Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Why the November Election Matters to the Wine Industry

The upcoming November 2nd election is among the most important for the American wine industry in a very long time. Two issues should be watched closely by the wine, beer and spirits industry: 1) the outcome of the race for control of the House of Representatives and 2) the outcome of Initiative 1100 in Washington State.

CONTROL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES & H.R. 5034
Despite the 137 Co-sponsors of the Wholesaler Protection Bill known as H.R. 5034, the beer and wine wholesalers who support the legislation that would give state the legal and Constitutional ability to discriminate against out of state commerce have a difficult road to travel to get their bill passed. Standing in their way is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has reportedly said she does not support the legislation and would work to keep it from passing.

The Speaker of the House has great influence over what legislation moves to the floor of the House for a vote, despite what happens in committee. Were the wholesalers able to get the bill out of committee, they still would have to deal with the power of the Speaker's office.

However, if after the November 2nd election Republicans take control of the House of Representative, we are likely to be introduced to Speaker of the House John Boehner. Currently the House Minority Leader, Boehner has delivered the keynote address at the Beer Wholesalers of America's Annual Legislative Conference as well as accepted many 1000s of dollars from the very same wholesalers. There is little doubt that if elected Speaker of the House under a Republican controlled House that H.R. 5034 would move to the floor for a vote.

INITIATIVE 1100 IN WASHINGTON STATE
All you have to know about this initiative is that that if passed by the citizens of Washington State it would allow producers of spirits to sell directly to restaurants and retailers and not have to go through a wholesaler. In addition, Initiative 1100 would take the state of Washington out of the business of selling spirits at retail and put that job in the hands of the private sector.

As you can imagine, wholesalers are against such a change. It removes their unnecessary monopoly and with it some of their political power. Wholesalers across the country have contributed millions of dollars to defeat the bill, including $1,000,000 from the National Beer Wholesalers Association.

While wholesalers argue that getting rid of the archaic, prohibition-era, state-mandated three tier system is bad public policy, what they are truly afraid of is that Initiative 1100 will be a movement that will spread to other states. To quote from a recent Associated Press piece on the initiative:

"National wholesaler and liquor distributor groups are closely watching the outcome of the campaign, with some saying that it could be the first step for Costco to try and change the system in other states. "They'll try to replicate the rules in Washington state across the country," [Craig] Wolf [president of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America] said."

One can only hope his fear is validated. The single most insidious thing that is preventing the development of artisan beer, wine and spirits industry from growing in the United States is the requirement in most states that producers of these small production brands are required to sell to a wholesaler to get their products on store shelves and into the hands of consumers. When wholesalers are the state-mandated choke point for the products that get into a state, you always have a severely diminished selection of goods since wholesalers are not required to carry brands. It means they have the final say on what products are available to consumers in a state. And the majority of wholesales, the most powerful ones, have no interest in seeing small production goods make it to market.

Under a system by which producers in any state may choose to sell their products either through wholesalers or directly to restaurants, retailers or consumers you get a distribution system that is fair and consumer friendly.

Every producer of artisan wine, beer and spirits ought to know this is their dream scenario.

Eminent Domain Used To Usurp Wine Label Real Estate

I was disappointed, though not surprised, to see that today a conjunctive labeling law dictating that "Sonoma County" be placed on every label on wines produced from grapes grown in Sonoma County was unanimously passed by the California Legislature . Pushed as an effort to promote "Sonoma County" wines and a consumer education effort, the new law instead forces vintners to needlessly sully their package and undermines their own marketing efforts. Yet, the law does nothing to educate consumers.

Passed unanimously out of the California Assembly and Senate, AB 1798 now awaits the Governor's signature, which it will surely obtain. According to Noreen Evans, an Assembly sponsor of the bill, this new conjunctive labeling law "requires that any wine labeled with an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located entirely within Sonoma County - – like Russian River Valley or Dry Creek Valley - must also include the word "Sonoma County" on the label, starting in 2014. There are 13 AVAs in Sonoma County."

