Next stop? Spain. Logrono. And the V Marketing Forum in Rioja.
For some reason I'm big in Spain. There have been stories in major publications, my face has been given full -page treatment, plastered with the message--Heroina. Spain is also the first country to have bought foreign rights to my book---it comes out there in 2010!
I'm curious about their Feiring fascination. Could it be that are pissed off that as an industry they've lost their way, in doing so, sold their identity to the lowest buyer now, especially Rioja, have no idea who they are.
Do you think this is possible?
For the conference, following the marketing person from LVMH (should I don a flak jacket?) my assigned topic: the next wine gurus and most importantly how to get the attention of a wine critic.
What to talk about for thirty minutes that could have any impact or interest has kept me up at night. My stance is kind of anti-guru, but like it or not, people do become taste makers. People with outspoken vision find followers. But for at least in my lifetime I see the falling of one strong universal voice that will dominate the wine world for 25 years. That time is over.
Unless of course it's this guy
Yes, that's right. The successor to P***** is not David Schildnecht, not Allen Meadows, not even Eric Asimov BUT the the hero of Kami no Shizuku, (The Drops of the Gods), Shizuku Kanzaki.
A cartoon is the most influential wine critic driving source of wine sales in Japan and Korea. He sneers at New Zealand riesling and swooned over a St. Aubin and sales plummet and rise.
And what's more, he doesn't use scores. This is story driven stuff. A man is on a mission to find the ten best wines of the world. The journey is the beauty. Is the salavation of wine in a cartoon character written by a sister and brother team who might or might not have a palate?
Brilliant.
I don't know if something like this can translate into our culture.
One of the main problems is that no matter what you think, we have no respect for wine in the States and there is no wine culture. We have a soda culture.
Writers are getting fired. No magazine cares. Writing is reduced to what to drink tonight, and mostly these are whatever samples comes through the writers door. Not exactly the best, BUT, most available.
As far as what's left in regular coverage, there is Eric over the Times and thank God (or Sulzberger) for it. There's Jon Bonne and his brilliant coverage over at the SF Chronicle, and then there is the insightful Mike Steinberger at Slate. All apologies to some remaining local papers with a wine columnist who I might have overlooked. But basically, they pale in comparison to the above three.
And who knows if wine writing will exist in any form. If what only exists is the blog world, God help us. I'm not saying that some of my colleagues don't give great blog, but finding the knowledgeble folk who don't have something to 'sell' is tough. And then finding some voices who have done homework is even tougher.
I am mourning the loss of words and culture meets research and questioning. I am hoping I'm nothing more than a Henny Penny with a piece of phony sky in my hand. Who knows, salvation might be around the corner.
I love Shizuku. And I also love the fact that after I talk about him in Spain, those marketers are going to be trying to figure out not how to bring Rioja back to authenticity, but will instead try to send the cartoon character samples.
And then there is this.
Robert Parker's Bitch from Josh Hermsmeyer on Vimeo.
Yes, that's right. The successor to P***** is not David Schildnecht, not Allen Meadows, not even Eric Asimov BUT the the hero of Kami no Shizuku, (The Drops of the Gods), Shizuku Kanzaki.
A cartoon is the most influential wine critic driving source of wine sales in Japan and Korea. He sneers at New Zealand riesling and swooned over a St. Aubin and sales plummet and rise.
And what's more, he doesn't use scores. This is story driven stuff. A man is on a mission to find the ten best wines of the world. The journey is the beauty. Is the salavation of wine in a cartoon character written by a sister and brother team who might or might not have a palate?
Brilliant.
I don't know if something like this can translate into our culture.
One of the main problems is that no matter what you think, we have no respect for wine in the States and there is no wine culture. We have a soda culture.
Writers are getting fired. No magazine cares. Writing is reduced to what to drink tonight, and mostly these are whatever samples comes through the writers door. Not exactly the best, BUT, most available.
As far as what's left in regular coverage, there is Eric over the Times and thank God (or Sulzberger) for it. There's Jon Bonne and his brilliant coverage over at the SF Chronicle, and then there is the insightful Mike Steinberger at Slate. All apologies to some remaining local papers with a wine columnist who I might have overlooked. But basically, they pale in comparison to the above three.
And who knows if wine writing will exist in any form. If what only exists is the blog world, God help us. I'm not saying that some of my colleagues don't give great blog, but finding the knowledgeble folk who don't have something to 'sell' is tough. And then finding some voices who have done homework is even tougher.
I am mourning the loss of words and culture meets research and questioning. I am hoping I'm nothing more than a Henny Penny with a piece of phony sky in my hand. Who knows, salvation might be around the corner.
I love Shizuku. And I also love the fact that after I talk about him in Spain, those marketers are going to be trying to figure out not how to bring Rioja back to authenticity, but will instead try to send the cartoon character samples.
And then there is this.
Robert Parker's Bitch from Josh Hermsmeyer on Vimeo.
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