Because we can’t resist the ridiculousness of it all. [level-members] We’re not even out there looking for these anymore. They just find us. This time, it’s The Gothamist, a New York city site. They’ve polled a collection of sommeliers from the city and asked about their guilty pleasure pairings. And they start off with a […]
Archive for April, 2016
More Junk Food & Wine Pairin
April 29th, 2016Wine Stuff Worth Sharing: Tannins, Before and After Photos, Mo
April 28th, 2016Lots of good stuff to share with your wine shop customers, social media followers, and email subscribers this week, including how tannins work, how a few glasses of wine affect us on film, and a brief history of win in the U.S. [level-members] History of Wine in the U.S. We’ll start with the history, since […]
Appealing to Budget-Conscious Wine Consume
April 27th, 2016Even in good times, there will be a portion of your audience who are extremely price sensitive. In tougher times, that portion will increase. That doesn’t mean, though, that you have to sell on price. [level-members] As we’ve discussed more times than I can remember, competing on price is a tough, tough approach to take, […]
Operating Instructions for Your Wine Shop Busine
April 26th, 2016Just because you don’t want to be like McDonald’s – or any other national fast-food chain – doesn’t mean you can’t learn from their practices. [level-members] Perhaps the most valuable thing you can take away from enterprise-level businesses is their insistence on systematization. From how particular menu items are prepared to how frequently bathrooms are cleaned, […]
Wine Industry News – 4/25/
April 25th, 2016Nature vs. nurture: winemakers vs. terroir. Cold-weather varietals, and more on the new 1,000-point rating system. [level-members] California’s Focus on Winemakers What matters more, the winemaker or the terroir? Neither, some might argue, including Maria Sinskey who feels that California needs to strike more of a balance. The article in Drinks Business is a quick […]
Food & Wine Pairing: Asparagus Risot
April 22nd, 2016Spring is here, and though it’s been late in springing in some parts of the country, it’s mostly here. [level-members] So here’s a great spring recipe for Asparagus Risotto from MyRecipes.com Asparagus Risotto There are some great pairing options to consider for a dish like this, even though asparagus can be tough to pair. Reds are […]
Wine Shop Content Worth Sharing – The Sommelier Ex
April 22nd, 2016Hard to imagine why wine has something of a snobbish reputation … [level-members] OK. so this isn’t a reason for wine’s sometimes poor reputation, but it’s funny nonetheless. Courtesy of Funny or Die. [/level-members]
Wine Shop Marketing: Avoid Gender Stereotyp
April 20th, 2016An article in Punch brought gender assumptions in marketing to the forefront, and talks specifically about wine. [level-members] No surprise, big winemakers target their marketing toward particular demographics. Those demographics are, almost by definition, based on broad personas meant to evoke the attitudes and habits of particular segments of the buying public. This process is […]
Are You Selling a Commodit
April 19th, 2016A recent article in Forbes takes the position that wine is, for the most part, a commodity, and always has been. [level-members] There’s real truth to that, at least as the article lays it out. The vast majority of wine and wine grapes in the world are sold as bulk products. A relative small handful […]
Wine Industry News – 4/18/
April 18th, 2016Does the world need another wine rating system? Too bad, it’s getting one. Are sulfites really that big a deal? And is Oregon the Loire Valley’s “brother from another mother?” [level-members] New Wine Rating System From The Drinks Business we get a report of a new wine rating system from Wine Lister. Developed by the […]