Oct 28, 2008
This has been a good year for Tyler Colman, the first Wine Blogger to go mainstream. Earlier in the year he saw published, and has since gained a great deal of publicity for, "Wine Politics"—— a book about its title that I loved. On November 11th, Tyler will begin swimming in the deep end of the mainstream wine media with the publishing of: "A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys and What to Sip for Each Season". This…
Oct 26, 2008
Alice Feirng is an anti-establishmentarian that believes beauty is extracted from order. This puts her at odds with American wine and probably modernity too. And yet this strange and compelling perspective also gave her open entry directly into the hearts of the audience I watched her address yesterday. Last night, in the grand, old tank room of Sonoma's venerable Sebastiani Vineyards, with lights dimmed and candles lit, Ms. Feiring held court in front of a crowd that was decidedly modern:…
Oct 23, 2008
The power and importance of The Wine Spectator, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine & Spirit's Magazine, the Wine Enthusiast or any other wine print publications isn't determined by the quality of their content. It isn't measured by the number of wines they review. And it's not measured by the insight of their various columnists, editors or writers. The power of these publications and any others is determined by one single thing: The number of eyeballs they attract. With eyeballs come…
Oct 6, 2008
Do you ever wonder how people find you on the Internet? Wineries, wine retailers and restaurants certainly do, as well as every other business that hopes to connect with prospective customers over the Internet. Bloggers should be wondering this too. One of the best ways to discover how you are being discovered (or how your website or blog is being discovered) is to look at your stats and see what keywords used in search engines bring eyeball to you. I…
Sep 16, 2008
When you do see an examination of the three tier system of alcohol sales in print, it usually speaks to the rather odd and anti-consumer shipping laws we find in many states across the country. That’s why I was fascinated and happy to see an article in the Sommelier Journal that examined the condition and efficacy of this mandated use of wholesalers from the perspective of the Sommelier. Written by Napa Valley resident Bob Bath (a Master Sommelier himself), it…