good grape daily: pomace & lees free run: field notes from a wine life around the wine blogosphere wine: a business doing pleasure good grape wine reviews new world red wine influences wine white wine wine blog news robert parker wine bloggers notes & dusty bottle items wine sediments wine business wine blogs historical wine book excerpts tasting safari: wines you can buy online cluetrain manifesto revisited winecast: a year in collaboration wine spectator robert mondavi wine blogger wine marketing indy food & wine vin de napkin vinography new vine logistics alice feiring wine blogging dr. vino appellation watch: midwest regional review wine critics american wine blog awards wine reviews cameron hughes wine books luxury wine tom wark natural wine gary vaynerchuk fermentation blog penner-ash wine ratings wine research fred franzia tyler colman steve heimoff oregon pinot noir wall street journal wine best wine blogs wine writers biodynamic wine best wine bloggers a really goode job california wine robert mondavi day robert mondavi winery wine ethics three dolla koala sonoma pinot noir appellation america gourmet magazine zinfandel rockaway wine market council open that bottle night wine online winery marketing wine trends lynn penner-ash sommelier journal wine advocate rockaway vineyards good grape augmented reality hugh macleod pinot noir crushpad wine cellartracker dan berger amazon.com 100-pt scale southern wine & spirits grape stories church wine wine & spirits magazine mike steinberger vintank wine tasting notes trader joe's wine wine and spirits daily silver oak indiana wine matt kramer champagne slender wine murphy-goode winery direct-to-trade inertia beverage group wine technology notre dame football stormhoek wine enthusiast bordeaux sparkling wine wine and the economy wine distribution wine.com terry theise biodynamics allocated wine wine news reading between the wines oregon bounty rodney strong the wine makers tv inniskillin hr 5034 wine advertising oregon cuisinternship wine review jim laube tamari torrontes dirty south wine firestone contest doug frost whuffie factor wine reality show wine label design duane hoff resveratrol woman in wine organic wineries oregon wine snobs wine is the new black expensive wine will hoge wine spies gapingvoid rose summer wine corkd foppoli wines vintage of the decade markham mark of distinction sonoma wine company spike your juice celia masyczek jim koch pinot main street winery obama wine digital signage wine retail the fifth taste dominus bellagio wine the wine blue book conundrum winery customer service julie and julia texas for dummies wine collection shorttrack ceo oh westside road scott becker randall grahm party of five theme song wine spectator restaurant awards zig ziglar drvino.com wine direct shipping wine humor altar wine good wine livingston cellars persimmon creek vineyards liberty school cabernet sauvignon german wine biodynamic wine health research 2007 waters crest "night watch" late harvest wine clif bar wine cheap wines rick mirer indiana miss america lewis perdue pbs john trefethen elliot essman wine intelligence research steroids in baseball publishing trends wine laws cowboy mouth wine evaluation dark & delicious biod alpana singh dos equis commercials wine and sense of smell tim mondavi rachel alexandra 500 things to eat before it's too late wine & spirits guinness beer 2006 brancott pinot noir wine public relations facebook + wine millenials and wine penner ash deb harkness triple bottom line jim gordon kelly fleming wine mike hengehold traminette wine mobile applications rick mirer wine wine blogging tips professional culinary institute adobe road the the lost symbol wine stories wine 2.0 schotts micellany hugh johnson alloutwine cooper's hawk winery paul clary sweet wines zinfandel producers california wine for dummies best wine blog us wine sales dessert wine di arie rose napa cab. napa cabernet amazon wine constellation wine washington wine john hughes '47 cheval blanc bordeaux reconquest santasti kevin zraly top chef hardy wallace firestone wine contest burger wine lonely island where the hell is matt southern gothic wine food revolution french paradox dark side of the rainbow gallo thomas pellechia wine spectator top 100 2009 cinderella wine deck wine lindsay ronga batgirl wine iphone wine mobile apps winery promotions whole foods wine first blush juice cult cabernet boston beer company trinchero wine tasting rooms viktor frankl chateau petrus barack obama + wine sanford pinot noir rombauer digital marketing obama inauguration michael ruhlman wine spectator wine reviews karadeci the business of wine sherry wine tycoon healdsburg terroir wine branding global wine partners wine terroir southern wine and spirits wine