I lived in South Africa for a bit and I have been fortunate enough to travel for extended periods through France, Italy, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Germany, South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Taiwan (mostly on wine business). Looking forward to some day going to the motherland, Spain, where I can share a glass of wine with you both and check out where my ancestors lived.

Focus on the US market, as you are, and take ownership of that. If I was a US retailer or producer your report is a great first step. Keep it up. There will always be parts that have wider relevance, but in the end that is not what matters.

What other foreign sites other than Adegga did you include? For instance, Verema I know you looked at, but didn’t include. Turns out if you want to sell wine in Spain, you HAVE to know who and what Verema is. Verema has 0 to no effect on sales in the US, but can make or break a winery here in Spain. So should they be in your report, no. But they are a vital part of the “State of the Wine Industry” if your in Spain.

Regardless, your report is good, and very specific to one market, which makes it better. Fracturing it into a world wide report would diminish it’s worth. I just, along with lot’s of other non-US based folks, want to see the tone of it reflect this.

Finally where did you live?

Phillip – I think Social Sites do affect sales today, though we still need more research. We’re all currently trying to figure out what is happening, and this at least is a solid first step. We’ll see what happens going forward.

Ryan – I have lived abroad and we did include some foriegn sites and tried to make the report relevant to US and foriegn producers. We do our best to include all and it was accidental that we didn’t get every perpective (a by product of time, resources, and change). We worked hard to do our best and dont want to get in the same challenges the American Wine Blog Awards dd in the past. However since it is the largest buying market and where we do business and reside it does get more attention as a by product but the information is relevant globally so I don’t think we fracture our report. We will try to do better in the future and look forward to your derivative or original works that complete our ommissions and add differing perspectives.

If I were you would embrace this fact and make your report the best it can be for an American market, since you are in the end servicing an American market. There is nothing accidental about the amero-centric focus, it is who you are, and where you are. Just be careful when you use phrases like “State of the Wine Industry”. In the end with America being the biggest wine market, there is no need for you to fracture your report by including the world.

r

WineLog was included not as a sales vehicle (that was commentary I personally added) but out of respect for one of the oldest PURE wine social networks and also demonstrative of how attracting net influencers to these platforms are KEY for their growth and health. We also think that wine bloggers and writers should participate in these platforms as it is healthy for their personal brands.

VinCellar – They are innovating quickly and looking to round out their social network aspects as well as attract the common consumers. They are also a strong community as well focused on wine collectors and the ethos of “commerce.” Their partnership with CellarTracker today makes their total community even larger. I think they have made great strides in their platform adding more social aspects and even more innovative ones coming.

To Ian’s point, we hope this is a foundation to build upon (especially for thought leaders such as yourselves) to help wine succeed online. Many thanks again for the write up and looking forward to seeing you both at the WBC.
P

Now, more than ever, in the current uncertain economic scenario, no Iberian or European winery, can be in doubt of the need to throw aside their old notions of expensive, static advertising and invest their time, creativity, and of course money (in that order!) to develop their online social profiles.

Well done on giving the global perspective on this report. The amero-centrist view of business publications used to really annoy me when I lived in Europe. Now I live in the US I have grown almost completely immune to it, my reactions dulled by expressions like “The World Series”. The dominant culture is very insiduous. That said I still bristle when someone refers to the UK as England, much as a Canadian or someone from Portugal might react to the Elephant next door.

You call for others to tackle a broader global perspective in future versions of this report, but surely this is a challenge that could be dropped at your own door. Wouldn’t Catavino be the perfect host for a Euro-centric or Iberian version? This would be a big undertaking but the benefits could be equally large if you are able to raise your profile in the same was as Vintank.