Writer and author James Conaway helped me get my first job in the wine industry. It was his 1990 expose of the Napa wine industry, "Napa", that I wrote a review of and put in my portfolio to show potential employers that I could write decently. I don't owe James a percentage of my wages earned since 1990, but I do owe him my gratitude for writing a fascinating and illuminating book that I could sink my teeth into as…
The craft of wine industry public relations doesn't strike me as being altogether different than real estate, publishing, high tech, or any other industry PR effort. There is a different body of information that a Wine PR pro must master and of course a different set of media to understand. But in the end, the simplest explanation of what a Wine PR pro must do is the simplest explanation of what any public relations professional does: communicate a brand message…
Every now and again I like to take account of what wine books will be coming our way in the next few months. It's a way of glimpsing what I'll be thinking about in the near term where wine is concerned. Following are a selection of wine books scheduled to be released along with their publication date and the level of "anticipation" I have for their release. A Carafe of Red — By Gerald Asher (HIGHLY Anticipated)This will be the…
For one that counts the bookstore as one of his favorite places, I find it notable that I don't think I've been in one in six months. Rather, I spend huge amounts of time at the Kindle and Apple on-line bookstores downloading books to my iPad. I rather doubt I am alone in this turn of events. The consequences of this excelerating trend are not good for bookstore owners, nor for builders of bookshelves. But with this in mind, I…
What an interesting year in wine. Legal battles, political battles, movements rising, technology, new markets, and changes in the media led the news. Here are my top wine stories for 2011 A SMALL CRACK IN THE WALL: Initiative 1183 Takes Washington Out of the Booze Business and Into the 21st CenturyIt has been a long time since a state abandoned its control of the alcohol marketplace and turned it over to the private sector. Initiative 1183 in Washington State did…