Jun 4, 2009
For nearly 20 years, when I tell people "I work in wine PR", I often get the same response: "So what exactly do you do?" Sometimes this questions sets me back on my heels because from day-to-day my responsibilities to my clients change, the things I'm asked to do change, and I'm not always sure, on any given day, exactly what I'll be doing. In other words, while there are some vague boundaries to the realm of "PR", it's not…
Jun 3, 2009
In case anyone is wondering, THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE. The topic of journalists and reporters issuing corrections isn't often discussed. Generally, these kinds of discussions take place via email or on page 20. So, it was with great pleasure that I saw one of America's best wine reporters come out with a straight up correction and make it nice and visible too. In This Story, Lew Perdue of Wine Industry Insight made his correction regarding a story he posted…
May 12, 2009
Recently at the eRobertparker forum, Mr. Parker himself suggested that he could have no impact in changing laws concerning consumer access to wine. He wrote: "I would have a better chance of raising the dead from their graves than changing a totally corrupt system where the beer and liquor distributors have their respective politicians right where they want them…in their pockets….and then factor in 50 separate states….yeah….totally disgusting and about as anti-wine consumer as it gets….but let's not ignore history….those…
Apr 29, 2009
I'm a curious guy. That's why I decided to do a quick google search today on "Wine and Swine Flu". Who knows, maybe something interesting will pop up. But right when I finished giving Google instructions on what to find for me the search sentence hit me in the face: "Wine and Swine Flu". Holy Cow. What if it there were no "S". What if it was the "Wine Flu"? Pork Futures have dropped and there are reports of consumers…
Mar 17, 2009
The European Community wants to ban the sale of U.S. wines that carry on their label the terms "Clos", "Chateau", "Vintage", "Vintage Character", and "Classic", among others. If you ever wanted really good, solid evidence that the European culture was speeding toward insignificance, this trade position just might be it. There was a time when the Europeans were in the business of imperialism and colonizing. And they were damn good at it too. Sure, they tended to point their colonial…