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October 17, 2008 | Brent Johnson

Okanagan Wine Festival - Wine Medal Winners Fall 2008

I attended the fall Okanagan Fall Wine Festival Medal Winner Tastings in Penticton, BC held at the Penticton Trade & Convention Center.

The tasting was in a small meeting room with approximately 25 tasters who were either lovers or industry members. Wine glasses were waiting for us with corresponding numbers on a paper underneath the glasses to remember which wine was which (it came in handy after you've tasted all 10 wines).

One of the judges from the festival led the tasting and explained why wines received gold, silver and bronze and the differences between the different medal levels.

The event started 15 minutes late because the organizers left the white wine outside to keep it chilled but someone walked away with it, all of the white wine was stolen! The delay was to quickly replace the missing wine.

Whites

The first wine that we tasted was the silver medal winning Dirty Laundry Vineyard Unoaked Chardonnay 2007. This wine was very balanced, smooth from start to finish and a great toasting taste emerged on the finish, one of the best Chards I've had.

The second wine was the gold medal winning Lang Vineyards Riesling Farm Reserve 2007. This was by far my favourite wine of the tasting. Of the two typical Riesling types, this is more of the German style. It has a mineral and wet stone hints but is very fruit forward with a burst of sweetness that is perfected with a long finish that ends citrusy. The citrus finish creates the perfect balance that's not overly sweet because the acidity dries out the sweetness. This is a very versatile wine and can be paired with many dishes or enjoyed by itself. I went to the winery afterwards to buy several bottles but it wasn't released yet! I'm picking up a few of these the next time I'm in the area.

Next was a silver medal Cedar Creek Estate Winery Gewurztraminer 2007. This is where my pallet disagreed with the silver medal rankings. I say this because Gewurztraminer is typically my go-to wine and I wasn't overly impressed with Cedar Creeks offering. It did have a long finish that left you wanting anther sip, but I've had better.

We had a surprise gold medal entry (because of the stolen wines) of Road 13 Vineyard Old Vines Chenin Blanc 2007. There aren't too many wineries in the Okanagan experimenting with Chenin Blanc grapes because consumers haven't yet gravitated to this grape in the Okanagan, but Road 13 uses them admirably. This wine had a nice aroma and a consistent taste from start to finish and would be good for aging for 2 to 5 years.

Reds

The first red wine we tasted was the gold medal winning Church and State Estate Winery Merlot Coyote Bowl Vineyard 2006. Church and State is actually located on Vancouver Island, but they have vineyards in the Okanagan and right on their label they'll post where the wine came from (in this case it came from Coyote Bowl, located on Black Sage Bench, Oliver BC). The Merlot was the highest entered grape in the competition (and also received the fewest number of awards). This was a smooth Merlot with good tannins and I think it would age well for 4 to 5 years.

The second Red we tried was the gold medal Sandhill Wines Small Lots Syrah Phantom Creek Vineyard 2006. This Syrah was rated the best red wine from 6 out of the 8 judges. Hands down this was a suburb Syrah, good spice and smoky taste. If you like Syrah, definitely try this one. The bottle we tried in this tasting was corked but I tried another bottle afterwards was amazing.

We tried the Inniskillin Okanagan Malbec Discovery Series 2006. The Malbec is one of the 6 wines used in the making of the red Bordeaux wine blend. It had hints of coffee and chocolate as well as leather and mushroom. This wine is good for drinking right now with its clarity and consistency of fruit. The Malbec is another grape not typically used by itself in the Okanagan.

Gold medal winning Road 13 Vineyards 5th Element 2006 was the next wine we tired. 5 different grapes are used in this blend (hence the name 5th Element), 38% Merlot, 28% Cab Franc, 22% Cab Sauv, 6% Malbec and 6% Petit Verdot. I would describe this wine as raw and aggressive, well crafted with lots of pepper. I seemed to pick up a hint of something new each time it tried it that made me want more.

Sparkling Wine

The gold medal winning Summerhill Pyramid Winery Cipes Gabriel Blanc de Blanc NV (no vintage means different years were used in this wine) was the only sparkling wine that we tried. This wine was dry and a great quote was "this wine has a suck the air out of you sort of dryness". It had a good length, very consistent, small bubbles (generally for bubbles, the smaller the better). Blanc de Blanc means that only Chardonnay was used in this sparkling wine. Summerhill sets the benchmark for sparkling wines from the Okanagan.

