Res ipsa loquitur

WineBusiness.com reports today that a class action filed in San Francisco last month claims BevMo raises the prices of the wines in their 5-cent sale so that in some cases, customers are paying more for the two bottles than they would at regular price.

From a business standpoint, this is a great way to make money. After all, value is perceived, right? All you need to seal the deal is an 88-point or higher rating from the wine critic hired to be as your in-house cellar master. (more…)

Boontling

While looking at the back label of a wine my wife received in one of her club shipments, I recently learned about Boontling – the obscure American English dialect which has 1,300 unique words and originated in the 1800s in Anderson Valley’s Boonville.

I’ve recently been speaking with a winemaker friend (not operating in the Central Coast) about improving the visibility and success of his brand. This made me think of one key fact: in a landscape where everyone makes as much noise about themselves as possible, being understated is going to present problems in one’s ability to compete. By extension, being conventional makes one prone to getting lost in the noise or being overshadowed by more distinct and unique branding. (more…)

According to Wine Industry Insight, wine sites and blogs based in California cannot advertise wine sales sites in the context of commission-based affiliate programs.

It appears, on first glance, that California-based bloggers and site operators would have to pull affiliate ad banners. This would adversely affect web site and blog owners who seek to monetize their content through this route.

It is not clear if this is an absolute, categorical ban or if site operators could acquire an ABC license of some sort.

No details on the ruling or the rationale or precedent behind it yet.

More to come…

Sulfide flaws.

Don’t you just hate it? You pop the cork on that bottle of wine you’ve been saving only to find that it’s corked or flawed in some other way.

That happened to me last night: I opened a 2005 single vineyard designated Chardonnay from Santa Maria Valley. Out of the glass came smells of onions, garlic and chives – the aromas of mercaptans. Like TCA taint, there is nothing I can do to make this $35 bottle of wine enjoyable. (more…)

A wide assortment.

Over the weekend, while listening to a discussion on CNN about the state and fate of the U.S. auto industry, I was struck by a parallel between that industry and the U.S. wine industry. Many new as well as long-established wineries offer a broad spectrum of varieties and blends. No matter if they grow all the varieties they bottle or if they purchase the fruit or bulk juice, the strategy seems to be to cover the market and satisfy the demands of all potential customers coming through the tasting room. (more…)

Just before the storm.

Guest post by Larry Stanton

We are just back from our first pouring trip, and it was an eye opener. Following our first bottling several months ago, we were anxious to get our new, 1-2 Ton/acre wines “out there”, convinced that once someone tries them, the wines will sell themselves. Starting a new venture in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930’s, we pressed ahead, anxious, but nonetheless, optimistic.

“There’s always room at the top”, as the saying goes. We had an excellent product, and priced it fairly, factoring 25% off just because of financially chaotic times. People want…people demand and deserve true quality at an affordable price. That is our niche and we truly believe we have filled it. (more…)

First North American Wine Bloggers Conference

Day 1 – Summary

First and foremost let me say that I have been to a good number of conferences (academic and professional), but this one is really packed with value – events, food, speakers, sponsors and goodies like a conference tote, trips and vineyard walks. Logistically, this event has been doing very well with minimal delays and glitches (none of the latter, actually).

It was a busy day, today. We arrived at 2:30 and hit the ground running. Grip and grins were interspersed with scheduled business. We missed the Kick Ranch Vineyard tasting and lunch. Our plans did not allow us to arrive earlier. (more…)