What’s Happening In The Wine World, Part II
Posted by Bob Prewitt | Filed under Tips and Trends Series, Travel
Bob Prewitt continues his tasting notes from those who know and love wines. (Click here if you missed Part I)
Kimberly Charles is the top public relations professional in the Wine Industry. She represents some of the largest and most prestigious wineries in the World as well as other wine-oriented companies. She is active in the Society of Wine Educators and a frequent judge at wine competitions. She will be at the L.A. County Fair next month.
“The wine business is now consumer-driven. It used to be that all the power was with the proprietors and the wineries. We learned from the great estates, and we learned what they wanted us to know. Now, the consumer is king. Wine is now a democracy and is gradually being imbedded in our culture with an educational component. At the Society of Wine Educators, we are selling record numbers of exam certifications.”
“Women are making beverage choice decisions as frequently as men, and women tend to choose a wine experience versus a beer or spirits experience.”
“There is a sense of adventure—experimentation. I have been in this business for 25 years. It was fun back then, and it is really fun again.”
Eric Welsh is Director of Interactive Services here at Dana Communications. He is our resident expert on all things web and is particularly knowledgeable about social networking. He is also a pretty fair Juice Jockey, as he can talk Gruner Veltliner versus Gewurztraminer, and the Macon versus Marlborough.
“What I take away when I think about the Wine Industry right now is less about the product and more about how we find it. Or more so, how it finds us. Just look at Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV (daily online TV about wine with 80,000 viewers a day and 852,000 followers). It seems that every winery has a Facebook page. I just googled ‘wine social network’ and got 14,300,000 listings in 0.22 seconds. Has there ever been a time in history when we had better connected, educated and shared wine experiences?”
Isabelle Tourneau and I have shared innumerable food and wine experiences all across the continent. She’s fun to break bread with because of her passion for creating and enjoying flavorful experiences. She is endlessly curious about what regional flavors reveal about everything from culture to agriculture—an interest that serves her well in both culinary and oenological arenas.
“Never missing a chance to taste good wine, I know pairing, sipping and sampling are nothing new. But I love how these events are pushing the envelope in ways simple and sophisticated.”
“There’s simplicity in how small wine shops are finding space among the shelves for a little tasting bar, where you can sample and chat about the owner’s latest finds. Simple is also casual “wine socials” where you’re mingling, sipping, nibbling—sans the expert to tell you what you’re tasting. And it’s wine dinners reinvented as community table evenings, where you meet new people and new wines. The keywords here are casual, conversational, interactive, fun.”
“Sophistication is the zeal and knowledge swirling around wine these days. It’s the trendy wine bar that pairs an extraordinary chef and brilliant wine guy whose menu of wines and small plates knocks you off your chic little barstool. It’s asking your server about a wine and getting the response of a truly informed palate. And it’s the wine shop/restaurant combo where everything from reasonable corkage fees to rave-worthy dishes shout out the owner’s enthusiasm for wine and food. The keywords? Passion, craft, an ethos of generosity and sharing.”
“It’s all good. And getting better.”
So now it’s my turn. I certainly agree with what has been stated above. It looks like I have a pretty smart group of wine buddies.
My conclusion is that in 2010, it is really easy and really cool to make wine a part of your lifestyle. It is easy to build it into the fabric of your everyday life, and it is even easier to learn about wines and become knowledgeable about the topic.
You can learn about wines through the social networks and by asking questions in restaurants and wine stores. You can buy great values by staying up with the forced sale of older wines. You can have wines shipped to you across state lines. If you want to keep up with the younger generations, you should tweet, follow Facebook and pay attention to the voluminous discussion of the topic on the Internet.
The consensus here at Dana Communications is that the world of wine has never been better. Join up.
For more about partnering with Dana—or to get to know us over a glass of wine—contact jzech@danacommunications.com.
June 29th, 2010 at 11:20 am
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