consumer and a business person I can’t shoot the messenger for something that, at deeper examination, seems to have been created for the “right” business reasons, regardless of opinion without full context.
And, on a side note (but related issue), I’ve been obsessed with doing trend analysis in the wine space – trying to identify the things that become accepted reality over a period of time, but may not capture the in situ “zeitgeist” of mindshare.
Related to glass packaging and wine, we’re all familiar with plastic bottles, bag-in-a-box and other glass alternatives, but one area that seems to be growing momentum in stealth mode is wine kegs for on-premise.
Pay attention to this:
* As discussed circumstantially at NY Cork Report
* Mentioned in a Sonoma Wine Co. press release
* Lengthy discussion at the Wine Business Network group at LinkedIN
* Reference to a recent TTB approval for “Free Flow Wines”
A Google search of “wine kegs” will yield much more – a movement that seems significantly greater than its “awareness.”
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February 15 2010
Odds and Ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
Doing Good, More Better
Here’s the thing about charity – it’s deeply personal. Save for a crisis that rally’s our collective consciousness, most good works are done on a small, local level with a resonance that hits our personal tide pools of feel good. My work for local hunger relief doesn’t strike the same chord for my wife who does dog rescue. You’re probably the same way with a completely different and very worthy cause that smacks you between the eyes and cuts into the fiber of your being deep enough to spur action and affect change.
Regardless of what your personal call-to-arms might be, here’s something we can all agree on – kids getting sick really sucks.
From March 1st – March 5th, Lamborn Family Vineyards, producers of minuscule amounts of Howell Mountain Cabernet and Zinfandel (with a helping hand from winemaker extraordinaire Heidi Barrett), are doing something about it.
Holding a silent auction via Facebook in support of a children’s cancer charity called, “Alex’s Lemonade Stand,” organizer Brian Lamborn is hoping to supersize the personal giving efforts he’s made in years past with his family.
The thing I like about “Alex’s Lemonade Stand” is their administrative expenses relative to income are very modest, meaning most of their income goes to good works related to their mission, as it should be. In addition, they fund the dual need of cancer research and the travel needs of families affected by cancer, hitting the cancer dastard from the top and the bottom.
The highest bidder of this silent auction wins one case each of the Lamborn Family Zin and Cabernet AND the folks from the winery will come to your location (anywhere in the contiguous 48 states), pour and kibitz with your family and friends for four hours, at no cost other than your winning bid.
It’s a winery-in-box for an event you can hold on a local level.
The thing is, this is a perfect “pay-it-forward” model, too. Your winning silent auction bid leads to an event in which you can gather folks, drink some red wine (researchers show that resveratrol, the antioxidant found in red wine, can be a preventative agent for cancer) and shakedown give attendees the opportunity to donate to your local children’s hospital, for example. It’s a win-win-win.
Look, times are still tight, we all give in our own ways, and the call for giving is omnipresent, but if ever there was a cause worthy of an “It’s for the kids” heartstring tug, it would be children with cancer. I urge you to consider making a bid at the Lamborn Family Vineyard charitable giving Facebook page – March 1st through the 5th.
Wine Holidays
On a completely separate and unrelated note, but apropos to President’s Day, I’ve added a section to my web site called, “Wine Holidays.”
Last year, with the approval of the brand stewards at Constellation (and Margrit Mondavi, I’m told), I started what I expect to be an annual observance – Robert Mondavi Day.
On May 16th of this year, the 2nd anniversary of Mondavi’s passing, I plan on continuing my blossoming tradition and drinking a Robert Mondavi wine (or a California wine, in general, if you’re inclined to join me) while reflecting for a moment about the man that meant so much to the development of the California wine industry we know today.
A day of acknowledgement and a tipple with dinner seems fitting, no?
A week after observing Robert Mondavi Day last year, I wrote a post about wine holidays in general – as in, why don’t we recognize a calendar of wine events? Heck, the Irish spread the craic with St. Patrick’s Day, shouldn’t wine lovers bring forth a little merriment on a scheduled basis?
I think so.
When I wrote the post, I suggested a couple of days as possibilities – John James Dufour Day in honor of the first successful winery in the U.S. and Judgment of Paris Day in honor of that famous wine day in 1976. As I contemplated a full year of holidays it needed to include what already informally existed along with the symbolic wine holidays that are well known (Thanksgiving and New Year’s).
Ultimately, I think I landed on a set of days that make sense to me. See if you agree.
Open That Bottle Night / February 27th: Started by Dorothy J. Gaither and John Brecher, former wine columnists at the Wall Street Journal, this day is designed for celebrants to open that “special occasion” wine on the last Saturday of every February. This “holiday” already has a fair amount of momentum, and is a fitting start to the “wine year” (along with being a fitting legacy to Dottie and John).
