A re-telling of a wine fairytale

This story has been put together in a sustainable way from recycled & organic tales collected from around the world, and  its morals are entirely a product of indigenous references. Consume in moderation — Once upon a time, there was an old man who had been a respected winemaker, but his intended bride had pricked [...]

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Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Story Edition

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…

Words aren’t enough

I give to thee…the worst wine ad of all-time and that’s without delving into the ponderous name of the wine or, why, inexplicably, the back of the laptop in the photo has a big sticker for Ass Kisser ales

…In the main visual, three people are huddled around the boss giving him “Ass Kisser” wine…Isn’t the point of being a brown-noser to do it subtly?  Who randomly gifts their boss right before their employee review? 

image

Even if you view this ad as schlocky hipster irony, it’s still bad and makes you wonder if the advertising sales guy at Wine Enthusiast couldn’t do a solid for his client and suggest creative that, well, actually makes sense.

Or, maybe being horrible was the plan – like a movie that becomes a cult hit a decade hence…so bad that it becomes a lofty ideal for bad, enjoying a following because of its campy nature. 

Bad Week for Eric Asimov?

On both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Eric Asimov, the New York Times chief wine critic was taken to task for different reasons by Matt Kramer at Winespectator.com and Steve Heimoff at his blog of the same name.

This is interesting because wine writers of a certain stature very carefully call their shots amongst their peers.

Normally the shots are fired up (Parker) or down (bloggers), but usually never sideways amongst writers in the same strata. 

To watch Asimov, as seemingly decent of a guy as you’ll find, called onto the rug by two notable wine writers, to me, speaks to something much bigger.

With Parker stepping aside and Antonio Galloni receiving glancing admiration for hitting a stand-up triple by dint of his current position at the Wine Advocate, at the same time that the wheat and chaff are separating with wine bloggers, somebody has to step into the fray as a public foil for other wine writers to target.

Unwittingly, it might be Asimov for reasons entirely opposite of Parker’s hegemony.  Asimov’s palate for wine seems food-friendly and balanced; he takes an egalitarian approach to wine for the people without pretense and he doesn’t score wines.

In other words, Asimov is bizarro Superman to Parker’s swashbuckling empiricism and, perhaps, even a greater danger to the Ivory Tower of legacy wine media than the mere jealousy that passed for poking at Parker.

Just a thought…

It’s all about the story

The wine business has always been excellent at storytelling.  Virtually every winery has their origin story and that of their dirt down pat, even if not very compelling.

So, it is with interest that I’ve been watching Facebook’s recent changes keeping in mind that founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized emotional resonance, narrative and storytelling – factors that extend well beyond consumers using Facebook to “Tell the story of their life,” as Zuckerberg noted.  This will be inclusive of the brands that use Facebook for engagement, as well.

I was further intrigued after reading parallel news reports that Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), is singing the same song.

He notes in an article in Advertising Age, “Technology innovations are irrelevant to the future of advertising and marketing unless a more fundamental activity is understood, honored and advanced: the craft of storytelling.”

A quick Google search for “Mark Zuckerberg F8 Keynote” and “Randall Rothenberg MIXX Keynote” will yield a number of stories all occurring in September.  There’s no question about Facebook’s influence and the IAB is the thought-leader for digital advertising.  Between the two of them, they present an imposing shadow of influence on digital marketing.

If I were a winery with an understanding that digital marketing is a tsunami of change that is important, I might start revisiting my winery story for some fine-tuning…

Two books that I recommend to bone-up on the elements of good business storytelling are:  The Story Factor and Made to Stick.

On Sweet Wines

In an article this week from the San Francisco Chronicle called “Beginner drinkers get a crush on sweet red wines,”  E.&J. Gallo VP of Marketing, Stephanie Gallo, noted:  “There is a major shift going on in the U.S. wine drinking culture.  First, we noticed that regional sweet red blends were doing particularly well in Indiana, Texas and North Carolina. Second, our consumers were asking if we produced a sweet red wine after tasting our Moscato at events.”

