Dec 7, 2007
The 2007 calendar year is coming to an end an that prompts me to think harder about the past two months, to make assessments and to try to learn some lessons before we move on the perfectly lovely arbitrary notion of a "new year". The wine new of 2007 when looked at retrospectively turns out to be truly educational as well as a signal of what to anticipate in the coming year and years. Here are my most interesting news…
Nov 8, 2007
There has always been a bit of a cringe-factor among wine bloggers when it comes to the issue of running advertisements on their blog. It results, I think, from an intense desire to try to show themselves as being apart from mainstream publications that make their money off ads and who have always been accused of showing favoritism to those who run ads in those magazines. But, advertisements are GOOD for Wine Bloggers as well as readers of Wine Blogs….
Nov 6, 2007
“Wine doesn’t submit very happily to scores, but I realize people making buying decisions are in a hurry … We live in a very impatient age.” "A Very Impatient Age"! This is Jancis Robinson, the English wine scribe, explaining the factor that provoked her to use scores on reviews of wine on her subscription website, Jancisrobinson.com. This explanation of her giving in to scores came in an article and interview with her by Appellation America’s Alan Goldfarb. The bulk of…
Nov 5, 2007
It was only a matter of time before someone wrote the book on Wine & Politics; on the political machinations that help determine who will make money on wine by controlling how it is made, how it it sold and how it is consumed. The only question was who would write. That would be Dr. Vino. Not scheduled to hit the shelves until spring of next year, "Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink",…
Nov 2, 2007
What is "reliable" information? This question might take on more significance when discussing matters of life or death, the value of your home or information upon which you are going to base business decisions. With regard to wine and our passion for the beverage I’m not sure it’s nearly as important. After all, if someone tells you, "This is the best wine in the universe" and it turns out not to be…big deal. But it still remains something we should…