Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Bloggerview #33: Ed Thralls

BLOGGERVIEW #33

Who: Ed Thralls
Blog: Wine Tonite
Where: http://www.winetonite.com/

I like "Wine Tonite". It strikes me as a quintessential 2010 Wine Blog insofar as if you glance through it you'll see that it's producer, Ed Thralls, has taken advantage of all the social media bells and whistles, integrated them perfectly into the site and makes the experience of reading Wine Tonite a simple straightforward one. But most of all what I like about Wine Tonite is the effortless, personable, experiential nature of the writing. Certainly this is a reflection of Ed, who clearly loves wine and everything about it. Ed is a Certified Wine Specialist working on his Certificate of Winemaking from U.C. Davis. You get the sense from reading Wine Tonight not that you are learning along the way with Ed, but rather experiencing his discovery of the various facets of wine.

1. When Did You Start Blogging and Why?
I started blogging in 2007 on Vox.com looking for some kind of creative and therapeutic outlet initially talking about everything I was enjoying in my personal life at the time from triathlons to rants about baseball and just a little about wine. Wine Tonite! went live in 2008 inspired by the idea of sharing information about the wines we would taste with our local wine club and my decision to completely immerse myself into the subject of wine.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
The blog portrays our personal experiences with wine as well as our journey to become more knowledgeable about wine in a casual and informal setting such that readers may be able to relate to or learn from them in a real and collaborative way. We expect to learn more from the reader than the other way around.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
Straight talk. Long gone are my days of writing poetry and being published in literary magazines. I generally try to keep my topics short and sweet (or at least off-dry), though I try to let my sense of humor get noticed here and there, but that more often is easier to perceive face-to-face. Sometimes it’s a stream of consciousness and spur of the moment, but if you don’t want a lot of fluff and big, fancy words in your posts, we’re right up your alley. However, the fact I misspelled Tonite! has to give me some points in eccentricity, no?

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
Steady. Readership crept along very slowly in the early days and I’m not even sure those in the wine club, for whom I started the damn thing in the first place, checked it out that much. Much to my surprise other local bloggers found me fairly early on and participated but the Murphy Goode Winery social media campaign gave me a nice little boost early in 2009. Now, there is a social media “system” in place and there are new visitors almost every day.

5. Do you accept samples for review?
Yes, I will accept samples for review, but make no guarantees that a review will actually make the site or that it will be a good one if it does. I’m not going to lie. It’s cool to get free shit no matter what it is, right? But, I never feel obligated to review and if wineries quit sending me wine that will be OK. However, when I come across some phenomenal juice, I am probably going to feel more inclined to tell someone about it.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
When I do put up a review, I try to do so in a qualitative way as best I can so that an everyday wine drinker can read it and relate to what I experienced in the wine. I don’t do ratings or scores.

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
Like a round peg into a square hole (that’s what she said). I wish I could post something every day and I know I will someday soon. Most of my blog work happens first thing early in the morning or late at night when I am not studying for my UC-Davis winemaker’s certificate and often depends on what content or topic I am excited about at the time.

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
It’s all about participation, being part of the conversation and developing relationships. The online “system” I mentioned above consists mainly of the social media mirepoix of Blog-Twitter-Facebook as well as personal network relationships, including folks in the wine biz.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
I think blogs can be more personable and accessible which allows the reader to more easily relate to the writer. Traditional print writing is one-way telling you something and blogging is a two-way conversation about something. Chances are I am not going to be able to really get in contact with Robert Parker if I have a question about something he wrote, but I can expect in most cases a blogger to respond to my comment within 24 hours and we can continue the dialog. Though, I have heard RP is giving Twitter a go, so maybe he is reachable? The rules regarding experience, expertise and credibility apply equally in both arenas, but I still think many readers are more comfortable with the blog format and style of writing from many bloggers than those stereotypically pretentious mags.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
None other than the award-winning Fermentation blog by this most wisest of wise wine men. Then there are Dirty South Wine, Suburbanwino, AtlantaWineGuy, Dr. Vino, DrinkNectar, Benito’s Wine Reviews, Good Grape, 1WineDude, SeattleWineGal and many, many others when I find the time.