lists adam strum tinybottles 100 point system vineyard church communion wine mark squires wine and music scheurebe old vine zinfandel cluetrain manifesto down under by crane lake unified symposium jackson-triggs vidal ice wine clif winery name your own price mirror wine company indiana gourmet food allocated cabernet the wine line core wine drinkers janet trefethen bruce reizenman luxury wine marketing wall street journal wine columnists "frankenwine" wine authors nbwa chacha rudolf steiner wine expedition fat tire beer mothervine supplements continuum texas bbq wine pairing prince's hot chicken king estate guinness advertising 2007 stoneleigh pinot noir wine pr wineamerica wine wisdom lewin's equation 1winedude hess collection wine social media expensive wine trends wines and vines kelly fleming cabernet the new yorker ted lemon whyte horse winery iphone wine apps. palate press wine blogging strategies wine certification the traveling vineyard wine and art jason kroman alloutwine.com wine mou paul clary blog gracianna wine wine cartoons alan goldfarb fusebox wine moms who need wine ted jansen hourglass wine murphy-goode wine trading down dip johnnie walker chateau latour planet bordeaux sherry wine argentina wine zephyr adventures barolo santana dvx au revoir to all that formula business ordinance .wine geocaching brigitte armenier rockaway wine red bicyclette social media topps augmented reality rancho zabaco zinfandel woot wine the new frugality patio wine bryan q. miller andy warhol quotes fermentation anthony dias blue home winemaking consumer shopping research the best pinot noir food & wine magazine a year in wine apple iphone man's search for meaning st. helena catholic church new zealand wine sanford chardonnay lettie teague nba liquor advertising noble pig award of excellence ericca robinson secret sherry society cult wines wine video game russian river valley pinot wine appellations reset "old world wine darwinism wine star awards tastingroom.com bruliam wine generation y. wine april fool's day wine snooth karen macneil music and wine german riesling clos lachance dr. oz yellow tail wine jon fredrikson wine blogging wednesday climber red priceline.com drew bledsoe amazon.com wine california cabernet paso robles wine sales hailey trefethen park avenue catering fine wine marketing wine tasting journal wine competitions national beer wholesalers association firestone vineyards wine trivia robert parker's bitch eryn supple the grateful palate heidi barrett john james dufour america eats willamette valley wines of chile specialty wine retailers association judd's hill rose wine recession wine wine & spirits daily 2006 hess collection monterey chardonnay adler fels wines & vines kelly fleming interview the pour oregon food and wine dan cederquist parks and recreation wine umami swanson alexis cabernet disney wine program value wines brand butlers american wine blogs forty-five north winery wine press release hong kong u.s. wine steve perry aussie wine glut clary ranch pinot noir john tyler wine wine economy mary ewing-mulligan non-profits and wine ebob bodeans mitch schwartz hourglass cabernet italian wine merchant dependable wine sutter home videos inexpensive wine jay miller keep walking wines that rock ani difranco peru wine trip barbaresco michael steinberger value wine jamie oliver paul blart: mall cop phillip armenier red bicyclette pinot noir wine blogosphere ge smart grid augmented reality trefethen family vineyards california zinfandel wineshopper aspirational marketing clark smith wine book publishing russian river valley sylvester pinot noir goodguide korbel wine blobbers oregon travel tokalon winery not-for-profit jess jackson massale selection wine & spirits magazines kenny shopsin next generation apple the psychology of wine the vintners art australian wine vinexpo jay mcinerney the gaslight anthem the pioneer woman james laube chimney rock elevage cornell enology wine tycoon game stavin kelly fleming national wine & spirits kurt andersen " "new world wine" poseurs macari vineyards sette 7 swanson vineyards sunbox eleven wine winery sponsorship champagne sales wine criticism cork'd 2008 vina mar reserva sauvignon blanc randy caparoso wine + music midwest wine culture hunningbird wine beaux freres jon bonne the wine case climber white agency nil charlie weis sugar free wine a very goode job 2007 sean minor four bears pinot noir trefethen generation y and wine 2009 auction napa valley sonoma county wine wipes san francisco wine competition clary ranch tim hanni discoveries pathfinder wine bar bets the winemakers tv australia wine fantesca judgment of paris women in wine oregon pinot gris three-tier carmenere wine heist purpose-idea rose wine sales vincellar dominic foppoli 