April 4 2008
A couple of quick hitters to make sure I am covering all of my bases …
First, the exceedingly generous in spirit Richard Shaffer, a customer of pioneering technology company Inertia Beverage Group, where I made his acquaintance, and a damn good guy, is really upping the ante with his blog and chronicling his journey in starting an Israeli wine marketing company.
It is an interesting story because he lives in Chicago, comes from a non-wine background and is bringing in Israeli wine, which is just now starting to garner wider mind share in the states. Sure, there is a rich back-story about wine in Israel dating back to, oh, I don’t know, a millennium, but just the same, Israeli based wine has a lot of upside in the U.S. in terms of growth.
I am not sure if Richard is “all-in,” but he is playing into the wine business like he has pocket aces and that is truly wonderful to watch. I love to see an entrepreneurial person put his heart and passion out there to do something he believes in. I would not bet against him building an amazing company with a tremendous portfolio of vino. Plus, I am biased because Richard, one of his marketing associates, and I brainstormed the tag line that appears below. Israeli Wine Direct: The Future of Wine History. Has kind of a nice ring to it, does it not?
From the press release:
The eastern Mediterranean, which includes Israel, is the birthplace of wine. Thousands of years ago, a thriving wine scene existed in Israel, and wine was exported throughout the region. Interrupted for centuries by outside conquest, today the wine world is witnessing a re-emergence of outstanding winemaking in Israel. There are now nearly 200 wineries there, many producing outstanding wines unknown to Americans. Israeli wine is beginning to receive international recognition by the likes of critic Robert Parker and Wine Spectator magazine.
The 22 wines are available now while they ship for pre-order in select states through the Israeli Wine Direct website at http://www.israeliwinedirect.com. Visitors can learn more about the wineries and winemakers. “Wine from Israel is ‘The Future of Wine History’. Young winemakers there are combining modern grape varieties and winemaking techniques with the influence of an ancient land,” said Israeli Wine Direct founder Richard Shaffer.
If you’re so inclined, buy a sampler three pack from his site.
And, elsewhere, one of the best couple of hours I spend on a Sunday is doing podcasts with Tim Elliott from Winecast.
It is always a lot of fun, they always turn out well and it is a complete blast to talk to other wine folks. To that end, we had a podcast his past week.
You can find all the details at Winecast and this link. Give it a listen.
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (4) |
Thanks for thinking about us, Jeff!
You have been a major encouragement to me and our little start-up in a lot of ways, including contributing the COOLEST tag-line!
Thanks!
Richard
Jeff,
I spoke with him this last week and can also vouch that both Richard and Israeli Wine Direct are two horses to bet on in the future.
I could not agree more! Richard was a pleasure to chat with recently and we look forward to sampling his wines. If only we could make that container ship get ashore faster…
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Thanks for the kind words Jeff. You rock as always. Glad to have you as a friend and continual leader in the wine space.
P