Warren Gets It

Warren Gets It!

If Warren gets it, Why can’t all wine makers!

It’s simple math according to Warren. Warren and Empire Distributors.

Everything Warren Buffett: CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL: Charlotte …Now it appears he’s also considering a deal with Warren Buffett. Kahn is co-owner of Empire Distributors Inc., soon to be acquired by a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, according to Wine & Spirits Daily. Kahn and his brother, …

Everything Warren Buffett: WINE AND SPIRITS DAILY: More on Buffett …WINE AND SPIRITS DAILY: More on Buffett Buying Empire. FILED MARCH 5, 2010 Dear Client: As we first reported yesterday, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has struck a deal to purchase Atlanta-based Empire Distributing, …

WineChannelTV March Wine Madness

Take a peek at our March Newsletter and highlights:

http://mim.io/ca2c2

Check back this month for exclusive video interviews with American Wine Divas!

The Flying Fish is not just another restaurant in Disney. The name stems from the Golden age of roller coasters in the roaring 20’s. It was actually one of the coaster cars on the infamous “Flying Turns” roller coaster that reflected a whole new genre of attractions post WW1.

Well, here at the Flying Fish the special attraction was definitely the wine list. On the menu, a specific wine is selected to compliment each entree, along with pre-selected flight specials. Not bad for a Disney restaurant

I went with the refreshing Riesling Flight, which included:

Gunderloch Diva Spatlese 07′ from Rheinhessen, Germany , a Selbach-Oster Kabinett 08′ from Mosel, Germany and Washington’s Barnard Griffin 08′ .

The Gunderloch Spatlese had wonderful crisp, citrus and lychee notes, yet was surprisingly a bit drier than the honey sweet flavored Kabinett, which would usually be the drier of the two.

Kabinett refers to typically semi-sweet German Rieslings with crisp acidity, but it can be dry. While Spatlese meaning “late harvest”is usually sweeter and fruitier than Kabinett. But again, Spätlese can be a relatively full-bodied dry wine if designed to be that way such as this Gunderloch.

Watch JustJess and WineChannelTV in action showing you how to pick the right Riesling for your palate!

Cheers,

J

Janet Trefethen of Trefethen Family Vineyards had a big surprise to share with WineChannelTV this week in Dallas. It was not that she had just won another cutting horse competition or was excited for the 2010 Trefethen Wine Cruise.

Trefethen had just earned one of the most prestigious achievements in the wine world- a 99 point rated 2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon by Wine Enthusiast! She was gratious enough to bring with a bottle for WineChannelTV.  So I knew I had to enjoy this somewhere special.

Traveling from Napa Valley, to Dallas and finally ending up at the brand new Vdara Hotel in Vegas, her 99 point beauty was just waiting for me to pour a glass.

I couldn’t wait to see what all the hype was about , how many times do you get to try a 99 point rated wine straight from the winemaker

It tasted heavenly…!  Smooth blackberry, boysenberry and bright fruit scented notes, were complemented perfectly by a smooth cherry, vanilla oak flavor that seemed to go on forever. This was definitely a 99 point wine .

Watch this video to see exactly what makes a 99 point rated wine so special and Stay tuned next week for my exclusive interview with Janet- a true American Wine Diva !

Cheers,

J

America’s Wine Diva’s were shining bright in Dallas on Sunday, February 28th at the Fashion Industry Gallery for the Dallas Chapter of Les Dames D’Escoffier 21st Raiser Grazer Women Stars of Food and Wine.

Jessica Altieri of WineChannelTV had the microphone and camera rolling at the event. “Just Jess” met with the stars of the wine industry including California’s Joy Sterling (Iron Horse Vineyards), Dolores Cakebread (Cakebread Cellars), Janet Trefethen (Trefethen Family Vineyards), Robin Lail (Lail Vineyards), Amelia Ceja (Ceja Vineyards) and Kathryn Hall (Hall Wines), as well as our own Texas wine luminaries -  Susan Auler (Fall Creek Vineyards), Gina Puente-Brancato (La Buena Vida Vineyards and La Bodega Wineries), and Caris Turpen (Lightcatcher Winery).

Kathryn Hall and Jess Altieri

This week WineChannelTV will be releasing the exclusive video interviews with each of the above Women Wine Stars, and give you an inside glimpse on their involvement with the Raiser Grazer and how they continue to rock the wine world.

This Sunday I will be attending the Raiser Grazer Event in Dallas, Texas for the prestigious:

DALLAS CHAPTER OF LES DAMES D’ESCOFFIER PRESENTS

21^ST RAISER GRAZER “WOMEN STARS OF WINE & FOOD”

Robin Lail from Lail Vineyards is one of those stars that will be there.

To gear up for the event, Robin sent me a bottle of one of her finest Napa Valley wines, the J.Daniel Cuvee Cabernet Sauvingon 2006. After doing some research on her site, I quickly saw that Robin has quite a history in wine. She has worked with the top of the top in the industry, including Robert Mondavi. No wonder this wine garnered over 90 points from Mr. Robert Parker.

And, I give it to Parker for nailing this one on the head, the wine was heavenly. Black currant, cassis, stone and dark chocolate notes lingered with a very well balanced finish. This is a hearty-earthy cab, so a nice winter stew or juicy rib-eye would compliment it perfectly. I definitely give this a 4 out of 4 star review

Take a look to see WineChannelTV in action getting ready for the big event this Sunday!

Cheers,

J

Everyone and their mother seems to have a twitter account now. But, if you have a business that you are “promoting” thru twitter, what is the best way to maximize this tool?