John James Dufour Day / April 3rd: A day in honor of John James Dufour, the Swiss immigrant who is widely credited with starting the first successful winery in Vevay, IN around 1807. I chose April 3rd this year as the first Saturday in April and a timeframe that coincides with the awakening of the vines and bud break.
Robert Mondavi Day / May 16th: As mentioned, a day to honor a legend.
Judgment of Paris Day / May 24th: Close on the heels of Robert Mondavi Day is the anniversary of the Judgment of Paris – the famous 1976 wine tasting in Paris that bolstered the nascent California wine industry.
Blessing of the Grapes Day / August 15th: A holiday to celebrate the harvest; traditional blessings tend to range in timeframe from the middle of August until the end of September. Aligning more closely with the ecumenical aspects of this holiday, I’ve placed it smack dab in the middle of August.
Thanksgiving / November 25th: Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving has become the “unofficial” wine holiday. It’s the linchpin of the wine holiday calendar.
Prohibition Repeal Day / December 5th: This day celebrates the already acknowledged anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition. Can there be a better reason to pop a cork and pour a glass? A week into holiday madness, it certainly could be a respite to be thankful for small blessings.
New Year’s Eve / December 31st: Champagne and sparkling wines night in the spotlight!
Shortly, I plan on supporting this section of my site with a Facebook Fan page, as well. In the meantime, please feel free to grab the available code to place a badge on your web site and please feel free to make a suggestion for a wine holiday that should be included, but isn’t listed. I’d like to include a “Drink Local” day, and I’m open to suggestion on when that should land on the “Wine Holiday” calendar.
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February 13 2010
More odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
The Omnipotent Wine Lover
It all makes sense now. Less fussy wine enthusiasts have long wondered about the elitist, testosterone-fueled appeal of the eRobert Parker message board: How is it that an audience of 99% men, mostly cloaked in anonymity, going on and on with arduous conviction about wines that 99% of the populace will never taste based on expense, production or a combination of both, hold an appeal for anybody?
Likewise, what kind of person argues with empirical certainty about something subjective?
At least in politics you can argue ideology, but how, exactly, do you argue nose and taste buds? A recent thread at eRobertParker about the 1997 Harlan Estates Cab, volatile acidity and how good the wine is – a wine that retails for at least $1000 a bottle—is a prime example.
Yet, we now have our answer – using wine as the backdrop, researchers at the University of New Hampshire, as published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing, have come to the conclusion that:
“… women are more likely turn to interpersonal relationships such as friends and family for information about purchases. On the other hand, men prefer to gather information from impersonal and published materials.”
This is validation that - yes - men don’t ask for driving directions!
It’s also validation for the “pulled down boxers and exposed male anatomy with measuring stick” that makes up a lot of wine publishing and dialogue.
The study continues:
“Three key findings emerge from this research … males are less comfortable with personal interaction in making life decisions.”
A-ha!
So, women talk to friends and family for wine recommendations while men go about their information gathering in a monastic (onanistic?) singular pursuit ala eBob and its ilk.
Makes sense … I think.
The research summary goes on to say:
“Overall, the men surveyed viewed themselves as much more knowledgeable about wine than the women (Ed Note: little surprise). And while men were more likely, in general, to turn to impersonal sources for information, when it come to buying wine as a gift, they valued the input from retail clerks, friends and family just as much as women.”
The research concludes by stating:
“Therefore, in order to capture the male wine consuming market, increase market share, and establish a loyal following from male consumers, wine producers, retailers, hoteliers and restaurants must consider educating their staff to better handle male customers’ needs.
This could be accomplished through staff engagement of male consumers in open discussion, creating an environment where it is acceptable to ask questions and exchange ideas and comments about wine. Possibly more important to wine producers is the creation of promotional material directed at attracting males as a potential wine consuming group and thereby creating brand loyalty and expanding the overall wine market. This could be accomplished by creating a ‘masculine’ image for wine.”
According to Nelson Barber, the research author, “This understanding will lead to a more critical look at marketing strategies aimed at establishing relationships, particularly with male customers and particularly given they are an untapped and potentially large market.”
Within the context of this study, they note that as much as 80% of wine is purchased by women making men a large target for growth. God help us all if wine begins marketing with a more “masculine” image. Can we expect to be approached with marketing materials, retailer and Sommelier training in which the blowhards and boors are catered to coupled with a greater emphasis on masculinity? I can only imagine the advertising campaigns that would result … Kendall-Jackson meets the Marlboro Man … and more validation that somehow eBob has it right.
To read the entire research report titled, “Gender Difference in Information Search: Implications for Retailing” click here (initiates a PDF download).
On the other hand …
If 80% of wine is purchased by women then you have to believe that most of them are either Mom’s or soon-to-be Mom’s.
Enter, “Moms Who Need Wine” a web site and Facebook fan page with over 92,000 members.
