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November - Iron Wine

Today's Iron Wine Article

Marketing to the Affluent - with Wine


With its association to an affluent, sophisticated lifestyle, wine can make a good accompaniment when marketing to an affluent audience. However, I am not talking here about ordering expensive wine at a client dinner. Wine can be used more creatively and productively to connect to this target audience.

With its association to an affluent, sophisticated lifestyle, wine can make a good accompaniment when marketing to an affluent audience. However, I am not talking here about ordering expensive wine at a client dinner. Wine can be used more creatively and productively to connect to this target audience.

For example, wine proved to be a powerful marketing element for a startup magazine targeting an audience that is personally affluent and controls an enormous amount of money.

BuySide magazine is a publication for institutional investors and money managers. When it was first conceived, it had to overcome what seemed to be a big drawback. Its founder, Gordon Holmes, lived in Sonoma, California, and insisted that the magazine be based near his home, far away from both the financial and media centers in New York.

In discussions with Holmes, I discovered that Holmes insistence on basing his operations in Sonoma was not just a whim or a wish to have a short commute to work. It turns out that five generations of his family had been involved in California agriculture and he was passionate about California wine and wine-growing.

I made a decision to turn BuySides remoteness from financial and media centers of action into a positive. His location in California's wine country would become part of the magazines positioning.

The first step was to create a private label BuySide Wine. In a deal with local wineries, we were able to source a sufficient amount of BuySide Merlot and Chardonnay. A special wine bottle label was designed to reflect the unique story of this boutique wine.

Next, a direct mail campaign was developed using wine as a theme and Buyside wine as a premium. The campaign was aimed at advertisers and companies that wanted to reach the magazines audience of institutional investors.

The chief element of the direct mail campaign was a brochure. The reader was immediately confronted with a stark, bold headline on the front of the brochure:

"WHERE DO YOU GO TO TALK TO INVESTORS WITH $TRILLIONS TO INVEST?
When the brochure was opened, the inside headline provided the answer:
"TO THE WINE COUNTRY

On the left side of the inside page, we developed a fanciful photo that conveyed the message we wanted: In the photo, Holmes was wearing a suit and holding a cellphone, sitting at a desk which had a computer on top of it, in the middle of a winery. Next to the desk was a street sign that said Wall Street. The other side of the page told the story of Buyside and how it reached this affluent, influential audience of institutional investors. The copy also directed readers to an offer in the back.

As part of the offer, companies that responded to the mailing would receive a free bottle of BuySide winewhite or red.

The mailing and promotion powered the magazine to success far ahead of schedule. But wine proved to be more than a launching pad in a direct mail campaign. It became part of the magazines positioning, separating it from the competition. The wine angle proved powerful for years to come. At money management conferences, where wine was given out at BuySides booth, people would come into the conference and ask Where are the wine guys? Everyone knew what they meant.

While developing a private label wine may not be for everyone, there are other ways to use wine creatively in affluent marketing. Wine tastings, and food and wine get-togethers have been used successfully by professionals seeking to market their services to an affluent audience. But like wine itself, it takes taste and sophistication to make it work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Leon Altman is the founder of InvestingIN.com (www.InvestingIN.com), a website that provides articles and newsletters about opportunities in different areas. To sign up for any of its free newsletters, go to http://www.investingin.com/freenewsletters.htm.



A Short Iron Wine Summary

Marketing to the Affluent - with Wine


With its association to an affluent, sophisticated lifestyle, wine can make a good accompaniment when marketing to an affluent audience. However, I am...


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Current Iron Wine News

Talk of the Times with Janine Starinsky (The Scranton Times-Tribune)

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 01:22:46 -0800
This week, staff writer Denis O’Malley talks with Janine Starinsky about the upcoming Wine & Cheese Meet-and-Greet Fundraiser for Oakwood Terrace Assisted Living.

G20 World Economy Summit Menu: Not Serving Bulk Ramen

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:42:25 -0800
Dear Dollar Menu Fans:I thought you might like to know what the White House served for the G20 Summit On Financial Markets and The World Economy. Mmmm! They even thought about the right wines. (read more...)

