Feb 29, 2012
What is the meaning of the "Natural Wine" movement? Why is here with us and why now? How has it slipped up? What kind of opposition does it face? How much support does it have? These are the questions I've been pondering recently as I prepare to go down to World of Pinot Noir this weekend to attend that annual festival of all things Pinot Noir and, in particular, listen to a debate/discussion about Natural Wines. What I'm hoping for…
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…
Feb 13, 2012
One of the defining aspects of on-line wine content today is that it has become increasingly difficult to track what is available on the Internet, whether you are a consumer or a member of the trade. This is as much so for myself—who has a job that requires tracking of wine content—as it is for the average (or even above average) wine consumer. And so when I come across new sources of wine content and information that arouse my interest…
Feb 7, 2012
I like Justice. Real justice, the kind that provides an appropriate response to a dastardly act, feels good. And it makes you believe that civilization is a good thing, despite its occasional tendencies to roll off the rail. Today, it appears, some justice was meted out. And I'm feeling good. Back in 2005 a fire destroyed a wine warehouse in Vallejo, California. More than $100 Million in wine was destroyed. At the time one of my clients was the great…
Jan 31, 2012
As a wine publicist, I almost always am dealing in minutia, not Big Picture thinking. It's the nature of the job. What's the best way to deliver this message? How to define this niche? What's the import of this particular marketing practice. Minutia. For some reason, the past couple weeks I've been thinking about "Big Pictures" in the wine industry. Defining and determining what the Big Pictures are isn't as easy as one thinks. But no matter how you define…