LIWF 2010 with Naked Wines

Naked Wine Consumer Selection from ryan and gabriella opaz on Vimeo.

LIWF 2010

I'm excited that I'm now planning my 2nd visit to the London International Wine Fair in London's ExCel Centre. Last time I was only able to make it for an afternoon. This year I am going up for 2 full days (18th and 19th May) and I am really thrilled!

On Tuesday 18th I will be there helping out Naked Wines with sourcing new suppliers of fine boutique wines that can be sold through their highly successful online sales model, which is revolutionising the online wine trade.

On Wednesday 19th I hope to meet up with Tim Pearson of 7Springs Vineyard (Hermanus, South Africa) to see what his new wines are all about, as well as to attend some tastings and meet a few people from 2009.

Naked Wines hijacks airline pricing model for wine industry!

Regular readers will know that I'm a huge fan of Naked Wines, the UK online farmer's market for wine. After soliciting a good deal of feedback from loyal customers (Angels and Archangels) who frequent the site, Naked Wines have just today relaunched their site, along with a very exciting new initiative (more on that later).

A small band of regular customers were invited to a special preview of the new site a week or so ago, and the feedback was very positive. Having checked out the new site this morning, I was delighted to see that many of the bugs and minor irritations that customers had identified with the old site over the past 15 months or so since Naked launched, have now been ironed out.

Naked Wines' new look site

Some of the new features are as follows:

• Angels (i.e. sponsoring individual winemakers) and Cashback are now one, called Angels

• There is a new "naked me" section with personalised recommendations
   
• A "to do " list has been introduced, which details essential stuff to do, such as taking advantages of offers that are expiring shortly.
   
• Tastings are back...at £10 a ticket, which goes into the organiser's account, so you, as a customer can set up a tasting to showcase NW's wines, for which those attending will pay. The idea is that you then use the money to purchase the wine. Cool idea!

The best new feature (in this writer's opinion anyway) is that NW have launched a new service inviting UK wine drinkers to buy wines in the UK for less than they cost at the cellar door.

"Between 40-70% of the price customers pay for wine (exc. taxes) is dead money... the cost of selling, financing, picking it up, putting it down again, packaging, storage, risk, wastage," explains Naked Wines Founder, Rowan Gormley.

"From next week, our customers will be able to eliminate this 40-70%, by booking their wines in advance, just like an airline seat. In addition to the cost savings, this model will also mean an explosion in consumer choice - and a risk-free new route to market for producers.

If you look at Australia, for example, only 1/3 of producers currently export their wines to the UK. The barriers to entry are formidable - with hundreds of upfront costs, and no guarantee of making any money.

It's a gamble that most winemakers cannot afford to take - but by inviting winemakers to sell their wines BEFORE they incur any cost, Naked Wines is removing this barrier."

The new service, which includes wines from the Barossa Valley, Marlborough and South Africa, coincides with the website re-launch, featuring new ratings and recommendation functionality.

To find out more about the new service, called Advance bookings, visit http://www.nakedwines.com/advancebooking

US readers - sharing some great discounts from various online wine retailers through Dealslip.com

Hi folks

I've come across a new coupon site called Dealslip, who are offering a range of discounts across various online wine retailers in the US. If you're looking for a new place to buy your wines online, or perhaps just a special deal for Easter or Mother's Day, you are bound to find something to interest you.

Dealslip are offering wine discounts from Zagat Wine, Wall Street Journal Wine, Wine Access and Wired for Wine, to name just a few of the online wine sellers who are participating, so please check them out. They have free coupon codes that can save you 15% and get you free shipping on a whole bunch of different wine shops. You may see an ad banner or two for Dealslip on this blog, as I am running ads for them (in addition to this short advertorial) through my advertising partner PALATE PRESS: The Online Wine Magazine

So, to all my Stateside readers, enjoy browsing and I hope you manage to pick up a great bargain in time for the Easter bunny. Happy Easter!

Calling all winemakers!

If you are a small winemaker without a current distribution deal in the UK then the good people at Naked Wines may be able to help you get up and running!

Naked Wines are pledging £5 million to help new winemakers break into the UK (with them naturally!). You can read more about it here on their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/notes/naked-wines/l5-million-investment-fund-for-winemakers-spread-the-word/312567569246

Good luck!

Brother, can you spare a bottle for Haiti?

Damon Winter/The New York Times

The good folks at Brother, can you spare a bottle and Palate Press have joined forces with a number of generous winemakers and other wine trade contacts to create numerous auctions, the proceeds of which will go to the American Red Cross to help support the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti.

Please follow the link to Palate Press (or the advertisement at top right) to donate wine or participate in the auctions, or follow the link directly to the American Red Cross if you would prefer to make a direct donation.

In the UK you may prefer to go directly tothe Disasters Emergency Committee.

We all know how awful the situation is in Haiti - a nation already struggling with extreme poverty now faced with a natural disaster the like of which it has never faced. Please give whatever you can.

Vinturi red wine aerator - great little gadget

I read up about this clever item before adding it to my wishlist at Amazon.co.uk this Christmas. Fortunately my parents dutifully bought it for me as a gift and I had the chance to test it out over the holidays. It really does make a difference to a red wine, although I think the effect is more obvious with heavier, or more tannic wines that are robust enough for aging.

It opens up the aroma and softens any rough tannins from younger wines just enough, thereby avoiding  any need to decant. I suppose it could be used to open up a whole bottle as you decant it, but so far I've only used it to pour by the glass.

On opening the wine, just pour it into the glass through the Vinturi aerator and it will bubble and gurgle amusingly, all the while introducing just the right amount of air to the wine via a clever capillary action, which takes advantage of the Venturi effect and Bernoulli's Principle, something I recall learning all about at university when I studied fluid dynamics!

At £35.40 from Amazon.co.uk (current price as at 6th January 2010) this is an ideal gift for a loved one who enjoys red wine - it really saves having to wait for a good quality wine to aerate!

I am sure there are detractors who will consider this sort of device is an improper way to treat good wine - my message to them: don't knock it until you've tried it!