The Threat and Shame of Natural Wine
On the eve of two simultaneously scheduled wine fairs dedicated to the proposition that everything old is new again, it's hard not to admire the enthusiasm of those taken by "natural" wine. It's hard not to notice the excitement its...
Formalization of Wine’s ‘Fifth Column’: Third-party Marketers
“A compliant and effective e-commerce sales platform [is] now in place and available. There is a Fifth Column of wine sales now…The evolution and momentum of the Fifth Column of wine sales leads us to believe the genie is finally out of the bottle and there is no putting it back for state-to-state and direct...
Coupling Up in the Wine Industry—Lessons Learned
I wonder if the percentage of couples where both people work in the same industry is higher in Napa Valley than in other part of the country. I wonder this because my Kathy and I are such a couple and...
Minors Don’t Buy Alcohol Online
Minors Don't Buy Alcohol On-line. And yet, this fundamental fact has gone unnoticed in the wake of a recently released study that looks at minors access to alcohol conducted by Chapel Hill North Carolina and funded by the Robert Woods...
Wine Wholesalers Insist You Were Born Yesterday
Barry Nolan over at Boston Magazine makes a point that flies in the face of what many politicians will tell us: "The business sector actually desires regulation and corruption." Interestingly, his primary evidence for this seemingly counter-intuitive conclusion is the...
The First of May Brings the First of Direct Wine Shipping to the Garden State
Spring brings more than flowers this year for supporters of direct shipping. After three and a half months of anticipation and preparation, the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control posted checklists, forms and applications on their site, making S 3172 a reality for the wine industry. Effective May 1, New Jersey is accepting applications...
Costco Wine: Shall I Be Offended?
Over at The Eater, Talia Baiocchi is a bit offended, or at least disheartened, that America's most powerful wine buyer doesn't believe that wine is much more special than toilet paper or tin foil. Talia, a keen observer of the...
Natural Wine, Golfer Wines and other Gimmicks
The wine industry is not overly prone to using gimmicks to sell stuff. Yet, it does conjure its share. The most infamous gimmick was the "critter wines", a trend in gimmickry that looks, thankfully, to be done with. Still, there...
Losing Control of Wine & Spirits…It’s Scary
Yesterday, the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America (WSWA) explained that while they DID oppose it with millions of dollars and while they ARE financing a lawsuit to stop the law from taking effect, they are in fact NEUTRAL on...
Licensees should have the opportunity to accept or reject each third party wine order
Editor’s Note: The following is the first post in our series on the Third Party Providers In the quickly evolving world of third party wine marketing, it’s important that marketers and licensed sellers work together in such a way that puts the licensed seller in full control of all aspects of each transaction. One of...
