Thanks to the enthusiasm and dynamism of Joel Vincent and Robert McIntosh, from OpenWineConsortium, two Wine Bloggers Conferences are going to take place this year for the first time ever both in the US and in Europe.
Let's go by chronological order. From August 29th to August 31st, the European Wine Bloggers Conference will take place in Logrono, Spain. The three days offer a balanced mix of work, wine tasting and networking. Let's get together to think about our role. There are three main roundtables:
- Rating
- Wine Blog Writing
- Wine Blogging Standards and Monetisation
The three roundtables should help us define our work as bloggers, how to professionalize and monetize our work and reflect on rating. To have a preview of the contents of the three topics, read the first exchanges on them and discover the first list of the participants.
Let's move to the US now. The American Wine Bloggers Conference is scheduled for Oct. 24th-26th in the heart of Sonoma, California. The goal of the conference is to gather wine bloggers from throughout North America and beyond to meet, learn, and share.
To learn more about those two conefernces, follow our live radio talkshow on Talkshoe, with all instructions to call in on newwineconsumer.com or to download the show.
Showing posts with label OpenWine Consortium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OpenWine Consortium. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wine and War or Wine Wars?
On OpenWineConsortium.org, there is a European Community Group founded by my friend Robert McIntosh reflecting on the meaning (or absence of meaning) of the differences between "New" World and "Old" World in the wine business. This topic must be very pertinent since the French wine industry just decided to change the laws on how to label their wines. Why? To fight back the New World wines and regain market shares worldwide!
Why is this decision so important? As most wine consumers know, French labels are notorious for their complexity while American, Australian or Argentinian wines are going straight to the point: grape name, vintage, provenance and an explicit back label. French producers will be able to produce wines under the "Vignobles de France" (French Vineyards) denomination with a lot more freedom:
Why is this decision so important? As most wine consumers know, French labels are notorious for their complexity while American, Australian or Argentinian wines are going straight to the point: grape name, vintage, provenance and an explicit back label. French producers will be able to produce wines under the "Vignobles de France" (French Vineyards) denomination with a lot more freedom:
- They can plant any type of vine anywhere in France: for example, Gewurztraminer will no longer be restricted to Alsace.
- They can put the name of the grape on the label.
- Blended wines from different regions of France will be available for the first time.
- Producers are authorized to use oak chips and tannins during vinification.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Discovering The OpenWine Consortium
A few days ago I was invited by wine professional and blogger Robert McIntosh to join the OpenWine Consortium, a new community of professionals and wine lovers more specifically dedicated to my passion, Web Marketing and Wine 2.0. Being a big fan of forums and communities, I jumped in to join and since then I joined several groups, met friends I know from the wine industry, was invited as friend by professionals feeling we shared the same ideas and concepts and invited other people to join.
What is so special about OpenWine Consortium or OWC? It is a professional community dedicated to better the use of the Web and technology in the wine business. What I really liked when joining was the very matter-of-fact and efficient way of doing things. The community is still very new but it has already two big projects:
- The European Wine Bloggers Conference at the end of August 2008;
- The Monthly Site Review Forum: this month, the very promising ablegrape.com search engine is under scrutiny.
Groups are created and they're very active. People keep joining and the community is growing fast: when I joined last week, there were about 100 people; by today, there are 398. I'm sure that by the end of the weekend, there will be over 400. It is growing in numbers but also in quality as new members are coopted or join because of their professionalism.
Groups are very diverse and attract interest: you can meet the "Wine Bloggers", be part of the project of the European Wine bloggers Conference - even if you can't attend, you can share your ideas and be part of the discussion -, discover the Wine Import and Export Group, the Wine Podcast Producers, the European Community whose purpose is to understand the differences between the Old and the New World, and many others.
OWC is a lively, professional and pragmatic community and I can only encourage you to join.
What is so special about OpenWine Consortium or OWC? It is a professional community dedicated to better the use of the Web and technology in the wine business. What I really liked when joining was the very matter-of-fact and efficient way of doing things. The community is still very new but it has already two big projects:
- The European Wine Bloggers Conference at the end of August 2008;
- The Monthly Site Review Forum: this month, the very promising ablegrape.com search engine is under scrutiny.
Groups are created and they're very active. People keep joining and the community is growing fast: when I joined last week, there were about 100 people; by today, there are 398. I'm sure that by the end of the weekend, there will be over 400. It is growing in numbers but also in quality as new members are coopted or join because of their professionalism.
Groups are very diverse and attract interest: you can meet the "Wine Bloggers", be part of the project of the European Wine bloggers Conference - even if you can't attend, you can share your ideas and be part of the discussion -, discover the Wine Import and Export Group, the Wine Podcast Producers, the European Community whose purpose is to understand the differences between the Old and the New World, and many others.
OWC is a lively, professional and pragmatic community and I can only encourage you to join.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The New Appellation system in Europe
Anybody who tried to sell French or other European wines know how difficult it is. There are many reasons for this situation: difficult labels, weird names impossible to pronounce and a system of geographical origins rather difficult to understand for a foreigner.
The European Union is working on a new system with France leading the way. Let's be frank: France has one of the most complex appellation system. France has several levels of quality of wine: the "vin de pays" (coming from a certain area but with no real control on the grapes used or the quality of wine) and the famous Controlled Appellation. France has now several hundreds of them: some of them cover a very small geographical area and it is very difficult to locate this place on a map. Even French people can't master the system.
