Tech is Transforming Wine with the Wine School Dropout’s Tanisha Townsend

Introduction What makes wine and technology such a perfect pairing? Why should you try online wine classes? How is technology empowering wine consumers? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, I’m being interviewed by Tanisha Townsend on her podcast, Wine School Dropout. You can find the wines we discussed here.   Join me on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube Live Video Want to know when we go live? Add this to your calendar:     Highlights How did I go from high tech to wine writing? Why do I find the pairing of wine and tech to be fascinating? What has […]

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Why You Need This New Wine Label Scanner App Now (Video)

On CTV Morning Live, Stefan and I chat about how this new wine label scanner app helps you in the liquor store … … from getting instant access to wine ratings and food pairings to tracking your favourites in your virtual cellar. You can get the free app now before you go to the liquor store.       Apple has just selected the app as one of the best Food & Drinks apps in the category of Wine & Cocktails … yay!       Wines Featured on CTV Morning Live           Colio Estate Wines Lily Sparkling […]

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Wine Industry Faces Digital Darwinism with Futurist Paul Mabray

Introduction How is the wine industry embracing the digital world? What role do influencers play in wine marketing? What can you do to increase engagement and build deeper connections with customers? Why has the wine industry been so resistant to adapt to the digital age? In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, we’re chatting with Paul Mabray, a wine unicorn and digital futurist who has created and led companies that have transformed the wine industry through the strategic and visionary use of technology. You can find the wines we discussed here. Enjoy!   Highlights How is the wine […]

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Do Wine Scores Matter? Bloomberg Columnist Elin McCoy on Robert Parker

Introduction In this episode of the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, we’re chatting with author Elin McCoy, who is the wine columnist for both Bloomberg News and Decanter magazine. Elin shares her controversial perspective on one of the juiciest topics in the wine world: the power of wine scores. Do wine scores still have sway over the way we buy wine? How is this changing with millennials and social media? Are scores actually a valid way of appraising a wine? How is the use of scores in liquor stores sometimes misleading? Elin explores all this and more, including why Robert Parker made such an […]

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Top 100 Wine Blogs: New Ranking from Feedspot

Feedspot, which replaced Google’s RSS live feed for blog updates last year, has just published a new report on the Top 100 Wine Blogs. A friend nudged me about it on Twitter, as it’s not something you can enter. According to the editors of Feedspot: In the world of wine, these are the best of the best wine blogs who run their craft and work hardest to improve the entire wine industry. They are the most influential to both the trade and consumers. Their voices influence thousands of other wine personalities and tens of thousands of wine professionals. These wine blogs […]

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Twitter Loves Wine: New Analytics Reveal the Power of Social Media Sharing

Twitter has launched a new analytics program that provides amazing insights, like the number of impressions your tweets get per day/week/month. This is more relevant than ever since Twitter and Google signed an agreement August 21, 2015, to turn on the “fire hose”: Twitter has opened its data feed to Google as a major source of social ranking data and authority. So we’ll start to see not just tweets in Google results, but also web site posts that have been shared widely on Twitter. I recently joined the analytics program, and the stats are very helpful in knowing the people […]

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Pairing Wine and Social Media: Engagement in a Glass of its Own

On CBC radio drive-home shows across Canada yesterday, we discuss how social media is changing the way we discover new wines and share them with others. Click on the arrow above to listen to the clip. You can also watch this Google + video hangout that I did with the Californian-based wine consultant Paul Mabray several years ago on Digital Darwinism for the Wine Industry. The concepts have aged well and still hold true now. Do you find social media useful for discovering new wines? If so, which one in particular: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Google +, LinkedIn or […]

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Wine Mobile App: Pocket Sommelier to Buy Better Wine

Feel lost in the liquor store? Wine mobile apps are changing the way we buy wine. It’s like having a pocket sommelier or your best friend who’s wine savvy shopping with you.   Scan a bar code and instantly access: – wine reviews and ratings – food pairings – current stock of each wine in the liquor store closest to you – add wines to your virtual cellar log       Download the free wine app now. Our team was thrilled that our app ranked #5 on the iTunes store! >>> It’s also available for Android. This video is […]

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Organic Wines Podcast: Better for You or for the Environment?

Organic wines are among the fastest growing segments in the liquor store, but they’re also misunderstood, from how they’re made to their health benefits. This podcast sheds some light on these issues: Listen Your glass wine (or three) isn’t more healthful just because it’s organic. In fact, some organic wines can be more about marketing than about health or the environment. Fermentation, filtering and fining during winemaking eliminates pesticides. As well,”organically grown grapes” on the label refers only to the way the vines are farmed, and not necessarily to the way the wine is then made in the winery because […]

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The App that no Wine Connoisseur should be without

In Friday’s edition of the St. Catharine’s Standard, tech columnist Syd Boyd has written a helpful guide on using apps to plan your dinner party. We were delighted that he recommended our app for selecting your wines: “Of course you might want to add some wine to that party of yours and the Canadian made “Wine Reviews & Ratings: Natalie MacLean” is the app that no wine connoisseur should be without, especially as it will help you find the closest store with the best price for the perfect pairing to the food you picked above. “If you are at the […]

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