Oct 28, 2010
On my Thursday mind… "It's like using an ATM"Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board spokesperson Stacy Witalec on the new "Wine Kiosks" spreading to various grocery stores in the state Well, not really, unless you have taken an automated breathalyzer test by blowing into the ATM prior to retrieving your 20s. The absurdity of the PA wine kiosks that force you to look through a little window at the wine bottle, stare into a camera, hope the person looking at your…
Oct 20, 2010
I like neatly ordered lists. I'm not a control freak, but I find a certain amount of order in all things to be comforting. Bringing order to the emerged world of wine blogs has been a topic of conversation with many of my PR colleagues. We only want to know what a blogger's audience size is, what they write about and, if possible, a little bit about the demographics of their audience. Is that too much to ask? In the…
Sep 22, 2010
As a service to readers of FERMENTATION and as a diversion from more recent political intensities here, we reach to the Department of Funny for today's post. The View Winery in the Okanagan Valley joins a number of other wineries, including Judd's Hill and Roshambo, who produced short format videos that have made their way into the digital pages of FERMENTATION simply because they are funny and I have a weakness for "funny". However, none of these wineries made the…
Sep 13, 2010
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…
Sep 2, 2010
"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…