So, I’m fishing around the Wine Spectator Ratings Search online. I’m doing some research for a client. In particular, I’m trying to get a handle on the reputation of a particular appellation based on reviews from a number of publications. When I start to think about not which wines are the highest rated, but rather, which wine, according to the Wine Spectator’s rating system might be called the worst value on the planet. So here’s my search: Wines over $80,…

There aren’t that many unique business models in the winery business: Make and sell direct, Make and sell to wholesalers, Make lots at low margin, make little at high margin. All these models have one thing at their heart…make the producers a living. So, when a new business model (really a new reason for a winery to exist) comes along you have to appreciate the ingenuity behind it. And in the case of Humanitas Wines, you have to appreciate the…

In PR, the idea of the “gatekeeper” is that there are relatively few individuals in any industry who set trends and frame the issues. The wine industry is driven by media to an unusually (some would unfortunately) high degree. What this means is that when consumers go to Merlot in droves or start to shy away from big oaky chards or become comfortable with screw caps, it’s the media that has a big impact on making this happen. There are…

AN OPEN LETTER TO KAREN GERVOIS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS & PUBLIC AFFAIRS FOR THE WINE & SPIRIT WHOLESALERS ASSOCIATION (WSWA). MS. GERVOIS IS AN AMAZINGLY ACCOMPLISHED COMMUNICATOR HAVING WORKED IN JOURNALISM, AS A REPORTER FOR THE NEWSHOUR WITH JIM LEHER HOUR, AS THE PRESS SECRETARY FOR SENATOR CHUCK ROBB (D-VA) AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY FOR SENATOR JOHN BEAUX (D-LA) AND AS A MANAGER AT Burson-Marsteller. SHE HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE SINCE 2001 FOR OVERSEEING THE MEDIA AND PUBLIC RELATIONS FOR…

Dahlia Withlick has written a wonderful summation of the arguments in today’s Supreme Court case on Direct Shipping for Slate: In Vino Gravitas. Read it. Based on her blow by blow reporting of the various arguments made today, it appears to me that things went exactly as I thought they would. The Justices were overwhelmingly skeptical of the State’s argument that the only way they could protect minors, recover taxes and regulate the flow of alcohol is to erect these…