Wine has never been a big hit on television, if only because it's not all that exciting to watch a bunch of people drink wine. Unless you're drinking it with them, of course.
Having said that, there's a new PBS series, Vine Talk, and it seems to have some oomph behind it -- hosted by Stanley Tucci with big-name celebrity guests. Still, while it has delved into regional wine (rieslings from the Finger Lakes, for which it is to be commended), the episode I saw was more interesting for John Lithgow's discussion of slow cooker cuisine than the wine stuff. The wine the group liked best was a Silver Oak cabernet; how difficult is it to like a $100 wine? And how many people watching, even on PBS, are going to race out to buy a $100 wine?
Which led me to wonder: Would anyone want to watch the Wine Curmudgeon and assorted guests taste $10 wine and talk about it? Granted, I'm no Lithgow (or Tucci, for that matter), but the wine talk might be more interesting. At the very least, we could spill some wine on ourselves and get a few laughs.
Something to ponder. Any thoughts are welcome.
Just let me know what time you're on. I'll either watch every episode or atleast tivo it. I think it'd be the bomb.
Posted by: Jeff | April 28, 2011 at 06:52 PM
You are, as always, very kind, Jeff. Not sure it would be TIVO-possible, but I do have access to a studio and cameras to make a decent quality YouTube posting.
Posted by: Jeff Siegel | April 29, 2011 at 06:49 AM
I'd definitely check out some webisodes and would be interested to see different broadcasts have different themes--comparing old world vs new world, Spanish wines, local wines, etc. I'm always interested in notes about the wine as well as the region they come from. Could be fun!
Posted by: Mandy | April 29, 2011 at 07:32 AM
I think there's a lot of good examples of short-form video media related to wine, with of course Gary V as the prime example. I also know of a couple very small wine retail operations around DC (the videos from Ansonia Wines are particularly well done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MncFUGqUpdo) that produce their own video series in a similar way, usually using between one and four voices and producing clips that range from 3 to 5 minutes. Of course, these are marketing efforts to support their retail operations, but I still think find the content pretty enjoyable and informative beyond just indicating what's on sale this month.
I've recently toyed with the idea of doing some video content for my own wine blog, using an interview format though as opposed to the more review-oriented content you're considering. If you decide to go for it, best of luck!
Posted by: Matt | April 29, 2011 at 01:05 PM
Due to the fact that I do not subscribe to cable TV, does my opinion count? I would imagine a web presence would be better. Short and sweet, get right to the point.
Posted by: bburnsey | April 29, 2011 at 11:34 PM