Feb 10, 2010
I used to like Steve Heimoff because he was willing to listen to or carefully read a pitch I'd throw his way about a client. Then I started to like him more because he seemed to have a similar appreciation for wine styles as me. These days I still like him for these reasons. But like him even more because he makes me think harder about my assumptions and understandings of my business and world, even when he's wrong. Take…
Jan 21, 2010
The Label! It is the primary and most important marketing tool any and every winery uses to market its wines. The label tells prospective purchasers the wineries name, the kind of wine that is in the bottle, where the grapes were grown that went into the production of the wine the prospective purchaser is considering, the year during which those grapes were grown, and it can convey by its design numerous other messages about the character, desires, intent, philosophy and…
Dec 31, 2009
I believe 2009 has been one of the most significant 12 months of my life. As I think back on the past 12 months I find myself wanting to categorize and define and organize it into neat packets. Much of 2009 revolved around my life as a blogger, what it revealed and what it has resulted in. Another good portion of 2009 revolved around my now 20 year pursuit of establishing myself as a reliable wine PR and marketing guy….
Nov 23, 2009
If you ever doubted the veracity of the idiom, "Necessity is the mother of invention" then just read what the powers that be are considering in Napa. After 20 years of living under the Winery Definition Ordinance that banned anything but "Appointment only Tastings" and weddings at wineries founded after 1989, there is consideration now of loosening those restrictions. Why? The economy sucks and many who previously saw no need to tempt a "Disneyland-like environment that many see as the…
Oct 29, 2009
The city of Saint Helena in the middle of Napa Valley wants to prohibit tasting rooms in its city limits from tasting and selling any wines that do not carry the "Napa Valley" appellation or a Napa Valley sub-appellation on the label. What I can't figure out is why the Saint Helena City Council doesn't just go all the way and prohibit the sale or tasting of any wines that don't cary the "Saint Helena" sub appellation on the bottle….