Price: $8.99 @ K&L Wines imported by Pasternak Wine
What They Said:
Per K&L Wines “90 points in the Wine Spectator: “Vivid, refreshing and brimming with lime-accented pear, star fruit and light vanilla flavors, lingering nicely on the expressive finish. Drink now. 2,000 cases imported” (April 2009) Meyer lemon, tangerine, lime zest, papaya and pineapple. [...]
Price: $9.99 @ Pasternak Wines imported by Pasternak Wine
What They Said:
Per wine.com “Inky and dense with attractive berry aromas and a touch of cinnamon and sweet spice. A fully, fruity wine, with excellent body, intense tannins, flavors of cherry, blackberry, boysenberry and plum intermingled with hints of cardamom and pepper, and a long, full [...]
It was extremely gratifying therefore that a South African wine was included in the intial luxury ‘Reserve’ pack. This was none other than the Vilafonte ‘Series M’ which has had considerable success in Wine Spectator, the New York Times and is the only South African winery to have ever been nominated twice for the Wine Enthusiast ‘New World Winery of the Year’ in 2005 and in 2008. Vilafonte has also been the subject of an extensive New York Times double page article by the late great Johnny Apple – read it HERE. 
Music: Earl & The Reggae Allstars Dancing: Ksandek Podbielski Making fun of Ksandek’s Dancing: Julie Armstrong Guests: Food and Paul Murphy’s Kitchen Crew: The Menu: Appetizers: Prawns in Escabeche with fennel, sweet onion, garlic and sherry vinegar White Balsamic Marinated Mary Hill Peaches with arugula, manchego, and black pepper Pork Confit with pimenton, figs, and local honey Dinner: Cattail Creek Lamb Spit Roasted over Alder and Mesquite marinated in lemon, oregano, and olive oil Charcoal Grilled Salmon washed with olive oil, thyme and garlic Local Green Salad with radishes, white balsamic, and basil Local Summer Beans with shaved pecorino, basil, and olive oil Grilled Local Summer Vegetables with summer squash, chicories, sweet onions, eggplant, fennel, marinated in balsamic and olive oil Fingerling Potatoes poached with sea salt and olive oil tossed with rosemary, thyme, and garlic Dessert Fresh Summer Melon…
Continue reading about Nevermind the Hot Dogs, this is the Anne Amie Wine Club BBQ
Price: $16.99 @ Friend/Gift
What They Said:
Per La Crema “The 2007 release of our Sonoma Coast Chardonnay bursts with vivid citrus and fresh green apple aromas, laced with subtle notes of honeysuckle and clove. On the palate, flavors broaden into rich spiced apple and crisp lime zest, with vanilla and caramel tones adding richness and [...]
Continue reading about 2007 La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
To book your seat: E-mail Jon Cherry – jon@cherryflava.com
Monday in San Francisco was full of blue skies and relatively warm breezes for the city on the bay.
I was in town to check out the annual Family Winemaker’s Show. The show is held at Fort Mason, which has a gorgeous view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and the SF bay.
I was accompanied by one of my favorite partners in wine crime, Clay Wallin,of VinTank and Wine 2.0.
I always seek out the domestic wineries that are producing wines made from organic and biodynamic grapes. This is a necessary vetting tool since there are hundreds of wineries present. One needs to approach such events with some method to avoid exhaustion.
Anonymous comments from various winemakers regarding organics and wine:
“We used to be certified organic but it was too difficult to control the weeds through tractor mowing. We let the certification go so we can use Round Up again.”
“We are practicing organic but have not gone through the certification process yet. It seems costly and time consuming.”
“Wines made from organic grapes are not any healthier to drink. We farm organically as a lifestyle decision. We live on the same land as the vineyard.”
“We farm biodynamically because we believe in being proactive and preventative. We do not want to make decisions based on fear which is how most conventional wines are made. Fear of stuck fermentation so they buy commercial yeast, fear of insects so they apply chemical pesticides, etc.”
I tasted dozens of delicious wines on Monday.
But here is a wine made from organic grapes that is affordable, easy to find and offers great value for money.
Clif Family Winery The Climber 2007 (white wine blend) $14
Very zippy and refreshing. Floral and citrus aromas with lush peach and nectarine flavors. Great summer seafood match. Varietal blend: sauvignon blanc, pinot blanc, chenin blanc, muscat
Clif Family Winery The Climber 2005 (red wine blend) $17
Amazing value for your money. This red wine is a definite crowd pleaser. Soft red berry fruit with just a touch of earth and pepper to give it an edge.
Varietal blend: red zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, petite sirah, syrah, merlot
Continue reading about Organic Wine & The Family Winemakers Show 2009
It feels really good to get on board with a good cause. It feels even better when the folks behind that cause are able to organize a great event like this year’s Rose City Wine Opener. The Oregon chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation puts on this event each year to raise awareness and funds for their mission of curing and controlling cystic fibrosis. To learn more about the great work being done by the Oregon chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, please visit http://www.cff.org/Chapters/oregon/
Summer doesn’t officially end until September 22nd, but the end of the season for me is just over the horizon as the boys start school tomorrow.
Its been a nice couple of months filled with swimming, tennis camp, a trip to NYC and various other activities reserved for out of school pleasure. This included an almost [...]
Continue reading about I Scream as They Scream About Ice Cream
A few weeks ago, I read a very interesting article on WINE BUSINESS.com and have tried several times since to summarize the findings in a meaningful way. Maybe my schedule has been to hectic or I’m losing my touch, but I couldn’t do it, so I’m reprinting the article in its entirety here on my blog. Enjoy – there’s some interesting stuff in here for bloggers, wineries, PR firms and anyone else who has even a passing interest in wine blogging.
