New Website, Snooth.com, Combines Wine & Social Media
What a lovely pairing- the world’s largest interactive wine database together with a social network brimming with oenophiles! Snooth.com enables users to find the best wine bargains in the world by categorizing pricing by country or zip code.
You can also connect with other Snooth users, exchange recommendations, post and subscribe to reviews, educate yourself on a myriad of wine-related topics, and manage your own personal cellar – among other things. Did I mention it’s free??
Check out Snooth and, while your at it, check out their most recent, seasonal food pairing – Roast Turkey and Syrah. Enjoy!
Achaval Ferrer 2007 Malbec: A Keeper
Jane Macquitty, Wine Correspondent for The Times of London, recently reviewed The Wine Society, the largest mail-order wine club in the world. She reviewed many of the club’s wines and finished the article by selecting her favorite wines of the week.”The Keeper” title went to Achaval Ferrer’s 2007 Malbec! You can read the whole article here or her wonderful description of the Mendoza, Argentina Malbec below:
THE KEEPER
2007 Malbec Achaval Ferrer, Mendoza, Argentina Corney & Barrow (020-7265 2400), £12.49 Cellaring a New World wine may sound daft but Argentina’s full-throttle malbec, the country’s finest red grape, is an obvious contender. Put away this distinguished and already seductive, spicy, mulberry-stashed malbec, from one of the finest Argentine producers, for five years or so and it will develop all sorts of dusky, complex, earthy flavours. Drink now until 2012.
French Wine Magnate, Bernard Magrez, Wants to Give Bordeaux a Boost
Bernard Magrez, wine magnate, has his sights set on Bordeaux. Read below about the famous multi-millionaire and his plans for promoting wine tourism in one of France’s well-known wine regions.
Bordeaux is set for shake-up
By Marcel Michelson
PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters Life) – Bernard Magrez was 19 when he started working in Bordeaux wine and built up an emporium which now, at 73, counts 35 vineyards in several countries.
These days the self-made man and “new money” in the close-knit world of Bordeaux winemakers, says that many of the region’s “old money” families have lost the spirit to innovate and adapt to market changes.
As wine consumers become more adventurous, drinking wines from across the world, Bordeaux needs to focus on the top wines and invest in its high class image using wine tourism, aerial rides over the vineyards and posh picnics among the vines.
Magrez advises loss-making producers of lesser wines to get out of the business and pull up their vines before it’s too late.
We have gone through several crises already, cyclical crises. But this time I believe the crisis is structural,” he said in an interview. “Sooner or later we will see some drastic changes.”
For Magrez, many people in the industry have missed some fundamental changes in consumer behavior.
“In the past, a wine drinker was faithful to a small number of wines. But nowadays the modern consumer wants to try out different wines from different countries,” he said.
“A host wants to present a new wine to friends, share a discovery.”
Magrez made it easier for the consumer to find new wines as he put his name on the wines made in Spain, Portugal, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Morocco, Japan and California. But he has abandoned interests in Algeria and China.
“I am not a collector of vineyards,” he said. But said he could add another two or three.
Magrez worked for wine company Jean Cordier in Bordeaux for three years when, at 22, he bought a spirits firm.
“The sellers were two octogenarians and my bank manager was close to retirement. He had confidence in me.” Read the rest of this entry »
Fifth Edition of South African “Wine Tourism Handbook” Launching in 2010
Experts on South African wine tourism have created an informative and exciting compilation of the country’s many wine estates. Learn what went into the making of this multi-faceted book below:
Fifth guide ripe for the picking
The 2010 issue is also available at major local and international tourism trade shows;www.kalahari.net; leading book sellers; as well as through wine farms and hotels throughout South Africa priced at R110.
This issue has taken the handbook to another level by bringing with it a number of exciting new features such as updated maps demarcating all wine farms; major roads and places of interest for each wine route. In fact, given the size of the Stellenbosch wine route, there’s a map for each of the five sub-routes for 2010. Each map comes with an easy reference guide giving grid indicators; contact details for every farm; and tasting room hours. Read the rest of this entry »
Value seeking leads buyers to malbec
Looks like malbec is making waves all over the world, including the southern coast of Oregon! The following is a newspaper article from The World praising Argentinian malbec for its value and its taste.
Value seeking leads buyers to malbec
By Tom Marquardt and Patrick Darr
Don’t look now, but malbec is gaining ground.
Once grown extensively in Bordeaux, this often overlooked and fickle grape variety has put Argentina on the map in recent years. So how could a grape variety rejected by the French flourish in Argentina? Did the French miss the boat on this one?
Read the rest of this entry »
Book Review: “In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism” by George M. Taber
Journalist and entrepreneur George M. Taber is renowned for his four paragraph coverage of the Judgement of Paris, an epic wine event in 1976 that compared prestigious French wines with California wines. Since then, he’s authored several vino-centric books including this month’s “In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism.”
