Archive for the ‘Wine Consumers’ Category
A story in the NY Times today on the sorry state of the Gravenstein apple market in Sonoma County provided a reminder of the primary force that moves the wine industry. If you like seeing more Pinot on the market, don't thank the movie Sideways. If you worry over the proliferation of big, high pH fruit bombs, don't blame Robert Parker's palate or Jim Laube's preferences. If are trouble by the higher alcohol in wine these days, don't blame new…
It was reported today that the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America have contributed $3.7 Million to the effort to kill the an alcohol distribution reform initiative in Washington State. Initiative 1183, if passed, would get the state out of the business of distributing and selling liquor. The ballot initiative also would allow wine distributors and wineries to offer volume discounts and to sell directly to retail stores and restaurants if they choose. Finally, Initiative 1183 makes the commonsense reform…
Can we trust that the reviews and ratings on the various wine reviewing peer sites are authentic and not paid for? This question stuck with me over the past few days after reading the New York Times front page story, "In a Race to Out-Rave, 5-Star Web Reviews Go for $5". The expose of paid for good reviews on sites like Amazon.com, Yelp and TripAdvisor began with this: "In tens of millions of reviews on Web sites like Amazon.com, Citysearch,…
A recent analysis of the direct wine shipping market concludes that American wineries must prepare to increase their direct shipping capabilities in order to accommodate what will be an unanticipated yet staggering increase in the direct sales and shipments of wine. The coming increase in direct shipped wine will, according to the recent analysis, marginalize most if not all sales via the three tier system. The source of the new analysis of the direct shipping market is Joseph Cryan of…
A previous post on this blog in which I challenge the critics of the 100 Point Scoring system to make a compelling case against the system is up to 60 comments. What a surprise!! While a number of very astute points have been made in the course of those 60 comments, one stands out as perhaps the most important thing a wine retailer or winery could take away from the discussion. The comment comes from Gregg Burke, owner of Maratene's…
