March 15, 2005
hughtrain wine biz
I have started taking an interest in the wine business. Two questions:
1. Can anyone recommend me some good wine blogs worth reading? If so, please leave the URL in the comments.
2. Does anybody fancy writing a Hughtrain-savvy wine blog for a client of mine? If so then please drop me an e-mail. Sure, there could be some money in it.
I’m already talking to one person, but there’s more than one blogger needed.
The blogs I have in mind will, like English Cut aspires to do in its industry, is create the “Smartest Conversation” on the planet about wine and the wine industry, bar none.
I want to kick the wine business in the teeth. So does my client. We’re looking for allies.
Any ideas would be most gratefully received.
http://www.drvino.net/aboutdrvino.php is usually an interesting read. He’s rather mellow but well informed. Is that part of the wine business you excoriate of a piece with the London media clown whose place in hell is reserved?
http://www.vinography.com/ is a wonderful weblog all about wine, and wine related things.
One of my favourites.
Another vote for Vinography. You might also want to check out the bloggers/podcasters at:
http://www.graperadio.com.
The list of nominations for the recent food blog awards could also be worth a sniff:
http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2004/12/08/2004_fba_call_for_nominations_best_food_3
Vinograpahy won it.
Here:
http://fermentations.blogspot.com/
and here
http://lennthompson.typepad.com/lenndevours/
Hugh — waddya looking for? someone in the biz, or just someone opinionated about it?
Probably not what you’re looking for, but ‘late bland’ is a fine writer with his own blog who works in the wine business (retail)
http://www.20six.co.uk/late_bland
I second graperadio — great podcast!
Hi Hugh!
In addition to Fermentations and Huge Johnsons, which I had emailed about, I follow (and you may want to talk to):
Vivi’s Wine Journal
the aforementioned Vinography
http://thewinecellar.blogspot.com/ (hasn’t been updated in a while)
wineloverspage.com (not quite a blog)
NYTimes Dining & Wine (ditto)
In addition, it’s probably worth it to subscribe to eRobertParker.com and winespectator.com, if you’re feeling flush.
I’ll follow up with an email, and sometime soon figure out how to link stuff in comments
Seth
Libiamo ne’ lieti calici che la bellezza infiora
Enologi o aspiranti tali, ecco l’occasione che fa per voi: Hugh di gapingvoid ha preso interesse per il vino. Sta cercando qualcuno che sia disposto a tenere un blog sul vino (in inglese…) su commissione — ovvero: pare se ne possa ricavare anche qu…
Ah, if only I had the financial capacity to retire – there are few things I’d enjoy more than sitting around wine blogging all day.
http://www.vinoteca-online.com/DIARIO.HTM — it’s in Italian, though. But maybe the owner can blabber about wine in English as well, who knows…
Blogger aspirante enologo cercasi
Enologi o aspiranti tali, ecco l’occasione che fa per voi: Hugh di gapingvoid ha preso interesse per il vino. Sta cercando qualcuno che sia disposto a tenere un blog sul vino (in inglese) su commissione per un suo cliente -…
I wonder how many people watched Sideways, thought glumly “I wish there was an erudite blog about wine to help me defeat the ignorance premium” and then settled into a bottle of oustandingly mediocre but pricy plonk in front of their ‘puter only to realise then that there wasn’t such a blog. Hugh, you’d be doing us all a favour if you get this off the ground.
http://wine-by-benito.blogspot.com/
Very personal reviews.
Hugh, if you need someone who has no idea about wine from a point of view of quality, but knows lots about quantity, then I could be the guy for you. I can just see the blog now.
“I woke up not far from where I live, reminiscences of wine drinking, or least up until about 10pm…”.
Dear Hugh
I think that the most interesting person in Wine today is Esme Johnstone.
Esme started Majestic Wine Warehouses many years ago and transformed wine selling in the UK. he then went off to the US to do the same and came a cropper with Liquor Barn.
For the last 20 years he has been the proprietor of Chateau de Sours in Bordeau where he has gained the reputation as one of the most innovative makers of fine wine. He is a negociant in Bordeau and knows most of the great producers around the world as friends.