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
That’s a tough one to measure I think at this early stage. However, I certainly notice bloggers driving traffic to wineries, exposing thousands of people to information and chatter about wine daily and challenging the status quo at conferences, in print and on the blogs of well-respected current torch-bearers of the wine writing world.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Tough call. Growing up in Florida, I really love the sun, establishing my base tan, the tropics, sand volleyball, chicks in butt-floss, the Miami-Vice theme song and a strong fruity rum-type drink with a pink umbrella that I could experience in the Caribbean. But, on the other hand, if I went to Paris, I’d head straight for the vineyards. I’ll say Paris to win some brownie points with the wife too.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
“a dog's got personality. And personality goes a long way.” – Pulp Fiction

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Instructions on the barf bag

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
“chillin in my beemer, listening to Ether” – Swizz Beatz

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
I’ve had some pretty darn good California Chardonnay lately, so I’m going with that.

17. Describe what you would have at your last meal?
I’m not a big foodie type and not that sophisticated when it comes to food, so I’d have to come back to something comforting like a bucket of KFC (Killer F***ing Chicken) original recipe, double-mash and flaky biscuits and a well-aged wine from the Cote Rotie, not caring if it paired well or not.

18. What is Heaven Like?
Waking up in a vineyard in the valley just as the fog rolls off soon after budbreak where the sun always shines and the climate is always cool.

19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine?
My sister (Michael), Robert Frost, George Carlin, Galileo Galilei and Frosty would have to bring some romance in a bottle.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Just do it, do your best and forget the rest, keep pressing play…

Does Wine Need A Healthcare Forum?

As I write this, President Obama is holding court at Blair House and discussing with members of congress the issue of healthcare. It's a contentious issue that will define the President's first term and that has highlighted many of the philosophical divides inside congress and among the American people.

While I'm not convinced the Healthcare Summit will do anything more than provide a televised forum for staring into the gulf that is political partisanship, it an interesting discussion and helps clarify for America why it's unlikely the the healthcare funding crisis will be solved.

Still, as as watch and listen to the debate, I can't help but wish that a similar forum could be provided to examine many of the issues in the wine industry that divide its members. What could and needs to be examined at the Wine Industry Forum?

1. The Meaning of "Old Vine"
Until this phrase is given meaning that all can either agree on or at least adopt for labeling purposes, it will remain truly meaningless and abused. The fact is, if you planted vanes in 1985, you can legitimately and legally label the wine made from these vines "Old Vine".

2. The Value of Federally Approved American Viticultural Areas
Is there anything that consumers can know about a wine that carries the "Central Coast", "Sonoma Coast", "Russian River Valley", "Sierra Foothills or any other AVA appellation on the label? I'm certainly not convinced anything of substance can be said about the character of a wine that carries these or any other appellation given how AVAs are created. A discussion of their value and how to make them more meaningful would be valuable.

3. The Legally-Enforced Use of a Middle Man
In nearly every state it is is mandated that producers sell to middle men (wholesalers), not to retailers or restaurants, whether the producers wants or needs to. This situation ensures that wholesalers control the composition of products that come to market, not the producers of the products and the real customers, the consumer. It also ensures that wholesalers possess vast power over retailers, restaurants, producers and consumers. The value of this state-mandated "three tier system" is debatable at best. It should be debated.

4. Alcohol Taxes
Does the wine industry really want to oppose "nickel-a-drink" type taxes on its product while all the time asking that the streets and roads be maintained for the delivery of their wine? Do they want to oppose increased taxes on wine when they demand that huge bureaucracies be put in place to regulate their industry? More often than not taxes on the sale of alcohol are opposed by members of the wine industry. A good debate on how taxes on alcohol ought to be applied should ensue.

I love the idea of an ongoing wine industry forum that has as its ongoing mission the debate and discussion of issues effecting the wine and hospitality industry. I love the idea of a foundation or association or group that sponsors these debates among industry members. I love the idea of an ongoing forum that has monthly debates that are streamed live onto the web and that bring to the table earnest, educated, invested and serious members of the industry representing the various sides of an issue.

Would these debates solve any of the issues listed above or any of the many issues that are not listed above? Would they be able to identify consensus among the different sides of the debate? Would they result in plans for moving forward to implement proposals. I think so.

Is Napa Valley Like the Antebellum South?

Is Napa Valley very much like the classic "Mill Towns" of England and early New England? Or is it more like the Antebellum South?

I've been thinking about the differences between Napa Valley and Sonoma County of late as I've been spending more time in Napa Valley. There has always been something of a rivalry between these two regions, some of it real, some of it a creation of the media.

