B and B Marketing Winery

• August 2009

  The Decanter blurb may have been truncated but it said that the producers wanted to show that Australia could produce "fine wine", and to join the clique you had to have a winery of some age and vineyards of some age, etc. That is what missed the point entirely. I have never once... Read moreThe Decanter blurb may have been truncated but it said that the producers wanted to show that Australia could produce "fine wine", and to join the clique you had to have a winery of some age and vineyards of some age, etc. That is what missed the point entirely. I have never once heard or read any critic say that Australia's vines or wineries aren't old enough. The issue is how you define "fine wine" and that has nothing at all to do with the age of your winery or vineyards. Take Sparky Marquis for example. When you talk to him he talks of vine nutrition, plant biology, soil, sunlight, terroir. He is as knowledgeable and as studious as any winemaker anywhere. You hear the same things when you talk to winemakers in Austria and France and Spain and Italy and California or anywhere else in the world. Sparky isn't making plonk. He's making incredibly passionate wine. The difference between him and a winemaker in the Loire Valley or Bordeaux is where their visions finally take them. There is no way on God's green earth that Bordeaux is going to have the sunlight and heat that Sparky has, and no way that they're going to get the ripeness levels that he gets. People who favor their wines call his overoaked fruit bombs. Does he produce "fine wine"? Absolutely IMHO. But it's of a type that is stereotypical for Australia. If all the wineries in the clique get together and produce that, they will have absolutely no effect on the criticism leveled against Australia. The Caillard interview was much better and I think it hit the points perfectly. He understands that the issue is wine style and he points out that many styles can be produced. And I loved this quote: " '...marketing bullshit...' Australia has badged its commercial wines as Brand Champions or Generation Next. These so called 'personalities' actually have no personality at all. They are generally just boring international styles that compete on price and slug it out with marketing bullshit and stupid critter names. " I met with some of the people who are responsible for coming up with that whole idea of "brand champions" etc., and i asked them what the point was. They have selected certain areas to be known for certain grapes. Barossa obviously for shiraz, but then they assigned chardonnay, cab sauv, riesling, etc. So I asked whether they could just as easily have stuck chardonnay in region X instead of region Y, or some other gape in region A instead of region B. The answer was yes. It was simply a way of creating some kind of regional consciousness in the market. Personally I found it kind of dumb and I'm glad that Caillard reacted the way he did. If there are regional characteristics that favor one grape over another, let that speak. Coonawara and cab for example. But don't just do some matchup and market that just so you have something to say. It's really bad marketing, totally concocted and obvious. Domino's Pizza once had something called "avoid the Noid". They created this mythical gremlin so they had something to rhyme with "avoid". Insulting and lame.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What's wrong with Australian... by GregT

  
  

• June 2008

  New York, NY - June 10, 2008 Global, interactive wine resource selects leading industry names Snooth, the world's most comprehensive wine review site, today announced the formation of its advisory board comprised of leading names in the wine industry. The board will play a key... Read moreNew York, NY - June 10, 2008 Global, interactive wine resource selects leading industry names Snooth, the world's most comprehensive wine review site, today announced the formation of its advisory board comprised of leading names in the wine industry. The board will play a key role in advising Snooth’s management on a variety of issues, including its role within the industry, as the site continues to expand into a global wine resource, complete with social elements, detailed recommendations, editorial content, and seamless merchant connections. The members include: • Paul Mabray - Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Inertia, the leading provider of web-based technology used by wineries to manage direct sales and marketing. • Andrea Johnston - VP Channel Development of Inertia • Mike Mitchell - COO MMP, former Director of NextAction, a company that partners with over 1,000 retailers, catalogers and e-retailers to develop customer acquisition and retention programs. • Rodolphe Boulanger - President of the The Wine Messenger, a national online wine retailer, licensed to ship to 25 states. • Jean-Michel Stam - VP Global Wines and Spirits, the leading B2B e-business market place for people in the wine industry -- a joint venture between Société des Alcools du Québec and Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Paul Mabray, founder of Inertia, said, "Snooth provides a much needed solution for aggregating wine content - a single source for information that the consumer can both contribute to, as well as access, thereby democratizing wine information." Jean-Michel Stam, VP of Global Wines and Spirits, added, "Snooth is a very exciting company that is a true innovator in the business of wine rating and appreciation. We are honored to have the opportunity to witness and contribute to its growth." Philip James, CEO of Snooth, commented, "We are very pleased to have access to such a talented group of individuals. Our Advisory Board has a breadth of experience and degree of operating skills in all facets of wine marketing, retailing and merchandising and will be pivotal to Snooth's ongoing development." About Snooth: Launched in June 2007, Snooth is a highly interactive, social database of the world's wines, offering both casual and expert wine drinkers the ability to search, obtain personalized recommendations, interact with fellow wine lovers, as well as seamlessly buy from a global network of over 8,000 merchants. Users have the ability to search by their own personal preferences (bold, peppery, fruity, etc), by a specific meal-pairing, price, or by region or producer. Snooth's recommendation engine also provides customized selections based on stated preferences and user feedback. The more information a user gives on wines they enjoy, the more personalized and detailed the recommendations become. Please visit http://www.snooth.com for more information. Contact media@snooth.com (646) 723-4328    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Snooth Names Advisory Board by Philip

  
  

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