Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category

Aug 28, 2006

Wine Numbers

I just finished reading in California Grapevine an address that Dan Berger gave the Wine Press Club of New South Wales. You can also find it online HERE. (ATTN: PDF) In it, he offers selected advice for the wineries and winemakers of Australia. One piece of advice was particularly interesting:  "Empower the consumer with factual data". Specifically, Dan is talking about putting things like the Total Acidity and pH information on the label. This is all pretty arcane chemical information….

Aug 26, 2006

The Wine Marketing Strategists

There are more states today than a year ago and two years ago that allow wineries to ship wine direct to consumers. Some provide easy access to consumers without too much effort, while others have installed real barriers to their market. While barriers put in place to essentially protect wholesalers don’t serve either the consumer or the winery, but in the end it’s the winery that has do decide if they want to jump through the hoops. Paul Mabray over…

Aug 25, 2006

Behold…French Wine Discovered in America

How far behind the curve are French wine producers in terms of tapping into the larger American wine market? There are some pretty basic principles of this national market that need to be understood if you want to sell any significant amount of wine: 1. Price it under $152. Put the name of the grape (variety) on the label3. Make the label attractive and easy to read Pretty basic stuff. Yet, here comes an announcement from a French producer that…

Aug 25, 2006

A BIG wine for the Good Wine Guys

In a number of states wine wholesalers have attacked direct shipment of wine to consumers by advocating that all direct sales should occur only after a person actually visits the winery in person. On it’s face this requirement, adopted most notably in Kentucky and Indiana, appears not to discriminate against any wineries. After all, whether th winery resides in state or out of state, the purchaser must go there first. Of course this is balderdash. A person living in Kentucky…

Aug 23, 2006

Stupidity Or Deception: Minors and Wine On-line

"YOU CAN’T" This was the response to the question, "Could one say, as the liquor trade group did, that millions of teenagers had bought alcohol on-line? Now here’s the kicker. Guess who offered this response. Michael Wood, a vice president at Teenage Research who worked on the survey commission by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association (WSWA) that used the survey results to claim, "Millions of Kids Buy Internet Alcohol, Landmark Survey Reveals." How often will the Wine & Spirit…