The problem, of course, is that by placing the words "Sonoma County" on a bottle of wine that is made with grapes grown in "Russian River Valley", "Dry Creek Valley", "Sonoma Valley" or any other AVA in SonomaSonoma County" have any single distinguishing feature derived from the fact that they were grown inside the borders of Sonoma County. County, consumers learn absolutely nothing about the wine in the bottle. There no evidence that grapes grown in "

Assemblywoman Evans concludes, "By improving consumer education on each bottle, conjunctive labeling will unleash the full potential of our delicious wines to represent Sonoma around the world."

She's correct. Beginning in 2014, "Sonoma County" will receive a tremendous boost in recognition due to the conjunctive labeling law that forces vintners to add more wording to their labels—whether they think the words "Sonoma County" help or hurt their marketing efforts.

Frankly, if I was making high end wine from the "Sonoma Valley", "Sonoma Mountain" or "Sonoma Coast" AVAs that depended in part on the quality recognition that comes wtih these AVAs, I'd be pissed that I'm forced now to put a place-name on my label that told my buyers nothing of real value about the wine behind my label and, in some cases, demonstrably lowered its perceived quality.

Honore Comfort, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Vintners Association and an outstanding representative for Sonoma County wines noted this: ". "This moment ...marks the beginning of a stronger Sonoma County brand for generations to come."

Proponents of the new Sonoma County Conjunctive labeling law like to point to a similar law that demands "Napa Valley" be placed on all wines that are made from grapes grown in that appellation, rather than simply using a sub appellation. They point to the prestige that the "Napa Valley" designation carries. But this prestige has nothing to due with the law that demands "Napa Valley", in addition to simply "Rutherford", be placed on these wines. It has to do entirely with the promotional effort that has gone into making "Napa Valley" a place associated with great wines.

Such an association will not be made with "Sonoma County" wines...ever. The vintners in Sonoma County simply can't make a case for "Sonoma County" having any meaning or for a region as vast as "Sonoma County" delivering any degree of quality to the grapes.

Why is it important for someone making "Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir" or "Sonoma Valley Zinfandel" to help promote "Sonoma County", a designation that has no ability to define the quality or character of the wines in my Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir or my Sonoma Valley Zinfandel?

This is an example of a County usurping the private label real estate, and it's very valuable real estate, for the sake of promoting something that is of little use to private commercial interests. Ask yourself...If putting the words "Sonoma County" on one's wines was such a great thing, why don't more vintners who make "Dry Creek Valley", "Russian River Valley", "Alexander Valley" or "Sonoma Valley" wines already put these words on their label? They legally could...if they wanted to.

The new Sonoma County conjunctive labeling law is the equivalent of the State of California and the County of Sonoma claiming imminent domain over the labels of hundreds of vintners.

The State of Online Wine Talk

Back around the early 1990s if you wanted to spend time on-line discussing wine with fellow oenophiles you frequented the "wine boards" on AOL and Compuserve. These were the premier "bulletin boards" where folks passionate about wine would post topics, comment on topics and discuss the world of wine. I was somewhat active in the AOL board and its where I first witnessed not only the kind of very deep and consequential wine conversations that could be had on line, but also the kind of deeply contentious conversations that on-line forums could provoke.

Today, while the AOL and Compuserve wine forums are long gone,  the same kind of forums for wine lovers still exist. In fact, for many years, it was the "Mark Squires Bulletin Board" located at eRobertparker.com where by far the most robust and interesting on-line forum was found. Numerous topics of conversation were posted daily. Thousands of "commenters" would weigh in on a variety of subjects. Tasting notes, new wine releases, wine politics, philosophies of collecting, issues connected to terroir, buying strategies, anything under the sun was discussed.

To say the least, the "Squires Board" at eRobertParker was the most dynamic site on the Internet for the discussion of wine and for meeting up daily with some of the most interesting wine-minded people.

All this ended on April 26, 2010, when Robert Parker and Mark Squires decided to make access to this forum "subscriber only".

Prior to this date, one needed only to register and you'd have access to the most robust wine forum on the Internet with "posting" privileges. Today, one must subscribe to the website at a cost of $100 annually.

