Lucien Albrecht Crémant d'Alsace Rosé Brut is another great food friendly summer choice that will work well
with many options. In the vein of Spanish Cava, Italian Prosecco, and other quaffable sparkling wines, this wine representative
of Alsatian sparkling blanc de noir offers Champagne lovers an experience close to the 'real thing' without sacrificing
the pocket book. Let's hope the region and style stay under the radar! Recommended with soft shell crab in spicy or rich sauces or white chocolate
bread pudding. Expectedly very versatile.
So, we were waiting for when mobile reviews would hit the main stream. Obviously, there's much room for improvement
and nothing too innovative about this first use of Twitter for wine reviewing. However, it would seem to welcome an age
of geotargeted marketing messages bridging the online and offline worlds. Exciting to see what type of conversion tactics
follow, what type of clicks-and-mortar models emerge, and what type of offline/online partnerships might be in the works.
Saw a great wine
personality/personal brand guru today. Gary Vaynerchuk brought his "thunder" to Grapevine Market to promote and
sign his new book 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World for
Austin's own legion of Vayniaks. It was his first trip back since his headline-making, impromptu complimentary SxSW
wine fest in the lobby of the downtown Marriot last March where he unveiled 7 cases of free wine for the taking
(and tasting).
Gary spouted eternal about personal branding, social networking and media, and his beloved football Jets
(his goal is to one day buy the team). My personal highlights included a blind tasting of Texas vs. Italian wines
(same/similar varietals) which you can watch below, as well as the general messages about wines that are changing the
world by defeating stereotypes and established trends (see Bekaa Valley in his book as well as Greek wines and atypical
grapes like Tannat).
All-in-all, time very well spent. And, if the Jets and Rams end up in the Superbowl, I've put a reservation on
some high-quality personal time with Gary himself.