What is the purpose of the new system? Up to now, European wine producers didn't have the right to put the grape name on the bottle in the Controlled Appellation system. If you like French Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance, you have to memorize the geographical areas producing this grape: Bordeaux in a blend with Merlot or Cabernet Franc, Loire Valley, a little in the South. Do you prefer Pinot Noir or Syrah? For Pinot noir, Burgundy is your area; for Syrah, you have to look at Côtes du Rhône, for instance. What about the blends? That's where things are getting really complex: you can find Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir or Syrah in many blends over several areas.
Writer and wine lover Tim York explained on the Wine Forum of the WineLoversPage.com Discussion Group how the French system will be reformed:
"A three tier system of appellations will be put in place.
The third (bottom) tier will consist of “vins de table” (table wines). With effect from the 2009 vintage, “vins de table” will be allowed to put grape variety and vintage on their labels. Grapes may be blended from any part of France. There will no longer be any constraints on production methods, for example on yields and irrigation, other than those of international wine industry norms (e.g. the banning of flavouring additives, certain chemical stabilisers, etc.). It is hoped that this will permit the appearance of French commercial wine brands to compete with those of the New World. “Vins de Pays” will disappear progressively after 2009.
The second tier will consist of “vins de territoire” (territorial wines). Into this category will fall the more ambitious artisan produced wines which are “vins de pays” at present, existing regional appellations such as “Bordeaux” and “Bourgogne” and regroupings of existing lesser AOCs. An example of the last is the regrouping into “Côtes de Bordeaux” of the appellations Blaye, Castillon, Cadillac and Francs. 50 to 100 appellations are expected to disappear in the next few years. The creation of new appellations will not be allowed.
The first (top) tier will consist of “vins de terroir” (terroir wines) which will reinforce the AOC system at the top level. The intention is to guarantee quality as well as origin. New style tasting committees for accepting or refusing wines will replace local vignerons, too subject to complaisance with poor quality and jealousy of outstanding performers, with more independent persons such as journalists, oenologists, wine merchants, etc. The AOCs will draw up new specifications to replace existing INAO application decrees; it is intended that these should be in place for the 2008 vintage." You can read the exchange - sometimes a little heated - on the Discussion Forum.
It is a fascinating topic when you consider that the so-called New World is now starting to protect their own terroirs and to create Controlled Appellations of their own. The US created the "Center for Wine Origins" because, as it stated, "when it comes to wine, there is no ingredient more important than location". As my friend Robert McIntosh wrote on the OpenWine Consortium blog, the old dichotomy between Old and New World is now fading. Welcome to the Wine 2.0 world!
The European Union is working on a new system with France leading the way. Let's be frank: France has one of the most complex appellation system. France has several levels of quality of wine: the "vin de pays" (coming from a certain area but with no real control on the grapes used or the quality of wine) and the famous Controlled Appellation. France has now several hundreds of them: some of them cover a very small geographical area and it is very difficult to locate this place on a map. Even French people can't master the system.
What is the purpose of the new system? Up to now, European wine producers didn't have the right to put the grape name on the bottle in the Controlled Appellation system. If you like French Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance, you have to memorize the geographical areas producing this grape: Bordeaux in a blend with Merlot or Cabernet Franc, Loire Valley, a little in the South. Do you prefer Pinot Noir or Syrah? For Pinot noir, Burgundy is your area; for Syrah, you have to look at Côtes du Rhône, for instance. What about the blends? That's where things are getting really complex: you can find Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot noir or Syrah in many blends over several areas.
Writer and wine lover Tim York explained on the Wine Forum of the WineLoversPage.com Discussion Group how the French system will be reformed:
"A three tier system of appellations will be put in place.
The third (bottom) tier will consist of “vins de table” (table wines). With effect from the 2009 vintage, “vins de table” will be allowed to put grape variety and vintage on their labels. Grapes may be blended from any part of France. There will no longer be any constraints on production methods, for example on yields and irrigation, other than those of international wine industry norms (e.g. the banning of flavouring additives, certain chemical stabilisers, etc.). It is hoped that this will permit the appearance of French commercial wine brands to compete with those of the New World. “Vins de Pays” will disappear progressively after 2009.
The second tier will consist of “vins de territoire” (territorial wines). Into this category will fall the more ambitious artisan produced wines which are “vins de pays” at present, existing regional appellations such as “Bordeaux” and “Bourgogne” and regroupings of existing lesser AOCs. An example of the last is the regrouping into “Côtes de Bordeaux” of the appellations Blaye, Castillon, Cadillac and Francs. 50 to 100 appellations are expected to disappear in the next few years. The creation of new appellations will not be allowed.
The first (top) tier will consist of “vins de terroir” (terroir wines) which will reinforce the AOC system at the top level. The intention is to guarantee quality as well as origin. New style tasting committees for accepting or refusing wines will replace local vignerons, too subject to complaisance with poor quality and jealousy of outstanding performers, with more independent persons such as journalists, oenologists, wine merchants, etc. The AOCs will draw up new specifications to replace existing INAO application decrees; it is intended that these should be in place for the 2008 vintage." You can read the exchange - sometimes a little heated - on the Discussion Forum.
It is a fascinating topic when you consider that the so-called New World is now starting to protect their own terroirs and to create Controlled Appellations of their own. The US created the "Center for Wine Origins" because, as it stated, "when it comes to wine, there is no ingredient more important than location". As my friend Robert McIntosh wrote on the OpenWine Consortium blog, the old dichotomy between Old and New World is now fading. Welcome to the Wine 2.0 world!
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