What I do hate is the wine industry. Bunch of namby-pamby grape gropers whose bottles collect dust and who spit instead of swallow. Which is why my interest [...]]]> Well, maybe “hate”‘s a strong word. I’ve just never had a wine that I’d prefer over a good beer. I’ll keep trying though. You know, for science.

What I do hate is the wine industry. Bunch of namby-pamby grape gropers whose bottles collect dust and who spit instead of swallow. Which is why my interest was piqued by a blog post (What the Wine Industry Can Learn from Craft Beer) suggesting that craft beer-style innovation would be a boon to the wine industry. It’s a good read; check it out.

What the article fails to address is the fundamental difference between beer and wine consumers. Beer drinkers fall into two fairly distinct categories: craft beer drinkers and non-craft beer drinkers. Wine drinkers also fall into two categories: expensive wine drinkers and inexpensive wine drinkers. The difference is that cheap wine drinkers want the same products as the expensive wine drinkers, just lower-cost versions. Economies of scale dictate that the craft wineries charge higher prices, whether their product is substantially different or not. This would be especially true for any winery bold enough to test-market a small batch of something truly innovative.

Besides, what does innovation look like in the wine industry? Fermenting Pinot with a Chardonnay yeast? Scandalous. The problem isn’t that genuine innovation is impossible, but that it’s undesirable. Of course a vintner could make a Passionfruit Pinot Grigio. It just isn’t clear that anyone would want it.

Craft brewers are innovators for the simple reason that craft beer drinkers don’t feel beholden to tradition, whereas wine – at least wine as we know it – is nothing but tradition. Demand drives supply, and the consumers who are amassing five-figure cellars full of craft wines value tradition. Seriously unconventional wines aren’t impossible, but the market is certainly unproven. The shoe is on the other foot. If craft wineries do succeed in creating this new market, it will be by emulating the brewers they’ve spent the past few centuries turning up their noses at. And that’s a thought that any beer drinker should love.

Then again, what do I know? I hate wine.

Obviously I haven’t posted in a good while. Big things are in process. Stay tuned.

Fried Beer Comes to the Texas State Fair

In all seriousness, how can a company of this size put anything together without running it by someone with [...]]]> Just for future reference, Cisco, you probably shouldn’t air a series of ads on national TV in which the word “live” dissolves into “share”. You probably shouldn’t be setting up narratives without exposition either, but whatevs.

In all seriousness, how can a company of this size put anything together without running it by someone with a mind twisted enough to notice this kind of thing? Followup question: would anyone like to pay me to do that?

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The truly sad part is, I think I would buy this.

Thoughts on Flash

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a [...]]]> Why does Apple only stand up and say, “this is what we’re doing, and this is why” every year or two? When they do, it usually makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Thoughts on Flash

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.