Archive for the ‘Wine Education’ Category
It’s the quadrennial political convention time and my thoughts run to the political. The first presidential election that engrossed me from start to finish was 1984 (my guy got slaughtered). I couldn’t get enough of the debate, speeches, political strategy, platform development, etc. I’m watching it all now, again, and as always it is great theater. But what I’m wondering is this: What if the nation elected a Wine President every four years. What if this president represented the American…
Have you ever noticed that big time wine writers and wine reviewers rarely make fun of themselves and their profession, despite the fact that when you back up and really observe what reviewers do, it’s kind of funny: The lengths they go to inoculate themselves from bias, the formality, the special glasses, the palate cleansers. All the things that go into tasting, rating and reviewing wine has to be kind of absurd for someone on the outside looking in. But…
Well, the gauntlet was certainly thrown down today. Is the "Napa Valley" Brand in decline? Is it faltering in the face of increased competition. Is it possible that the marketing powerhouse that is Napa Valley Cabernet hasn’t kept up with the competition? Bill Ryan, a columnist at the Napa Valley Register, essentially told his readers (those in the wine industry), either change your marketing ways or see the demise of Napa Valley as the premier wine region in the New…
I hope I’ll be forgiven, in this case, of trying to figure out what utility an "Electronic Tongue" able to identify a wine and it’s chemical make up has for my own life and career. As it turns out, I can already identify what’s in a wine pretty much by looking at the label on the wine. So what’s in it for me, a lowly wine PR dude and wine drinker? To be sure, I understand what the scientists find…
As I think I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of lists. I like looking at rankings and sets. I like the context it delivers, whether I agree with the rankings or don’t. Among the most interesting and thought-provoking lists I’ve seen in quite some time was Foreign Policy Prospect’s 2008 List of the World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals. The list contained no one with a focus on wine, but it was a fascinating glimpse into what the world of…