Icewine

Jackson-Triggs Winery Proprietors' Grand Reserve Riesling Icewine 2007 won a gold medal. This wine had a great honey taste with just the right sweetness that wasn't overpowering. It has a silky finish with aromas of fresh fruit; I noticed apple and some tropical fruits.

Oct 17, 2008 at 10:43 AM

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October 1, 2008 | Brent Johnson

"Be passionate about what you do." - Gary Vaynerchuk

Albeit his speech might be a bit all over the place in terms of topic but one thing stands out loud and clear, Gary Vaynerchuk is passionate about what he does.

In this 15 minute video, Gary gives his keynote speech at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York. He talks about building a personal brand through social media, a topic that he has a LOT of experience with and has used himself. If you can handle some foul language this video is definately worth watching.

Gary became famous from being the host of Wine Library TV (WLTV), a free daily video blog where he gives wine advice in an abrasively honest sort of way to his cult-like fan base. In a self quote Gary describes himself as having a “unique identity as both a wine expert and a "real person" that has reinvented the concept of wine tasting for a new generation.”

Oct 1, 2008 at 6:00 PM

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September 18, 2008 | Brent Johnson

Internet Marketing Conference (IMC) Vancouver 2008

Last week Friday I went to the Internet Marketing Conference (IMC) held in Vancouver, BC. The topics ranged from SEO, visitor intent tracking, A/B testing, Google Website Optimizer, Social Media, website monetization, CMS systems, web 2.0, community engagement, mobile marketing, conversion optimization, website analytics, email tracking, copywriting and online advertising. The conference has previously been held in New York City, Las Vegas, Montreal, Stockholm, Berlin, and Copenhagen.

There were over 50 speakers from Europe, the United States and Canada coming together to speak at this sold out conference held at the Coast Plaza Hotel. The speakers were from companies such as Google, Yahoo!, Victoria Secret, VanCity, and Aeroplan.

I was having lunch with one of the past presidents from the International Internet Marketing Association (IIMA) and after talking about different CMS option and he asked if I would speak on a panel about CMS for them. I’m looking forward to meeting with IIMA and the other panel members.

I feel there were three main topics that seemed to seep through each topic, SEO, testing and social media. (I’ll put these topics into short bullet points to recap for you).

SEO

LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) and LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis) are now more important than they ever used to be!
Go after long term results not the quick fix ranking jump (Don’t use “Black Hat” tactics like link buying and link sculpting)
Content is King

Testing

If you're not testing your website (A/B testing, conversion optimization, landing pages, etc.) then you’re behind the game already.
Test for visitor intent on your site
Use your analytics to conquer the “big-dog, little-dog syndrome” (the boss going with his hunch)

Social Media

Use relevant media to correctly seek out your target market
Go where your market is, get down on their level
Be authentic, they will be able to sniff you out if you’re faking it
Use it for the long term, social media might not pay off short term

Sep 18, 2008 at 6:00 AM

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September 8, 2008 | Brent Johnson

Able Grape a Wine Search Engine

Able Grape is a wine industry specific search engine. Currently it is in a beta version but Able Grape’s database is currently over 14 million pages. This is a great set forward for Wine 2.0 but will anyone use it?

I’m not sure that the ability to search for ‘Spain’ instead of ‘Wines from Spain’ will be a big enough time saver for me to switch from Google or Yahoo to Able Grape. All of Able Grapes searches are within the wine industry so all wine specific terms don’t needed to be added. A search for Mission Hill Winery could be entered as ‘Mission Hill.’

I’d make the move if Google couldn’t find what I was looking for because it’s my default search engine.

Sep 8, 2008 at 2:00 PM

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September 4, 2008 | Brent Johnson

Social Media... good for business or wasting time?

Social Media defined is “the use of electronic and internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings.

The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences.” (Thanks to Wikipedia).

Social media is unlike conventional media such as newspapers, television, books, and radio; conventional media is a one-way dialogue where as social media is an interactive two-way discussion. The video below clearly explains social media in a creative, down to earth way filmed by Common Craft.

Realizing that it is a two-way discussion, companies have the opportunity with social media to communicate with their target market. You can get feedback from consumers, companies, and employees that you wouldn’t have received before. I like to generalize social media into four different types, blogs, feeds, networking and… other.

What is a Blog?