The change to subscriber only access came swiftly and without warning to the thousands that used the forum at eRobertparker. However, their was an explanation given:

"Supervising the huge volume of posts has become increasingly time consuming and expensive. At the same time, we've noted that the subscriber-only forums we created some time back are increasingly popular and much easier to manage. Moreover, we're committed to providing even more functionality and greater coverage of wines for our subscribers in the near future. This will require us to spend wisely. We are a small company with limited resources and, after months of deliberation, we've come to the conclusion that it is in the best interest of the people who count most - our subscribers - that we change our policy with regard to the bulletin board."

The response to the change was not pretty. Many users of the forum felt like they had the rug pulled out from under then. Some felt like they had lost access to good and close friends. Many thought the move to subscriber only access was a response to contentious conversations in the forum over its administration. Among the response to the move posted at the Forum were these:

“Draining the board of the majority of its content and its value to make it easier to run is simply irrational.

But destroying the board -- and make no mistake that is precisely what you have done -- to solve that problem is an over-reaction of epic proportions. I am grieving the loss of community I suffered. I am angry that there wasn't any opportunity to prepare. An apology is warranted but I don't expect one.”“This was the WORST insult I have ever suffered on the www!

"THE WORST ever! I absolutely do NOT want to simply continue like nothing has happened! This was an attack-like action - WITHOUT any pre-information - without any chance for everybody to prepare (e.g. gain some contact e-mails of friends).....and the reason was simply the intention the prevent any discussion about it in advance."

Today the Forum at eRobertparker is a shell of what it once was with a hugely decreased amount of discussion primarily because so many who had actively participated in the forum went away after its privatization and chose not to subscribe.

One very active member, still, of the eRobertparker forum as well as other wine forums on the net describes the upshot of the privatization decision in terms that users of forums would understand:

"At present time many posts will remain on the 1st page for days before moving to page 2, as of today (8/20/2010) discussions that were posted on 8/14/2010 are only on page 2, in previous times they would have been on page 6 or 7 by now.  There far less postings of tasting notes or wine driven conversation in the 'Wine Talk' section.  There is little to no posts in the Social Hall section on a regular basis. Mark Squires and Robert Parker are generating more topics than I ever recall seeing them do so since I’ve been a member since 2004."

For those unfamiliar with the logistics of posting topics on wine forums, all this translates to their being very few new topics posted at eRobertparker forums than prior to the privatization. No forum is of much use if there is little or no discussion. After all, this is what folks primarily go to wine forums on the Internet for: discussion of topics that are their passion.

The on-line wine community is relatively small compared to those who come on line to discuss politics, celebrities, food, technology and any number of other subject matter. But, it is a passionate community. I think it can be said without exaggerating that the shuttering of the eRobertparker/MarkSquire wine forum to non-paying members was a real blow to the on-line community of wine lovers.

So, do wine lovers just stop their gabbing? Hardly. Conversation on the Internet is like water. If flows, as though a gravitational force is pushing it toward the densest community of conversationalists. It doesn't stop.

There are other wine forums on the Internet where wine conversationalists have found a home for robust discussion.

Take WineBerserkers.com, for example. Founded in 2009 by former users of the eRobertParker board who either left in frustration or were actually banned from participating at the forum (that happens!), WineBerserkers is today, by most accounts, the most active wine bulletin board in use. In just the past 85 days, more than 72,000 unique posts have been contributed to the site by users for an average of 855 posts per day. Like all other wine boards, Wine Berserkers generates conversations on any and every topic under the sun.

Wine Berserkers, like most other wine forums on the Internet, benefited greatly from the exodus (banishment?) of users form the eRobertParker forum when it privatized. Wine Berserkers has increased its membership base by 50% in the four months since the eRobertParker Forum privatization and now counts roughly 3600 registered members. What's important to realize, however, about this new influx of registered members at Wine Berserkers is that these new members are more likely to be active members since many of them came to Wine Berserkers as a result of being shut out of the eRobertparker forum.

Of course there are other wine forums on the Internet.

Wine Spectator Forums: Claiming over 15,000 registered users, the Wine Spectator forums are and have been very useful for a long time. However, a quick look at the number of daily posts shows that despite its larger number of registered members, it is not as active as Wine Berserkers.

