From the category archives:

Featured Articles

Re-branding Laville to La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc

February 26, 2010

Some thought it was a good idea, making it clear that Laville was the white wine of La Mission Haut-Brion while others were sorry to see an old name disappear from Bordeaux. Re-branding a well established wine brand is usually a very well thought out decision. In the case of Château Laville Haut-Brion, both names [...]

Read the full article →

Brands leading Growth in US markets

February 14, 2010

In spite of the financial crisis or maybe because of the financial crisis, a recent study of the 2008 edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast show that Americans are drinking more and better wines. The study seems to confirm that US wine drinkers keep away from low-end brands and [...]

Read the full article →

Marketing or Not Marketing: Is it the Question?

February 3, 2010

I just finished reading The Wine Trials 2010 by Robin Goldstein and Alexis Herschkowitsch. I must confess I’m very perplexed by this book. The authors blame the “lifestyle marketing” for overpriced wines. They also condemn the fact that a group like LVMH invest more money on marketing than to produce the goods, without mentioning [...]

Read the full article →

Boomer Woman: the New Consumer?

December 22, 2009

Marketers are always on the look out for new consumers. They seem to have bypassed an interesting category, the Boomer Woman. What is so different between a Boomer Man and a Boomer Woman? A Boomer Woman just spent 20 or 25 years of her life building her career, child rearing and managing a home. [...]

Read the full article →

Tasting and Branding

November 9, 2009

Last week I was invited to the “Panorama” Tasting of the on line store Millesima.com on Sauternes and Barsac. I was privileged enough to taste château d’Yquem 1998, 2002 and 2005, Château Climens 1998, Château Rieussec 1997, Château Rabaud-Promis 1997, Château Coutet 1998 and 2004, château de Fargues 1996 and 1997. Many others were [...]

Read the full article →

Twitter in the wine business for charity

October 16, 2009

Twitter and Crushpad winery partnered to create two wines to support Room to Read,a San Francisco-based non-profit which aims to empower millions of children in the developing world through education.
This is the first Corporate Social Innovation initiative of Twitter. The label is dubbed Fledgling Wine. In addition to its Web site, the project has a [...]

Read the full article →

Wine travel with Web 2.0 tools?

September 17, 2009

I’m fascinated by the use of the Web 2.0 tools made by consultants, wineries, start-ups in the wine business. Everyday there is a new site, a new application, a new idea by someone or a company. We know VinTank and its super innovative process, Cruvee, ablegrape.com, snooth.com, thewinespies.com, vinobilia.com and many many others. Don’t [...]

Read the full article →

Beaujolais back on the road?

September 1, 2009

Readers of Wine Brands might remember I opened the book through the story of the worldwide celebration of Beaujolais Nouveau. It happens that Beaujolais Nouveau’s international success became a curse for the image of the good Beaujolais wines. In his article “Taking on the Beaujolais Clichés” in his blog The Pour, Eric Asimov [...]

Read the full article →

Tapas and friends=Tapeña wines

August 4, 2009

When I was working on Wine Brands, I happened to notice the launch of a new Spanish wine brand, Tapeña. At that time, I was mostly intrigued and seduced by the great label. Two years later, I had the opportunity to hold a bottle of their 2008 Tempranillo in my hands and taste the [...]

Read the full article →

A huge discount, good PR?

July 20, 2009

Want a Barolo, Penfolds’ “St. Henri” Shiraz or a Roederer Cristal 57% down their regular prices? Go to a few sites just opened to surf on the new (unfortunate) wave of overstock: winestilsoldout.com or thewineliquidator.com. On winestilsoldout, the sale rarely exceeds 8 hours – about a working day. That’s why many high-end or luxury wine [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries