Given my previous post about the attack on direct shipping of wine, I thought it would be nice to offer an alternative that respects not only individual right to choose, but state rights as well as the Constitution itself.  At Uncorked Ventures we realize that being overly political isn’t necessarily good for business, but please remember even as a licensed distributor, direct shipping with safety standards is good for the industry.

The model direct shipping bill is a joint project between wine related services such as Family Winemakers of California as well as the National Conference of State Legislatures.

dd new Section —– to the Alcohol Beverage Control Act as follows: Section —-

1. Notwithstanding any law, rule or regulation to the contrary, any person currently licensed in this or any other state as a wine producer, supplier, importer, wholesaler, distributor or retailer who obtains a Wine Direct Shipper License, as provided below, may ship up to twenty-four (24) 9-liter cases of wine annually directly to a resident of [State] who is at least 21 years of age for such resident’s personal use and not for resale.
2. Before sending any shipment to a resident of [State] the Wine Direct Shipper Licensee must first:
   (a) File an application with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Department),
   (b) pay a $100.00 registration fee,
   (c) provide to the Department a true copy of its current alcoholic beverage license issued in this or any other state, and
   (d) obtain from the Department a Wine Direct Shipper License.
3. All Wine Direct Shipper Licensees shall:
   (a) Not ship more than twenty-four (24) 9-liter cases of wine annually to any person for his personal use and not for resale.
   (b) Not ship to any address in an area identified by the Department as a “dry” or local option area.
   (c) Ensure that all containers of wine shipped directly to a resident in this state are conspicuously labeled with the words “CONTAINS ALCOHOL: SIGNATURE OF PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY.”
   (d) If located outside of this state, report to the Department annually the total amount of wine shipped into the state the preceding calendar year.
   (e) If located outside of this state, annually pay to the [State Revenue Agency] all sales taxes and excise taxes due on sales to residents of [State] in the preceding calendar year, the amount of such taxes to be calculated as if the sale were in [State] at the location where delivery is made.
   (f) If located within this state, provide the [State Revenue Agency] any additional information deemed necessary beyond that already required for retail sales from the winery tasting room to ensure compliance with this section.
   (g) Permit the Department or the [State Revenue Agency] to perform an audit of the Wine Direct Shipper Licensees records upon request.
   (h) Be deemed to have consented to the jurisdiction of the Department or any other state agency and the [State] courts concerning enforcement of this section and any related laws, rules or regulations.
4. The Wine Direct Shipper Licensee may annually renew its license with the Department by paying a $50.00 renewal fee and providing the Department a true copy of its current alcoholic beverage license issued in this or any other state.
5. The Department and the [State Revenue Agency] may promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this law.
6. The Department may enforce the requirements of this section by administrative proceedings to suspend or revoke an Wine Direct Shipper License, and the Department may accept payment of an offer in compromise in lieu of suspension, such payments to be determined by rule promulgated by the Department.
7. Shipments of wine direct to consumers in [State] from persons who do not possess a current Wine Direct Shipper License from the Department are prohibited, Any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports or receives such a shipment is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by [insert fine and/or jail]. Without limitation on any punishment or remedy, criminal or civil, any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports or receives such a shipment commits an unfair trade practice.

In the past, I’ve featured a few of the best known wine blogs out there. Today, I thought I’d mention one that I don’t think earns the type of critical acclaim and accolades that it deserves although it is extremely well received within the wine community.

Benito’s Wine Reviews has been around since 2005 and does one of the best jobs on the web at combining reviews of wine with recipe’s as well as reviews of other adult beverages. I also appreciate that Benito is willing to taste wines which aren’t available at your local grocery store, he’s willing to push his palate and try wines from non traditional wine making regions. To me, that adds a level of interest to his blog.

If you have some free time and are looking for another great wine related, check it out!

This Blog is Carbon Neutral

Many of my friends would tell you, that although I don’t necessarily show it outwardly on an everyday basis, I do believe strongly in environmental causes and like to what I can, when I can. I also believe strongly that companies and governments needs to give their citizens more choice when it comes to environmentally friendly alternative forms of transportation, packaging etc.