The web site says:
“If you’re not sure you could survive motherhood without a stockpile of your favorite Red—then you’ve come to the right place! Let’s face it, we all LOVE being Moms. There’s not a better, more rewarding job in the world. But sometimes, enough is enough! And there’s nothing better to bring you down than a little sip from a nice piece of stemware (or the closest sippy cup.)”
According to AdRants, an advertising industry-related web site and email newsletter, the “Moms Who Need Wine” founder, Marile Borden, says, “We’re looking at it as a new sort of publishing model—with new kinds of opportunities for ‘media’ buys. In addition to blog ads, we’re working with sponsors on ways to leverage the whole FB audience—with things like sponsored blog posts (that get sent via the feed), coupons (on our coupons tab), sponsored virtual wine events hosted on FB, market research panels, etc.”
Summary
Taken together, these two snippets of information make me realize that the beautiful chaos that is the wine world isn’t going to get any simpler any time soon.
Second, I realize that vis-à-vis wine, while men busy themselves with being “right” most of the time women are busy figuring out how to get it done.
Wait a second … didn’t we already know this?
Restaurant wine illustration credit: Hemispheres magazine
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February 6 2010
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
Super Bowl Sip
Normally, I’m the first person to mock the lifestyle articles that present mindless wine pairings around the holidays. These articles are now popping up like mushrooms after the rain because of the Super Bowl, an unofficially official national holiday. For some reason, perhaps because I live in Indianapolis, home of the Colts, I am benevolently ambivalent about these articles this year. I say, go forth and work on that Champagne or Riesling pairing with potato chips …whatever… just so long as you’re cheering for the Colts.
Should you want to support good wine with roots in Indiana, check out Buehler Vineyards or Kokomo wines – both have winemakers that are Indiana natives.
I Have to Manage Something Else?
I received my first invite to Foursquare yesterday.
Some quick background: Early in 2007, when Tim Elliott from Winecast and I were doing regular podcasts, the topic of Twitter was discussed. This was when Twitter was used by only the smallest slice of early adopters. At the time, we talked about using Twitter for tasting notes – tweeting notes on a wine from a restaurant, for example. I scoffed heartily while Tim was much more insightful in seeing Twitter’s usefulness. Of course, the rest is history as Twitter has become a cultural phenomenon and my lack of foresight is archived on the Internet for perpetuity.
Flash forward to today, and I still act as something of a technology curmudgeon despite making my living in technology and Internet marketing. So, when I received the invitation to Foursquare my immediate thought was to scoff again – another technology communication thingy that is hard to describe – “what the hell is it?” I thought – very similar to my first blush look at Twitter.
Foursquare IS hard to describe – a sort of mashup of mobile, sharing, and digital geocaching consumerism. Yet, something tells me there is something fun and interesting here … enough to check out ahead of curve of others, at the least.
Whether or not Foursquare leaps to mainstream cultural consciousness like Twitter is yet to be seen, but if I were a winery I would certainly check it out for early adoption.
Spring Wine Allocations Are Coming …
On the heels of receiving an allocation of Bond last year and an ongoing spot on the Williams Selyem list, I received my first ever allocation of Kosta Browne for the Spring of 2010. I love Kosta Browne.
Unfortunately, that ship has sailed, the horse has already left the barn, and the toothpaste is out of the tube … whatever phraseology you want to use. Allocations once held an allure. Now, they seem overpriced and a status relic, out-of-fashion for the times – like building a 4000 square foot house just because a mortgage company will give you the money …
On Advertising …
I read a recent research summary that said that advertising and marketing professionals were one of the least trusted groups of professional’s right after politicians.
Oh vey.
If nothing else, that adds a little bit of light on the mercurial importance of “authenticity” from a winery.
Gallo Wine Fraud
When I was a cub doing an internship at an advertising agency in Atlanta, GA, I worked with a former Brand Manager for Taco Bell. We started talking about an unsavory urban legend I had heard related to food handling at Taco Bell. Without knowing where I grew up specifically, she said that not only was she aware of the rumor, but that it originated in South Bend, IN (my hometown). I found that interesting—she knew where the rumor started and independently corroborated the myth that was making the rounds.
Now, Gallo and their French import brand Red Bicyclette are in a little bit of a PR gaffe over allegations of fraud because the negociants that sold them Pinot Noir supposedly included significant amounts of Merlot and Syrah.
I’m sure the Gallo folks are fretting; a scandal like this can bubble up and impact sales rather quickly even if they haven’t been involved in any wrongdoing, particularly when you deal in the volume that this brand does – 220,000 cases according to the M. Shanken Trade News blog and Impact Databank.
However, this Gallo tidbit prompted me to revisit Snopes.com – a web site that does urban legend de-bunking. There, a search for “wine” reveals a whole bunch of urban legends, including one piece of alleged truism that some wines from the Rhone are fined with dried oxblood.
