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The Big Get Bigger
Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 - David Farmer
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We continue with an update on the state of play in the retail market. In summary the big are getting very big indeed. Coles and Woolworths now control 52% of retail liquor sales; up it is said from 32% four years ago. "Woolies now holds 279 pubs through the ALH venture. It also has 1138 bottleshops across the country, including 100 Dan Murphy stores, 610 BWS stores and 428 Woolworths/Safeway liquor stores" (this count courtesy of The Australian). more...
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A Fish Sauce and Tony Bilson's Whiting Quenelles
Sunday, 28th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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Elizabeth David |
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Catching and eating fish is the ultimate life's pleasure. I seldom use a sauce as the approach to fish is cook them when fresh and keep it simple. With that said for a number of years I have experimented with a recipe of the great Elizabeth David which was published in The Complete Imbiber, No. 6. (Vista Books, London, 1963). more...
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Power People in the World of Wine
Sunday, 28th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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Richard Sands |
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Every two years Decanter publishes a listing of the most powerful people in the wine world. For those at the top, a list such as this often heralds difficulties ahead. Readers will recall a similar award run by the Business Review Weekly in the 1980's and 1990's which anointed Australia's top businessman. They regularly hit the jackpot with luminaries such as Christopher Skace, Alan Bond and my own favourite Brian Quinn of Coles-Myer.
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Oh Dear! Customers Slip the Boot In
Wednesday, 24th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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I read in The Times, Peter Stiff, June 16th that French wine sales in the U.K. declined 12% last year and are projected to decline further this year. So its not only Australian wines that are facing a head wind.
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A Mount Pleasant Was the Star
Saturday, 20th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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A slow start with the Houghtons Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2005 made I guess from W.A. fruit including cool climate vineyards in the Great Southern. This came out of a cupboard not a cellar and was now ageing quickly. The golds from Cairns, Cowra and Griffith were not able to turn the ageing tide. A move abroad with the Three Miners Earnscleugh Valley Otago Pinot Noir 2006 which was just so-so. more... |
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MORE DRINKS FROM OTHER NIGHTS
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It's What a Bishop Does
Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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Rt Rev Tom Butler |
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From an article in The Telegraph, Jonathon Wynne-Jones, 13th June, 2009 titled; "Middle-class drinkers in their homes are as bad as riotous youths."
[Bishop Gladwin] Discussing the Rt Rev Tom Butler, the Bishop of Southwark, who was alleged to have been drunk after a Christmas drinks reception at the Irish embassy, he said:
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First Cat's Pee and Now the Taste of Cigarettes
Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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About the worst term I can think of to explain the aroma, or is that bouquet, of a wine is 'cat's pee'. Apparently though New Zealand thinks this is a splendid term to send out in a press release explaining new advances in understanding the chemistry of sauvignon blanc.
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Finding the Flavour that Works
Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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Daniel Carasso |
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New York Times, 20th May, 2009, ran an article by William Grimes on Daniel Carasso, titled a 'Pioneer of Yogurt', who died at 103. The following excerpt belongs in our annals of marketing.
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Electronic Experts Give Wine Advice
Monday, 15th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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When I first became enthralled with the power of computers decades ago I talked to a learned scientist in this field about what it meant for the future and after a few moments of reflection he looked closely at me and said; 'Remember, you put bull s..t in, you get bull s..t out'. You will be aware of similar remarks. more...
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In the Footsteps of Colonel Light
Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 - David Farmer
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I have spent many a happy day wandering the hills and vales pondering how the Barossa landscape formed. An area of great interest is Rocky Gully that runs down from the eastern edge of the Eden Valley into the Barossa Valley. This gully makes no sense to me as it seems to be much bigger than the tiny stream that drains it could possibly have created. more...
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Annals of Marketing: Sometimes the Obvious is Just Too Obvious. Sadly someone in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, CA. thought that this would stop the traffic and get the turnstiles clicking over. We doubt it. |
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A regular update of wines we've found interesting and a few we'd rather forget more... |
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The Australian Wine Industry
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The Twenty Golden Years of Kaiser Stuhl
Sunday, 9th September, 2007 |
Thoughts on the Industry’s 'Directions to 2025', Part 1
Thursday, 16th August, 2007 |
The Graveyard of Australian Brands
Thursday, 9th November, 2006 |
The Boundary of Coonawarra, Part II
Monday, 19th June, 2006 |
Oh Coonawarra - Why Did You Do This to Yourself?
