Archive for November, 2016

Is Your Wine Shop Marketing Workin

November 30th, 2016

I you have no marketing budget, you’re making a mistake of fairly epic proportions. If you are spending on marketing but don’t track what marketing activities are working and how well, your mistake could be much bigger. [level-members] First, let’s address the no marketing budget. If you have  no marketing budget, what you’re saying is […]

Can You Create Your Own Wine Bran

November 29th, 2016

This report from Meininger, from about a month ago, has some interesting predictions for where the wine industry is headed. Some are trends that independent wine shop owners should simply be aware of. Others are opportunities to grab a competitive advantage if not fundamentally change your business. [level-members] Top of the list is a fascinating […]

Wine Industry News – November 28, 20

November 28th, 2016

A nightmare harvest in Champagne, a much-improved harvest in Michigan, end of the chase for In Pursuit of Balance, and vineyard worker healthcare in Oregon. [level-members] Nightmare Vintage in Champagne At least according to Piper-Heidsieck’s chef de cave, Regis Camus, who reports “an explosion of mildew” unlike any before in his career. His harvest was down by […]

Make Your Wine Shop Be Differe

November 23rd, 2016

Following up on yesterday’s post about breaking out of a rut, we have more direct marketing ideas related to differenting your wine shop. [level-members] It may not be any easier for you to convince your wine shop customers to try something new than it is for me to convince you to try a new way […]

Break Your Wine Shop Out of the R

November 22nd, 2016

There are a great many varietals that your customers have likely never heard of. Make the introduction. And scare yourself in other ways, too. Your business will be better for it. [level-members] Yes, everybody wants Cab and Chard and maybe a Merlot if they haven’t seen Sideways. (Or maybe if they have – Miles is pretty […]

Wine Industry News for November 21, 20

November 21st, 2016

What a Trump presidency might mean for the wine industry, what the harvests have looked like in Bordeaux and Languedoc, a “company town” developing in California, and reports from New Zealand post-quake. [level-members] New Zealand Earthquake Starting in New Zealand, it seems that the wine industry mostly dodged a bullet, with limited, relatively superficial damage. […]

Food and Wine Pairing: Vegetable Cassoulet and Languedoc-Roussill

November 18th, 2016

From the good folks at Food & Style, we have a lighter but still satisfying option for this weekend before Thanksgiving and it’s typical overindulgence. [level-members] As welcome as its healthful vegetarian makeup is, it’s also a time-saver since without any meat, cooking time is greatly reduced. It’s still a hearty meal and Viviane’s wine […]

Wine Articles Worth Sharing – November 17, 20

November 17th, 2016

From California to Maryland back to California, with a side trip to the less appealing side of biodynamic farming in Oregon, we cover the most interesting wine stories out there this week. [level-members] Creating a California Original A California original – Randall Grahm – and his quest to create a California original wine. The story […]

Thanksgiving Wine Marketi

November 16th, 2016

If you haven’t created email or web copy for your wine shop about what wines go with the big meal, do so now! [level-members] Basically, the answer is, “everything.” Or, as Eric Asimov puts it in the New York Times, “There Are No Wrong Thanksgiving Wines.” There are plenty of questions you should be asking someone […]

Factory Workers, Paralegals, Radiologists, Wine Shop Owner

November 15th, 2016

Are local wine shop owners in the crosshairs of technological innovation? Are our livelihoods under pressure from outsourcing and other “advancements?” Could be according to this recent report from Bloomberg. [level-members] Last week, Bloomberg reported on a new way to buy wine that relies on an algorithm to help determine whether a wine you’ve never […]