December 3 2007
Eschewing the wine blogosphere and mainstream media for once, Gary Vaynerchuk is featured today on an Internet marketing site found at www.strategicprofits.com.
The blog post featuring Gary can be found here.
The owner of the site, Rich Schefren, makes a living as a business coach to Internet marketers.
This isn’t a knock on coaches in the Internet marketing space, but most of these guys are shylocks of the first order and will take any opportunity to tout the mysterious “secrets” of success that they have worked a lifetime to accumulate. I’ve read a couple of the “free” reports and there are some nuggets to glean, but, generally speaking, these are like the guy that has a “sure-fire” college football gambling pick—the ‘stone cold lock’ and then he calls you three times a day for the next month wanting you to sign up for his service. These guys want you sign up for their webinars for $100 or $150 bucks to learn more of the secrets, the bait being free whitepapers and workbooks and such. I think the only secret is they make a pretty good living off of people that have enough wherewithal to dip a toe in the water, but not enough to jump into the deep end of the pool. Or, to use the gambling analogy—guys that have enough money to gamble, but not enough to lose …
I wish I listened to the audio because it seems like Rich is trying to keep up, get a word in and do his own bit of chest puffing. He admitted on page 12 of the transcript that Gary probably knew more about social media. Ironically, did I mention, the interviewer, Rich, makes a living as an Internet Marketer/Guru?
Interesting, indeed.
Check it out. Vaynerchuk is in full-on “talkamileaminutemodewithabunchofunecdotesandanologies” and there’s some good background detail on the origination and growth of Winelibrary.com.
Gary plays it straight and plays it genuine, but for my money I think he should not be so quick to do the James Lipton “Inside the Actors Studio” bit so soon. There’s still a lot to conquer for Vaynerchuk and keeping his craft sacrosanct will help keep the allure for those who have yet to discover the “brand.” Even in a transparent 360 degree online world, there’s something to be said for the band not playing the #1 hit during the encore--leaving the audience wanting something more.
If you’re interested in the audio it can be found here.
Continued Godspeed to Gary. His explosion onto the scene in ’07 is the best and most interesting thing to happen in the wine blogosphere—he is a natural foil for all things that are interesting about our online wine world and I continue to root for his worldwide domination.
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November 29 2007
I just finished reading Wine & Philosophy, a gem of a book edited by Fritz Alloff, featuring essays by a number of notable wine writers and experts like Matt Kramer, Jamie Goode, George Taber and others.
I received this as a review copy from the editor, Fritz. He and I don’t know each other and I would generally defer any comment whatsoever if I didn’t think it was meritorious. That said, if you’re interested in the contemplative side of wine, the brainy aspect that comes out philosophically in the midst of your third glass, the socially lubricated part of the wine experience that makes the grape such an interesting subject, than Wine & Philosophy is the book for you.
Amidst skillfully cultivated, cross-referenced and footnoted essays covering a range of topics from the culture of wine, wine criticism, wine and metaphysical notions and wine and politics, is a highly readable book that creates conversational fodder for a month of Sundays, or a year of late night weekly tastings, whichever is greater.
I’m no simpleton, though, by my own estimation I am pretty normal, so, perhaps not coincidentally, one of the more interesting aspects of the book to me was an anecdote within an essay called “Who Cares If You Like It, This is a Good Wine Regardless,” by George Gale.
Gale is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and tells a story of “slinging” in the mid-70’s in Kansas City.
Now, if you’re anything like me and wish wistfully that you had been a part of a generation that seems, in minds eye, much cooler or romantic than your own (the Beat Generation in the 50s for me) than you’ll understand that Gales’ description of wine, Kansas City and mid-70’s is very, very cool.
He says in part:
In the mid-1970s, my home of Kansas City, Missouri was one of the hottest new wine centers in the North America: the market was opening up, wild growth in sales and consumption was observed, and an enormous buzz around wine and everything connected with wine swept the city. At the center of this excitement was a core of a dozen or so young wholesalers, retailers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, and one winegrower-winemaker who was also the wine columnist for the Kansas City Star. Needless to say, with such energy and passion available, the group soon developed a competitive sport focused on wine: slinging. Just as in its namesake –gunslinging- the new sport involved challenge and duel, but with bottles of wine as the weapons rather than guns. The sport worked like this.