AP writer Nigel Duara reviews Taber’s new book below.
Wine tourism, on safari or from the armchair
“In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism” (Scribner, 287 pages, $30), by George M. Taber: Thirty-three years ago, George M. Taber set the world of wine on fire with a four-paragraph dispatch about a tasting in France that compared the work of French vintners with those of their counterparts in California. The California wines won, and winemaking in the New World has never been the same.
Taber wrote a book about the experience, “Judgment of Paris,” followed by a second book, “To Cork or Not to Cork,” on the history and controversy of wine corks.
Now, he’s turned his sights on wine tourism, examining 12 regions on six continents in his new book, “In Search of Bacchus: Wanderings in the Wonderful World of Wine Tourism.” He begins in familiar territory, California’s Napa Valley, and winds his way through Chile, Italy and New Zealand, among others, before arriving finally at the former Soviet state of Georgia. Read the rest of this entry »
Taste Wines from Achaval-Ferrer, Winery of the Year, 9/23 5-7PM Seattle
Don’t miss a chance to meet the the head vintner for Achaval Ferrer and Hand of God Vineyards. Please join us at The Local Vine to taste Malbecs from the winery chosen as 2009’s Winery of the Year by Wine & Spirits. One of the hottest wines around, they have raised the bar for Argentinian wines. The winemaker will be at The Local Vine to lead this tasting of wines from his Mendoza, Argentinian winery.
Local Vine Winemaker Tasting: Achaval Ferrer- September 23rd 5:00 – 7:00
2520 Second Avenue / Seattle, WA 98121 / 206.441.6000
Santiago Achaval is widely recognized as one of Argentina’s premier vintners under his Achaval-Ferrer label. Achaval-Ferrer boasts four of the five highest rated wines in Argentine history, as judged by Wine Spectator, and the highest rated Argentine wine to date according to Robert Parker.
In addition to the Achaval-Ferrer label, Santiago is head wine maker for the new brand, Hand of God Wines. Hand of God (Mano de Dios in Spanish), a boutique winery in the Uco Valley, Argentina. Planting was done in 2007 and fruit will be ready for harvest in 2010. Hand of God will be the only other Santiago Achaval wines available on the market. We are eagerly awaiting their first release.
When Wine Goes Viral
A new Argentine Rosé from Fuzion is a stellar hit, but wine critics aren’t certain why. Sure the $7.45 price tag makes it easy to take the risk but EVERYONE is buying it even though the reviews are iffy at best. In Ontario, Star wine critic Gord Stimmell reported 1,000 cases were flying off shelves each day – all without traditional advertising (more on that here). While we definitely prefer a good solid wine, we’re really fascinated by Fuzion’s unprecedented success. Fuzion has viral marketing nail and nailed hard.
Viral marketing is digital-age word-of-mouth. If you think about it, its kind of old school … if your friend says it’s good then you’ll likely try it. I do it, you probably do it, and they did it in the ‘olden days’. In today’s economy consumers are increasingly immune to traditional marketing; so instead of marketing at populations, viral marketing promotes conversation with consumers and encourage feedback. In the U.S., 64% of respondents report that they will try something recommended by a friend. In these days when staying in touch means e-mail or texting, the average U.S. consumer will tell a good experience online to an average of 12 others: a favorite movie to 8.6 contacts: 6.1 people about a favorite restaurant: and 5.3 friends about a favorite wine. Businesses like it because it’s accurate in replication, fast, cheap, allows for detailed tracking, and opinion leader identification. Everyone likes it because it’s personal, often local, and it’s not up in your face with flashing lights and bells and whistles.
All that said, check out our associated brand, Hand of God, on twitter and facebook. Yep, you guessed it; we make Malbec. 
What are Your Favorite Malbecs? Torrontes?
Wine & Spirits has Chosen Achaval Ferrer Winery of the Year!!!
Each year, Wine & Spirits magazine’s blind tasting panels review more than 9,000 wines and pass the best along to their critics. The annual Wineries of the Year list is made up of brands who produce a range of wines that score at the top of their categories. Achaval Ferrer performed in the top echelon–a great ambassador for the wines of Argentina.
Santiago Achaval is widely recognized as one of Argentina’s premier vintners under his Achaval-Ferrer label. Achaval-Ferrer boasts four of the five highest rated wines in Argentine history, as judged by Wine Spectator, and the highest rated Argentine wine to date according to Robert Parker.
In addition to the Achaval-Ferrer label, Santiago is head wine maker for the new brand, Hand of God Wines. Hand of God (Mano de Dios in Spanish), a boutique winery in the Uco Valley, Argentina. Planting was done in 2007 and fruit will be ready for harvest in 2010. Hand of God will be the only other Santiago Achaval wines available on the market. We are eagerly awaiting their first release.
