Sonoma County Wine Royalty and the Abdication of the Queen
Queen Elizabeth should abdicate the throne. Prince Charles should refuse the crown. William should be coronated as the King of England. This is the solution to the problems the English royal family is...
View ArticleThe Dry Januarians Are A Threat That Need A Response
God bless Alain Ducasse. So upset and infuriated is the legendary French chef with the entire concept of “Dry January” that in response he has significantly lowered the price of his best Rhone,...
View ArticleWine Tariffs and the Threat of “Drink American”
This is new and this has some important implications to consider: “Perfect. I agree with that 100%; America has enough resources on her own, most of everything has much better quality anyway. BUY...
View ArticleBordeaux Provides American Wine Regions With a Very Scary Lesson
It’s quite possibly the most consequentially negative headline I’ve read about wine in 30 years: BOTTOM FALLS OUT OF BORDEAUX PRICES It comes from a February 1, 2020 article by Wine-Searcher written...
View ArticleThe Most Unique Wine Trade Org in 30 Years Arrives to Fight Tariffs
I can’t emphasize enough how rare it is to see the creation of a successful new trade association in the alcohol industry. In my 30 years working in the beverage alcohol industry, I can count the...
View ArticleWine In The Time Of Corona
This is my 30th year working in the American wine industry. Nothing even approaching this kind of disruption has ever occurred. The impact of social isolating and business shutdowns due to the...
View ArticleOn Resisting The Urge To Use An Emergency for Self Interest
In the interest of working to get this message out far and wide, I’m reposting a press release from the National Association of Wine Retailers here. The release deals with the need for members of the...
View ArticleI’ve Run My Wine Biz From Home For 30 Years—Here Are the Rules
I began running my wine communications consultancy out of a home office in 1994 when I left a wine PR firm that I began my career with and went out on my own. There was a brief moment of a year and a...
View ArticleHow CoronaVirus Will Change the Alcohol Industry
The problem with trying to predict the impact of the CoronaVirus on the Alcohol Universe is the same problem of predicting its impact on any industry: We don’t yet know the severity of the impact the...
View ArticleTyranny as a Peril of Pandemic—The California ABC Power Grab
Due Process: It’s the concept and rule that when the state or its agencies or representatives takes legal action against a person or organization, it is required to follow the law in doing so, which...
View ArticleCalifornia Brings On the Winery Tasting Room Silliness
When it comes to alcohol, digressing into silliness isn’t uncommon. On the one hand, the stuff can get you drunk and you can do silly, stupid things. But on the other hand, the stuff is the source of...
View ArticleWhat Wine Do You Pair With Word Salad?
I assume everyone has read the important new “Essay” produced by the Center for Alcohol Policy entitled “Crisis De-regulations: Should They Stay or Should They Go?” .…LOL….Sorry. That was a joke. Of...
View ArticleIs The Wine Industry Racist?
Is the wine industry in America racist? It’s a pertinent and timely question given not only the current movement for social justice and racial equality but also considering the various articles that...
View ArticleThe Wine Industry, Violence, Words and Emails…Oh My
Almost a week ago I published a post here entitled, “Is the Wine Industry Racists?” It received a good deal of interest, a number of thoughtful comments, and a number of shares, links, etc. Not...
View ArticleWine Consumers Get The Boot Again….Shocking!
You’ll never believe this, but it turns out that folks in Ohio actively seek out online wine retailers in order to buy wine. I know….Who would have thunk it? But it turns out Ohio’s Attorney General...
View ArticleIn Praise of Wine Snobs and Classists
And now let us praise the wealthy, wealthy-adjacent, privileged, conspicuously consuming wine consumers who, with their showy and snooty displays and consumption of expensive, rare, hard-to-find, wines...
View ArticleRocket Science and the Restaurant Wine Sales Crisis
While presenting at the Sonoma State University Wine Business Institute Research Summit on July 15 , Stephen Rannekleiv of Rabo Agribusiness delivered the bad news: There should be no expectation that...
View ArticleImagine if Selling Shoes Was as Absurd as Selling Wine
I recently had the opportunity to provide one half of dueling opinion pieces in the Columbus Dispatch. The issue was, “Should Ohio Restrict Online Sales of Spirits and Wine”. The reason for the dueling...
View ArticleThe Top Ten Important Wine Questions
There are a variety of interesting and even significant questions staring the wine industry in the face right this minutes. They are the kind of questions that have answers that will significantly...
View ArticleThe Problem of Wine’s Diminishing “Aspiration Gap”
Wine selling venues shuttered due to COVID. Neo-Prohibitionism on the rise. A continuing invasion of new and high-quality imports. Dietary guidelines recommending 1 drink a day instead of 2 for men....
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