Well, who better to answer that question than the director of Twitter search, Doug Cook aka @ablegrape.

I met with Cook at the Vino2010 conference in NYC whom had much to say about wine, twitter and all things social media. Cook also started AbleGrape, a search engine for wine information.

Take a look to say what Cook had to say to WineChannelTV ; he should know; he is the director of search at Twitter

Cheers!

J

Who remembers watching Growing Pains ? If so, then one person comes to mind, Alan Thicke.

Now, how about the theme songs for Diff’Rent Strokes or Wheel of Fortune? Yep, that’s the mastermind Alan Thicke at work again. Bet you didn’t know that

In Disney this weekend I got a chance to meet up again with Alan, whom I had met before at an event in L.A. I was hosting for Michel LeGrand.

The former Growing Pains star seems to rockin’ the globe. When Alan is not globe trotting to golf tournaments in the Bahamas with MJ, doing short clips with Will Ferrel online, promoting his books, or going to his rockstar son Robin’s concerts, he manages to fit in time for other things.

Alan happened to be in Disney supporting one of many causes he is a part of, this one being Diabetes.

We shared some of the delicious, bright and tropical CakeBread Chardonnay that Cakebread shipped to me in honor of the big Raiser Grazer Event I will be attending this Sunday, February 28th.The wine’s smooth pear, golden apple, mineral flavors had a nice long finish to perfectly complement my fresh crab cakes, and conversation with Alan. Thank-you CakeBread for making this meeting more memorable!

Take a look to see WineChannelTV finding out from Alan what he’s up to next, his thoughts on the Olympics and of course, wine .

Cheers!

J

It’s so simple. Video or Text? What would YOU rather have as a marketing pitch to you? Well, what do you think “millennials” would rather see?

When you think of the traditional target audience for wine, young people usually do not come to mind.  It may be common perception that wine appeals to a more established, wealthy and sophisticated type of crowd.  However, if marketers don’t do their research and continue to market based on this conception, they will miss out on one of their biggest audience opportunities.  Research by Nielsen and the Wine Market Council actually shows that millennials (consumers between the ages of 21 and 30) actually account for almost half of the wine industry’s growth as of 2009. In addition to this change in status quo, another trend has taken a recent shift—purchase location.  Since 2004, while the percentage of on-premise wine sales has remained relatively stable, the amount of off-premise sales has steadily increased.  This fact, coupled with the fact that millennials are becoming more frequent consumers of wine makes social media (the medium used by an overwhelming amount of millennials) a no-brainer medium for the wine industry. WineChannelTV is a great example; ok, self promotion here.

In addition to being a growing consumer of wine products, millennials have also proven to be less pessimistic about the state of the economy, making them more willing to spend higher amounts of money on non-essential items such as wine.  So we’ve now covered what makes millennials a great new target audience for wine producers, but now how do you reach them?

As mentioned before, social media is arguably the only feasible way to first introduce a brand to these consumers.  This is because these young shoppers are very unlikely to make a purchase of an unknown brand after only seeing a paid advertisement.  Millennials have a tighter “SPAM” filter than any generation before them, and a very low level of trust, especially for placements they know are paid-for.  That being said, what these people do trust are their friends.  They like to hear tailored messages coming from people they know, whose opinions they can count on.  This is why there is no other medium better than social media for the future of wine marketing.

Not only is this the best medium to build brand awareness and reputation, but it is also the medium that this generation uses most.  Take Facebook for example—according to another Nielsen study, millennials are known to spend anywhere from 2 to 8 hours a day on the site (as opposed to the overall average of 55 minutes).  A few ways to market via Facebook are to create a fan page for your brand.  But that isn’t all you have to do.  You have to stay active on this page.  Similar to the dis-trust young people feel towards paid placements is the disgust they have for being “talked at.”  This goes for using other media such as blogs and twitter.  You have to engage your consumers—give them a reason to follow your updates, whether it be giveaways, discounts, or even a humorous post or comment every once in a while.  Furthermore, never discount the power of these tools as a way to get your own feedback.  Rather than pay for a stuffy generic survey, ask your fans what they think, what you’re doing wrong, and what you’re doing right.  No matter their age, people like to feel important, so give them the chance and it will come back to you ten-fold.

WineChannelTV and JustJess will be heading to Dallas on February 28th for a one of a kind event with The Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier.

The Raiser Grazer will be held on Sunday, February 28 at the Fashion Industry Gallery from 6-9 p.m. Les Dames d’Escoffier is an international organization of professional women in the fields of food, fine beverage, and hospitality.

How cool will this event be? Here is a sampling of the “Women Stars”:

• California’s Joy Sterling (Iron Horse Vineyards), Dolores Cakebread  (CakeBread Cellars), Janet Trefethen (Trefethen Family Vineyards), Robin Lail, (Lail Vineyards) , Amelia Ceja, (Ceja Vineyards) and Kathryn Hall (Hall Wines), as well as our own Texas wine luminaries –  Susan Auler (Fall Creek Vineyards), Gina Puente-Brancato (La Buena Vida Vineyards and La Bodega Wineries), and Caris Turpen (Lightcatcher Winery).

• Tickets to the Les Dames Raiser Grazer are $50 after February 26 and at the door or available online in advance for $45.  The website address is www.LDEDallas.org.

Stay tuned for more videos all week leading up to the big event on Sunday, February 28th.

I look forward to highlighting this special occasion and seeing how the women of the wine and food world are continuing to rock the world with business savvy ways!

Here are some great wines I was fortunate to taste featuring Ceja Vineyards; special thanks to Amelia Ceja!

Cheers!

JustJess