Dec 30, 2021
I look back at 2021 and see a year of progress in the wine industry. Granted, this isn’t a difficult position to take if we are comparing this year to 2020. Still, 2021 looks like a year of recovery, and there were positive moves in the regulatory and legal spheres. That said, I wouldn’t want to be accused of being a pollyanna. There are things going on in wine in 2021 that were not so great. These are the worst…
Dec 2, 2021
In Eric Asimov’s most recent column in the New York Times, he asks a question that every serious and thoughtful wine drinker should take time to consider: What makes a great wine? It’s an academic question, but one that if answered to your satisfaction should help clarify your relationship with wine. That’s no small achievement. Many of us have thought about this question in offhanded, casual ways as we buy wine to drink, to age, to give and to possess….
Feb 24, 2021
Diversity and inclusion in the wine industry have been top of mind for some while now within the trade. And it seems appropriate that this topic has been frequently addressed by the industry’s communicators: media, writers, and reporters. Let’s state for clarity the obvious: There is no downside to a diverse contingent within the communications side of the wine industry. If you need proof of this, think back to the time when blogs emerged on the scene and there was…
Dec 8, 2020
Wine PR Pro Tip: If a well-known and respected wine critic sends you a private message to express their disgust at the quality of your wine that they drank at a restaurant, don’t inform the world of the critic’s opinion. I don’t think I need to explain why promoting a private message of disgust with your product is a bad idea. Let’s just say it’s counterproductive where sales and reputation are concerned. This is surely the advice I would have…
Oct 22, 2020
Wine scores (you know, 93, *****, 18/20) are a very good thing for wine drinkers. I’ve made this case for ages. Recently, Matt Kettmann of the Wine Enthusiast Magazine made the same case in an article appropriately titled “Yes, Wine Score Still Matter”. While I think Matt gave up too much ground to the anti-scores brigade in a title that pays homage to those who try to make the case that wine scores don’t or shouldn’t matter, he did make…