WineTalk: Another relatively new wine forum, WineTalk also has fewer posts and users than WineBeserker.

West Coast Wine Discussion Group: A granddaddy of wine forums, the West Coast Wine Discussion group was founded in 1996 By Brad Harrington. It remains a place to find astute commentary on wine issues.

Wine Lovers' Discussion Group: Another long time wine discussion forum, the WLDG was founded by Robin Garr. It too remains a venue where wine lovers can find a daily discussion of wine.

eRobertParker: At this point it is difficult to know exactly what kind of usage the eRobertParker board gets. The benefit, of course, is that Robert Parker himself often weighs in and that's not a benefit to sneeze at. Parker remains the most influential wine critic in the world and access to his comments is not to be underestimated.

I've said it before, but I think it deserves saying again: The on-line wine forums are the single best internet-based venue for learning about wine and conversing about wine. They are the location where you will find the most passionate and most deeply involved wine lovers on the Internet. They are places where, if you put in the time you will make friends. Frankly, nothing rivals them for pure, interactive, wine talk.

But they can also be contentious. No question the eRobertParker wine forum made this clear. But that forum was not unique. Every wine forum I've ever participated in has had its moment of ranker and contention. And they always will because there's something about conversing with people form a distance that encourages some to get aggressive and petulant. Still, the upside is great.

I encourage wine lovers that want to talk about their passion to check out WineBerserkers as well as the other on-line wine forums.

Is The Recession Ending In the Wine Industry?

The Great Recession continues.

Like most folks who have an inkling about the linkage between economic growth, national greatness, prosperity and individual happiness, I am concerned that this recession could linger and create a new sense of "Normal" in which economic growth is slight to anemic.

The clearest sign that we would be pulling out of recession and seeing America's economy start to rev up again would be job growth and lower unemployment, currently at around 9%-10%—officially. A sucker for good news, I've been looking for good, positive, economic signs in the wine industry, my industry. One index does suggest real recovery.

WineJobs.com is the premier job listing site for the wine industry. Owned by The Wine Communications Group, which also operates Wine Business Monthly and Wines & Vines Magazine, WineJobs.com is a perfect place to look to get a sense of hiring in the wine industry. And hiring there is.

The latest WineJobs.com Index shows that there is a decided job recovery going on in the Winery sector if hirings are to be a guide. Consider the following graph showing the Index of Winery Job Postings at Winejobs.com in the areas of Winemaking, Hospitality and Sales & Marketing for the month of June, 2008-20110.

To quote the folks at WineBusiness: "The June 2010 increase in job postings occurred in all job categories. Winemaking jobs increased 72 percent from their level in June 2009 but were 18 percent below their level in June 2008. The sales and marketing index increased 7 percent. The index is 23 percent above its level in June 2008. The hospitality job index jumped 106 percent above its level in June 2009. The hospitality job index also is 60 percent above its level in June 2008."

The following 2009/2010 WineJobs index shows that 2010 intended hiring at wineries has been up over 2009 for the first six months of the year.

Meanwhile, job listings for distributors at WineJobs does not show a similar robust increase in listings over 2009 or 2008. Perhaps just as important, it does not show a steady downward trend.

Where the job market recovery is concerned, this is all very interesting and I think positive information for the wine sector of the economy. However, as many people have noted, "alcohol" tends to be recession proof. Of course nothing is truly recession proof, but it does appear that the alcohol industry and its constituent parts do tend to react more mildly to a recession.

All that said, I think anecdotal information is important also. I can tell you that here in Napa, nearly every hospitality person I speak to tells me that sales and visits are WAY up over last year. Clearly, folks are visiting Napa and Sonoma in larger numbers than in 2009. In addition, the word I hear from retailers across the country is that sales of wine at retail are up, in some cases significantly, over last year. Now, granted this all may mean that 2009 was ridiculously bad. Or it may mean that there is a real recovery in the wine industry.

