Archive for the ‘Wine Marketing Rules’ Category
“The question for the wine industry is whether marijuana consumption could replace any portion of wine (alcohol) consumption. This isn’t the right question. The right question is: what portion of wine consumption will marijuana consumption replace? The first question was apparently the topic of conversation at a session during the recent Unified Symposium that dwelt on “historic and emerging disruptions to the wine industry.” I’m absolutely convinced that the coming state-by-state legalization of marijuana will replace some wine consumption. How…
What’s the best label to use to describe a small, hands-on, privately owned, high-quality oriented winery? It’s interesting, what with the explosion in interest in “craft beer” over the past two decades, that the wine industry has not explored using the “craft” prefix. “Craft Wine!” That sounds good to me. Is it possible, given that it’s beer, spirit and cider producers that most often use the term “craft”, that wine producers see the term as too downscale? In fact, I’m…
The faster you learn to carefully pick your battles, the faster you will accomplish more, provide better service and live a happier life. This goes for the alcohol regulatory community. There’s a problem when lawmakers are forced to teach an alcohol regulatory body this fundamental lesson. And that’s exactly what has happened in New York. After passing through both the New York House and Senate, a bill that will rein in the New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) and force…
A couple of weeks ago I sat on a panel in Saint Helena that explored the Millennial wine buyer. The primary question was how do you reach this growing demographic? My response to the primarily Napa Valley and Sonoma County winery representatives in the room was this: Beware: Millennials are not buying expensive wines. And if you are selling $50+ bottles of wine and selling out every year and if your buyers are made up primarily of Baby Boomers and…
“UNDER SIEGE: DON’T LET A GOOD SYSTEM SINK” No, really, let’s let that system sink…all the way to the bottom of the archaic well from which it first emerged. That system in question is the “Three Tier System” and as you might imagine it’s wholesalers/distributors who are pleading for its continuation. In the case of the headline above, the plea comes from the NBWA: National Boxcarriers and Whiners of America….Wait…I got that wrong. I meant the National Beer Wholesalers of…