The difference I see? Napa Valley is a one-trick pony, dependent entirely on the wine industry and the tourism it creates. Sonoma County, while very dependent on the wine industry, is not quite "company town" that is Napa Valley.

"Company Town" isn't quite right, though, is it. It's not as though the entire Valley is owned by a single winery the way the town of Scotia in Northern California was owned by Pacific Lumber or Pullman, Illinois was once owned by the Pullman Sleeping Car Company. No. Napa Valley is more like Detroit, a place so dominated by a single industry that it's present and future prosperity is entirely linked to the prosperity of this one industry: Wine.

Another analogy might be comparing Napa Valley to the Antebellum South where a single crop, cotton, completely dominated the economy. Please don't think I'm comparing Napa Valley to the Antebellum south with any intent of linking Napa Valley to slavery or any form of racism. That's not the point.

But what I'm thinking is that a region that is so completely dominated by a single industry must rise and fall with the health of that industry. This isn't some amazing revelation. Anyone who cares about the future of Napa Valley (and Sonoma County, for that matter) must, from time to time, worry about the consequences of living in a region that could, over night, be felled by economic disaster.

We aren't ever going to experience another Prohibition. So there's no need to worry about that. And even though many of Napa's wineries and related businesses have been hurt terribly by the "Great Recession", this is not the kind of economic downturn that will fell the famed wine region. However, there are circumstances that could really nail an Industry Town like Napa.

-Massive Crop Failure. The advent of a quick moving, vine killing pest could devastate a region dependent on grape vines

-Contamination Scare. Imagine the impact of an attack on Napa wines whereby folks died as a result of poisoning. If it were widespread the entire Valley's wine producing economy could be effected as folks steer away from wine.

-Depression. Napa Valley is an idea and a region that lives and dies based on the amount of disposable income within the economy. No one buys Napa Cabernet as a staple. They buy it and drink it because it brings them pleasure. In the event of a real depression with unemployment in the 35% range, you can expect this valley to pretty much shut down.

Is there anything that Napa Valley's residents and leaders might do about this predicament? Not really. There is just no possibility of Napa Valley diversifying its economy. Not at this point. Not when everything about the region depends on wine and the tourism it produces. Furthermore, I think it very unlikely that any of the three scenarios listed above are going to come to pass. So, Napa Valley is safe.

But...Sonoma County is much safer.

A History of My Life (with drinks attached)

Birthdays are good occasions to self assess and to look back, as well as forward. In this case, it is an abbreviated look back.

On the occasion of my 47th birthday...

A Short History of My Life (with drinks)

February 20th, 1963: Born in Marin County, California at roughly 2am and immediately handed over to my parents George & Alverna (Began my association with baby formula)

September 1968: Begins formal education at Lu Sutton Elementary School in Novato, California. Begins what will be 20 years of education. First confirmation by experts that I "work well with others". (Discovers boxed milk and begins to appreciate the importance of serving drinks at the right temperature)

June 1971: Embarks on a 3 month vacation across U.S. in family station wagon and learns there is more to the world than California (Begins a three month love affair with Shasta-Brand root beer taken cold and frosty from the cooler)

May 1972: Enters Little League and immediately discovers that the curve ball my father taught me to throw completely dazzles opposing 10 year-olds, which in turn makes me a coveted prospect among Babe Ruth League coaches. (Introduced to Lime Snack Shack Slushes, which become my go-to drink after baseball games)

May 1977: Has first brush with law when I am discovered to be the ring leader of a band of boys who planted smoke bombs at various locations throughout the Sinaloa Middle School—suspension ensues when fellow gang member rats me out to principle and Novato Fire Chief (Leads to the discovery of alcohol to dull the pain of being caught, which in turn leads to an ugly episode involving vodka, a wheel chair, Cheerios cereal, a corn patch and being sent to my room—will never happily drink vodka again.)