Good Grape readers had the scoop on this months ago when I wrote:

How Sweet it is – The Growing Sweet Wine Trend in early October, 2010

And

Move over Moscato and Make Way for Sweet Reds in February of this year

Just saying…

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_story_edition/

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Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy: Might this thing actually work?

Shortly before the holidays I received a sample of a few Bytox hangover prevention remedies. The product is a patch you apply before drinking and remove the morning after that, according to the manufacturer, supplies your body with vitamins and nutrients otherwise depleted while drinking thus preventing bothersome side effects commonly associated with the overconsumption of alcohol.

Not wanting to risk a raging hangover myself, and not wanting to share my tales of overconsumption, I reached out to my friend George Kaplan who agreed to test the Bytox patch in a controlled experiment and share his thoughts for our collective consideration. He happens to be an excellent drinker. And as you'll find below, an equally excellent writer.

Bytoxification

I must admit, I was more than a bit skeptical when a friend of mine approached me with the opportunity to test the latest hangover remedy, bytox?. I am usually leery of these remedies, but with a full slate of holiday parties looming on my calendar, I decided I could use any help I could get.

The Setup

Before setting out for the evening, I thoroughly read the bytox? directions, and chose to ignore the warning to ?Stay well hydrated?. Sound advice, yes, but a bit of a cheat, as anyone who stays well hydrated is unlikely to end up with a hangover anyway.

My evening?s consumption began at 7:00 with a solid meal at my favorite haunt, and ended at midnight. Per my custom, I mixed and matched and stuck to no pre-set pattern; the final tally was four Old Fashioneds (Old Overholt), three Gin & Tonics (Beefeater), and two bottles of Lone Star.

The Results

As you all can imagine, I wasn?t exactly at my best the next morning. I did get up around five o?clock to have a glass of water and gobble down 800 mg of ibuprofen, but that?s my usual morning-after-a-debacle procedure, and I wanted to stick to it. You know, this being scientific and all.

The bytox ? did nothing at all to mitigate the day after lethargy, and I really fell off a cliff after two o?clock or so. But, skeptical though I was heading into this experiment, I must admit that the patch did help to alleviate some of the other, traditional ?hangover? symptoms. The horrible metallic taste in my mouth was absent, as was the stabbing pain behind my eyes and the hollow feeling that one sometimes gets the morning after drinking too much whisky. I had only a small headache, and the day-after hangover fogginess was noticeably diminished.

The Recommendation

I would definitely use bytox ? again. I don?t want to oversell this, of course; I was still banged up the next day, but I was able to function productively, rather than slumping senseless in a chair all day. What I did was excessive. If someone were to use this product because they usually have a little hangover after drinking a bottle of red wine the evening before, I?d hazard a guess that this handy patch would overcome the hangover altogether.

So there you have it. An impartial review of the Bytox Hangover Remedy.

For more information, and to request a sample Bytox patch for free ($1.50 shipping) visit:
http://bytox.com 

Question of the Day: What do you think of the idea of a hangover prevention patch? What are some of your favorite hangover prevention tips?


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A re-telling of a wine fairytale

This story has been put together in a sustainable way from recycled & organic tales collected from around the world, and  its morals are entirely a product of indigenous references. Consume in moderation — Once upon a time, there was an old man who had been a respected winemaker, but his intended bride had pricked [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/I35VD0OwrAg/

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iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes

This podcast predates iTunes so when it started only a portion of my shows appeared on the feed. After I posted my latest podcast I decided it made sense to consolidate all the shows into the iTunes feed with all future podcasts published in mp3 format. Down the feed to Winecast 33 are enhanced AAC [...]

iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/aa6lH_SXTNY/

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Yao Ming Retires

It hasn’t been often that I’ve either written about sports in this space as of late, or frankly updated this blog. That has a lot to do, of course with being largely responsible for writing our official company blog over at Uncorked Ventures. While I certainly enjoy the work, it isn’t easy to write two [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/649

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