Black Friday in the Carneros Wine Country

Forget about spending the day after Thanksgiving at your local shopping mall. Give yourself and your family a chance to unwind by taking in the sights and sounds of the Carneros wine country. From San Francisco, Oakland, the Peninsula or … Continue reading

The post Black Friday in the Carneros Wine Country appeared first on Napa Valley Wine Blog.

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/black-friday-in-the-carneros-wine-country/

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Liquor Stores excluded from AmEx Small Business Saturday?

By now, you've probably heard of Small Business Saturday from American Express:
American Express® Cardmembers can enroll an eligible American Express® Card to GET $25 BACK WHEN THEY SPEND $25 OR MOREat a qualifying small business location on November 24th. Cardmember enrollment in the offer is limited. Offer Terms apply to Cardmember participation.
Nice promotion, right? $25 just for registering your card and buying something at a qualifying merchant.

But Daniel Posner at Grapes the Wine Company noticed something that might affect wine deal hounds. Have a look at the conditions for participating merchants which exclude those that "promote...liquor":
For the purpose of this Program, qualifying small businesses include small, locally-owned storefront and online businesses with $10 million in annual revenue or less. Businesses in the following industries are excluded: government agencies, charities, non-profits, trade associations, shopping property management firms, political, religious and educational organizations. Small businesses that are part of a franchise brand with more than 100 stores are excluded. Additionally, if a franchise brand has more than 20 corporate-owned units, then the entire brand is excluded. Small businesses that promote any of the following are not eligible for the Program: pharmaceuticals, drugs, politics, pornography or sexual aids, diet aids, gambling, liquor, tobacco, firearms/weapons, or any sensitive topic with respect to current events. See Terms of Participation.
It sounds like AmEx is trying to distance themselves from controversial businesses, but it's not clear to me what "promoting" means in this context and further what they mean by "liquor". Did they intentionally choose the word liquor instead of alcohol? Liquor is a distilled beverage which contains alcohol. Wine contains alcohol but is not liquor. And what if a merchant sells wine and liquor - does that disqualify the merchant?

If you look at the Where to Shop Map you can find plenty of wine stores listed. I thought for a moment merchants with the string "liquor" in their name might be excluded but I see plenty of places included - including "Liquor Land" so that doesn't explain it.

All in all, I'm left confused whether my patronage of a local wine businesses will trigger a $25 statement credit.

AmEx: What's the deal? Are liquor stores excluded from Small Business Saturday?

Wine retailers: What are you hearing? Are you eligible for Small Business Saturday this year?

Consumers: If you shopped at a wine store today let us know whether that transaction successfully received $25 back.

Check back later for a roll-up of CyberMonday wine deals. Subscribe to The Wellesley Wine Press for email notifications of new posts.

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Michael Mondavi really gets wine blogging

While searching for something else this week I came across this random video of an Italian blogger who did a short video interview with Michael Mondavi. Mr. Mondavi’s answer to a simple question about wine bloggers shows he really gets how we fit into the wine conversation. The best part is the last 10 seconds [...]

Michael Mondavi really gets wine blogging originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Massachusetts Lawmakers Comment on Wine Shipping Laws

This post is sponsored by Metro West Wines, serving Wellesley and Weston, MA delivering wine to your doorstop in under an hour.

As we learned earlier this year another Massachusetts legislative session has come and gone without enacting legislation that would enable the direct shipment of wine from out of state wineries to Massachusetts residents. 

It's a shame since (1) the state continues to be non-compliant with a 2010 federal court ruling and (2) the state is leaving significant revenue on the table by barring shipments.

The two bills failing to make it out of committee for a vote are HB 1029 and HB 1882.

An interesting piece by Colleen Quinn of the State House News Service sheds some rare and precious light on the issues holding up passing of direct shipment bills.

Representative Speliotis comments:

Rep. Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers), who chairs the Consumer Protection Committee that gave the wine buying bill an unfavorable rating this week, said Thursday that while he favors removing the buying restriction, the state needs to find a way to protect local sellers
?The biggest fear is package stores will go by the wayside like hardware stores,? Speliotis said. ?The object is to try to allow new technology into an old profession without costing Massachusetts jobs. 
Speliotis said he hopes the wine industry and the local package store owners will reach a consensus on a bill. They frequently discuss the issue to come up with a solution, he said.