October 1979: Father Dies of colon cancer (Cheap rum and coke consumed from half emptied coke can becomes drink of choice)

April 1983: Finally moves out of house into own apartment after landing first real job as a door to door Kirby Vacuum Cleaner salesman. (Immediately begins to collect various cheap wine and spirits to have on hand for guests at new apartment and finds I like to appropriately arrange bottles of alcohol)

September 1985: Moves into the dorms at Humboldt State University and begins studying History, to my great delight (Makes first move into beverage alcohol marketing by finding cheap beer at local discount store, buying multiple cases for the weekend and reselling to underage students in dorm. The profit is satisfying)

July 1989: Marries Valerie Monnier in Belfort, France. (Embarks on month-long honeymoon in which I am exposed to various local wines and spirits in France, Italy and Greece—thereby heightening an already burgeoning academic and personal interest in wines and spirits)

September 1990: After graduating from San Francisco State University with Masters in Diplomatic History, lands first job in the wine industry as an associate at Gracelyn Associates wine PR Firm in Sonoma County where I immediately begin working on the Foppiano Vineyards and Matanzas Creek accounts (Discovers and cultivates an interest in Wine Politics)

January 1994: Leaves Gracelyn Associates to found Wark Communications, a wine PR consultancy run out of a second bedroom in Tiburon Condominium (Begins to seriously collect wine and builds a substantial cache of wines and tasting notes as a result of committing to trying a new bottle of wine every night.)

June 1997: Divorces Valerie and moves to Glen Ellen in Sonoma County (Founds the "Glen Ellen Croquet & Cricket Club", a private social club devoted to annual croquet tournaments and drinking Dry Rose among club members)

September 2000: Marries Ginny Westcott (Begins to appreciate and seek out wines of lower alcohol content because too much 15% cabernet annoys me.)

November 2004: Begins FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog (Takes an interest in well aged California Sauvignon Blanc that leads to an intensive search for and investigation of the aging ability of CA SB and lots of bottles of wine being emptied into the sink)

August 2008: Divorces Ginny Westcott (Begins an intense interest and appreciation of bourbon and spirits in general that will lead to an ongoing interest in mixed drinks, great cocktail lounges and the history of the cocktail)

Bravery and Comic Relief in the Wine Industry

Judd's Enormous Wine Show, produced by the folks at Judd's Hill Winery in Napa has the best production value of any private wine-related wine video series on the net. Plus, it's hilarious as the video below can attest. But is it smart marketing?

Episode 9 - Judd's Enormous Wine Show: The Master Cut from Rod Bentner on Vimeo.

I think it is good marketing as long as you don't expect your comic relief marketing to draw in all wine geeks or expect it to position your brand positively in the eyes of all wine buyers. But...Who in their right mind would expect their marketing to play well with all wine buyers.

Seems to me the folks at Judd's hill have taken on the role of provider of comic wine relief and are satisfied that the niche group of wine lovers it will appeal to is large enough to justify the risk that is, and that they know is, inherent in linking what is traditionally a product known for its seriousness, with comedy—and good comedy at that.

One thing that can't be overlooked where Judd's Enormous Wine Show is concerned is the bravery that is behind it. And it's an interesting kind of bravery at that. What you have here is a group of wine folks unwilling to suppress their nature. You'd be surprised how often this happens, how often one's personal inclinations are pushed to the sidelines in favor of what is believed to be a more marketing savvy approach to presenting one's self.

In any case. Watch this video. GREAT STUFF

The Great Northwest Wine Adventure

My great Washington Wine Epiphany came a few years ago when I attended Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top 100 tasting in San Francisco. The tasting of top wineries W&S had encountered over the past year was set up by region—Germans over here, Italians over there, Australians in that corner, etc. The Washington wineries were on the top floor of the venue and I got to them last. Last is not where you want to be at a tasting. And yet, the WA State wines blew away every other region represented at the tasting.

I mention this because it appears I might be poised to either have a second WA State Wine Epiphany or at least undertake a deeper exploration into what that state's vintners have up their sleeve.

In late March I'll be attending TASTE Washington where I'll be sitting on a couple panels and speaking to attendees as well as getting the chance to taste a stateload of wines. Between my first WA State Wine Epiphany and today, I have learned enough about WA wines to lure me up to the TASTE Washington event where I can investigate more. Here's what I know:

1. WA State, along with Michigan and New York, make the very best Rieslings in America

2. WA State Cabs and Merlot are the wines least likely to have the "unctuous" tag applied to them, meaning they are most likely, as a regional collection of wines, to deliver balance and complexity

3. Of the three best known wine producing states in America (CA, OR, WA), Washington's wines are the least understood by consumers across the country.

The TASTE Washington event is the state's most important consumer wine event focusing on its own wines. Consumers will attend seminars and taste a large array of homegrown wines. In addition, a number of great wine people will be on hand to speak including Andrea Immer-Robinson, Emily Wines, MS, Sara Schneider of Sunset Magazine, Joshua Greene of Wine & Spirits Magazine, Leslie Sbrocco, Doug Frost and others.