I'm going to continue to watch the WineJobs.com index of job listings very closely. I view it as a leading economic indicator for Northern California and for he alcohol sector of the wine industry, I see its also as a slight indication of the degree of economic confidence the industry possesses

Liquidity Preference is a Great Read...Go Find Out Why

The embarrassment I feel when I come across a long running editorial outlet that is both extremely well done and relatively unknown to me is palpable. I also get a bit angry with myself because I know now that had I been reading this editorial outlet I'd be a smarter person today.

This is exactly how I feel about Jacob Grier's "Liquidity Preference", a blog that delves into "Cocktails, Coffee and Commentary". I've been reading through Jacob's work on this blog that he writes from his position as a freelance writer, barista and mixologist from Oregon. It is a GREAT READ and insightful to boot.

If you want to see just how well Jacob can write, how lucidly he can address complex issues, and how smoothly he can deliver a well thought out and hard hitting opinion, look at his most recent article (outside his blog, it turns out) about H.R. 5034: "Beware of CARE". Jacob nails the issues at hand as well as anyone has.

But it's to his blog, Liquidity Preference, that I want to encourage readers to turn.

As he points out, his interests are eclectic. While writing often about the politics of alcohol regulations, branding, cocktail and coffee cultures, Oregon and products, Jacob is just as likely to deliver his take on issues of no relation to these core subjects. But what makes him really interesting and a good writer, is the breadth of his interests. It means that when he does address alcohol and drinks issues, they are explored from unique and even unusual perspectives. This creative approach to issue exploration is the mark of every important thinker writing in every industry and writing about every issue.

It's no surprise that Jacob is good at this. He's been at his blog now since 2003. One of the things I always do when I run across a new blog or new writer is look at their first post and look at how they describe themselves in their "about" section. Prominently displayed on Jacob's "About" page is this:

GUIDE TO GOOD BLOGGING:

Rule #1: Be meaningful.

Rule #2: If meaning is elusive, be amusing.

Rule #3: If meaning and amusement are both out of reach, be brief.

In his first post at Liquidity Preferences, Jacob writes this:

"More importantly, the new site is interactive, so feel free to add comments to anything posted. Now if I write something stupid, you can point that out in public instead of just sending me an e-mail!"

Smart, insightful, a good writer..AND funny. There's a lot to like here.

Jacob spent time in the world of Think Tanks in Washington, DC before devoting himself to cocktails and coffee and his blog, as well as writing. Think Tanks, I've always felt, are where really bright people go to be inconsequential. However, the are also places where people go to spend time making well thought-out and well-stated arguments. Its where they learn how to be graceful polemicists.

Liquidity Preference most definitely displays those qualities.

As I said, I'm a bit embarrassed that I've not been a regular reader of Jacob's for many years now. But I'll rectify that today. My advice is that if you want a good read on a regular basis (he writes nearly daily) you should be reading Jacob Grier's Liquidity Preference.

Reapers of Vines

If we can just find a way to assure that the various diseases and virus that attack grapevines continue to thrive, it's likely we can make this a better world. But who can we call on to advance this worthy goal of assuring that grapevines continue to wither in the face of disease and viruses? Who can we place our hope with in our battle to assure the prosperity of a diseased and virused wine industry?

Enter LES FAUCHEUR, aka, "The Reapers".

As reported by Decanter, this shadowy group of heroes bravely destroyed a research facility in the town of Colmar in northeastern France where villains posing as researchers were conducting "research" on ways to halt the spread of Grapevine Fanleaf Virus, a naturally occurring gift from God that "can reduce yields by 50% before killing the vines and rendering vineyard soil unviable for future plantations."

Oliver Florent, one of the 60+ brave "Reapers" who was arrested for his good deeds told the media in the aftermath of their victory over progress: "In about half an hour we neutralized, not vandalized, the vines."

Take note of the speed and rapidity with which nature's protectors were able to neutralize the devastating results of man's war on nature. Could we, here in the United States, be lucky enough to have such speedy Reapers correct the abomination called "progress"?

America's Wine Essayist

Despite his claims, Matt Kramer is not a Journalist. This should be clear within the first few moments of cracking his new book, a retrospective of his columns from various venues entitled: "Matt Kramer on Wine: A Matchless Collection of Columns, Essays, and Observations by America's most original and lucid Wine Writer."