Skillet Fennel and Chicken

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Super yummy - super easy - super fast... Servings: 2 Ingredients: 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus, 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, divided 1 dash pepper 7 ounces chicken breast half without skin, sliced 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided 1/2 ounce pignolia (pine nuts) 1 cup fennel bulb, sliced 1 cup onion, sliced 1/2 cup chicken broth 2 tablespoons dry white wine 6 medium plum tomato, seeded and sliced fennel sprigs, for garnish Directions: 1. On sheet of wax paper combine 1T flour & pe

Environmental Media Association Awards: Al Gore and Tina Fey win!

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:33:17 -0800
There are so many TV shows out there — and I’ve never even heard of most of them. That’s what I realized at the Environmental Media Association awards ceremony at The Ebell on Thursday, when films, TV shows, companies, and individuals raising environmental consciousness were recognized. A show called Handy Manny won the Children’s Live Action / Animation award, for example. Perhaps I’d never heard of that show just because I’m happily child-free — but the winner in the Reality Programming ca

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http://www.rachaelraymag.com/giveaway Grand Prize: (1 winner) Two tickets to the Rachael Ray show. Daily Prizes: Day 1: Five (5) prizes of a Rachael Ray Hard Anodized 10-Piece cookware will be awarded. Approximate Retail Value (”ARV”) is $199 per prize. Enter 12:01 a.m. November 17, 2008 until 11:59 p.m. November 23, 2008. Day 2: One (1) prize consisting of a LG 4-Door French-Door Refrigerator will be awarded. ARV is $3,199. Enter 12:01 a.m. November 18, 2008 until 11:59 p.m. November 24, 2

Game Plan for a Bacteria-Free Thanksgiving

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Game Plan for a Bacteria-Free Thanksgiving Eating, cooking, and shopping insights from our food and nutrition editor November 16, 2008 Fotolia By Frances Largeman-Roth, RD Thanksgiving is a little more than a week away, and if you’re serving the big meal, you’re probably focused on getting your turkey and all the trimmings ready. I don’t mean to be a downer, but you probably want to direct some attention to an unwanted dinner guest: bacteria. Read More Pages: 1 2 Permanent Link | Comme


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11:06 AM

November 2008 - Sparkling Wines

Another Great Sparkling Wines Article

The next Shiraz, varietal wines for Australia


Shiraz is the dominant red winegrape variety in Australia. It is the key component of Grange, the flagship Australian wine label. At the other end of the scale it makes up the bulk of the cheap and cheerful red wines in the everyday bottled brands such as Jacobs Creek, Oxford Landing and yellowtail.

Shiraz is the dominant red winegrape variety in Australia. It is the key component of Grange, the flagship Australian wine label. At the other end of the scale it makes up the bulk of the cheap and cheerful red wines in the everyday bottled brands such as Jacobs Creek, Oxford Landing and yellowtail.

But Shiraz has not always held such a hold over the market. Until the mid nineties Cabernet Sauvignon was regarded as the superior variety and this was reflected in the prices paid at the cellar door. But the demand for exports has been mainly for Australian Shiraz and Cabernet has lost ground in the battle for consumer preference in Australia as well.

Shiraz's reign at the top of the tree really started in the middle of the 1950s when it replaced Grenache as the most popular red winegrape variety. In those days a much larger proportion of the wine market was devoted to fortified wine, what we used to call Port.

Looking into the future the role of Shiraz seems unassailable, but there are a few challengers on the horizon. The wine consumer is a fickle creature and fashions can change fairly quickly.

Merlot is the third most popular red winegrape variety in Australia. Much of the production goes into blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting its major role in Bordeaux. There are quite a few varietal merlots also produced. There are two reasons for thinking that Merlot won't displace Shiraz as our major tipple. Firstly there are viticultural problems relating to poor clones and it performs poorly in cooler regions. Secondly at the consumer end the wine often lacks a distinctive varietal character. There seems to be no consensus among winemakers about what a good merlot should be like. Meanwhile consumers think of Merlot as meaning mellow. It is hard to find any passion, for or against, this variety.

