Wine, Mind Share and the Media—A Potent Combo Still
In 1990 I went to work for a wine-oriented PR firm in Santa Rosa, California. I was fresh off the college boat, had never worked in public relations and the only insight I had into how the media works...
View ArticleFirst End-of-Pandemic Wine DTC Data Is Good News
Beginning in March 2020, American wineries began to see the impact on direct-to-consumer shipments due to pandemic lockdowns and isolating inside our homes. We are just now beginning to see a hint of...
View ArticleNow is the Time To Buy Prime Vineyard Land…It’s a Bargain
Say you are 30 years old and you, unlike so many your age, are thinking about your future and thinking about securing your financial future. Here is how you do it: Do whatever it takes, find partners,...
View ArticlePut-Upon, Underpaid, Disparaged, Victims—The Life of Wine Influencers
Are wine influencers mining the depths and potential of Instagram really just put-upon, underpaid, disparaged journalists working in a new medium that the sexist wine industry is too male and too old...
View ArticleFive Facts About the Wine Industry’s and Success In the Wine Industry
A clear eyed understanding of the wine industry is the prerequisite for the industry’s health and for success working in the industry. Too often I bump up against folks in the industry that don’t...
View ArticleNow Is the Best Time to Get Into the Wine Industry in Decades
This moment, right now, is the best time to find a job in the wine industry that I’ve witnessed in more than 30 years. Job seekers looking to break into the wine industry will find wineries across the...
View ArticleCan Oregon Wine Tourism Survive the Portland Problem?
“Five Days After Attack, Andy Ngo Releases Statement Confirming He Was Chased and Beaten in Portland” “‘It’s frightened people away’: Downtown Portland hotels slow to recover due to pandemic,...
View ArticleThe American Wine Industry…What If?
What if at the end of 2022 it turns out wine sales have dipped below the pre-pandemic 2019 level? What if wealth inequality is unchecked and reaches levels higher than we’ve ever seen? What if more...
View ArticleWinery’s Use of Fulfillment Houses Is Illegal?
Wineries’ use of fulfillment houses to store, pack, label boxes and prepare wines for shipment to consumers is illegal. Who knew?? Try to imagine the logistic of wine shipping if producers were...
View ArticleA Wine Conference for the Passionate
I think it must be clear to anyone to cares to take notice that today there is a far greater abundance of wine-related media at our disposal than at any previous time. I’m not talking about...
View ArticleThe Real Threat of Counterfeit Wine From Wholesalers
Over the past five years or so some members of the alcohol beverage industry have voiced concern that counterfeit alcohol is such a potential problem that increased vigilance is necessary to keep...
View ArticleYour Wine Is Toxic and Poisonous
I wonder how often the folks at Dry Farm Wines have had the opportunity to look winemakers in the face and tell them “your wine is poisonous”. Not take the cowardly route and state in Facebook ads that...
View ArticleDear Wine Industry…Signed, Anonymous
What would you tell the federal government about competition in the alcohol industry if you could keep your comments anonymous? This is the question that struck me as I began to look over the nearly...
View ArticleThe Corruption in the Wine, Beer & Spirits Trade Was Anticipated
In 1933 a small book, Toward Liquor Control, was written and published. Sponsored by John D Rockefeller and written by Raymond B. Fosdick and Albert L. Scott, the book had a singular goal: to provide...
View ArticleCorruption and Regulatory Capture in the Alcohol Industry
REGULATORY CAPTURE Anyone working long enough in the alcohol arena will recognize the system this phrase describes, even if they are unfamiliar with the phrase itself “Regulatory capture is an economic...
View ArticleAlabama Wine Regulators Were Taken Over By Special Interests
Not long ago I wrote about the corrupt circumstances of “Regulatory Capture”. In that article, Regulatory Capture was described this way: “Regulatory capture is an economic theory that says regulatory...
View ArticleThe New Shiny Dull Object is Right Wing Wine
Why does it seem it’s always the most uninteresting wine that provokes the most controversy in the wine industry? Earlier in the year, a big old kerfuffle surrounded the introduction of the Avaline...
View ArticleThe Stench of Envy is Rising in the Wine Industry
Oliver Styles’ recent call for drinking equity for wine industry workers is a variation on a common theme. It’s not a theme you see so enthusiastically endorsed these days primarily because long...
View ArticleWine Takes a Holiday
We are smack dab in the middle of Hannukah, that time when latkes make their annual appearance on Jewish tables when debates emerge as to the proper preparation for this dish and when no wine in...
View ArticleWhat Has Been Confirmed and Learned in My 16th Year of Wine Writing
Having just completed my 16th year publishing FERMENTATION, I look back at these past 12 months and, as is my tradition, seek to understand what I’ve learned or confirmed about wine, my industry, and...
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