He is exceptionally funny and a great writer — he is also moving on from de Sours and is looking for this type of challenge. I can think of no one who would be better suited as a personal wine brand.
I spoke to him today to see if he would be interested and he would be. I have a phone number and email if you want — call me too if you wish to know more
Best wishes Rob
Here are my personal favorites:
http://hugejohnsonsworldofwine.blogspot.com/
http://culturedwino.com/
http://www.spittoon.biz/
I also second the excellent blogs mentioned previously like Vinography, Fermentations and lenndevours. BTW, I also have a wine blog and podcast you might find interesting.
Cheers!
Following your global microbrand thoughts reminded me of a small wine producer I met last year. The guy is just so passionate about the quality of what he does it’s unbelievable. And he’s small. I mean very small. I’m talking 8000 bottles a year small. So what? The guy lives and breathes for his grapes and his wine. Two years into production he got a call from a sommelier for a few bottles. Not just any sommelier — the one at the Elysee Palace. Of the French President.
I’m going to go up and see him sometime soon, (now the snow’s melting) because I’d been thinking about this idea myself. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m far from an expert on wine, but people like that are just inspirational.
I also know a guy that does something similar with organic sheep. Or at least turning their milk into cheese. (As a Welshman, I can assure you the care and attention he gives his sheep is entirely respectable.)
Anyway, it’s getting towards that aperitif sort of time…
Cheers, and thanks for all the wine blog suggestions folks
Hey Hugh.
I don’t have a blog suggestion, but a general suggestion about what sort of kick in the teeth the US wine industry needs.
When I’m in the US (in California), I drink a lot of Two Buck Chuck, a lot of $10 French/Italian/Spanish/Chilean wine, and an occasional California wine in the $15 – 40 range. (Only reds, I don’t really drink whites much).
In most of Europe I can get Two Buck Chuck quality (or slightly above) for about 4 – 5 Euros. And I can get the same quality as the $40 Californian for 20 Euros.
So… where is the good $5 domestic red? You can hit Trader Joe’s and, outside of the unique Charles Shaw phenomenon, you *might* get a good wine for under $6. But it’s hit and miss.
Over here in Hungary, the wine industry is getting that kick as we speak. You can get crappy domestic wine for as little as 1 Euro (in a real bottle!) and you can get amazing domestic wine starting at 10 Euros. But if you want to spend 5 Euros, you can get a better French or Spanish wine.
And sure enough, the good local vintners are slowly introducing good things in the lower end of the market. Slowly, very slowly, you can tell it’s painful for them, but I think in a couple years it will normalize. And then Hungarian wine will again be competetive in the EU. And everyone wins.
But I don’t see any such development in the US, at least not outside the TJ zone.
Anyway, that’s my instant two cents. I look forward to the wine blog.
cheers
– frosty
Maybe you should just follow a wine tasting course, and then go drink some wine.
(OK, I did get it, you’re interested in the industry, not the product itself)
So … me not being in the US … what’s wrong with the wine industry that makes you want to “kick them in the teeth”?
Track down Peter Granoff, who was co-founder of Virtual Vineyards, the first online wine site. He was a master sommelier with a sense of humor, attitude, passion and incredible knowledge. On the old VV wine site he wrote a “Cork Dork” column that would have made incredible blog material. He owns a wine store in SF these days, but I’ve lost touch and don’t know the name.
Hugh you can ping me offline, but I have a friend whom works in the wine biz in California that I am supposed someday in my spare time train on getting her a Typepad blog up…uh, hasn’t happened yet. She would be a great, sassy writer.
I’m so happy to think that there might be a new approach to the business of communicating about wine! I am a wine industry lifer and I find this guy to be offering the most relevant palaver on wine out there. http://www.thevisionthing.com/index.php?cat=9. He’s a business blogger who has a little ‘vice’ section with real world, smart guy wine references. It’s not for the wine initiated by any means but it really helps me to understand what is keeping the non-consumer away from the category as a whole. And why initiation is such a bad idea.
I can’t wait to see what you do.
nice blog — good design
great blog kicks rear