Viralvines.com - Latest Comments

Re: Social Media for wineries..still struggling to confirm ROI

Lynfred Winery — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:53:49 -0000

Thanks for the update! Cheers to a fabulous holiday season, Richard! - Christina from @lynfredwinery

Re: Natural Cork versus Screw Caps: Do either indicate wine quality?

Richard — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:59:07 -0000

Thanks again Raposo for the clarification. I too believe in tradition having worked and lived in different countries. I do believe a good natural cork processed properly is an optimum closure for wine. My main "uneasiness" from the citied survey was that people seemed to believe that the closure itself indicated the quality of the wine. While I believe a good natrual cork does provide optimum protection, it of itself does not ensure that the wine within the bottle is of high quality (although as you amply pointed out, a good wine demands optimum protection). Thank you again for your thoughtful comments and thanks to all from Portugal who took the survey!

Re: Natural Cork versus Screw Caps: Do either indicate wine quality?

Raposo Soares — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 12:27:10 -0000

Hello Richard,
Please, what I meant was that I trust in a good wine and which has a natural cork closure, it makes sense. But it has to be of a good natural cork closure, (that means there are natural cork which quality is not so good, you should avoid those, as well). A good wine always demands (a natural and of good, excelent quality, as well!) a natural cork clousure. I will not recomend a very prestigious wine to have a plastique/synthetic screw caps. Like the good things, the way to do it, the good traditions, should not be jeopardized by something out of context, just simple as that.

Re: Natural Cork versus Screw Caps: Do either indicate wine quality?

Richard — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:17:20 -0000

Obrigado Raposo ... concordo. However, TCS is also "natural" but in this case something not desired. Make no mistate, I am not suggesting in any way that natural cork is not an excellent wine closure. My only "surprise" in the cited survey was that wine buyers would eliminate purchasing a wine based on the closure alone, which in my opinion does not indicate the quality of the wine within. I have experienced wines that were both excellent as well as poor under both closures. In any case, thanks for the comment!

Re: Natural Cork versus Screw Caps: Do either indicate wine quality?

Raposo Soares — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:33:42 -0000

Natural is always Natural and nothing more than Natural!

Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

Kamagra — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 12:46:20 -0000

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Re: Back to basics

Andrew Lazorchak — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:04:01 -0000

Was all our pleasure. We believe customer service is the voice of any brand and we will always stand behind our product and our customers!

Thanks for the note and support!

Cheers!
Andrew

Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

Cyn2much — Sun, 29 May 2011 04:31:31 -0000

I catered a wine tasting party at a sophisticated party... everyone was caught up in the snobbery of the evening.... they had $300, 200. 100 and two buck chuck bottles of wine to choose from.....
guess which one they voted as their #one choice.... you guess it.....two buck chuck.... i laughed the rest of the night!!!

Re: Wineries using Facebook? You bet!

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Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

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Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

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Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

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A blind taste test revealed that many people prefer the "Two Buck Chuck" from Trader Joe's to expensive competitors. You'll have to try it yourself to decide. Check out my other tips for shopping at Costco, what not to buy at Walmart stores and getting

Re: Two buck Chuck: Worth the calories?

Mvallandigham — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 20:38:07 -0000

I like the Chardonnay, but not some of the red varieties I have tasted. It's not wine for a nice night out or even for a family Sunday dinner at home. But, it is better than average for serving at a big house warming or block party, and isn't too terrible as an every day, at home, cooking rice-a-roni for dinner kind of night.

Re: Ole to Small Spanish wine producers!

Antony — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:11:45 -0000

is there a rioja wine being produced and sold by Gruppo Ole with the label Ole? I am a restauranteur and have been asked to try it. Im reluctant. Please advise. Thank you. Mr A Wilder

Re: Wine Regulation: For or Against

Richard — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 20:32:51 -0000

Thanks for the coments Lindsay...

Re: Wine Regulation: For or Against

Lindsey A. Zahn — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:49:00 -0000

I agree with what you wrote about three-tier distribution -- it certainly is practical for high-volume sale of wine products. But that is only for the larger producers in the wine industry -- whose composition entails many smaller producers as well. For those smaller wineries, three-tier distribution is impractical and not nearly as lucrative as alternative means (such as direct shipment).
Great point on cost effectiveness with varying regulations in 50 states -- certainly one of the major problems. Excellent article and thank you for your contribution.

Re: Wine Regulation: For or Against

Richard — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 20:55:18 -0000

Kim ... good question. Where lots of money is at stake, special interests are never far away. If we spent more time fixing the real issues that face this nation, and ignored the special interest lobby, we might actually make some progress. Thanks for your comments.