Matt Kramer, best known for his long-running column in the Wine Spectator and his classic "Making Sense" series of books, is an essayist. And he's the best one currently working in wine. This should be clear within the first few moments of cracking his new book.

What makes Kramer's retrospective so compelling and so necessary is the perspective it offers. Kramer's compilation of past columns from the Wine Spectator, the Oregonian, and the New York Sun offers the reader a well-trained and insightful eye on the development of a wine culture in the United States. Despite the fact that many of the columns in the new book focus on wine outside the United States, Kramer's eye is decidedly American in nature. Throughout the columns one reads under various chapter headings, there is a sense of discovery and uncovering that is the decidedly American approach to wine appreciation over the past three or four decades. 

Kramer is at his best when he is taking the long view, when he is deconstructing wine myths and "wine hokum", and when he looks for the essence of a wine idea. These themes show up throughout his work.

One of his best pieces, "The No-Wine Magazine", concerns the determined approach taken at the New Yorker magazine to ignore the American wine culture when it is not denigrating wine appreciation in general. Kramer once received a $15,000 kill fee from the magazine when a story on Angelo Gaja he was assigned to write was killed from publication. In outlining the evidence for the New Yorker's disdain for the American wine culture, Kramer wades into the meaning of that culture, how Americans have adopted wine as a truly American artifact and the disappointment many of us feel when our honest belief that wine can uncover truths about us and the American way are dismissed as inconsequential. 

The new crop of wine bloggers will be interested to know that Matt Kramer has taken on all the issues that get them riled up and writing. Terroir, corkage, the wine business, wine writers, wine reviewing, etc. The entire stable of wine blogging "go-to" topics have already been explored by Kramer and often much better than any of us could hope to ourselves. I mention this because I'm one of those people that know for a fact that the best way to become a good writer is to read good writers. Kramer is decidedly a good writer.

As you read through the essays that are arranged by topic and not sequentially, the writers reading Kramer should try to note that as time has progressed, Matt's edge has not diminished one bit. And there is an edge to his writing. Kramer is known for possessing great reverence for certain wines, wineries and winemakers (read is words on Mayacamus Vineyards Chardonnay). Yet even in writing about his greatest wine loves, his prose and the ideas they explore maintain a steady, even heightened, pace that gives the reader a sense that an important conclusion is coming you won't want to miss. And that conclusion often arrives just as you expect. "Pace" is not easy to maintain throughout an essay, nor throughout three decades of writing.

I don't know if retrospective editions and compilations get recognized by those who give out writing and publishing awards. They might be seen as akin to a musical group releasing a "Greatest Hits" album for the sake of making a bit more money off something that has already been created and is now just being repackaged for commercial reasons.

It would be a mistake to understand the new "Matt Kramer on Wine" in this manner. What we have here, and it's very rare in the wine publishing world, is an open window on the developing mind of one of America's most important wine writers and, just as important, an idiosyncratic path through the history of the American wine psyche of the past 30 years as it has developed, taken turns, stopped to ponder and moved on to new ideas.

"Kramer On Wine" should be purchased and read by those interested in this path as well as those interested in understanding what the work of one of America's greatest wine essayists looks and feels like.

To Freshmen: Liberal Arts and a Life With Wine

I'm going to offer a contention I think might piss off a few people:

A liberal arts education is the best foundation for a life of enjoying wine and working in wine.

Yes, I have one; an education grounded in the study of History. But I swear, I'm not defending my choices here.

I was reading a book review in the Times this weekend of a new book by Martha Nussbaum entitled, "NOT FOR PROFIT: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities". The Times reviewer didn't give the book a good review. But still, the reviewer notes:

"The trend in education at all levels and around the world, Nussbaum fears, is toward rote instruction in “applied skills suited to profit-making” and away from cultivation of 'the ability to think critically' and 'to imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person.' ”

These are the exact skills necessary to properly appreciate a wine and the meaning of a wine (that is, if you don't count the education of your palate.) In fact, the ability to critically think about a wine and its context and the ability to sympathize with a wine's place in the world and your world—no matter how lowly or inconsequential that wine may be—is what allows us to derive meaning, real intellectual delight and even knowledge from a wine in our glass and on our table.

