Aug 27, 2009
What similarity is there between a well made movie concerning fated love and the magnetic draw of family on the one hand, and wine marketing on the other?__________________________________________________This episode of Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog (Video Edition) is brought to you by: HAWKES WINE—Alexander ValleyProducers of outstanding single vineyard Cabernet From Alexander Valley and producers of a GREAT Video Blog. CLICK HERE to visit Hawkes Wine
Aug 21, 2009
For almost 20 years now I’ve been reading (and writing) invitations to events that inform that the event’s dress code is “Wine Country Casual”. But there’s a problem with this: I don’t know exactly what “Wine Country Casual” means from a fashion perspective. All I know for sure about this mysterious dress code is that it instructs attendees to events that formality in their dress is not required. But in thinking about this dress code, I may have figured out…
Aug 20, 2009
If there was ever a type of wine organization that would benefit from instituting a blog to communicate their work and fulfill their mission, it's the appellation association. Such association are, ultimately, founded and run to promote the financial interests of the wineries and growers within the borders of the appellation. By raising the profile of the appellation, building the value of its grapes and wines and working to attract visitors to the region, the appellation association supports the efforts…
Aug 13, 2009
Little revelations are always good because they tend to speak to principles to live by. Here’s my latest (and I’m embarrassed that I’ve only lately realized it): I don’t want serious restaurant critics to pay for their meals nor serious wine critics to pay for a drop of wine. Why? I don’t trust a restaurant or wine critic to accurately or honestly evaluate their experience when part of that experience is filtered through the dent their object of evaluation made…
Aug 7, 2009
Let us sit together and speak of knowledge as men do. Always ask: What does this reviewer know? We know what he thinks, but what does he know? This command comes from one of the smartest, most experienced and most knowledgeable wine writers/reporters/critics I've ever known: Dan Berger. He wrote it in his latest issue of his "Dan Berger's Vintage Experiences" in an article entitled Analyzing Marketing. In this article he lists a series of aphorisms and truths that he…