I have a friend who might best be described as a wine aficionado. He likes the good stuff but he also likes good value. And he’s seriously miffed at the price of most international, award-winning wines. I suggested he drink local. He meh-ed. Do you like Riesling, I challenged. Yes, he said. But it has…
Breaking News: Pandemic Extends Hot Mulled Wine Season – Recipes from Near and Far
Yes, this pandemic sucks. But winter doesn’t need to…. not when a hot pot of mulled wine and simmering aromatic cheer can transport you to exotic markets and faraway places. Here in cool climate wine country (Ontario), we are surrounded by an international community of friends, all of whom tout a killer recipe for hot,…
Wine that’s Creating Positive Change: the Stratus and Evergreen Sustainable Wine Collection
What’s the perfect pairing? In the food and wine business, we like to say ‘what grows together, goes together’. Some examples? Spring strawberries and rhubarb (the best sweet/sour pie pairing ever), savoury Beef Bourguignon and red Burgundy (classic earthy flavours and aromas) and crisp, minerally Sancerre and creamy Crottin de Chavignol cheese (quintessentially Loire). While…
Part 3 – Sentient Wine and Beer brands Amp up Organic and Sustainability Messaging
Well that’s pretty much a wrap for September. How did you celebrate National Organic Month? If you’ve had the chance to read my last two blog posts (part 1, part 2), you’ll know I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking about why we buy and the factors shaping our 2020 consumer behaviours. There’s nothing more…
Part 2 – Sentient Wine and Alcohol Brands Amp up Organic and Sustainability Messaging
What’s more motivating? Better for Me or Better for the Planet? Understanding why we buy is one of the great 21st century marketing challenges. Neuromarketers say 90+% of the purchase decisions we make are governed by our subconscious, shaped by emotional drivers and motivations we don’t even know are at play. Those Levi’s jeans, that…
Sentient Wine & Alcohol Brands Amp up Organic and Sustainable Messaging
In 2018 – before the name Greta was etched into our consciousness – I was in a grade 3 classroom user-testing an environmental app for kids that explored climate change and plastic pollution in our oceans. Predictably, the students told us the app was buggy (which it was), and had way too much text (which…
Locals Drink Local: The Hidden Gems & Must Try Wines of Prince Edward County
There was a great advertising campaign in 2017 for the high-speed Eurostar train that connects London to Paris. The message read: “Ask a local, not your phone.” The campaign encouraged travellers to ditch their technology and tap the local knowledge and passion of the community. Paris isn’t in the cards for most Canadians living a post…
Bottled Optimism: The Exceptional Wines of Prince Edward County
In a perfect world (audible sigh), I’d be lounging on an outdoor patio chair at (say) Waupoos Winery, in Prince Edward County (PEC) with a beautifully chilled Rosé, enjoying spectacular views of Lake Ontario with friends and family. We’d laugh, we’d high-five, and we might even steal a sip or two from each other’s glass…
Cliff Lede Vineyards: Brilliantly Blending the Rock and Rolling Hills of Napa
CANADIANS IN NAPA: EPISODE #5 When you’ve spent 44 years of your life in the northern reaches of Alberta, Canada on construction sites, oil rigs and pipeline corridors, no one should really be surprised when you decide to pack it in for the bucolic expanses of Napa Valley. And if you also spent those years…
Unconventional Wisdom: Jean-Michel Comme on the Vines & Wine of Pontet-Canet
Postscript: On May 11, 2020 Jean-Michel Comme resigned his position at Pontet-Canet, saying the pressure of the job had become unbearable. In our interview, he spoke openly and honestly about that incredible stress and the emotional toll of managing an estate with first growth expectations. It was an incredible interview for me. I wish Jean-Michel…
Takin’ it to the Street: Pandemic-Weary, Quarantined Neighbours Drink & Review Canadian Wine
The other day I was walking my dog – observing physical-distancing best practices (!) – when I came across a neighbour’s bag of empty wine bottles parked beside the recycling bin. As a market researcher, I simply could not keep walking. This was a deliciously nerdy, ethnographic research study in a bag and it was…
Trial by Fire: Raising a Glass to Australia’s Recovery from the Bushfires
If you’d like to help support Australia’s recovery from the bushfires, consider lifting a glass of Aussie’s finest. Like so many local businesses, Australia’s wine producers have felt the impact of the devastating bushfires and many top producers will not be making wine in 2020. While research suggests only 1% of total vineyard area suffered…
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