The fact that a wine tastes good to me, or smells interesting, is really a momentary piece of knowledge that provides me very little to think about. But if I'm practices at finding creative ways to contextualize the wine through it's place in the history of wine, the history of this kind of wine, perhaps even the political implications of the wine (consider a wine purposely bottled to have a lesser carbon footprint or one that strikes a strident pose on its back label in support of "natural" wine), or through the wine's perhaps unique and old school character that buck's a trend, then I can advance a more meaningful life in wine.

Creative contextualizing is one of the primary skills one ought to gain from a liberal arts education that demands the student investigate the inner life of mankind and the ways by which mankind tells its story and understands the context of human relations.

This is not to suggest that an education in the hard sciences or the not-so-hard sciences (economics, psychology) can't help one lead a more interesting life in wine. And of course if winemaking is your desired profession, then a little bit of chemistry and biology is going to be pretty important. But these courses of study wont' so naturally lead one to think about meanings as a liberal arts education will.

Of course this suggests that wine appreciation is an interpretive activity—something hard to argue with. And it means too that, then, wine is a subjective experience. Again, no great discovery.

So, if any Freshman are reading this and if you have the idea that wine may become an important part of your life after scholarship, and if you think you may want even to make a career in wine, let me suggest Literature, History, Philosophy, Fine Arts.

Halting the Momentum for HR 5034

H.R. 5034, the bill written and sponsored by the National Beer Wholesalers Association and supported by the Wine & Spirit Wholesales Association, has yet to receive a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. And despite it having 136 Co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, there is yet to be introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

What has appeared to happen to this legislation that, if passed, would give states the unassailable right to pass discriminatory bans on wine shipping and producer self-distribution, is that it is losing momentum as word of its onerous and wholesaler protection qualities spread. Critical in spreading the word of H.R. 5034's destructive marketplace qualities have been the various organizations both within and without the alcohol industry that have publicly opposed the bill.s. 

The list below of public statements of opposition to H.R. 5034, along with much more information about the bill can be found at http://www.stophr5034.org.

STATEMENTS OF OPPOSITION TO H.R. 5034

Specialty Wine Retailers Association
Specialty Wine Retailers Condemn Distributor Bid to Ban Wine Shipping

National Association of Manufacturers
Letter to Leadership of House Judiciary Committee Asking Opposition to H.R. 5034

The California State Legislature
The California State Legislature has approved Senate Joint Resolution 34, urging Congress to oppose H.R. 5034.

42 Free Market Public Policy Groups Coalition Letter
A Coalition Letter signed by 42 Free Market public policy organizations opposing H.R. 5034

America’s Alcohol Producers
In a joint statement by the Beer Institute, Wine Institute, Wine America, Brewers Association and Distilled Spirits Council of the United States asking Congress to oppose H.R. 5034

Kentucky Distillers Association
Kentucky Bourbon Producers issue letter to Congress denouncing H.R. 5034 and describing how it would harm the bourbon industry.

Wine Institute/Wine America
Joint statement representing more than 6,000 U.S Wineries Opposing H.R. 5034

Oregon Winegrowers Association
Oregon Winegrowers Association Strongly Opposes H.R. 5034_

The American Wine Society
The Board of Directors of the largest and oldest American wine education organization opposes H.R. 5034

Brewers Association
Brewers Association, organization of over 1000 American Brewers, issues position statement opposing H.R. 5034 for its “lack of protection for the legitimate concerns of America’s smaller brewers.”

Distilled Spirits Council of the United States
Controversial State-Based Alcohol Regulation Bill Will Undermine Longstanding Framework of Alcohol Control

The California Wine Institute
Beer Wholesaler Proposal Promotes Discriminatory State Laws, Hurts Wineries, Breweries, Distilleries and Consumers

Wine America
Wine America H.R. 5034 Statement

Free The Grapes
Stop The Monopoly Power Grab

Family Winemakers of California
Family Winemakers of California Oppose H.R. 5034

Napa Valley Vintners
Urgent Challenges Coming Before Congress

Washington Wine Institute
WWI Opposes H.R. 5034

Family Wineries of Washington State
Family Wineries Strongly Opposes H.R. 5034

Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition
Illinois Wine Consumer Organization Opposes Anti-Wine Shipping Legislation

In Congress, Representatives Mike Thompson and George Radanovich have come out squarely opposed to H.R. 5034.