Wednesday, 24th May, 2006 |
What the Market Says
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Wine Prices, Point Scores and Retailing
Thursday, 2nd August, 2007 |
Ah! To Make a Wine with Aspirational Status
Tuesday, 28th November, 2006 |
The Unusual Marketing at Brown Bros
Tuesday, 7th November, 2006 |
What Comes After Barossa Pearl and Ben Ean?
Monday, 18th September, 2006 |
The Price Fighting Varietals and the Spiralling Price Vortex
Sunday, 24th July, 2005 |
General Comments
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Bo a Perfect 10 Out of 10
Thursday, 6th December, 2007 |
An Update on the Unfathomable Idea - Terroir
Wednesday, 3rd October, 2007 |
A Look at Langtons Classification from 1991 to 2005
Monday, 17th October, 2005 |
About Oak Barrels and A.P.Johns
Tuesday, 13th September, 2005 |
On Tasting
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Confessions of Wine Deceit, Other Deceptions and Fooling Yourself
Monday, 29th January, 2007 |
Wine Labels, Ranking, Ratings, Experts and Wine Prices
Friday, 27th October, 2006 |
Geology Cannot be Found In Wine
Thursday, 18th September, 2006 |
Terroir - Can It Possible Shine Through the Background Noise
Tuesday, 4th July, 2006 |
Sharp Differences of Opinion Over Mount Mary
Monday, 14th November, 2005 |
Going To Your Second Wine Tasting
Saturday, 11th December, 2004 |
What You Bring to Your First Wine Tasting
Saturday, 4th December, 2004 |
Odds & Sods
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Irish Trout and Other Monsters
Friday, 2nd June, 2006 |
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Save $96.00 per case
Region: Barossa Valley, SA
A very smart wine at a keen price and is a must for the serious drinker of big, bold shiraz. Buy over the next week or so and you will save $96.00 on our regular price as it will return to $14.99 per bottle on this site.
The Big Get Bigger
Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 |
A Fish Sauce and Tony Bilson's Whiting Quenelles
Sunday, 28th June, 2009 |
Oh Dear! Customers Slip the Boot In
Wednesday, 24th June, 2009 |
A Mount Pleasant Was the Star
Saturday, 20th June, 2009 |
A New Critter Label - Hello Kitty
Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 |
It's What a Bishop Does
Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 |
First Cat's Pee and Now the Taste of Cigarettes
Wednesday, 17th June, 2009 |
Electronic Experts Give Wine Advice
Monday, 15th June, 2009 |
In the Footsteps of Colonel Light
Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 |
Finding the Flavour that Works
Wednesday, 10th June, 2009 |
Making, Selling, Grange and Other Wine Business
Sunday, 7th June, 2009 |
Not so Easy at Fresh and Easy
Sunday, 7th June, 2009 |
Stuck in the Same Barossa Rut
Sunday, 7th June, 2009 |
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WINE QUOTES
Fear vs. Conviction
Attributed to: Kramer, Matt
Source: Wine Spectator, Jan. 31 - Feb. 28, 2005
Contributed by: Anon
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"Recently, I've come into closer-than-usual contact with California corporate wine types. It's easy to parody corporate wine types.... But what I hadn't understood before was their ever-present fear. Really, they're terrified of you.... Whatever you, the customer, want is what they strive to supply. But precisely because their primary interest is the marketplace, corporate wine types are always playing a game of catch-up. It's a long time from vine to wine to market.
"The power of the suits has only grown with the vastly increased corporate ownership in today's wine world. And it's given rise to a new way of classifying wines. Never mind grape variety or terroir. We now have just two types of wine: wines of fear and wines of conviction.... "What do wines of fear taste like? In a word, 'predictable.'... "All of this is thrown into sharp relief when you taste wines of conviction. With a wine of conviction, predictability is absent. The wine tastes original." |
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