In that vein, I recently came across a company that helps ensure that your blog is carbon neutral. As it turns out there is a cost in terms of the number of visitors that visit this blog. That environmental cost is largely made up of the energy that it required to power the servers and other hosting mechanisms.

“My blog is carbon neutral” is an initiative, originally started in Germany by the “Make it green” programme, that has the goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. We plant a tree for your blog and thereby neutralise your blog’s carbon footprint for the next 50 years! Everyone can make a small contribution to the environment. Every tree counts!

One of the challenges I’ve faced since starting Uncorked Ventures has been a combination with my relative inexperience with fine wines (when compared to others, including my business partner Matt) especially when combined with the fact that I live in San Diego where we don’t have many high quality wine stores.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t especially enjoy paying retail price for wine any more, but occasionally there are bottles which I’d like to try, either for personal enjoyment or for possible inclusion in our wine club, without creating the pressure and sense of urgency that often can accompany free samples. Simply put, sometimes it’s easier to pay for a single bottle of wine instead of having a winery or winemaker feeling slighted because you didn’t purchase a couple of cases after receiving a free sample.

In that vein, my wife and I started to try out a few well known wine stores here in San Diego starting last weekend with a trip to San Diego Wine Company, which is located on Miramar Road about equidistant between the 15 and 5 freeways.

I noticed immediately that they featured a nice selection of Napa/Sonoma wines, including offerings from Vineyard 29, Larkmeade and Audelssa which I’ve talked about at length in this space previously. Very impressed with both the selection as well as their pricing when it came to northern California wine.

As for the central coast wineries, I wasn’t nearly as impressed as they seemed to largely be missing the outstanding wines being produced in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County, with one offering from Tablas Creek Vineyards, but nothing else of note.

I hope to come up with a scoring system in the coming days.

Until then, I hope your week has been as enjoyable as mine already has.

When I first started talking to Matt about starting Uncorked Ventures, I didn’t realize some of the natural enjoyable elements of the business. Aside from spending more time with family I didn’t realize that I’d enjoy the people so much. I know I’ve talked about that at length on this blog, but I was reminded last week that another enjoyable aspect of the business has been having the chance to share in other start up businesses.

One of those is Metro Citizen, which is an online magazine. Interestingly I was originally contacted by found Carolina Riviero through this blog and I am happy to be part of their editorial team. In that vein my first article has been published and I’m quite happy with the result. The online magazine is an interesting medium because it makes pictures more important then they are normally, which is quite different then what I do on a daily basis. Frankly speaking, I’m excited to see where this business venture is able to go in the future and how we can continue to support each other as both Uncorked Ventures and Metro Citizen grow.

Congrats on the 1st issue, I’m glad I was able to be a part of it.

Last week was a lot of fun being able to spend quality time in wine country with my wife, it was also a welcome break and one of the first true vacations I’ve taken in some time since started Uncorked Ventures. I’m also happy to say that it appears our efforts on the SEO front are truly beginning to pay dividends as it seems the time of our “Google Dance” has ended and we’ve settled into the first page of search results for one of our targeted keywords.

As I start my week I’d be remiss without taking some time to thank the people at Vineyard 29 (specifically winemaker Keith Emerson), Alpha Omega (Jean, Henrik and Chelsea) and also Copain (John as well as their sales staff) for taking the time to talk with my wife and I. I know she especially enjoyed the trip and I was happy she was able to relax during a much deserved spring break.

Lastly, we’ve had a few earthquakes here in Southern California over the past 24 hours. Despite living in California for about 25 years now these are the first few earthquakes that I’ve ever really felt, I’m glad to say it’s no where near causing damage, but it can be a little disconcerting if for no other reason that we’ve watched how many movies showing California being completely destroyed (or becoming an island lol) once the big one hits.

For me, it’s back to work on the SEO front as well as adding content to the website. I feel energized by my trip and am ready to get back to work.

Moving Forward

Every so often it seems we reach a tipping point either in business or personal lives, for me these type of points have not only been difficult to predict, but they can be difficult to manage as well. I think this is especially true when we reach a point where a significant choice stands in front of us and there is perhaps no clear answer, even if the only reason for that is because we can’t see our nose in front of our face. You know, make the easy choice that is closest to us…in order words the simplest solution is usually the correct one.