I guess the moral of the story for Gallo is this: it could be a lot worse.
Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia
When I received a Kindle as a Christmas gift from my wife this year, I had high, high hopes for downloading a couple of wine encyclopedias and having a more portable reference than the nine pound tomes that currently weigh down my bookshelf. So, it was with disappointment that I found that there were scant few wine books available for the e-reader.
However, the Kindle does allow you to email documents to the Kindle for reading.
Enter Enobytes, who are giving away an entire 664 page copy of The Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia as a PDF document if you sign up for their email list.
My problem is solved. Still, for the 99.7% of the world that doesn’t have a Kindle, receiving the wine encyclopedia and using on your computer, or sending to print at Kinko’s is a pretty good value.
You can check out Enobytes here.
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December 29 2009
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
Music + Wine
By now, just about every possible wine marketing shtick under the sun has been undertaken by a well-intentioned marketer and most yield results that are deafening - deafeningly bad. These ploys (usually masquerading as an actual business) quickly appear, are quickly copied and then quickly disappear. A wine brand that pairs with rotisserie chicken, anyone?
Typically originating from academic research with research sample sizes smaller than the ensuing press release distribution list, one of the latest ploys bound to get curious marketing traction in the future is the notion that a wine tastes best in a room that is backlit by blue or red ambient lighting.
Likewise, in the states, we’re sure to explore the biodynamic calendar that suggests that wine tastes best on certain days of the month.
It won’t be long before we’re sipping wine in a padded room at midnight under a full moon, such is the nature of research that usually finds wine to be compatible on an exclusionary basis.
However, one piece of research-cum-marketing tactic that appears to be moving out of “fad” territory into “trend” territory is the pairing of music and wine.
Based on a number of people doing research including domestic wine industry raconteur Clark Smith and a U.K. academian, Adrian North, doing sponsored research for Chilean producer Montes, it seems that the pairing of wine and music is here to stay, with substantive findings.
“Wine manufacturers could recommend that while drinking a certain wine, you should listen to a certain sort of music,” Said Professor North.
Earlier this year, Sony Music actively engaged in music promotions with both traditional and new wine media, as evidenced by a promotion in conjunction with Wine Enthusiast magazine.
Of course, wine brand Sacre Bleu is pushing the envelope in marrying a music lifestyle with wine consumption, as well.
Also taking the musical cue in a form that I find to be well-executed and nicely done is Hope Family Wines (HFW). HFW, a Paso Robles producer of Liberty School wines (found nationally at Cost Plus World Market) and other smaller brands, have released an iPhone app. called Wine DJ that matches their wines (seven from three different labels) to a dynamic and streaming list of songs (using streaming music service Grooveshark).
This would all sound well and good and a little on the booster-ish side were it not for the fact that I’ve been involved in several iPhone app. development projects this year and I understand the difference in between utility and uselessness, with the latter far outweighing the former in terms of iPhone applications available.
The Wine DJ application includes some nifty functionality that lets a user select a wine, select the vibe for the evening, and the application will then select an appropriate playlist to listen to while drinking the wine. For the low, low cost of free, the Wine DJ application also delivers some geo-tagging to find Hope Family wines near you, as well. It’s a genuinely useful application that is elegantly designed.
Of course, it also helps that the Hope Family generally produce wines that are well-noted for value at their price level, living up to one important criteria of marketing – the product delivering.
Yet, I find that this app. comes up short in at least one critical area – namely, the scope of wines offered being limited to their brand(s). Given the HFW roots in Paso Robles with Paso wine also being a key source of wine for branded labels in national distribution, I would like to see the app. expand beyond simply the Hope Family brands. Casting a wider net to be more inclusive of other wines will ensure that this application becomes something more than a simple one or two use branding tool supported by a press release.
File under “J” as in the “Jury is Still Out”
Also leveraging music is “Wines that Rock” a new wine label that attempts to create the perfect wine to drink while listening to iconic music. Mendocino Wine Company has created a Merlot to pair with the Rolling Stones greatest hits package called “Forty Licks” to go along with a Chardonnay for Woodstock and a Cabernet for Pink Floyd’s, “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
The challenge I have with this is they’ve already bastardized their own commitment to their messaging. If they truly stuck with a wine that would pair well with an album than the Pink Floyd effort is notable. However, am I supposed to believe that Chardonnay goes with Woodstock? For what reason exactly? There isn’t much about mud, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix that gives me a Chardonnay vibe. A Merlot goes with the Stones greatest hits? Groan. Give me an inky Syrah with “Exile on Main Street” and I’ll pick up what you’re putting down, but matching to the greatest hits seems like Baby Boomer pandering.
Unfortunately, this one feels like shtick to me.
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