TasteCamp East:Bloggers Arrive in the Finger Lakes

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  I’m fortunate enough to be included on the list of wine bloggers and writers who get asked to attend TasteCamp East, organized by Lenn Thompson and Evan Dawson at The New York Cork Report. Last year, Long Island Wine Country hosted our group and although [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/tastecamp-eastbloggers-arrive-in-the-finger-lakes/

Gary Hocking Ingo Hoffmann Bill Holland Jackie Holmes Bill Homeier

Shedden excluded from race one

Gordon Shedden has lost his third place from the opening British Touring Car race at Donington Park. Shedden's Honda Racing Civic took third on the road behind team-mate Matt Neal and the Eurotech Racing Vauxhall Vectra of Andrew Jordan, but has been excluded thanks to a technical infringement. Triple 8 Engineering's James Nash therefore inherits third, and will start from that place for today's second race this afternoon

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/other-news/touring-cars/btcc/shedden-excluded-from-race-one/

Stefan Johansson Eddie Johnson Leslie Johnson Bruce Johnstone Alan Jones

Heidfeld frustrated by Q2 traffic

Nick Heidfeld blamed traffic during his only qualifying run in Q2 for his disappointing position ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. The German opted to do just one run in the second qualifying segment, but Renault team-mate Vitaly Petrov caused a red flag with two minutes to go because of a problem with his car. The incident meant all drivers were on a mad rush to set a time in the final two minutes, and many found traffic during the flying laps.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/heidfeld-frustrated-by-q2-traffic/

Al Herman Hans Herrmann François Hesnault Hans Heyer Damon Hill

2011 Wine Marketing Report Edition No. 1 Pt. I of III

Unless you’re Rip Van Winkle snoozing since 2004 and awakening in the early spring of 2011, it’s not hard to persuasively argue (to say nothing of intuitively understanding) that digital marketing (in all of its permutations) is foremost on the minds of wine marketers for direct-to-consumer engagement.

That’s the fact.  Here’s the reality:  It’s wild and wooly out there.  Making sense of it is beyond any one person and yesterday’s Twitter account is tomorrow’s old news.  Yet, trying to figure out any one thing (like geo-location, for example), can take you into Alice’s rabbit hole leaving you more confused than when you began.  This, I know.

Continuing what has always been a part of what I write about here – the intersection of wine marketing and wine enthusiasm – I’m altering these posts to, at the least, be more findable on the site by headline if not style.

Generally, I like to take sides on an issue and make hyperbolic proclamations that read like mandates (um, Glenn Beck without the apocalyptic bombast?).  Instead, with this incrementally re-jiggered series of posts that will occur once every month or two, I’m choosing to just simply discuss a few things that have wine marketing implications (that I find of interest) while offering some context that I find equally interesting.

Of course, first up is the wine industry’s favorite internet poster child:  Gary Vaynerchuk. 

Gary V. and Dailygrape.com

On Monday, March 14th Gary Vaynerchuk announced on the 1000th episode of WineLibraryTV that he was re-deploying the web-based show that launched him into pop culture.  During what he described as an “emotional” episode that seemed to me to have all the emotional sincerity of somebody cruising up to their baby mama’s trailer park in an Mercedes S-class to drop off eight months of child support back payments, Vaynerchuk revealed that the newly created Dailygrape.com would be the new home for his wildly popular wine review show.

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WineLibraryTV (WLTV) isn’t going away, per se, but it will now only be used for special interviews and one-off activities, according to Vaynerchuk.

Citing a need to, “Innovate” and get out in front of trends, Dailygrape.com is available via your web browser and optimized for viewing on iPads and iPhones.  As an iPhone/iPad application, Dailygrape offers a number of features for community and user wish lists, and access to additional Gary Vaynerchuk reviews.

Speaking of reviews, Vaynerchuk promised more of them, which he will deliver on…for the introductory price of $2.22 a month through the rest of year, delivered in a monthly newsletter.  More on this in a second.

A couple of things jump out to me about Vaynerchuk’s move to a de-couple himself from his retail operation, WineLibrary:

1) He’s smart to not let his charisma and personality take him in business directions away from the core of what got him to this point – wine.  Does Oprah become an icon and build a media empire if she took a left turn out of her afternoon chat fest three years in? 

2) He’s smart to re-brand because his shtick is intrinsically linked to WineLibraryTV and his WLTV patois has a finite audience.  The early returns on his first two episodes at Dailygrape.com indicate Vaynerchuk may be toning his act down from outsized caricature to energetic everyman.  This can have a direct correlation on potential audience growth.

3) In order to be taken seriously as a wine critic, where there is ample room for deification with a younger generation, Vaynerchuk had to separate himself from the frequent denunciations that a reviewer can’t be impartial if they’re selling the wine, as well.

4) Dailygrape.com doesn’t offer an RSS feed – which means Vaynerchuk is no longer syndicating his content – an online model that has been predominate over the last decade; the notion that giving content away for free, everywhere, can help build a brand.  No, instead of going to Google Reader to watch the show, you’ll have to go directly to the site, or the iPhone/iPad compatible application on your device.

This “innovation” that Vaynerchuk speaks of seems to me to be more of business-savvy maturation and a necessity with an eye on the next couple of years of sustaining growth for his personal brand. 

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What’s he’s doing is using internet feedback as a large focus group to answer perceived negatives while at the same time creating a branded media property separate from the womb of his retail operation, positioning himself as an accessible wine critic for a new generation.  Rachael Ray has her 30-Minute Meals and Vaynerchuk is building on wine criticism.  Through this process he’s also showing his cards for what we’ll be talking about two years from now, which will likely include:

1) Remember when we didn’t have to pay for anything on the internet?  Vaynerchuk goes premium offering exclusive content to subscribers.

