Archive for the ‘Wine Education’ Category
The House Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on H.R. 5034, known to some as the "Wholesaler Protection Act, on Wednesday, September 29 at 11:00am Eastern Time. The hearings will be streamed live via the House Judiciary website at this URL: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_100929.html The bill, now in its second iteration thanks in large part to the extraordinary and nearly universal condemnation of its effects and intent, is opposed by producers of beer, wine and spirits,, opposed by beverage importers and opposed by…
Not long ago I issued a post on "The State of Online Wine Talk" in which I took a look at the state of online wine bulletin boards (WBBs), those websites where wine geeks gather to have written conversations on all things wine. I spent a little bit of time discussing the demise of public use of the eRobertParker WBB and the rise of Wine Beserkers. I didn't spend much time talking about another WBB that has recently seen a…
Over at Wark Communications, the fancy name I've given to the public relations and communications consultancy that has been the the source of my income for the past 15 years, I've taken up with HAIDU.NET. I've agreed to be HAIDU.NET's communications agency of record. I've agreed to associate myself with HAIDU.NET. It's a big decision. For anyone who works as a consultant, whether inside or outside the wine industry, the very first things that must be understood is this: While…
"I do not believe nature has any use for our democracies. Some things are better than others, and on of our functions is to guide our readers toward appreciation of these distinctions as gracefully a we're able." This is Terry Theise, the great importer of wine, explaining his belief that quality is objective and can be discerned in wine. It is also Terry explaining that it is the obligation of the learned wine aficionado to tutor the less knowledgeable in…
I was disappointed, though not surprised, to see that today a conjunctive labeling law dictating that "Sonoma County" be placed on every label on wines produced from grapes grown in Sonoma County was unanimously passed by the California Legislature . Pushed as an effort to promote "Sonoma County" wines and a consumer education effort, the new law instead forces vintners to needlessly sully their package and undermines their own marketing efforts. Yet, the law does nothing to educate consumers. Passed…