Another contender is Grenache. This variety is widely planted in South Australia, particularly in the Barossa and McLaren Vale regions. In the 1980s it was subject to government sponsored vine pull schemes in the belief that its days were over. Its star is on the rise again both as a varietal and as the key to blends with Shiraz and Morvedre. Notwithstanding this recent return to favour, Grenache will not seriously challenge Shiraz because of its need for a relatively warm climate.

Sangiovese is a variety with a large and growing fan club. There are now over a hundred winemakers using this variety. One factor which has held the variety back in the past has been clonal variation, this has been overcome by careful selection by vine nurseries. Over the past few years a significant number of producers have been able to show just what the variety is capable of. The wines show plum and cherry flavours and to my mind these flavours as well as the Italian wine textures will mean that the bandwagon for this variety will keep rolling for quite a while. The number of winemakers and consumers in Australia with an Italian background continues to provide plenty of champions for the variety.

Spain's answer to Sangiovese is Tempranillo. It is growing in popularity in many Australian wine regions. To a large extent the jury is still as many of the plantings are still quite new. Among the champions of the variety are James Halliday and Mark Walpole of Brown Brothers. Tempranillo matures a little earlier than Shiraz or Sangiovese so it can be grown in slightly cooler regions, Indeed Manton Creek Vineyard in the Mornington Peninsula is one of the more highly regarded producers.

The Durif variety is regarded as a warm climate variety, indeed it seemed as though Rutherglen held a monopoly on the variety. But in fact is relatively early ripening, as demonstrated by John Vale at Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula. The outstanding feature of Durif is the high level of tannins, but if these can be mastered then

There are a few other varieties attracting attention which will figure in the mix over the next decade or so. Petit verdot is becoming much more popular in the warmer areas. It was pioneered in Australia by Pirramirra in McLaren Vale but it is now grown extensively in the Murray Darling and Riverina.

Barbera and Nebbiolo are the two other Italian varieties which are highly regarded in Australia. Lagrein is a little known Italian variety, in fact it is from the North East of Italy. It is an early ripening variety and as such can be grown in the cooler climates. Cobaw Ridge in the Macedon Ranges region has a wonderful Lagrein.

So what is the verdict? Which red winegrape variety will be the next Shiraz? It seems to be a contest between Sangiovese and Tempranillo, with both camps having some firm adherents. My money at this stage goes with Sangiovese, it has the runs on the board.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Darby Higgs is an expert on varietal wines made from less common grape varieties. He is founder and editor of vinodiversity, an information resource. See http://www.vinodiversity.com



Short Review on Sparkling Wines

The next Shiraz, varietal wines for Australia


Shiraz is the dominant red winegrape variety in Australia. It is the key component of Grange, the flagship Australian wine label. At the other end of ...


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Sparkling Wines Products we recommend

Champagne and Caviar Celebration Bucket Premium


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News about Sparkling Wines

How I decide what and when to blog

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:20:33 -0800
That well-respected and mostly-respectable renaissance woman Kate Carruthers has asked me (and four others) this: “And how do YOU decide how/what/when to blog?” Good question, Kate. Actually, why do I blog at all? I have four answers, and they overlap. 1. Because I can. I enjoy writing. Sometimes other people seem to enjoy it too, even to the point of paying me money. I gives me pleasure, and I can do it while sipping wine at my local pub. Unlike masturbation. When I’m writing for pleasur

Vaynerchuck on German Pinot Noir Wines

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:26:50 -0700
Intro to German Pinot Noir Wines with another funny quote by Gary Vaynerchuck

Pinot Wines Quote by Gary Vaynerchuk

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:29:52 -0700
A quote that highlights how you can't judge flavor in wine by smell

The prevalence of corked wines is greatly exagerrated

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:21:01 -0700
Some oft-quoted figures say up to 12% of all wine sold is corked. Figures from Quebec show this figure to likely be under 1%.


Australian Wine
Carlee Wine

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