Me? I'll be talking to the trade about marketing and I'll be sitting in on a panel about value wines. I can't wait.

And it turns out that this year will be especially Washington-centric for me as I'll be returning to the state later in the year for the American Wine Bloggers Conference taking place in Walla Walla. Finally, in July, I'll be heading up to the International Pinot Noir Conference in Oregon. It looks like 2010 is turning out to be my Great Northwest Wine Adventure

Wish me luck.

50 Ways of Updating Facebook for Wineries

Over the past year I've talked to numerous wineries and wine related businesses about the task of keeping up with the demands of social media marketing. Far and away the two most frequent objections I hear about engaging in social media marketing is 1) I Don't have the time and 2) I don't know what I'd update people about.

Two fair and predictable objections. The first objection is the critical one. If you don't have time to update your Facebook page, then don't have one. And also, don't' read the rest of this post. However, if you have 20 minutes per day to devote to tackling your Facebook obligations, then keep reading.

HERE'S WHAT I KNOW ABOUT UPDATING A FACEBOOK FAN PAGE FOR WINERIES...

1. Know the composition of your fans before you type.
Are they primarily wine buyers? Are they primarily other members of the wine trade? Are they primarily customers of your service? Are they primarily friends? Answer this question first because it will dictate what information and what updates you place on your company's Fan Page.

2. Unless your pet is an integral part of your business, don't make them the subject of a Facebook fan page update.

3. There is a limit to how much better your life is than your Fans that your Fans will put up with hearing about.

4. While asking your fans to buy your wine or engage your services should be a part of your Facebook work, it can't amount to the majority of your Facebook updates.

5. Pictures & Video: USE THEM!!!

With these caveats out of the way, here are some suggestions as to what you can focus on in Facebook updates if you are in the wine business.

1. Your thoughts on the condition of past vintages. Drink now? Or Save
2. Recent significant production work in the cellar
3. Who you recently hired
4. Pictures of visitors to your winery that you recently met or hosted
5. Links to articles about you or your winery
6. Pictures and a comment about a recent event at the winery
7. Any changes to your hospitality operations
8. Important events in the vineyard: budbreak, pruning, harvest, etc.
9. Links to Facebook pages of restaurants you've recently visited.
10. Comments on what your business says about our economy
11. Updates on coming events featuring your wines
12. Info on new restaurants in your general area that Fans might like.
13. Observations on the growing conditions (weather).
14. Announcements of new releases.
15. Links to or information on new reviews of your wines.
16. Recommendations on other wineries to visit and why.
17. Suggest places for visitors to stay when touring your region.
18. A very occasional limited time offer for Facebook fans only.
19. Requests of Fans to upload photos to the Fan page of them with your wines
20. Updates on your travels: a travel-log.
21. Recommendations of books you've recently read
22. Comment on recent wine-related news
23. Suggestions on incorporating wine into holiday celebrations
24. Reminders to Fans to recommend your Facebook page to their friends.
25. Ask for feedback from fans on marketing questions
26. Occasional comments on biggest challenges to making and selling wine.
27. Announcements when parts of your website have been updated.
28. Public announcements when you've discovered a Fan did something great!
29. Link to a recipe you think would work with one of your wines
30. Expose Fans to your favorite charities
31. Comment on what you've learned from wine buying patters (Merlot sales up? Why?)
32. Ideas on how to use and get interesting info out of Facebook
33. Why you added a new type of product in the tasting room.
34. Make note of a winery-related anniversary. Founding. First wine release, etc.
35. When there are only a few cases of a wine left before it sells out.
36. Ask Fans what their favorite wine magazine is and why.
37. Ask Fans what their favorite blogs is and why.
38. Post other people's pictures of their visit to the winery or with you.
39. Thank Fans for their support when a wine sells out.
40. Upload a video of your winemaker singing, dancing, talking, etc...
41. Announce opening of a new market for your wines.
42. Take a stand on a wine-related political issue.
43. Hold a Facebook only contest: Best wine limerick, Best photo of your wine, etc.
44. Announce a job opening and where resumes can be sent.
45. Tell Fans about a great "other person's wine" you tasted.
46. Announce the winning of a medal at a competition.
47. Link to your regional associations Facebook page or website
48. Put a picture of your kid up on the page occasionally.
49. Explain why you use this or that cork or capsule or barrel (show picture).
50. Occasionally explain why you love making wine.