Your doorbell would ring, and there would be two or three of the group, with or more bottles of wine hidden away in brown paper bags. Consider yourself slung” someone would say, and the group would barge into the room. Wine glasses were fetched, and the slingee would then be faced by “The Three Questions”: what is the grape, appellation, and vintage? After a suitable amount of tasting and sloshing around in the mouth, the slingee would have to stand and deliver, making a stab at answering the question.
Gale’s story continues and he makes a larger point about empirical analysis in a subjective subject, but to me, the point he really, really made is about shared community. And, in our own little epicenter within the context of wine bloggers, we can do an increasingly better job of working together to “sling” given this great communication vehicle called the Internet. And, because, frankly, others will look back at this period of time and those involved with their own little bit of envy.
Wine & Philosophy invites a lot of questions and provides a lot of answers for those looking for deductions. Pick it up online at amazon.com--it will be money well spent for any discriminating wine lover.
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November 25 2007
While certainly not new news as it dates to September of this year, there hasn’t been much of a ripple in the wine blogging world or offline wine press regarding the launch of the Robert Parker and Kevin Zraly wine certification program.
Frankly, this under-reporting surprises me. In my opinion, this certification program, if properly executed, has the opportunity to topple the perilously perched, fractured and very inconsistent world of wine certification and leave a lasting legacy for Parker that lasts long after his famous palate has ceased to provide relevancy to the wine world.
Hyperbole? I think not.
How can this fawning not be hyperbole? It’s simple. Besides the obvious notion that Kevin Zraly has long written and updated the definitive starter book for wine enthusiasm, the fact that they are creating a three-tier certification program spanning enthusiasm to expertise means they are swallowing up the entire spectrum of consumer fandom as an entry to being a Connoisseur, before heading to being an “expert.” Reportedly, the “expert” level will rival those of professional certifications and include a meeting for a blind tasting with Parker and Zraly. Basically, there is an opportunity to brand an entire generation of wine education online while consolidating consumer education with that of professional education into one gold standard for wine knowledge.
What they aren’t saying, however, is that this is a likely attempt to vertically consolidate the completely fragmented wine certification market under the aegis of Parker. And, while this may, initially, be presented to consumers, that can’t be the long-term target. Consumers don’t get certified. Consumers get educated. Professionals get certified. This is clearly called a “Wine Certification” program.
The program starts with eight individually administered tests, covering various regions that make up the first stage of the three stage certification. Each test is $30, is taken online and timed to be have the 50 questions completed in less than 60 minutes. A passing score is 80/100, a “B” on the standard academic 100 point scale.
Naysayers should hold their tongue in applying any punditry to an 80 not being a serviceable score in the world of wine scoring.
Level II of the certification—Connoisseur of Wine (CW) will launch in March of ’08 and Level III—Expert of Wine will launch in September of ’08.
I will watch this certification program with curiosity to see how the business development relationships take shape in order to expand influence. Parker, long notorious for forsaking any advertising and anything that smacks of implying a cozy relationship, will have to expand his reach in order to create anything close to approximating market definition. That said, however, there is a tremendous opportunity to create some standardization around wine knowledge and now is a good time to seize that opportunity. With consumption trends up across the board, having something approximating a consistent baseline of knowledge is sorely needed in the wine industry and subsequently for its customers—wine is increasingly transparent and the industry is seen from the inside out by consumers.
Likewise, it will be interesting to see if they do any sort of online effort to increase awareness—having some sort of online badge for wine bloggers would serve their interests, as well as the bloggers, aiming for a high-level of integrity.
I’m starting the Level I courses. Anybody interested in joining me?
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November 22 2007
Okay, I’ll take the bait. I can be taken in by a clever pr campaign.
Last week I received a bit of a teaser campaign in three parts. I suspect several of my wine blogging colleagues received the same packages—an anonymously sent picture of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers with a hang tag note that that says, “Matched Perfectly.” A couple of days later I received two aces from a deck of cards with a hang tag note again noting, “Matched Perfectly.” Finally, a day later comes a bottle of wine from Riddling Bros., a marketing firm that has created a spec. wine package and positioning called “Goes With Cellars …”
If my research is correct, the lead principal, Fred Schwartz, is an advertising agency vet with his own company, Fred & Company, which provides creative and strategic consulting to the wine industry.
