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Christophe Macra, un des rares Master of Wine français, se passionne pour les nouvelles technologies appliquées au monde du vin. Lundi 31 janvier à 18 heures (Paris) il va nous parler de ses deux passions, le vin et Internet et nous expliquer comment les faire se rencontrer.

This was recorded in June of 2008

We’ve already had some amazing people on NWC, such as the ubiquitous Randall Grahm (Bonny Doon and so much more), Portuguese entrepreneur André Ribeirinho, Burgundy expert ‘Burghound‘ Allen Meadows, the inevitable Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee), Neil Monnens of Wine BlueBook, Tom Cannavan of WIne-Pages.com and TheWineGang.com, Nathalie Schyler (Château Kirwan), Jane Anson (Decanter, NewBordeaux.com), Jamie Goode (WineAnorak.com), Wendy Narby (InsiderTasting.com), Don and Petie Kladstrup (authors of Wine & War, Champagne), François Audouze (Ancient Wine Academy), Wink Lorch (WineTravelGuides.com), Alan Kropf, editor of Mutineer Magazine, Robin Garr (WineLoversPage.com), and folks from WineBizRadio.com, Snooth.com, WineQ.com, TheWineSpies.com, OpenWineConsortium.org, MesVignes.com, Crushpad.com, Solorosawines.com, DirtySouthWines.com, Domaine-Gagnard.com

I heard a story recently that makes my hair stand up: how can producers and stores be so ignorant about generating goodwill? How can they also not realize that in this day and age, we consumers talk a lot online and often peer comments are more important than the critic’s reviews.

Keep in touch if you have a story to tell from either side of the counter!

Round table discussion participants

@quaffability John Gavin, web designer

@DeannaLawrence, Strategist Global Digital Media and Emerging Consumer Trends

@cavemanwines Michael Wangbickler, Caveman Wines

@mjgraves Michael Graves, Graves on Soho VoIP

@RovingThruSpain Neil Monnens, Wine BlueBook

Martin Barrett, Cana’s Feast Winery

Abstract:

With the ubiquity of Twitter, Facebook and the iPhone (and a growing number of other phones) people are now more likely to click on links and land on a web page using a small-screen browser. My goal is to assemble as many ideas and opinions as possible on the topic of what information is most needed and how to adapt it to the web-capable phone, mp3 player or personal assistant.

• Stakeholders: anyone using the web to communicate, i.e., everyone.
• Roles: consultant, designer, site builder, site visitor, site owner.
• Communication vector: what else? the phone. [numbers]

A few reference bookmarks: http://delicious.com/NewWine

Among our visits, our talk with David Corey in Santa Maria, California was enjoyable and the wines we brought home were terrific. Dave knows his way around wine and we asked him a few questions on Malbec, since he’s one of the handful of California producers using that grape.

We talked about how Allen began his travels to Burgundy and what it was like to approach wine producers and taste their wines, often in barrel. The work involved in tasting and writing notes is considerable. Deciding what parts of the producer notes to publish requires a degree in (or at least some degree of) diplomacy. We spoke about gaining the producers’ confidence while retaining credibility.

Burgundy’s history is complicated and the geography of the small parcels of land hard to keep track of. Allen’s book is about these things in great detail with specially prepared maps, notes on the Vosnes Romanée and neighboring areas. You should listen to this recording if you have any interest in wine criticism, Burgundy or just want to hear a master describe the work he’s been doing for decades.