1% for the planet wine industry news negociant wine business monthly 2008 food & wine winemaker of the year eric asimov travel oregon jordan winery amy poehler wine micro sites umami chris phelps vegas wine qpr wines jimmy clausen winery hospitality 2007 forty-five north cabernet franc alpine for dummies 2008 honig sauvignon blanc journey three dollar koala pinot noir reviews chronicle wine ed mccarthy wine to relax erobertparker little zagreb wine magazines howard schultz paul mabray wine blogging ethics youtube cheap wine wine bard weds wine dj klinker brick maria thun bad wine mumm napa slate wine columnist wine pricing wine blog awards 2010 bottle shock movie sketches of spain red bicyclette court paul gregutt trefethen oak knoll cabernet sauvignon zinfandel reviews tasting note desciptors natural winemaking wine content sensory evaluation petite sirah wine points the press-democrat oregon cuisinternship winner blog contests preakness stakes pork tenderloins wine & spirits restaurant poll 2010 eat me kenny shopsin amazon kindle wine politics what is terroir wine purchasing wine nose good wine under 20 the hold steady paste magazine patz & hall sonoma coast pinot noir notes on a cellar book wine tycoon video game oak alternatives cabernet bottle shock economy chronicle wines vignoles wine columns mirror wine joe roberts e-myth revisited bennett lane winery champagne and business a history of wine words marco capelli music + wine indianapolis wine industry zap wine jr. san francisco chronicle wine ice wine c.g. di arie radiohead doubleback wine chateau thomas wine parker defamation blackstone wine trefethen fallow obama napa valley auction sonoma county wine french wine marketing vino chapeau wine medal winners petaluma pinot
October 7 2011
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…
September 18 2011
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
The Green Card Cometh
I would be remiss if I didn’t offer a public congratulation to Johannes Reinhardt, winemaker at Anthony Road Wine Company in Penn Yan, New York in the Finger Lakes (FLX) wine region for earning his green card. Not that he’s waiting for my congratulations, by the way.
However, I do think it’s important to honor professional excellence, integrity and the pursuit of the American dream in a period of time when our national mood is drenched with political acrimony and institutional cynicism.
Sometimes things work out the way they should…
First reported by Evan Dawson at the New York Cork Report in the first week of September, Reinhardt has earned his permanent worker status, a way station on the way to a permanent green card.
Reinhardt’s back-story is well chronicled in some circles (here and here) and his story is a notable chapter in Dawson’s recent book, Summer in a Glass, but it’s also the kind of workaday footnote that barely blips on the radar of the larger wine consciousness, even if it should.
The summary of a longer narrative is Reinhardt initially came to the U.S. from Germany over a decade ago, leaving his family winemaking legacy behind, to do the same on U.S. soil. Working on a string of visas while seeking a permanent green card (a green card that has proven difficult to obtain as he faced rejection after inexplicable rejection), Reinhardt carved out an enviable leadership position in the collegial Finger Lakes winemaking community helping to elevate it to the world-class status it now enjoys for its Rieslings, while also doing the same for his employer, the aforementioned Anthony Road winery.
For those that don’t follow immigration law, which is most of us, the difference between a visa and a green card is most akin to the labor differences in between the NFL and the NBA. In the NFL, you can get cut and lose your job at any time. In the NBA, you have a guaranteed contract. A green card acts as something of a guaranteed contract in the U.S. in that you’re not at-risk to have your ability to be in our country yanked or not renewed (deported).
With permanent worker status and a green card in his future, Reinhardt can now seek citizenship should he choose to do so, or, at the least, get on with building a life in the U.S.
I sat adjacent to Johannes and next to his wife Imelda at a wine dinner in the spring of 2010 while his wines were being poured. With just brief interaction, his meticulous work effort, charisma, collaborative spirit and genuine desire to achieve excellence as a winemaker in the Finger Lakes shone through. I’m happy for him, his wife, and most importantly, I’m happy for wine enthusiasts who will continue to enjoy access to his fantastic wines.
You can toast Reinhardt by buying some Anthony Road wine at the winery web site or at a New York-based online retailer (I use Marketview).
