Sep 21, 2011
OK…This has got to be the funniest thing I've seen produced about wine in years. The folks at Red To Brown Wine Reviews blog have outdone themselves. It has some naughty words in it, but if you are in the wine business, if you are Robert Parker or Antonio Galloni or James Suckling or a high scoring California winery, or if you have ever given any thought to the nature of wine marketing and you don't find this funny, I…
Sep 15, 2011
Before we had "friends", we had mailing lists—and they weren't made public. We used to have to be careful when we followed someone for fear of being branded a stalker, rather than just being counted and sorted. I used to be wary of getting invitations because I knew it meant having to get dressed up, while now I can usually attend all the "events" I'm invited to in the comfort of my boxers and along with thousands of other boxer-clad…
Sep 7, 2011
If you see a disconnect between the picture on the left and the message superimposed upon it, the supporters of the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine initiative hope that disconnect will instead morph into a logical connection. The supporters of this initiative, who are in the process of trying to gather over 500,000 signatures and raise millions of dollars to put the marijuana decriminalization initiative on the ballot, are employing a fairly sophisticated messaging and branding campaign to help them. The…
Jul 11, 2011
In the course of commenting on a recent post, a Fermentation reader, Amy, made the following cogent comment: "Any writer who swallows a press release whole without investigation is not doing their job." It got me thinking about press releases related to the wine industry and the level of news they tend to contain. Here's the thing: Some press releases issued from wine-related sources have some degree of news. If it does, that nugget of news tends to be wrapped…
Jul 6, 2011
I often wonder why the issue of "wine writer ethics" seems to raise its head on such a regular basis. Most recently a highly respected and accomplished English writer, Fiona Beckett, broached the subject. Fiona reiterated the obvious: Critics shouldn't take gifts from the folks who's products they are critiquing. On the other hand, she notes, traveling on the dime of trade associations to wine regions and accepting wine samples from producers doesn't cross the line. The great writer Jamie…