For Uncorked Ventures part of this choice is how quickly we move from our original goals of crafting 3 of the best wine clubs on the planet, to some other ways to bring in income for the new business. I’ve heard of open door lawyers before (you know, any case that comes in is what I specialize in) and I want to be careful to not become an open door wine store so to speak, that is I want to be careful to note dilute our message because we’re working on so many different things at once. At the end of the day, the goal is to get hard to find wine into the hands of consumers at the right price. Of course, like any business, there are better ways then others to do this for our bottom line.

It’s hard to turn down what could amount to a number of sales, but there is certainly an opportunity cost when it comes to using either my time or Matt’s time since there is always something else we can be doing. For example, how much time should we be spending on SEO work which should pay off down the line (although no guarantees) versus time spent working with potential in home tasting clients?

So I ask my readers this, how would you go about finding new wine club members?

Had an enjoyable time this morning at the Henry Wine Group tasting event in La Jolla. It was nice to be able to speak with a number of winery owners or managers directly and I was not disappointed d by Vias Imports which was the main reason why I was so excited to attend.

Vias Imports specializes in Italian wine and they have quite the spread, pouring close to 50 wines at the event. They also had four featured winemakers there to answer questions about their individual wines. Aside from wishing I spoke Italian, I realized that because our wine clubs focus mainly on California, Washington and Oregon this was my first real opportunity to speak with internationally based winemakers since starting Uncorked Ventures.

I was struck how similar their approach was to many of the wineries that we already work with and was reminded how much I enjoyed my time in Italy and the people both during my travels there and Italians I’ve met here in the states.

Although it will take some time and more research to choose one of these wines for our Wine Exploration Club, the ground work certainly has been put in place already.

Perhaps the most interesting story of the day comes from Alto Adige, the absolute northern most part of Italy, practically on the Austrian border. It’s an interesting area in that the population speaks as much German as they do Italian and most of the towns sit at fairly significant altitude. The Abbazia Di Novacella winery was represented at the tasting and I immediately was drawn to their story. This winery is actually an Abbey and has been producing wines continuously on the site since 1142. At one point there were over 5,000 Abbey’s being operated across the world, today there are approximately 8 and this one has survived and continues to be financially independent solely because of the success of their winery operation. The Abbey itself has quite a few interesting collections, including a 20,000 volume library dating back to the 13th century and I believe the only private organization with two copies of the Gutenberg bible (only 180 originally produced). As you can tell, I love when I’m able to tell a story and this wine certainly has one of the best in the world.

First Wine Tasting Groups

At Uncorked Ventures we’re constantly looking for ways to get our wine into the hands of consumers. Given the great increase in wine tasting parties and clubs we’ve developed what we think is an interesting program which helps our partners make some extra cash while helping us market both ourselves and the wines and wineries we represent.

We’ve set up our first tasting club in the east bay area of the San Francisco area. To make a long story short, if you’re interested in hosting wine tasting parties with friends or other people interested in wine we’ll not only provide discounted wine tailored to your event, but we’re also willing to pay commissions for sales both at the event and on any ongoing wine club memberships that you’re able to sell.

Yes, in many ways this is a program similar to Avon.

See more information on our site.

Although not a focus of the business it is another facet in what we’re doing and offers the chance to get more wine directly in the hands of consumers which is always a very good thing.

I’ll offer a short break from basketball on this blog (since another post in that vein is probably coming tomorrow) to mention that I’m greatly looking forward to a tasting event on Wednesday of next week put on by the Henry Wine Group.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not sold that the 3 tier model is the best bet for wineries and consumers going forward, but there are certainly quality distributors out there. I’m looking forward to the chance to taste some of the international offerings that will be on show at this tasting. It’s a rare treat to get some first growth French’s as well as some classic Tuscan’s under one roof.

Let me take a minute and introduce my first guest blogger, Guillermo Bravo of Napa Wine Tours. I hope you’ll enjoy his post and please visit his blog for an insiders view of Napa.

