Wine Life Today|Adventures and opinions on wine, technology, and marketing

I had an appreciation for BottleNotes and their use of social networking to enhance the “wine club” concept.  Something I just recieved makes their innovation even more important.

Apparently, Forbes.com has created a wine club.  It has all the standard acutriments – three levels of prices, newsletters, wine reviews, and a trinket shop.  What does this mean?  Well, basically, it means that wine clubs are the first “commodity” in a world where things change every year.  By “commodity” I mean it has so little value that it can be completely outsourced and/or “re-labeled” and still have exactly the same value as any other brand.  Think “bottled water”.  It comes from different sources but, and you would know this if you ever watch “The Apprentice” as saw “Trump Water”, the difference is the brand behind the commodity.  In this case, the Wine Club has been reduced to a cookie-cutter operation that Forbes is marketing to its readers (no doubt the demographics of which match quite closely to wine drinkers) and it has no differentiation.

A while back I did a survey online to determine the value of a wine club.  Turns out, most people join them for the discounts more than anything else.  One commenter at the time mentioned that its way more valuable to find a real-life wine shop owner, with an understanding of wine to help you experiement.  I think you can do the same with a reliable magazine (Wine Spectator is considered the devil but at least they can give you some pointers with the tasting ratings).  Either way, I haven’t seen any real value in a wine club unless you’re a winery trying to help your fans get access to your wines.  This wine club from Forbes.com (powered by WineExpress no less) simply proves that I’m right…

Get to know your corner wine shop owner and Enjoy the Wine Life!

The Chicago Tribune had an article on wine buying that I thought was worthy of slapping into our WineHacker category.  We’re not big on the mystique of wine (I know, all wine bloggers say that but if you knew Kelly and I, you’d know we mean it!)  Anyway, we have an appreciation for wine and its a hobby but the more guides to trying wine that we can find the better. 

Additionally, if you don’t live in a “wine area” then these tips, while seeming obvious to some, are not entirely obvious to everyone.  There not perfect but then again nothing relating to wine is perfect.  Why do I say that?  Because every single person’s body chemistry and make up is different.  As different as fingerprints and DNA.  That means that no two people will interpret sensations (like drinking wine) in the same way.  Therefore, by definition, its impossible for there to be a “perfect” wine.  What is perfect for me, by definition, will not be prefect for anyone else.

Off my soap box on that, here’s the Tribune list…

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Well, first I’d like to thank all the well wishers for sending their friendly notes during my self-imposed family leave.  Our little Kendra Michelle is doing very well and I’m sure as soon as he digestive system develops she’ll have a hankerin’ for some great wine (she is a Vincent after all ).

I’d thought I’d start my first post back from a long break with yet another hit from Ballentine Vineyards – 2003 Zinfandel Port.  The first 100% Zinfandel port that I’ve ever tried and I was hooked immediately.  Its a deep, rich port with a blackberry syrup taste that is absolutely delicious.  It fills the palette with an explosion of flavor and yet manages not to overwhelm with sweetness.  An absolute must for after dinner drink relaxing by the fire.

Speaking of Zin, you can find Ballentine Vineyards and others at 15th annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Festival January 25–28th.  Read more of this post for detailed information or visit their website at http://www.zinfandel.org/festival/

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While participating in our favorite Australian Wine Forum I met Glenn Green, an independant consultant winemaker and creator of a great little wine tasting guide which he appropriate calls “The Essential Wine Tasting Guide“. While the name is a mouthful and with my marketing background I probably would’ve steered him toward something with less syllables, this little pocket guide to wine tasting truly is handy to have around.

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