Return on Investment and Social Media Marketing

People listen to Tim Atkin. At least wine people and  wine industry people do, if not others who just think him a nice guy. But the reason the winiest among us listen to him is because for many years now he has ranked as one of the foremost wine communicators and educators. A Brit and Master of Wine, Tim has written for numerous VIPs (very important publications) and his talents are sought out by other across the globe.

So I "listened" and thought when I saw Tim write the following at his website:

"As in is so many other fields, the way that wine is sold, described, criticized and presented is changing for ever. The surprising thing is that many of the people who work in and around wine haven't noticed or are in denial about the power and scope of the revolution."

Tim provides good evidence for the notion that many around the wine "haven't noticed or are in denial" about the dramatic scope of change that social media and electronic communications have brought to the wine industry. And in the end, he urges that the wine industry, essentially, get on board or be left behind.

I like to think that I've noticed this revolution. I like to think that I play in the sandbox of that revolution. And yet, I'm here to tell you, and I guess Tim too, that diving in deep to the sandbox of social media and electronic communications is not always the best choice for a wine company. I'm thinking here about Return on Investment.

I've yet to see a real good study that can show me what the solid return is for wineries of different sizes and different product lineups who dive face first into Facebook, Twitter, the multiple other social networks, interactive media and websites, blogging, etc. That's not to say that I've not personally seen a good ROI for doing such things. I have. I've helped bring them about. But in almost every case when a company or organization does find an acceptable ROI for their interactive marketing, it's after putting in considerable work.

It's important to consider what that considerable work amounts to.

Twitter: Significant time building your following and herding them with regular and significant tweets.
Facebook: Significant time building fans and delivering your message to them and interacting with them to build brand ambassadors.
Yelp & other Peer Review Sites: Monitoring them, building them out, interacting with users
Blogging: Posting regular and intriguing articles that build interest and loyalty and interacting with those that comment.
Bloggers: Reaching out to comment on various blogs to assure that your brand is represented in among the influencers that tend to navigate their way around blogs regularly.
Monitoring and Measuring: Regularly monitoring the impact and visibility your work is having within the digital domains.

The beauty of using interactive media to promote and market is that it can be accomplished with relatively few hard costs. But note, the real cost is the time it takes. And time is, in my view, the single most critical commodity in the realm of marketing.

How many smaller wineries have the manpower available to devote the kind of time to these endeavors? Some have the resources. Some don't. If they don't they can hire someone like me. But I don't work cheap and few others that have the chops work cheap either.

Again, I don't wan to give anyone the impression that interactive marketing doesn't provide a decent return on investment. In many cases, disregarding traditional public relations, which works, for a purely interactive and social media-aimed strategy can play a significant role in increasing sales, retaining club members, finding new niche markets and establishing one's brand message in a targeted fashion.

But what I would say to Tim and others who are beginning to believe that "getting on board" is the key to victory is this: There are other ways to spend one's time and money that deliver a GREATER return on that investment. It is not a matter of jumping into the electronic pool and seeing profits mount, even if you make a big splash.

It may be that pursuing great traditional media coverage or focusing on educating on-premise accounts or focusing on visiting markets and riding with a distributor representative or creating a stellar tasting room experience will sell more wine at greater profits. That's not to say that interactive marketing can't help successfully carry out these "old school" tactics. 

The bottom line is this: The toolbox is large and heavy and not every tool is the right one for the job at hand, even the shiny new one. It's critical to put in place a marketing plan that utilizes the most efficient tools that are most likely to deliver the greatest return on investment. Take chances and try new things. But be wary of the the shiny tool. It's pretty and some very smart people want you to wield it with gusto. But will a well executive Twitter Campaign sell more wine at higher margins, faster? You better know before you suit up in your pajamas and forgo the trip to a market for the sake of shooting out a well-crafted 147 character message to your followers.