A blog is fundamentally a website that is regularly updated with posts. Blog posts can be comments, observations, description, events, pictures, videos and any combinations of those. Most blogs have the ability for readers to write comments on posts. (You’re reading my blog post so you probably have a good idea what one is). Click here for another great video on Blogs.

What is a Feed?

A web feed (or news feed) is a form of data used to provide users with frequently updated content. For example you can use feeds to keep yourself updated in the blogging world using Google Reader. By having a feed on your site you can keep others updated with your recent news.

Wikipedia defines it as “a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an Internet aggregator. A web feed is also sometimes referred to as a syndicated feed.”

What is a Social Network?

A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as comment boxes, blogs, and instant messaging services.

Social networking has revolutionized the way we communicate and share information with one another in today's society. Various social networking websites are being used by millions of people every day on a regular basis and it now seems that social networking is a part of everyday life. Have you heard of Facebook, MySpace or LinkedIn? These are perfect examples of social networks.

Personally I use facebook for almost all of my emails, instant messenger, photos, videos because most of my friends have facebook accounts (few are still to “cave into facebook”).

What is Other?

The “other” category is where I lump all the types that don’t fit nicely into blogs, feeds and social networking sites. Flickr is a photography based social media that allows to upload and share your photos and videos. Last.fm is a personal music social media. Last.fm will identify what music you play on your computer and make recommendation for new music you should listen to based on the genre, artist, etc. You can share music you’ve found with other users as well. There are many more types of “other” social media sites on the web.

Are you Applying it to Business?

Blogging, feeds and social networking sites are now option for your business to further promote itself. Establishing your company's presence on social media sites allow you to communicate your messages to consumers and industry and for them to talk back to you. It is a great way to share news and point people to the company website for more info.

Are you using a social media as a part of your business? Do you feel like it is building your brand image or are you spending hours wasting time? Which social media are you using, audio, video, words, pictures or combinations?

Sep 4, 2008 at 6:00 AM

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August 27, 2008 | Brent Johnson

New Website Launch: Burgundy & Beyond

We've just launched a new winery website, Burgundy & Beyond powered on Vin | 65’s platform. We’ve worked hard on this site and are excited for it to finally be live. Check out the site and send us feedback on the design, navigation, functionality, and e-commerce experience.

Burgundy and Beyond is a wine boutique specialized in domain-direct French wines from Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux, the Loire and the Rhône. They offer an extensive selection from the Louis Latour portfoilio, including the wines of Maison Louis Latour, Simonnet Febvre and Henry Fessy, as well as a handful of other rare jewels that complement our Burgundy-rich palette.

Below is a screenshot of the old version of Burgundy & Beyond.

Aug 27, 2008 at 5:30 PM

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July 13, 2008 | Brent Johnson

Does Your E-commerce Site Add Value or Headaches?

You’d think by now someone trying to sell something on the internet would remember while setting up their ecommerce site, how frustrating some shopping carts and forms can be.

I host a group on Facebook called Okanagan Wines, each Friday three other guys and myself taste a one varietal from two different Okanagan wineries. We realized we needed to order wine directly from the wineries because of the selection, or lack thereof, in the liquor stores. I started out by visiting wineries websites to order wine and I ended up with a headache.

I was looking to buy only one bottle but the minimums were either 6 or 12, so that they could put it in a case. Is this convenient for me or the winery? Why can’t you allow me to buy whatever quantity the customer wants?! If it’s not a full case just charge the same shipping amount as a full case. I went through more than 20 different websites trying to buy wine and after a while of searching I found two sites that would let me buy one bottle. (Is it me or this strange? I’m trying to buy one bottle of wine but because of their e-commerce sites I can’t).

The second website that we ordered one bottle from had an error during the check out both times I tried to order it.

The forms were a huge part of why the user experience was so terrible. Most of the forms were lengthy and asking for more information necessary for sale. On several site I needed to sign up for an account in order to purchase the wine only to find out later that the minimum as a case of six. This should be clearly outlined before I have to sign up.

Are Okanagan Wineries serious about e-commerce on their websites? If you have an e-commerce site here are a few tips:

Easy navigation
Logical product categories
Clear pricing
Appropriate functionality – you might want a:
- Search box
- Minimal Clicks to Order
- Optional Registration
Simple checkout process
Error-proof payment system

What do you want to see out of your e-commerce site? Have any horror stories from websites you’ve bought from, or tried to buy from?

Jul 13, 2008 at 9:00 AM

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