Just in time for Harvest
“It takes a lot of beer to make good wine,” as the saying goes. Joining the Winepod, a high-end home winemaking system that was launched a few years ago, comes the WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery launched by a couple of Kiwi’s in New Zealand. Promising craft brewery beer quality at home and priced at around US $5000, the WilliamsWarn, which includes an all-in-one tap for dispensing your brew, looks like the perfect accompaniment to the Winepod and one of the commercial grade espresso machines that are available.
Now all I have to do is figure out how to scrape together $14,000 of disposable income to buy all three…
More information here (initiates a download of the WilliamsWarn product details sheet).
As Seen in Sommelier Journal
The July issue of the Sommelier Journal (you are a subscriber, right? You should be…) features a blurb about a new service that allows Sommeliers to create wine clubs for their guests and consumers interested in their wine finds.
Powered by the unimaginatively named company “Wine Club Shipment,” the firm handles all web site development, shipping and logistics and the Sommelier does what they do best – find unique and interesting wines.
Sign me up. For two reasons, this is a fantastic service:
1) With all of the mojo that the craft brew scene and mixologists are earning, I’m very ready for the wine world’s bright young Sommeliers to take a step forward into the limelight by curating selections.
2) Wine clubs, in general, get a justifiably valid bad name for unloading plonk on unwitting consumers. Anything that can stem that tide with a quality orientation is a good thing
The company web site is scant on detail, but you can get a sense for the service at the A16 wine club site.
Even a Blind Squirrel…
On the heels of my recent post called, “Palate Tuning and the Permanent Record” in which I discussed disparities in critical wine scores and the hypothetical development of a meta-database that weighs variables in critics palates to create a sort-of super wine score, comes, well, you guessed it – something pretty darn close to that.
I published my post on the 15th and then, via Lewis Perdue’s Wine Industry Insight wine news round-up on the 16th, I saw an article published on the web site Inside Toronto that details a company, WineAlign, in Ontario that has a similar concept with the twist of taking major critical reviews and overlaying that on Liquor Control Board Ontario (LCBO) wine availability in Ontario, Canada.
It can be done in the states, but the magic is in hardcore number crunching and weighting critical palate preferences to create a meta-score that can map to an individual consumer preference reliably.
Johannes Reinhardt Photo Credit: Morgan Dawson Photography
August 20 2011
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
The Devil’s Cut
I’m a sucker for the clever and unconventional, I admit it. One such bit of cleverness isn’t even wine-related, though it is oak barrel related.
Most wine enthusiasts are familiar with the, “Angel’s Share.” It’s a term that denotes the wine (or spirits) that is lost from a barrel due to evaporation during the aging process. Now comes the, “Devil’s Cut” from Jim Beam.
Using a proprietary process that extracts the bourbon moisture that’s left in the staves of the barrel after being emptied, this extract is then blended with regular Jim Bream to create a deeper, more characterful sipper.
I’d hate to think what a wine might taste like if the, “Devil’s Cut” was blended in from a wine-aged oak barrel, but a thumb’s up to Jim Beam for thinking outside the box. The wine world could use more esoteric and idiosyncratic ideas similar to what the Scholium Project is doing, turning wine on its head. Can a day be too far away when white Pinot Noir and orange wines aren’t outliers?
Speaking of Idiosyncratic
Last year I wrote a story on Proof Wine Collective and their out-of-the-box wine label design work. An edgy company of twenty-something’s in San Luis Obispo, they’re set to eschew a services-oriented business helping market other people’s wine projects and start their own wine thing.
Anti-wine by the guys at Proof sets the table for what’s to come with an Anti-wine Manifesto that says in part, “I can hear the death rattle of our industry when salespeople peddle wines made and re-made in the same style, over and over. I hear it when they glorify classism, pretending that customers own a cellar to age wines for decades, when in truth we buy a bottle to drink tonight…My goal with this project is to be free from the affectations of an industry I can no longer respect. These wines follow no formulae (Ed. Note: Nice use of the plural of formula!). They are blended between vintages in order to take the best traits of each. I regard red and white varietals as equals, and intermix them with no interest in what is “sellable.”
I like idea, for sure. However, initial reverberations indicate that they’re going to have to do some traditional-type activity in the wine business to get solid footing. Sales at retail. Wine events.