Reprinted from WINE BUSINESS.com…
Do Wine Blogs Impact Your Brand? New Study Highlights Wine Blogger Activity. By Liz Thach, Ph.D., SSU Wine Business Professor
Should wineries pay attention to what wine bloggers are writing? Do they really have an impact on a wine brand? According to a new study just completed by Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute, it appears that the answer is yes — especially for wineries with less well-known brands or located in new and upcoming wine regions.
How Many Wine Blogs Are There Anyway?
In order to conduct the study, it was necessary to obtain a random sample, so we consulted the Complete List of Wine Blogs, compiled by Alder Yarrow at www.vinography.com. You may be amazed to know that in the last 5 years, the number of wine blogs has grown from 1 to over 700. Of these, more than 570 wine blogs are in English, with an additional 170+ wine blogs in other languages, including Italian, French, Catalan, Czech, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Hungarian, Norwegian, and Indonesian.
Focusing on the English language wine blogs, we applied a decision rule of selecting a minimum of 10 blogs per alpha letter, and discarding those blogs that were not active. This resulted in a total sample of 222 blogs which were subjected to content analysis by 42 trained wine business students.
The 9 Major Categories of Wine Blogs
Blogs on Wine & Food with matching recipes, as well as information on restaurants was the 2nd largest category. This was followed by Wine Education where the blogger educates the reader on wine issues such as wine styles, varietals, how to taste wine and related topics. Blogs that focused specifically on Winemaking and Viticulture were placed in a separate category. In addition, there were blogs that focused on Specific Wine Regions, such as a city, state, appellation or country. Some examples we found included Washington D.C., New Orleans, San Francisco, Paris, Seattle, Washington State, Oregon, California, and Britain. These blogs also emphasized wine shops and/or wineries available in these areas, as well as restaurants. A related category was Wine & Culture which focused on the association of wine with art, poetry, music, and literature. Only 9% of the sample included Winery Blogs — or those created by wineries to describe their wines and news at the winery. This illustrates an opportunity for more wineries to create their own blog. Other less frequent blog categories included Wine Business and Winemaking & Viticulture. The category of Other was created for those very unique blogs that didn’t fit into major themes. Examples included “wine & hiking; wine & politics; wine under $20; and an emphasis on a specific grape, such as shiraz.
Numbers of Wine Brands and Ads on Blogs
Other analyses included counting and recording the number of wine brands and advertisements on the first page of each blog (we did not analyze older posts). Amazingly within the 222 wine blogs, 813 different wine brands were listed. These were sorted to determine which wine brands were cited most often. Interestingly only 3 brands were listed 4 or more times: Kendall-Jackson, Ridge and Penfolds. This analysis showed that many small unknown wine brands are described on blogs, as well as international brands from around the world.
Just under half of the sample (47%) included advertisements on the blog, for a total of 451 ads. These varied from simple ads provided by Google, to sophisticated winery, food, and wine product ads. It is important to note that the major way wine bloggers create revenue is through online ads, with professional bloggers able to make $20,000 – $30,000 per year in this fashion. Most wine bloggers have other jobs to supplement their online income. (Note: There have been some ethical discussions at the past two Wine Blogger’s Conferences as to whether or not bloggers should accept ads from wine brands they review.)
Why Should Wineries Pay Attention to Bloggers?
There are several reasons that wineries need to pay attention to wine bloggers. The first is that the number of wine blogs is continuing to grow, and this provides an opportunity for wineries to have their brands featured on blogs. For wineries with a small public relations budget or those that can’t get the attention of the larger media publications, this can be a positive alternative — especially since some of the more popular wine blogs have thousands of followers and receive 30,000 to 40,000 hits per month.
Another reason is that we have entered a period of “democratization of media on the Internet.” This means that anyone can easily establish a wine blog on the Internet using free blogging software (wordpress.com; blogspot.com; typepad.com, etc.). Since there are no official guidelines regarding what can be published, the stories and reviews may be positive or negative. Likewise, bloggers have diverse backgrounds in that some have a high level of wine knowledge and experience, whereas others have none and just want to share their viewpoints on wine. Therefore, in terms of writing quality and level of sophistication of wine blogs, there is great variation. Because of this wineries need to monitor what is being said about their brands online.
How Can Wineries Work With Wine Bloggers?
- Monitor your brand online to keep track of what people are saying about you. Most wineries have now utilized the Google Alert system, but there are others such as Twitter Search, http://www.trackur.com, and http://www.monitter.com which can provide more information.
- If you find a positive review or mention of your name, consider sending an email to thank the blogger for featuring you.
- If you find a negative review, contact the blogger and ask them for more information. Consider inviting them to visit your winery or a tasting you are hosting so they can learn more about you. DO NOT get in an “online flame war” with a blogger (which has happened in the past).
- Identify several wine blogs you enjoy reading and keep track of them to see what topics are “hot” on the blogs.
- If you are a new winery with a less well-known brand consider contacting the blogmaster of wine blogs which interest you. Invite them to visit or taste your wine.
- If you are in a wine region that is less well-known, identify bloggers who write about your region and invite them to visit or taste your wine.
- If you are considering starting your own winery blog, make sure to implement it in a professional manner. This means making sure to write new posts at least once a week, but preferably more often. It also means writing interesting stories about what is happening at the winery and other issues, rather than just trying to market your wine. Finally, it means monitoring and responding to the people who post on your blog.
Continue reading about Do Wine Blogs Impact Your Brand? New Study Highlights Wine Blogger Activity