Apr 18, 2012
Writer and author James Conaway helped me get my first job in the wine industry. It was his 1990 expose of the Napa wine industry, "Napa", that I wrote a review of and put in my portfolio to show potential employers that I could write decently. I don't owe James a percentage of my wages earned since 1990, but I do owe him my gratitude for writing a fascinating and illuminating book that I could sink my teeth into as…
Mar 20, 2012
You just don't see much of it any more. Drive up and down the roads of America's wine regions and new vineyards are rarely being planted and trained in a head prunned or "Goblet" fashion. That wasn't always the case. Look at the vast majority of surviving, true "old vine" vineyards, the 75 year-old + variety, and the majority of them are in fact head trained. Arthur Z. Przebinda, a doctor, writer, blogger at "Shut Up and Make Wine", father…
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…
Mar 6, 2012
While the faith in science and technology to make our lives better is a constant, it doesn't always play out that way. However, sometimes science comes through. Consider this story: DRUG DEVELOPED TO MAKE PEOPLE DRINK LESS As reported by the Daily Telegraph, this new drug, developed by Lundbeck and currently going through clinical trials, curbs the desire to drink by making it less pleasurable. According to a study conducted the results of using this drug were: "Over six months…
Mar 2, 2012
The craft of wine industry public relations doesn't strike me as being altogether different than real estate, publishing, high tech, or any other industry PR effort. There is a different body of information that a Wine PR pro must master and of course a different set of media to understand. But in the end, the simplest explanation of what a Wine PR pro must do is the simplest explanation of what any public relations professional does: communicate a brand message…