Rules for Better Wine Tasting

A great wine tasting experience starts with finding a nice wine shop. Look for one that’s close and convenient to your everyday routine. You need a shop that you are comfortable stopping by on a regular basis. It’s the wine version of that great little bookshop you loved in college. Many upscale wine shops like to put in all kinds of flavor-destroying display lighting systems over their wine collection. You’re looking for something more down to earth, where you can gossip with the shopkeepers about such abominations. Once you think you’ve found the perfect shop, let them recommend a wine to you.

Request Wine Recommendations from the Wine Shop

Even if you’re well educated when it comes to wine, letting a shopkeeper recommend a new bottle to you is a great way to make a deep connection. You will learn something about their character, as well as their skill in choosing interesting wines. (Did they recommend something much too expensive? Did they take time with you to find out what your interests were? Or, were they pushing some kind of ‘special’ on you?) Also, accepting a wine recommendation is a great way to be remembered by the shopkeeper. Here’s the secret: Buy the wine. Take it home and return a few days later to discuss it.

You don’t have to lie and say it was the best wine you ever tasted, be honest. Have something interesting to say about your experience with the wine, and you’ll have an “in” for future goodies that come their way. Good shop, check. Good wine, check.

Picking a Wine Glass

Now, believe it or not, you need a good wine glass. The shape of the glass will shape your experience of the wine. Red wines are served in the larger glasses with a flatter, bowl-like shape. The design of the bowl helps you access the variety of rich characteristics in the aroma of a red. White wines, with their clarity and directness, are served in narrower glasses. The small glasses with the beautiful tulip-shaped flutes are reserved for champagne to preserve (and display) the bubbles.

Pre Tasting Process: Look, Swirl, and Smell

Your glass should only be 1/3 to ½ full, allowing you to experience the flavor and aromas of your wine. The basics are universal: we look, we swirl; we smell; we taste. Look at the wine through the side of the glass. It is more than just a “red” or a “white”. Is it garnet-red? A ruby, perhaps? Is your wine a pale ethereal white? Or golden amber? The depth of the color can tell you something about the age of the wine and lead your other senses for the wine tasting experience.

Swirl the wine gently in the glass, allowing it to gently mix with more oxygen and serve the more complicated undertones in the aroma. Swirl for about 10 seconds, then smell. Now, swirl again and smell again. You will notice the character of the aroma developing after time.

The Wine Tasting Process

Next, we begin wine tasting process. Take a slow sip and let it rest in your mouth at the tip of the tongue. Now, take the full sip in and breathe in a little sip of air. The air escapes through your nose. You experience the taste and the aroma as one composition. Relax and take some time in the experience. Think about what you’re sensing and absorb it. You can compliment your wine tasting experience by adding food. Food can bring out the flavor of a wine. Fruits, berries and cheeses work well, and can be recommended by your now favorite shopkeeper.

Keep a Wine Journal

Now for the homework, write about your experience. Keep your thoughts organized, so you can reference them anytime down the road. Learn to be specific. Record the type of wine, Pinot noir? Chardonnay? Cabernet? What flavors were present? Was it acidic? How were the tannins? What foods were paired with the wine? This is a key step in developing your skills in finding and experiencing truly remarkable wines. Also, continue to read about wine. Local shopkeepers and fellow wine fans will all have a title to recommend. Most local libraries will carry at least a selection to get you started. Reading will help you understand what you’ve experienced so far, as well as guide you on your next wine adventure.

If you’d like more wine tasting advice please visit our Napa Wine Blog. We have helpful wine reviews, recommended food pairings, winery reviews, and much more. Also, if you’re visiting Napa Valley, we have resources for private Napa Wine Tours during your stay.

A Wine Blog You Should Be Reading:

Over the next few weeks I’m going to try and bring my readers some more information and links to wine blogs which I feel provide valuable information either for the consumer directly, or for the industry as a whole.

As for the latter, one of the best out there is Tom Wark’s Fermentation Blog. He’s a PR professional that represents wineries in his work life so he has an inner knowledge of the industry as a whole.

Why You Should Read Tom: Simply put, Tom is the most consistent and effective messenger against the 3 tier distribution system in the blogosphere. For that, I genuinely appreciate his efforts and candor.