Virtual Stormhoek

For those following the story, this link will probably be very interesting:

On the Stormhoek Trail

Many thanks to the intrepid Peter May and his fascination with Pinotage

An unusual brand, from a virtual winery ... whatever next I wonder?

More conference thoughts

Rather than duplicate them, I have posted some thoughts and comments on the idea of the European Wine Bloggers Conference (or Jamboree) on the new site.

I think in future I will leave most of my thoughts on that subject on that blog and just post links from here, but feel free to leave me comments on this site if you prefer.

Stormhoek Origin and End

As was revealed today in Harpers, it seems that Origin Wine Pty, another producer from South Africa with existing international brands and strengths, will be taking over the assets of Orbital.

I can't say I know much about Origin beyond what I have read elsewhere today, so I can only hope it works out for them and for the brands, including Stormhoek (why is it that neither of these companies seems to have any web presence of their own?).

What is interesting, and sad, is that as Origin already has UK offices it will not be taking on any of the Orbital staff, so I suspect there will be some pretty big changes in the marketing of the brand. I'm pretty sure, for a start, that it means the end of Hugh MacLeod's involvement.

It is probably a sensible result for those involved, but I guess there are those of us who will be disappointed that the result was not more ... dramatic, and befitting the brand.

Let's see what Origin can do for the wine. Good luck!

Eating at Alimentaria

One more quick post.

Ryan at Catavino is also planning a bloggers dinner during Alimentaria Barcelona, Spain's biggest and best food & wine show (March 10-14, 2008).

If you are a blogger, not matter what you blog about, I gather you are invited to a dinner being sponsored by Bodegas Tintoralba.

I will definitely be at the show and hope to go along to the dinner on Tuesday 11th of March. If you are planning on being there too let me know so we might hook up.

EWBC - the European Wine Bloggers Conference

The European Wine Bloggers Conference, or EWBC, 2008 now has its own site - as any self-respecting Wine2.0 related event should have, of course.

Come and take a look at: http://ewbc2008.wineblogger.info

Thanks to Ryan at Catavino for setting it up, to include a blog, a forum for discussions, places to discuss topics for consideration, wines to taste, and more.

So far there have been lots of interested comments from many different locations (including UK, France, Italy and Spain). It would be good to hear from those of you who are keen to come, even if you have not committed 100%, so that we can put together a clearer picture of the event so waverers might decide whether it was worth investing the time and money to come.

I do understand that this is a big commitment for most of us, but I do think this has the potential to change the role of the Wine Blogger in Europe dramatically, so it will be worth it.

But where is 'cool'?

I feel I really ought to clarify the term 'cool' used in my previous post in the context of the Wine Conversation.

What I had in mind was the kind of place that a person would not only want to go to, but be seen to go to, and even then talk to others about having been there. In Hugh MacLeod's terms, a wine retailing Social Marker. By the shared experience of having been to the shop, individuals would be willing and able to start their own wine conversation.

I believe that the retail experience is key because it is common to each wine consumer no matter what they choose to buy. It is also important to keep in mind that this is about the kind of wine consumer who rarely spends over £5 a bottle.

Hugh himself demonstrated the effectiveness of this by engineering the interest in one retailer, Threshers, around Christmas 2006. He used a viral email campaign to get people to talk about that retailer, who then encouraged others to go there to shop and get their discount. It certainly got a lot of people talking and shopping. Where it failed (for Threshers) was that the discussion was not about them at all, but about the discount, and once that was gone, so were the vast majority of the customers.

So where do you buy your wine?

I've been reading a fair bit recently about the change in the fortunes and the reputation of Oddbins. It made me think about where I got started with wine.

An important question came to my mind, which I believe is very important to The Wine Conversation.

"Where is it cool to buy wine?"

Plenty of places will sell you wine, but where do people WANT to go and buy it? Once upon a time, and one of the main reasons the wine culture in the UK became 'cool', that place was Oddbins. They may not have been everywhere yet, but anyone interested in wine, particularly if you were younger and wanting to know more about the wine world, would know the name ODDBINS.

It was a place to hang out and find all sorts of weird and wonderful, and just affordable, wine discoveries. Australia. Chile. South Africa. California. Exotic names and brands.

Not only were the wines available, but you could be certain that the person behind the counter, and very often not behind the counter but on the shop floor ready to talk to you, would know a great deal. They would have just tasted some "amazing new listing" that they could recommend.

My wife (girlfriend at the time of course) would know that if I went in "just to browse" I would certainly come out with a bottle of something.

Where are they, and their successors today?

Majestic is certainly one of the most successful. Their 'by the case' formula is very good for the bottom line, and profitability and confidence help to keep that success going. But 12 bottles is too much for a student or young person just starting out with wine. I was worried about spending £7, never mind £50.

I believe that when he moved to take charge of wine (amongst other things) at Tesco, Dan Jago said that his aim, and I paraphrase slightly, was to make it the kind of place even those in the wine trade would be happy to buy their wine. He has certainly overseen an interesting expansion of their range, I can't fault that. Unfortunately, I personally can't see Tesco or any supermarket being a 'cool' place to buy your wine, however good the range (he may well disagree).

Independent Merchants, small shops run by enthusiastic individuals, are certainly out there, but the market is very fragmented and their power to reach out to new consumers is limited. Many also find them quite daunting - an unknown quantity where one's own lack of knowledge might be sneered at.

Can anyone step in? Threshers seem more intent on becoming convenience stores. Nicolas' exclusive focus on French wines is insanity in the current climate.

One final alternative are the mail order and internet merchants - and here I'm mainly thinking of Direct Wines / Sunday Times Wine Club / Laithwaites / Virgin. This is a growing area for selling wine, but no-one has yet become THE place to go and buy wine. However, this is something to explore further. Many are vying to be the Amazon of wine retailing.

Maybe Oddbins will finally turn it around, who knows, but it will take a great effort, but who else is there?

So, where do you buy your wine?