November 2009

Skin Contact

November 30, 2009

While in Mumbai last week I was a guest at two Bertani wine dinners. Apart from the pleasure of watching other people doing work that I normally do, the wines were a real eye-opener. Amarone is not a new wine experience for me, but I don’t think I’ve had any for ten years. Also, I [...]

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My solution to Dubai’s debt crisis

November 29, 2009

It is no great surprise that Dubai World is looking to its bankers for accommodation on a reported $59 billion of loans. I have been – and remain – a Dubai sceptic (read my previous comments here). To these I can add observations collected while driving around the Emirates last week. Firstly, there are ‘To [...]

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Converting Consumers

November 28, 2009

India’s 1.1 billion population is one of the world’s prime targets for marketers, even if hundreds of millions live on the mythical dollar-per-day. Just the point-one part of its population is double that of South Africa. The estimate of David Banford, founder of The Wine Society of India, is that India is home to about [...]

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A Belated Apology

November 24, 2009

There doesn’t appear to be any industry that doesn’t love a good scandal. The most recent in the South African wine industry relates to Clayton Reabow winning the Diners Club Young Winemaker of the Year award for a wine that was vinified prior to his arrival at Môreson (click here to read Michael Fridhjon’s comments [...]

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Could this be Dubai’s best hotel deal?

November 22, 2009

There are several things one doesn’t expect to find in Dubai. Cheap, widely available alcohol is top of the list, closely followed by non-expat locals obeying the speed limit. Comfortable, affordable hotels in desirable locations are about as scarce as green meadows in the desert. As if the extortionate cost of a hotel bed isn’t [...]

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A Spot of Bother in Bahrain (and some Inkspot)

November 20, 2009

I flew into Bahrain yesterday, via Dubai, only to discover that the visa rules have changed here. On each of my two previous visits I’ve paid for a visa on arrival. Yesterday I was detained by Immigration for well over an hour. After an overnight flight I was tired, desperately in need of a shower, [...]

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Struggling with Nokia Music

November 19, 2009

I commented several months ago (here) about South Africans’ non-access to iTunes and Amazon downloads. At last, in the form of Nokia Music, I thought, we had a solution. Despite my disgust at them charging R10 per track, which implies a USDZAR rate of 10:1 instead of something around 7.50:1, I bought R300 worth of [...]

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Rating the Raters

November 17, 2009

I’ve often asserted that there is no such thing as an empirical measurement of either a wine’s quality or flavour profile. For all the pleasure one derives from wine, judgements cannot be anything other than subjective. Leonard Mlodinow’s article A Hint of Type, A Taste of Illusion takes a fascinating look at the fallibility of [...]

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Some musings on wine marketing

November 8, 2009

The potential for differentiation makes wine unique amongst agricultural products; the farmer has the opportunity of adding value by virtue of cellar processes, packaging and marketing. Compare this with farms that produce grains, various fruit or beef. The price is entirely dependent upon the relationship between supply and demand. The French AOC system, which regulates and [...]

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