If a nascent wine brand truly wants to be free from the affectations of the industry and do so without being shticky then it has to be prepared to swim completely against the current.
I’m rooting for Anti-wine, but I’d also like to see a completely new playbook written for the wine business, not a statement of intent while coloring inside the lines.
Tastevin
I’ve read a couple of recent articles that indicate that watches are set to become a trend (here and here). This struck me as odd because I hadn’t received the memo that watches were out of style. I started to think about accessories for wine enthusiasts that are decidedly out of style and I came to the tastevin.
Traditionally used by Sommeliers, but long out of favor, the only reason I know it’s not a mythical unicorn, is because a Somm. at my honeymoon resort some years ago was wearing one and checking the quality of the bottles he was serving by taking a quick sniff and slurp.
Now inspired, I’m starting a one-man wine trend. If you see me at a wine tasting in the future it’s probable that I’ll be using a tastevin instead of the insipid glassware that’s usually provided.
Feel free to adopt usage of a tastevin for yourself. The key to not feeling douchey is to either be incredibly confident or so hip that others don’t even know its hip. Either will work for this emerging trend that you and I are starting. Buy one at Amazon.com.
August 9 2011
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
American Wine Consumer Coalition
I am excited that Tom Wark - Man of Action - and also the Executive Director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, is taking the initiative to build the non-profit consumer wine advocacy group the American Wine Consumer Coalition (AWCC), as preliminarily announced at his blog last month.
I was privy to an early iteration of his business plan and if his ideas for the organization hew closely to his initial vision it will be a rock solid benefit for wine enthusiasts.
My understanding of the nascent AWCC is an organization that represents the voice of wine consumers on a myriad of issues, but will most specifically be linked to consumer shipping rights while also providing an umbrella offering of member benefits for those that live a wine-inclined lifestyle. In doing so, the AWCC addresses three woeful gaps in the wine landscape (my extrapolation not Tom’s):
1) Legacy groups like the American Wine Society have failed to implement technology and the cultivation of a member base under the age of 50 in the age of social networking and have forfeited the opportunities for connectedness that social media offers.
2) Wine social networking sites like Wine 2.0 and the Open Wine Consortium failed to regularly engage a captive audience and died an inert death.
3) Free the Grapes! has been very successful at coalescing a large number of consumers in support of shipping rights, but has largely failed at two key things: Transparency in where the money goes (a 501c(6) trade association doesn’t have to do any financial reporting to donors) and they provide no member benefit. Theirs is the “black box” of wine advocacy.
If the American Wine Consumer Coalition does even a half-hearted job of connecting and engaging with consumers with attendant non-profit transparency, the organization will be successful. Godspeed and cheers to that potential outcome…for the benefit of all wine consumers.
Pulling Punches
Over the last week or so, the wine blogosphere has been revisiting its annual tête-à-tête with the 100-point system. This time the lightening rod is a PR campaign from Hedges Family Estate in Washington called the, “Score Revolution” a sort of public petition against wine scores (and, by proxy, the critics who give the scores).
Folks have decamped to either side of the debate which is all well and good, but for one person whose livelihood has been based on wine criticism for decades, I’d expect a less flaccid (more rigid?) repudiation.
Charlie Olken, the Granddaddy of wine critics with his Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine, has this to say at his blog: “They want us all to abandon wine ratings because they have outlived their usefulness—or, in the case of one winery—because they got crappy scores for their crappy wines.”
Two problems here, folks: First, details make a story interesting. For the casual reader, who are you calling out Charlie? Hedges Family Estate? If so, call your shot. Second, facts are an important element to a story, as well. And, say what you will about Hedges wine, but a search of the Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and CellarTracker ratings databases doesn’t bear out Charlie’s assertion – the scores that are available on Hedges are all in the solidly “above average, but not great” category.
Charlie’s post, instead of being a skilled defense of scores, actually typifies what’s wrong with a lot of blogs –they’re poorly researched ideological opinions that are barely defensible beyond the sound bite.
Methinks that if you’re going to wade into the court of public opinion then it’s best to name names and back up your opinion with some facts and in Charlie’s case, as an elder statesman, he should be raising the level of discourse instead of playing to the level of his competition.