The point I think is clear: There are numerous ways to update your Facebook page if you just use facebook in the way it is best used: Keep it focused on what you do and do so in a focused and personal way and try to create reasons for your fans to interact with you.

MY LOVE

Yes. Valentines Day is a Hallmark Holiday; a corporate concoction that plays on our deepest feelings for the purpose of selling us stuff. That's not what perturbs me most about the occasion. What really gets to me is that this corporate creation is a good idea.

Why not set aside a day to celebrate love? Yes, I know. I've heard it and I understand it and I agree with it: We ought to celebrate our love and the love of our life on a daily basis. Still, there is something I like very much about the idea of setting aside a day for the contemplation of the love in our heart.

This year I will spend Valentines Day with a remarkable woman that stops me in my tracks every time I lay my eyes on her. And as I got to thinking about what I can offer her as a symbol of my feelings for her on this February 14th, I began to realize that perhaps I could create something new for her, create something that was inspired by her, present her with something that was original.

So, I've done just that. And I want to share it with my readers.

MY LOVE
3 oz Sparkling Wine
1.5 oz Gin
3 Dashes Peychaud Bitters
1 Sugar Cube
1 Orange wedge
1 Luxardo cherry

In a cocktail shaker place the sugar cube, bitters and orange wedge and muddle thoroughly. Fill shaker halfway with ice cubes and add the gin. Shake for 7 seconds and pour liquid into a cocktail glass. Top with Sparkling wine. Drop in Luxardo cherry. Present to your love.

Perhaps this drink already exists under another name. I don't know. But if it does, in my home it can no longer go by whatever name it may have. Forever more it is called the MY LOVE. Here's the idea and inspiration. 

The MY LOVE tells a story. It is the story of what's happened to my heart. It has been enveloped. It has been enveloped in warmth and excitement. My heart glows at her touch and her words.

The gin in MY love provides the warmth. The sparkling wine is the excitement. The bitters and sugar cube and orange wedge remind me that MY LOVE is a complex lady. The Luxardo cherry, enveloped by the liquid and glass, beams out from the bottom of the vessel, just like my heart beams when she holds my hand.

This is the first cocktail I've ever created on my own. Those of you who know me and have read this blog will know that for the most part I am a bourbon man. So it may come as a surprise that this gift of a cocktail does not include it. But, what's lovely about love is that it tends to open our eyes to new things.

I'll make a MY LOVE on Valentines Day for me and for her. Hopefully she'll know that this creation by me for her comes from a heart that has been enveloped.

Stop Worrying, Be Networked

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 for example Steve's recent blog post on "Backlash Against Social Media Gathers Steam" in which he appears to agree with the view that all this networking and socializing through our various gadgets is "intruding into the social contract" and adheres to the notion that social media is "not only not bringing us closer and making us better, more dexterous communicators, but in fact is achieving exactly the opposite."

First, let's stop worrying that communicating via social networks, email, text and blog comments is in anyway isolating us from the benefits of real human contact and communication. One need not be looking another person in the eye, no where they live or actually belong to the same geographic community of another person to communicate with them intimately and effectively.

It might be hard, but imagine the person living before cars were commonplace and who happened to be born into a mid-sized town of 15,000. Now imagine they have an interest in ballet, paper airplanes or wine. The only way they had of sharing and communicating these interests with anyone else was the lonely act of reading a specialty magazine published monthly, traveling long distances to a place where groups of ballet aficionados or wine lovers or paper airplane enthusiasts could be found, or being content to socialize with the few people in town who might share these interests but were just as likely to be loathsome folks who picked their noses and smelled of too much Aramis.

Things have changed.

Today, you need not put up with unbearable personalities or a stinky, Aramis-wearers in order to discuss the finer points of terroir or the benefits of decanting a young wine. Today, online social forums like Facebooks or wine discussion boards and new communication tools like text messaging allow you to indulge your latest wine epiphany anytime, anywhere. That's called progress.

One of Steve's and many other people's concerns too is that all this remote communicating is bad for communal living: "where ten years ago patrons [of cafes] might have been debating about politics, gossiping, or playing chess, today they’re absorbed in their own little worlds. They might as well be on the Space Shuttle as in a crowded room with other human beings."

