Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
Lest anyone ever forget that wine is art, just send them over to Vinfolio and their newly introduced "Wine Price File" service. No, I'm not reiterating that wine is a product that derives from the same creative impulses that drove Rodin, Pollock or Ben West. No. I'm reminded by Wine Price File that Wine is art in the sense that it collected, horded, traded, priced, bought and sold in the open market, just like the works of of these artists…
The power and importance of The Wine Spectator, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirit's Magazine, the Wine Enthusiast or any other wine print publications isn't determined by the quality of their content. It isn't measured by the number of wines they review. And it's not measured by the insight of their various columnists, editors or writers. The power of these publications and any others is determined by one single thing: The number of eyeballs they attract. With eyeballs come…
In the wine industry we have something called, ironically, a COLA: Certificate of Label Approval. It’s issued by the Feds for every label that is in the American Market. There are thousands labels sent to the TTB for approval each year. The TTB issues guidelines as to what is allowed and not allowed on a label for an alcoholic beverage, how large certain type must be, etc. There is a fascinating and insightful new blow that monitors the labels that…
I’ve been thinking about THIS POST from Steve Bachmann’s "Wine Collector" blog since it hit. Maybe anyone else with a retirement portfolio or investments should also. Like most folks in their 40s, I’ve got IRAs, savings, investments, etc. The idea is to save up enough for when you retire so that you don’t have to fight for a place on Van Ness Avenue where you can stand all day holding a sign that says, "Former PR Exec Down and Out…Any…
For those of you who have ever considered moving to Wine Country, I dare say now is as good as time as any to give it a shot. Recently I’ve been exploring the housing market, particularly in the Sonoma Valley. What’s clear is that the Under $1 Million housing market in this neck of the woods has taken a hit. There exists on the market now homes that represent pretty good values—relative to what they would have cost just 2…