This commentary is interesting to me because in my view the central issue in this battle has always been out of state entities (wineries and to a lesser extent out of state retailers) against Massachusetts distributors. But here the issue is painted as out of state wineries and in state retailers.

Next time you're in a wine store ask the owner whether they're concerned about the direct shipment of wine. The ones I've asked couldn't care less. The primary concerns I've heard from in-state retailers are laws which prohibit them from shipping out of state, high markups from Massachusetts wholesalers relative to other states, and wine being sold at an increasing number of nearby grocery stores.

Further, the commentary is eerily similar to the protectionist stance that got the state into trouble in the first place by limiting shipments to small out of state wineries. The reason Massachusetts should allow wine shipments is simple: Because a federal court said they need to. It shouldn't be a negotiation that involves the concerns of in state retailers.

Here's commentary from Frank Anzalotti who collectively represents the package stores in the state:

Frank Anzalotti, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, said that if online purchasing is allowed, they want local brick and mortar stores to be able to sell online too. Otherwise, he said, they would be at a disadvantage. 
?We are not, in general, in favor of online purchasing,? Azalotti said. ?The obvious reasons are we want a reliable responsible party doing a face-to-face transaction to make sure it is legal.? 
This is another strange misdirection. Massachusetts retailers are split on whether they want to sell online. Many old guard package stores don't want things to change, while other retailers are already selling online - albeit limited to shipping only to Massachusetts addresses.

I agree that Massachusetts retailers absolutely need to be able to ship out of state in conjunction with allowing out of state wineries to be able to ship to Massachusetts. But at the same time out of state retailers should also be able to ship to Massachusetts - a provision that's never been any bill proposed to date.

Finally, check out this quote from House Minority Leader Bradley Jones - who's on our side as wine enthusiasts since he's the one who sponsored the bill:

Jones said only a handful of residents have contacted him upset they cannot buy wine out of state. But he added, ?There are court cases that say we should change this.?
Our call to action is pretty clear: We need to write our representatives.
Don't know who your representative is? A list can be found here.

An authentic, personally written email with your address goes a long way towards getting the message to our legislators that this nonsense has gone on for long enough. Let's Free the Grapes!

Related Reading:

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TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Five Easy Winter Projects for Winery Marketers

It’s November, post-Harvest and going into slow season for winery marketers.  Thought I would put together a short list of projects that may make your life easier in 2011 with a little time put in during the winter. 1.  Claim your winery on location based services and review sites. Even if you don’t use the [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/five-easy-winter-projects-for-winery-marketers/

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Calais 2010 Cuvee du Manior ?Texas Tempranillo

Texas offers some outstanding Tempranillo wines and Benjamin Calais? French style of wine making with this Texas fruit is a well matched pair. I met Calais online in a Texas wine forum on Facebook and was happy to finally get to meet and talk with him at his winery during the week of Texsom. The [...]

Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2013/01/31/calais-2010-cuvee-du-manior-texas-tempranillo/

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Whitehall Lane Winery in St. Helena ? The Sauvignon Blanc is outstanding

We like the Sauvignon Blanc and it is perhaps the most underrated wine in the Whitehall Lane lineup. The key to this wine is the small amount of Semillon grape that Dean Sylvester puts into this wine. I think the Semillon gives an added character to the S.B. Continue reading

The post Whitehall Lane Winery in St. Helena – The Sauvignon Blanc is outstanding appeared first on Napa Valley Wine Blog.

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/whitehall-lane-winery-in-st-helena-the-sauvignon-blanc-is-outstanding/

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Napa Valley winter trip

Should you consider a Napa Valley winter trip in December or January? Napa Valley during these two months is undoubtedly the quietest time in this spectacular wine country. As one long-time Napa Valley resident once mentioned to me, ?Winter is … Continue reading

The post Napa Valley winter trip appeared first on Napa Valley Wine Blog.

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/napa-valley-winter-trip/

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WBW 76: Barossa Boomerang

Not too long ago I drank quite a bit of Australian wine, particularly Shiraz. Given that this grape, also known as Syrah, expresses greatness in the Barossa Valley I could not pass an opportunity to revisit this region for this months’ Wine Blogging Wednesday. Our host, Adam from Wine Zag, proposed we look for any [...]

WBW 76: Barossa Boomerang originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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