Pine nuts, the whale, the anchor, Vinexpo – sipped and spit
SPIT: pine nuts!
Losing your senses appears to be all the rage. First, it was Zicam, with it’s new FDA warning against possible anosmia (loss of smell). Now: pine nuts! According to Britain’s Daily Mail, increasing numbers of people have been left with a “foul, metallic taste” in their mouth after eating the nuts and that taste may linger for two weeks. Their columnist describes his experience with “pine mouth:” “Though I regained my taste after eight days, the only thing I could drink during that time was water, and the only food that was bearable was salad leaves smothered in strong balsamic vinegar. Drinking wine was like swallowing liquid metal.” Talk about an impossible food-wine pairing!
SIPPED: a whale tale
In a fascinating post that provides a look into the business of selling wine, Lyle Fass, formerly in high-end wine retail, posts to his blog about the death of “the whale,” namely, the big customer who orders $10,000 worth of wine with a single phone call. He describes his performance-based pay conundrum: “At my last retail job I was hired with the idea that I would get a cut of the profits from the whales I would bring to the store. I thought this was great. I made a lot of money and was happy selling wine to these whales. Never did I think in my wildest dreams that I would lose my job as the economy went in the tank. But I had a high salary and a high bonus structure and as a result, I was not bringing added value to the store anymore. I was a money vacuum. So I was rendered jobless.” He concludes by predicting that “the whale is not coming back for a long time, if ever.” [Rockss and Fruit]
SIPPED: Follow the leader
Web 2.0, user generated wine review, on sites such as cellartracker, theoretically shift the power of reviewing away from one critic and over to the masses. But using an illustration of one of his Tablas Creek wines, Jason Haas writes about the power of the first review as an “anchor,” which then can set a tone for subsequent reviews that’s hard to break.
SIPPED: hope
Vinexpo, the big wine trade show kicks off today in Bordeaux. AFP reports on a study from Vinexpo that forecasts worldwide wine sales rising to 390 billion euros in 2012 from the current 330 billion euros, citing increased demand from China and Russia. Global wine consumption softened last year.
On June 22nd, 2009 at 3:06 pm ,Nick wrote:
just as a note, someone here suggested to try elisio silvo syrah from washington. just had it last night and at 8.33 cost, it is a dam good deal…very tasty…
On June 23rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm ,Panchi wrote:
Hey Nick, the thing you wrote, sounds like a desperate cry of advertising….
bad taste man!
On June 23rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm ,Lyle Fass wrote:
What’s weird is he wrote the cost. Why would consumers care? Wine is usually sold via the .99 pricing style or the .00 pricing style as in $8.99 or $7.00.
Blog spam FAIL!
On June 24th, 2009 at 9:07 am ,Dylan wrote:
Hm, the “whale catcher” doesn’t sound so upset, likely because his job is rendered useless with no “whales” to catch. To end this metaphor in proper tone, I’ll say this anecdote represents a turning of the tides.
On June 24th, 2009 at 11:50 am ,Lyle Fass wrote:
Dylan,
Not sure how you can tell if I am upset or not. If you can you are very perceptive!
On June 25th, 2009 at 2:04 pm ,Nick wrote:
in regard to the comments that i am advertising- nope. someone in a previous thread asking for suggestions as to sub 15$ domestic wines of good quality had recommended it. i wanted to essentially thank them for the reco, and not being able to find the post from which it came, thought i would post it here. if it came across as an advert, then my apologies- the cost was included to support the reference to the value of the wine (i am lucky enough to buy at cost and dont know the retail price). so no, this is not a spam fail, or any other type of advert- simply my poor attempt to confirm a good recommendation.
On June 25th, 2009 at 2:08 pm ,Nick wrote:
found it
http://www.drvino.com/2009/05/21/wine-importer-bobby-kacher-value-wine-under-12/#comments
comment by Nick Radisic
(no relation btw- Im Walls…)
On June 26th, 2009 at 8:56 am ,Internet e le recensioni quasi oggettive | Intravino wrote:
[…] per idea. I blogger di Tablas Creek (vignaioli californiani alla prese con vitigni del Rodano), ripresi da Dr.Vino, scoprono una curioso effetto à ncora, definibile pure con “follow the […]