On the Other Hand
On the positive side of the equation in regards to wine writing, Jon Rimmerman from Garagiste wrote a brilliant and insightful essay on the state of our national political climate. Available by signing up for the daily Garagiste emails, I’ve taken the liberty of creating a PDF of Rimmerman’s essay from Monday, August 8th. This link initiates a PDF download that is well worth the read.
Imitation is the sincerest form of Flattery?
Around the holidays when nearly every wine writer who writes for a masthead heeds the call of the wine pairing article, you might expect some columns to look similar… But, in August not so much…
Color me surprised then when I read Matt Kramer’s column in the current issue of Wine Spectator (August 31, 2011) called, “Keeping Your Cool” about chilling red wines and then I see Ray Isle (also Food & Wine magazines Executive Wine Editor) who wrote a syndicated wine post for CNN’s food section on their web site called, “Chilling with Red Wine.”
I’ll give Isle the benefit of the doubt in regards to lifting the idea straight from Kramer, and assume that it’s a situation of, “Great minds think alike.” However, for goodness sake, with wine, when there are a million things to write about, you might expect a slightly different twist on the same topic when they’re published in the same time window from two notable wine writers.
July 4 2011
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
Deb Whiting / Red Newt Cellars
Over the last several years, life has been good for Red Newt Cellars in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Dave Whiting’s wines have been winning an increasing and persistent amount of critical acclaim, including universally high praise for nearly his entire Riesling line-up in the current issue of Wine & Spirits magazine, and his wife and business partner, Deb Whiting, continued to astonish guests and earn high praise for her locally-focused, farm-to-table cuisine at her Red Newt Bistro, adjoining the winery.
When news spread on July 1st that Deb died in a car accident, my heart ached for Dave and their family.
I met them but once, eating and drinking as a guest at the Bistro in the spring of 2010. That experience was enough, however, to turn me into a fan and an admirer. Dave’s quirky charm and Deb’s friendly intensity made them an endearing pair and there’s no questioning the divine alchemy that occured when their wine and food were paired together.
Just two weeks ago, I ordered Red Newt Riesling for my Mom as a belated Mother’s Day gift. You would do well to buy Red Newt Cellars wine, as well.
People that achieve through dint of vision and hard work frequently turn to their work as solace from the wounds of tragedy. No doubt, Dave will do the same. I can think of no better tribute then for Riesling fans the country over to tune in and turn onto the labor of the Whiting’s love and buy some of their wine. It’ll only take one purchase to turn you into a brand ambassador.
While you’re at it, pick up the the Verjooz, a playfully named rendition of the classic verjus—tart, unfermented grape juice that is wonderful whenever you might use vinegar – a fitting tribute to Deb who so wonderfully brought the joy of food together with wine.
My heartfelt condolences go out to Dave Whiting, their family and the extended Red Newt Cellars family in this time of grieving.
Domain Names
Many readers may have seen recent tech headlines about domain names. It made the nightly news, garnering sufficient enough mainstream mindshare.
The crux of the situation is that anybody with $185,000 can apply to have their own domain name extension. Instead of having a .com they can have a .brandname
I covered this topic and its applicability to wine (or at least my idea of applicability) in late 2009. If you missed that series of posts, you can find them here and here.
The Champagne Schooner
I covered the “Champagne Schooner” recently in this post. It’s truly a fascinating story to follow in this day and age of news cycles that seemingly last eight hours. The post-cap to my post is the fact that a new world record for an auction sale was set when the country of Åland auctioned off a found bottle of Veuve Cliquot for $43,630.
Geophagy
I’m starting a trend today and you can take part. I’m now suggesting that Old World natural wine and “Terroirista’s” may have Geophagy and should be called, “Pica’s,” the term for eating non-food items. Consider it a friendly alternative to Parker’s, “Anti-flavor wine elite.”
Who Buys Wine?
I’ve covered this on a number of occasions, but it’s always interesting reading. Big brand marketers rely on Claritas Prizm demographic research to understand their target markets. Wine marketing should begin with a market and build out and people, empirically, show their characteristics by where they live.
Want to have some real insight into you and your neighbors or that person you can’t get your arms around at work? Do some Prizm segment research and search for demographic types by zip code.
Ed. Note: I’m on vacation this week. A bottle of 2007 Hunter III Sauvignon Blanc was materially impacted whilst writing this post.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License
Design by The Blog Studio