Re: Wine Regulation: For or Against

Kim Kolb — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:26:25 -0000

Richard... Great article. I don't think in Colorado we have restriction on the discounted drinks or offers for dinner.. I would not be happy in Rhode Island with all those restrictions. In fact we have only had maybe one or two years now that we could actually by alcohol on Sunday's.. I am now a happy camper... Also in our state. Not only do you NOT have to finish the wine, the waiter will cork it and you get to take it with you! I love this new law.. We have had that for about 5 years now. There may be alot of things wrong with our state in other areas, but I think the wine issue is pretty well covered. We are also allowed to ship outside the state to states that can have wine come in.
I do remember reading one of your blogs regarding the H.R. 5034 regulation.. Is there nothing more pressing in Washington than killing the wine industry??

Re: Wineries on Twitter? How Tweet it is!

Magillamax — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:30:38 -0000

As an addition to this post I made a year ago.... Upwards of 50 vineyards that I work with now use twitter and it is more vital now than in the past, as business slowly gets attuned to the value of social media ( recent article on it - "how to use twitter to build business traffic - http://bit.ly/a3Fc7M ) - the website whatzon.com.au uses twitter as it's primary delivery method for live ads and used by the likes of Voft Wines, Tokar Estate etc.

Finally, the point below this ( next post ) is valid, but the ratio he mentions isn't that relevant. What is relevant is the overall response gained by using twitter effectively. I openly admit to only about 20% of my @magillamax 40,000 followers being relevant, but that number keeps growing and is enhanced by having a "large following" even if the majority of them are from elsewhere and more interested in tech or the internet more than the wine. ( many just make up the numbers too hard in twitter to isolate out of the following ).

Re: Wine tasting and scores: Flawed or useful?

risi13 — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:56:27 -0000

Expert wine sippers are very refined people with powerful personalities, so I think it's natural that their opinions vary on the same wine. After all, as professional as they may be, in the end it's a subjective question, whether you like that wine or not. I invited an expert wine sipper in my wine cellar last year and I was surprised to find out that he appreciated the most some bottles I had little regard for.

Re: Kill Bill H.R. 5034

EaglesNestWine — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 08:54:03 -0000

Richard:

Excellent points. To those I'd add four more.

1) The threat of underage drinking with respect to direct shipping is a specious argument for distributors - we ship FedEx, they require adult (over 21) signature and proof thereof at delivery.

2) Small and or family owned wineries produce many award winning, artisan wines no distributor would carry these small volume limited release wines that are often the crown jewels of a wine collection.

However, since, no distributor would carry these low volume, quality wines, the consumer choice loses out under the three tier system distribution system, and is actually prohibited if direct shipping is disallowed, and thereby limits consumer choice on the store shelves to volume producer.

3) Small and or family owned wineries have high unit production costs (limited economies of scale - thus cannot sustain wholesale pricing). They tend to sell direct or ship direct to wine lovers to maximize their limited profit. Distributors and restaurants demand discounted wholesale pricing that doesn't work with the tyranny of the three-tire system.

4) And a final point, direct sales represents a tiny percentage of a state's wine sales and tax revenues. Requiring a monthly or annual sales permit at several hundred dollars in each state for a few cases shipped to say Massachusetts for example effectively prohibits sales (as economically non-viable for small operations) to that state's consumers.

Re: Kill Bill H.R. 5034

WineForBlondes — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:40:48 -0000

Agreed. This is bullshit. I'll post on it.

Re: Whose brainchild was this: Census 2010!?

Kim Kolb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:06:50 -0000

Hi Richard, I too got the same note... I wondered why we would be getting this when we all know by the Outbound Marketing of the TV that it was coming! Maybe with the census they need to capture emails so they can send us an email instead... Alot let time consuming and costly.

Re: Wineries using Facebook? You bet!

bobzaguy — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:47:26 -0000

Lynfred Winery has 3,372 friends.

Re: Myth of the Family Winery:Is there another Agenda?

Eagles Nest Winery — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:55:27 -0000

Richard: This certainly an interesting topic I had the same reaction as you to the Marin report.

As with anything in business or politics, you can follow the money and it tells the story. The constant struggle for control/sales of alcohol in the many USA states is very evident. Family wineries are generally small operators and victims to the big alcohol lobby money and a controlling 3-tier distribution system. Slim profit margins for family wineries can't sustain the profit restrictions imposed by a 3-tier system .

I recall a years long struggle (that failed) in Alabama to free small family wineries from the debilitating but profitable-for-distributors 3-tier system. Liquor lobby money won out each legislative session. Unfortunately Greed and corruption are permanent elements of the regulatory and governance landscape.

To protect your wine choices, I urge wine lovers to support your favorite family-owned wineries whenever you can. The burden of wine shipping costs aside, lets hope direct-to-consumer shipping permissions continue to increase on a state by state basis. The impact on the 3-tier distribution system is minimal. Remember if you see a bottle of wine on a retail shelf - chances are it came to you via a restrictive distribution network that does not favor small family wineries.