The Wine Curmudgeon

Five things the wine business can do to help consumers figure out wine

Wine is still too confusing, though some effort has been made over the past several years to make it easier for wine drinkers – new and experienced – to understand what’s going on. Check out this newspaper article from 1977, and you’ll see what I mean:

The result of all this is that any but the most experienced wine aficionado often will (1) buy a very expensive wine, equating high price with quality; (2) buy a very cheap but unpleasant wine and then throw it all away; (3) buy the same wine all the time; (4) not buy wine at all.

Sound familiar?

Depressing, too, given so little of that has changed in almost 40 years. But there are five things that can be done to make wine less confusing. The list, after the jump:

Update: Cheap Wine Book –– we did it

We made the $8,000 goal with $52 and a couple of hours to spare. Thank you so much. You’ve made a cranky ex-newspaperman smile very much.

Now I need to finish writing the book (the introduction and first chapter are mostly done). I’ll post updates here and on the Kickstarter page; my goal is to finish the book for release around Father’s Day.

Again, thanks for all your help.

Update: Final day for the Cheap Wine Book

This is the final day for the Kickstarter fund-raising period, and the project still needs $2,500. Thanks to those of you who have contributed, and you can still help by passing this link to friends who see a need for what we're trying to do. Or, as one contributor wrote: "This is going to be the best way to get the word out to everyone about how wine should really be appreciated."

If you haven't contributed, know two things: If I don't raise the entire $8,000, I don't get anything, and I probably can't do the book. Second, you can contribute with a pledge of as little as $25. That gets you a copy of the ebook (and the second edition), which means all you're doing is buying the book before it comes out.

Here are the links that explain all:

• The Q&A explaining how Kickstarter works.

• The Kickstarter link.

• What the book is.

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue"

The Wine Curmudgeon has spent the last week with a bottle of Tylenol and antibiotics, enduring a version of strep throat that I wouldn't wish on the world's worst wine snob.

This explains why the blog content has been a little less than what it usually is. It's hard to write about wine when you can't drink it. Or think straight, for that matter, and when all you want to do is bury your head in a bucket of ice. But I'm back with the living today, and things should return to normal.

So what's with the quote from the movie "Airplane!"? For one thing, I had skip the International Eastern Wine Competition, where I was supposed to judge this week. For another, I haven't been able to keep you posted on DrinkLocalWine developments; the 2013 conference is in Maryland in eight weeks and tickets are on sale.

And then there is the Cheap Wine Book, which has suffered since I haven't been well enough to nag more people about it. That, to me, has been the worst part about being sick.

 

Tom Paxton and a Bottle of Wine

 

Tom Paxton has been skewering the American conscience with such wit and precision for so long that he makes the Wine Curmudgeon jealous. One day, I hope I can come close to something like "Yuppies in the Sky" and its haunting refrain, "condos for sale, condos to buy."

Until then, while I redouble my Kickstarter efforts for The Cheap Wine Book, enjoy this, one of the Paxton classics (courtesy of AMSDConcerts on YouTube). Don't think he's too concerned about scores or wine talk, do you?

And Kickstarter? We're 53 percent funded with 11 days to go, which means it's crunch time. Pass the links along to anyone who might be interested:

• The Q&A explaining how Kickstarter works.

• The Kickstarter link.

• What the book is.

 

 

Cheap Wine Book cover mockup

Pretty spiffy, no? And a tip o' the Curmudgeon's fedora to designer Jynette Neal.

Having said that, we're still running behind --47 percent funded with a little less than two weeks ago. But that's not an insurmountable gap. Because, as noted in this Q and A, Kickstarter is all or nothing, and I probably won't be able to do the book without the Kickstarter money.

Please send this link around, and we can make up the difference in no time.

Update: A cute puppy video for the Super Bowl (and a shameless plug for the Cheap Wine Book)

Monday update: The numbers on Sunday were actually a little better than usual for the Super Bowl -- three-quarters of normal instead of to two-thirds. Maybe some of you clicked in during the blackout.

The Cheap Wine Book is 42 percent funded, but we're halfway through the process. So we have some ground to make up this week. I'm about halfway through the first chapter, and I'm working on the English-Winespeak dictionary as I go along.

Friday: Not too many of you will be visiting the blog this weekend. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the slowest days of the year, and the run-up to the game isn't much better. The number of visitors is usually about two-thirds of normal, even less than on Christmas.

So how about a shameless plug for the Cheap Wine Book, combined with a cute puppy video (courtesy of KlaireW on YouTube)? And the puppies are even wearing hats. Is that viral marketing or what?

So if you're bored on Sunday or don't care about football or want to help the book get published, visit the book's Kickstarter site after you watch the video and pledge $25. You can check out the Q&A I did about the Kickstarter process, or send me an email if you have questions; no game for me, since I'll be writing this weekend.