What do distributors want from a winery they handle? According to a new study commissioned by Sonoma State University, distributors more than anything, want wineries to come and visit them in the various states, create tastings for their sales people and engage in “ride-alongs” (that practice of riding about with a sales person, visiting restaurants and retailer and helping them schmooze the buyers. There’s a press release out there that offers some of the details that are in this study…

Wow…the film “Sideways” continues to sweep the awards. I saw it. I liked it. But it didn’t strike me as a “Best Film of the Year.” That said, I still wonder how this bandwagon fueled by wine will affect the consumption and appreciation of wine in America. To date “Sideways” has received “Best Film” awards from the New York Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics, The American Film Institute, and the National Board of Review. It was nominated in the…

So that it doesn’t go unsaid in Mike Dunne’s fine article on wineries coming together to support the idea of fair and balanced direct shipping, Gallo has never supported direct shipping. In fact they have opposed it openly. And, to this day, they’ve made no statement whatsoever that suggests they even lean in the direction of hoping for fair direct shipping laws…no matter what their PR person says.

I’d heard rumblings of the documentary “Mondovino,” a film that apparently takes a sympathetic look at the growing notion that a World Style of Wine is taking over thanks to the likes of the big conglomerates and a style being promoted by Robert Parker. Apparently the film is drumming up a bit of controversy in wine circles. Mondovino is described by Time Magazine as “a quirky, subversive defense of Terroir: the idea that every wine ought to be a unique…

I think it’s three things that make for a great wine publication: 1) Captivating Reviews of wine, 2) consistently wonderful writing, 3) Timely Articles. Based on this formula I think there really isn’t any question that Wine & Spirits Magazine is the most underrated wine magazine out there. The reviews of wine are worth the subscription. Yes, they use a 100 point rating system which is overseen by Josh Greene. But it’s the write up that goes along with the…