This is something that Steve and others are just going to have to get over. These folks still are debating politics, gossiping, playing chess and even discussing wine, but they just aren't doing it with their neighbor at the next table. They are doing this with other, like-minded, likely friendly people and possibly even close friends who don't happen to be currently exposed to the same acoustic "Coffee House" music droning over the speakers that you and your laptop-consumed neighbor at the next table must listen too, as though any hit from the 80s and 70s can be turned into an acoustic version successfully. (Are earplugs and an iPod too anti-social for the local coffee shop?)

And let's not forget the benefits of social networking to the facilitation of getting together face-to-face. If there was ever a better set of tools than Facebook, Twitter, discussion boards, texts and email for getting like-minded people to show up in the same place at the same time, I'm not aware of it. Everyday people are using devises and networks to gather their "friends" and even their FRIENDS in a real setting to taste wine, talk about wine, drink too much wine and say silly things about wine after drinking too much of it.

Steve and others believe there is a backlash underway against social media. If that backlash is against folks who carelessly and selfishly ignore propriety by talking too loud into their phones on an elevator or in a gym, something at which Steve rightfully takes offense, then consider me part of the backlash. But that's not a backlash against social media. It's a backlash against buffoonery. And I'm all for it.

Steve quotes and agrees with Jason Lanier's observation, “I know quite a few people, most of them young adults, who are proud to say that they have accumulated thousands of friends on Facebook. Obviously, their statements can be true only if the idea of friendship is diminished.”

This is incorrectly stated. The last sentence should read: "Obviously their statements can be true only if the word 'friendship' has been given a secondary meaning that only has partial relationship to it's original meaning."

Anyone who believes the way the word "Friend" is used on Facebook is the same as the way it is used when you describe that person who you tell your fears and secrets to in confidence just doesn't understand the value of co-opting words for purposes other than which those words were originally designed to function. It's a bit like believing that Right Wing Talk show hosts really believe President Obama is a reincarnation of Eugene Debs when they call him a "socialist", rather understanding the reality: They have used the word "socialist" to mean "I hate that motherf*cker".

So, to those who fear that social networking and socializing via networked computers may be dissolving the real and permanent kinds of bonds that arise between humans and within communities that only comes when you look a person in the eye, I say...calm down. What you are really witnessing is the rise of real, meaningful, important and even intimate communities based not on geography or proximity, but on common interest and common ideals. And believe it or not, these communities build bonds between their members. Those bonds, in some cases, result in friendships. Some result in opening bottles of wine with people that don't smell of an Aramis bath.

Gewurztraminer and Discomforting Sounds

Sometime in the 1970s, people changed from ordering "white wine" to ordering "Chardonnay. Between 1990 and 2007, shipments of California Chardonnay rose from 9 million to 50 million cases. Today, Chardonnay production and consumption is far and away greater than the total production of all other white wine in California.

So, what I'm wondering is this: What would have happened between the 1970s and today if Gewurztraminer was instead named "Gerdonnay" (pronounced with a soft "G"—it sounds nicer)

If this were the case, I'm convinced that the biggest selling white wine in America today would in fact be "Gerdonnay".

It's not the name itself that would have done the trick, but rather a combination of an easy to pronounce name and the Gewurztraminer grape's much more expressive and attractive (to Americans) flavor profile. And of course, there's that matter of Gewurztraminer's tendency to carry residual sugar in a much more balanced way than chardonnay does.

Some wine just seems to be held back by its name. And let's face it, "Gewurztraminer" isn't exactly the most easy to pronounce name in the world and, I think, the primary reason that the wine made from this grape isn't far more popular to Americans who tend to shy away from things sounding foreign.

Of course, the point is that where marketing (as well as nearly everything else from professional to personal issues) is concerned, language is important.

I"m struck by the effect language, words, inflection and the way we wield these tools in our business and everyday life can have a profound effect on our livelihoods and our lives.

The relative insignificance of Gewurztraminer is only one example, but a powerful one. Sales of the wine suffer because of the American indifference to and discomfort with the sound of the German language. This indifference and discomfort persuades them to move on to something similar, but different: Chardonnay, for example.

The lesson for marketers is easy enough. Be careful what you name it and be careful of the words and phrases you use to describe and sell it. For the individual, for me, for others, the lesson should also be simple enough to understand: Be careful what you say, how you say it, where you say it and when you say it because said in a manner not quite right or at the wrong moment or in a way that is indifferent or uncomfortable for some and you may find yourself marginalized.