It’s interesting then to note that the concept of “Goes With Cellars …” is virtually identical to that of “Wine that Loves …” Many bloggers will recall the surge of P.R. that followed the introduction of “Wine that Loves …” in the spring of this year. Many bloggers had an opinion that wavered somewhere between indifference to derision, but then, we’re not the audience, either.
The concept is simple, and in having conversations with Tracy Gardner, the principal for the Amazing Food Wine Company, the umbrella organization for “Wine that Loves …” it’s genius in its simplicity. Taking a page from the concept of Blue Ocean strategy whereby research is conducted to find uncontested market space and then executing a product strategy to address that unfulfilled demand, the “Wine that loves …” and “Goes With Cellars …” concept simply creates wine that does not have any varietal, appellation or country of origin information, but is matched to the food that it would be served with; food that is commonly eaten by a wide swath of Americans like grilled steak, grilled salmon, pasta, roasted chicken, etc.
From a practical perspective, it makes perfect sense—most wine is consumed the same day it is purchased, and usually it is purchased at the grocery store when other dinner provisions are being picked up. Why wouldn’t this be a good idea?
I now also have full context on why Tracy, in my conversations with him via work with my employer, was incredibly secretive—secretive to the extent that I initially thought him a bit paranoid. He apparently knew what I wasn’t thinking about—a good idea will be quickly replicated.
Besides the idea flying in the face of wine enthusiasts for whom knowledge and esoterica is stock in trade, I suspect this concept in its original form with “Wine that Loves …” and its secondary form, “Goes With Cellars …” has a tremendous opportunity in the market.
Goes With Cellars appears to be targeting a more finite audience with more specificity in its wine—Beef: Peppercorn Steak with an associated recipe whereas “Wine that Loves …” is broader with just simply, “Grilled Steak.”
Anybody that thinks that both of these concepts are fads that will meet a timely death would do well to recall a publishing phenomenon started a decade ago called the, “For Dummies …” series. These are general reference books aimed at a broad audience that were quickly copied in the market by a host of competitors including “The Complete Idiot’s Guide.” Both of these series were initially met with a lot of resistance from the intelligentsia and academians who derided the “dumbing down” of information in such a crass, pandering format.
There are a lot of parallels between our wine scenario and this publishing scenario, and 10 years later we know the outcome and success of the book publishing opportunity. The “For Dummies …” brand is now, by many estimates, as recognizable as Coca-Cola, Starbucks and McDonald’s.
Time will tell which of these wine concepts becomes the “For Dummies …” of the wine world, but I suspect one will.
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October 22 2007
Please help a wine blogger out. With the recent news that Indiana is now open to consumer wine shipping up to a 24 case annual limit, I have a lot of buying ground to make up. Some estimates have our states winery availability at approximately 5% of that of California and New York.
Consider this a cause. The two most popular wine blogs in the U.S. are Vinography.com (San Francisco) and Dr. Vino (New York). Imagine what could happen with Good Grape (Midwest/Indianapolis) if I could only increase my accessibility to wine by doubling it from 5% to 10%. I could act as a national bridge to these two coastal leaders.
Not only am I committed to making a dent into that 24 case limit, but I’m also committed to finding a bunch of wine that I haven’t yet discovered through my own diligence or by virtue of finding something new at my local bottle shop.
Please help me fill my cellar!
So, I’m opening it up to you. My request of ye olde reader: please leave a comment and answer this question: if you had to make a single recommendation for your favorite winery, a little known gem that didn’t cost a car payment for one wine club shipment, to somebody that respected your opinion, who would that winery be?
To get your mind started about recommendations, I’ll start with my top five wish list for wines that I will/want to buy online or via their wine club.
Dover Canyon
Tablas Creek
Kosta Browne (Perhaps the best wine I’ve had this year)
Hartley Ostini/Hitching Post wines
Channing Daughters
Thanks for your help—know and understand that you’re helping me spend money in a positive and worthwhile fashion.
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