• "Best of times for wine consumers": University of California-Davis expert Robert Smiley says wine drinkers, thanks to the recession and a grape glut in California, have never had it so good. “There never was a better time to be a consumer of high-quality wines,” he said, noting that prices of higher-end California wines have been fallen 15 to 25 percent. Smiley's assessment of the market comes from two recent surveys of wine industry professionals and executives done by the school, one of the world's top wine programs. Said one survey answer: "I personally believe there is going to be a permanent re-pricing of wine. There will be some brands that will continue to maintain a darling status, much like the first growths do in Bordeaux. But what I don’t think is going to happen is that everybody is going to sell their wines for $100 a bottle. It’s just too much."
• Social network goes into wine business: Yes, Twitter wants to be one of the cool kids on the block, just like all those actors and celebrities with wine labels. The micro-blogging service is putting its name on "$50 California wine," which it will sell for $20 to benefit Room to Read, a non-profit that promotes child literacy. The jokes here are numerous: Will the wine be sold in 140 character bottles? Is spitting the same thing as re-Tweeting? The real question, though, is who will buy a bottle of Twitter wine, especially for $20? And the company is only donating $5 of the sale price to the charity, which hardly seems efficient. Sounds like someone wants to have a bunch of Twitter wine in the office to impress other media executives.
• Wine tasting kits at home: This is why the Wine Curmudgeon will always be a cyber ether-stained wretch. I don't see the genius in things like TastingRoom.com, which will soon ship its wine tasting kits to customers in 14 states for $20 or $30 (plus shipping). You'll get tiny, 1.7-ounce bottles of wine from various California producers, which you can then open and taste, just like you're in some tony Napa Valley winery. Sadly, the company does not plan to ship to Texas, so I won't be able to try this out. Because, honestly, why would anyone do it?
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