2) Vaynerchuk the respected wine critic with a fast-growing subscription-based newsletter, widening influence and Dailygrape shelf talkers at retail stores nationally

3) Multi-platform ubiquity

4) Extensible branding and the foundation of a media company à la Oprah’s Harpo Productions and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

In sum, I’m careful not to confuse “innovate” with “necessitate” and, truthfully, it seems like the changes Vaynerchuk is making are as necessary as they are cutting edge yet I have a sneaking suspicion that Vaynerchuk’s star is not only going to get brighter, but he’s going to convert detractors in the process.

To see how my Vaynerchuk analysis skills were in March of 2007, a little over a year into WineLibraryTV, click here.

Next up:  Pts. II and III of this post series.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/2011_wine_marketing_report_edition_no._1_pt._1_of_3/

Damon Hill Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt David Hobbs

Scion Teases New York Auto Show Concept?And It Looks Like the FT-86 Sports Car!

A teaser video released by Toyota’s “youth” brand, Scion, previews a concept that the company will show at next week’s New York auto show?and it looks a heck of a lot like the Toyota FT-86 II concept car from this year’s Geneva auto show. This tells us that the Toyota version of the jointly developed [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/HRakPhDRbUs/

Brad Keselowski Ruby Tuesday Dodge Carl Edwards Copart Ford Denny Hamlin

Teams poised for winter plans rethink

Formula 1 teams may need a rethink about the way they launch their new cars next year, after those that gambled on late-updates to their 2011 challengers struggled in early races. That is the view of Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn, who believes that his team may well have been better off spending more time getting to understand how to get the most out of a car, rather than leaving it to the last minute for aerodynamic updates

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/teams-poised-for-winter-plans-rethink/

Maurício Gugelmin Dan Gurney Hubert Hahne Mike Hailwood Mika Häkkinen

Deluxe or Do-it-Yourself:  The Wine Cooler Solution and Giveaway

At some point in a wine enthusiast’s journey, for reasons practical or aesthetic, there comes a time when a refrigerated wine storage solution jumps onto the wish list.  If you don’t have a wine cooler (or, even if you do) you’re in luck because I’ll be giving a Kalorik 21-bottle wine cooler away to one lucky commenter to this post, a $300 value.

For me, I lucked into a wine fridge as a way-too-generous wedding gift nearly six years ago.  One of my best friends (and a groomsman) gave me a bottle of 1999 Joseph Phelps Insignia and a Danby Silhouette 51-Bottle Dual Zone Wine Cooler.  Getting married in your thirties does yield benefits – the gifts are better, certainly.

Since then, much to my wife’s chagrin, I’ve also managed to overtake the garage refrigerator in addition to using a dedicated full-size 1950’s-era vintage refrigerator (set to cool, but not cold setting) in my basement that I use for reds and whites that are in the drinking queue.  Aside from general cellaring in my basement (no furnace heating so it stays 58 degrees year-round), I have my refrigeration needs well-covered and it all follows a circuitous path to my palate in a system that only makes sense to me.

When looking for a refrigeration solution, the options are clearer.  There are two paths:  The do-it-yourself (DIY) practical path or the aesthetic (read:  cool and more expensive) path.

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If you’re on a budget and not concerned with looks, you should take a look at a nifty gadget called the Wine-Stat II that works with any refrigerator, including the 1970s avocado green model that is probably in your grandparent’s garage.

Hardly a new development, the original Wine-Stat was developed in 1984 before later being replaced by the next generation Wine-Stat II.  Invented and sold by Bill Happersett, the Wine-Stat II is about the size of a television cable box and acts approximately in the way a light dimmer does.

In the same manner that a light dimmer controls lighting to degree of brightness, the Wine-Stat II controls temperature on any refrigerator allowing a wine enthusiast to take the guesswork out of temperature control.

Would you like a perfect 55 degrees for your special reds?  For $149 the Wine-Stat II lets any wine enthusiast turn an old refrigerator into something useful.

On the aesthetic side of the equation, the options are more plentiful.

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Search for “wine cooler” or “wine refrigerator” at Air & Water or Amazon.com and you’ll find more brand names and size options than you’ll probably care to research and all of them are reasonably expensive, at least as compared to a regular dorm size or standard refrigerator.  Yet, they all have the very important aesthetic aspect of having a glass door, temperature control and some level of stainless steel for the modern kitchen look giving them an appearance of a lifestyle tool that can reside where it must combining form with function.

For my part, I’ve been happy with the Danby, but if I were going to supplement with a smaller size unit for my kitchen (countertop or built-in), I’d look at a couple of other brand names including Kalorik, an appliance manufacturer who seems to hit all of the consumer review factors (no Freon, low energy usage, quiet, no vibration) at very competitive prices.

And, kudos to Kalorik and their online retail partner Air & Water for graciously offering to give one Good Grape reader the opportunity to win an absolutely free, shipping paid 21-bottle cooler (link here for details on the wine cooler).

The contest will be open from Sunday, March 27th at 9:00 pm EST to Tuesday, March 29th at midnight EST.  Here’s what you need to do to win: Leave a comment on this post and answer this question:  Which of the wines that you own would you want to put into your wine cooler first?  That’s all.  Did I say the wine cooler is a $300 value?

If you want to want to earn a second entry into the random drawing, simply tweet this:  21-bottle wine fridge giveaway from @goodgrape at Goodgrape.com. Comment at GG to win! Provided by the folks @teamkalorik

Good luck and thanks for reading Good Grape:  A Wine Manifesto.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/deluxe_or_do-it-yourself_the_wine_cooler_solution_and_giveaway/

James Hunt Jim Hurtubise Gus Hutchison Jacky Ickx Yuji Ide