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I constantly get asked about wine marketing, and I think I'm not the best person to answer. Whenever I hit a new wine shop I'll head for the "weird" section and then work backwards. I'm going to dig through the selection of Hungarian and Israeli wines before I even look at their French lineup. The second problem is that I rarely buy the same wine twice, since I'm always interested in trying something new. Often I'll just grab something at random, which is how I ended up with the NV New Age White from Argentina. $10, 9.5% abv. 50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Malvasia. The label had zero information on it (all details come from the website), and I ended up with a very unusual wine. Honey and pineapple aroma, with a muskiness that reminds you of Muscat. Lightly sparkling, very sweet. Mango, papaya, general fruit salad impression. It's the only wine I've ever seen with the serving suggestion of adding a slice of lemon or lime. Definitely not my preferred style, but I know a lot of people that would like this. I don't have a problem with sweet, fun wines like this, but I think more information on the label would help attract the desired customers and perhaps push others to drier selections from the winery or importer.
And if you're expecting just a normal, dry white table wine and don't pay close attention while pouring it, getting a fizzy sweet surprise in your mouth can cause an embarrassing spit-take.
Many thanks to the darling Zoe for posing with this wine. She got a dog biscuit in appreciation. Thinking about getting a dog? Look for a rescue mutt like Zoe, Wendy, or my own beloved Wolfgang. Those dogs need a good home.
12 comments:
Always a fun wine. It makes a great summer drink when served on ice with lime, as you said. Your Zoe is very cute!
WOW Fermentation, you have hit the Big Time. I couldn't be prouder of you, and your accomplishments Ben. Great job, and keep it up my good friend.
Good Zoe -- good girl!
Mike,
Tom started his blog a few months before I started this one. Back then it was a lot easier to keep track of everyone, because there were only about a dozen wine blogs. :)
Michael,
It is a fun little wine, and there's times when I love something like a Vinho Verde. I just wish it were a little clearer from a marketing standpoint.
Oh, and the dog belongs to my friend Paul, and yes Paul, she was being a good girl that morning.
Cheers,
Benito
Good dog.
new age, new wine, even the dog likes it, haha
I'm with you Ben, there should be something on the label noting that the wine is sweet and somewhat fizzy...what was the abv? I would be more than a little pissed off if I got a wine like that, but on the other hand...I probably would have asked before handing over the cash...I'm just too picky!
Great job on the Tom Wark interview...
Sam,
Most of the time my random picks work out pretty well. It's part of my theory that there's not much bad wine out in the market, though there is a lot of boring wine. Worst case, with a boring one you can cook with it or just turn your brain off for a while.
WT,
Thanks, it was a lot of fun. I still find the timing hilarious, with the pizza kit followed by a dog post.
Cheers,
Benito
Way to go on the Fermentation interview, I just finished reading it! You are so right that soooo many food writers never discuss wine, and I just never got that.
Also agree wholeheartedly that wine and/or food doesn't exist in a vacuum, and writing about it in the context of other topics, or simply covering other topics entirely, even those unrelated to food/wine, is a fun way to run a blog. : ) I'm so with ya there, cuz damn if I wouldn't be bored to tears writing just about food, or just about wine.
You da man!
Kim,
Thanks for the kind comment over at Fermentations. Yeah, I've never understood the whole one subject thing. In various places I'm listed as a food blog, a wine blog, a cocktail blog, or a cigar blog, even though I haven't done a cigar review in ages.
I've even talked to a few foodbloggers who wanted to do a wine post every now and then, but said they didn't want to go to the trouble of building a whole separate site for wine stuff. What the hell?
Cheers,
Benito
Hey Benito,
Well, you're welcome! Since you're the first wineblogger to ever reach out to me, there's always going to be a big ol' soft spot in my heart for ya!
Kimberly
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