Apr 25, 2012
I love the comments that folks share on this blog. But additionally, I get a good deal of blog-related email. Why some folks choose to send me questions and comments via email, rather than commenting and questioning right on the blog, is something I don't always understand. However, I feel the need to respond. Below are are some of the more recent questions I've recieved via email and my responses. For those of you who asked the questions, you know…
Apr 11, 2012
It's entirely absurd that I spent the past 8 months blissfully unaware of Chris Kassel's blog, "Intoxicology Report". It is by far the best new wine blog I've come across in many, many months. Kassel is a long time wine writer and sommelier. He knows wine. But that's not the thing. The thing is just how well Chris writes and how entertaining his writing is in the blog format. Two recent examples: In Defense of the Wine Snob"So, put on…
Mar 16, 2012
I was going through my blog stats today, looking at various measurements of visitors. One measurement is a keyword analysis. What you see here is a list of the 25 most common search terms for the past 1000 visitors to Fermentation that took place over the past day. I don't know about you, but it strikes me as a little bit funny. Of these 25 search words and phrases, more than half have very little if anything to do with…
Mar 8, 2012
For those of you who appreciate the more arcane in the wine blogging world, for lawyers who like wine, for wine industry compliance professionals, for those inclined toward the politics of wine, and for those that just like to dive really, really deep into the minutiae of wine legal issues, I suggest something new: The Libation Law Blog It's pretty new. Eleven posts so far. But the quality of the posts and the thoughtfulness that author Ashley Brandt puts into…
Feb 15, 2012
First…All wine bloggers are wine writers, but not all wine writers are wine bloggers. That said… Wine blogging isn't dying. But it is tired. Enthusiasm for the platform and for the practice is on the wane. The same can be said for blogging in general. While the wane in blogging in general is an interesting phenomenon, I'm more interest in the state of wine blogging. Consider this chart created at GoogleTrends that indicates the search interest in the term "Wine…