Archive for February, 2016

Wine Industry News – 2/29/

February 29th, 2016

Happy Leap Day! This rarest of days we have industry news on countering wine counterfeiting, a challenging harvest in Oregon and whether you might be overthinking wine.  [level-members] Oregon Pinot’s and When to Harvest An interesting piece on the decisions facing all growers during a tough season brought to life with an exploration of three […]

Food & Wine Pairing: Wine and … the Show

February 26th, 2016

If you thought we were a bit out there last week with the Girl Scout cookie pairings, just wait … [level-members] This week, we’re all about that daily indulgence, the shower. Lawrence Marcus’ piece on the Food & Wine site is tongue in cheek – I think – and it starts on a pretty high […]

Hacking Whiskey, Wine Label Lies, A Love Letter to South African Win

February 25th, 2016

How whiskey makers are meddling with time, what your wine label isn’t telling you, and what’s really great about South African wines. [level-members] Selling Whiskey Before Its Time Nothing is immune to technology these days, not even whiskey. As the appetite has grown for whiskey across the globe, whiskey makers are wishing they had more of […]

Tell Us Your Wine Stori

February 24th, 2016

Getting your wine shop customers to share their wine stories can be a great marketing idea. [level-members] Reading this brief post reminded me that you don’t have to write a David Foster Wallace-length opus to get to the heart of something interesting and important. People sharing stories like this – and you sharing them with […]

Wine Industry Insights from a Retail Gia

February 23rd, 2016

Love ’em or hate ’em, retail giants are frequently great sources of information as they are frequently data driven and they have a LOT of data at their disposal. So what does one retail giant have to say about trends in the wine industry?[level-members] Among other things that Whole Foods’ Doug Bell (who runs their […]

Wine Industry News – 2/22/

February 22nd, 2016

Guess who drinks more than half the wine sold in the US. (And is that more or less wine than could fit in the world’s largest wine barrel?) More US market stats. And will better business improve or ruin the wine industry? [level-members] Apparently, young women are the consumers of more than half the wine […]

Pairing Wine with Girl Scout Cooki

February 19th, 2016

Your girl scout cookies orders were already placed. And the cookies themselves will arrive shortly. What wine goes with those Samoas? [level-members] Rioja, at least according to the L.A. Times. They’ve provided a full rundown of pairings for all the Girl Scout Cookie Varieties. Brunello and Thin Mints seems a stretch. (Though admittedly, I haven’t […]

Worth Sharing: Submarines and Wine and Nature’s Wi

February 18th, 2016

This week’s wine-related news worth sharing with your wine shop customers. [level-members] Does your wine have FILCS? That would be the Fermentation Intelligence Logic Control System. That would be the submarine technology that has been adapted to monitor fermenting grape juice as it makes its journey to wine-dom. Palmaz Vineyards in Napa is already making use […]

How To Know Your Drinking Wine Rig

February 17th, 2016

In yesterday’s piece, we discussed how to make your wine shop customers feel comfortable in your shop and how to tune into what they need – advice and guidance, or to be left alone to make their own choices. Let’s take that a step further and apply the same idea to our marketing. [level-members] Marketing […]

On Reading Your Wine Shop Customers

February 16th, 2016

There’s a real art to reading the people who walk into your wine shop and making them feel comfortable. Coming on too strong is probably worse than keeping your head buried in your phone, tablet, or computer screen. Some thoughts on getting the balance right. [level-members] First and foremost, don’t lose site of the fact […]