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Sunday, November 18, 2012

WineWire.Ca goes live!

The Date and Time: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 4PM to 7 PM
The Event: Launch of winewire.ca, an online wine shopping destination
for Ontario.
The Venue: Terroni's Rifugio Room, Yonge and Price.
The Target Audience: clients, wine writers, lifestyles
The Availability/Catalogue: all wines served today came from the
catalogues of the suppliers to winewire.ca
The Quote/Background: Adam Bekhor and Nelson Abreu are the co-founders
of a centralized website marketing unit that provides access to some 18
(and growing) wine agents and their consignment listings. Winewire.ca
is not a middleman but rather a site with paid-for listings of agents,
so the agents and the LCBO get all their monies. Winewire.ca estimates
that 130 wine agents represent about 10,000 wines that could be on
consignment. Here is an opportunity to introduce and sell wines
directly to consumers. Certainly, as a facilitator, it can be one of
many different sales channels. On the website are details of the
arrangements plus many sources of data about wines in general. The site
provides public exposure to wines primarily sold to restaurants but not
sold in the LCBO retail stores. The basic procedure is to find what you
are looking for and then to make your arrangements with the agent: you
pick the wines for a "cart" and the agent will call you. The one major
drawback -- and this is nothing new – is that you still have to order
wine by the case. So it is important to have regular portfolio
tastings, perhaps coordinated by winewire.ca. "Working as a marketing
representative for the wine agencies listing their products on our
site, we do not directly handle any part of the actual buyer-seller
transaction." Some of the current wineries involved include Argentum,
B&W, Bokke, Le Sommelier, Tannin, Wine Coaches, Appellation, 3050
Imports, Rouge et Blanc.
The Wines: These wines were provided by the agents, and hopefully there
will be regular tastings. Some wines are tasted via WineWire TV, which
is available on the website.
**** BEST -- Four Stars (91+ in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Cantina di Venosa SCARL Dry Muscat 2011, $17.95
***1/2 BETTER -- Three and a Half Stars (88 – 90 in Quality/Price
Rating terms):
-Bel Star Prosecco Brut, $16.95
-Ciu Ciu Bacchus Rosso Piceno 2010, $17.95
-Castello di Verduno Dolcetto d'Alba 2010, $24.95
*** GOOD -- Three Stars (85 – 87 in Quality/Price Rating terms):
-Valdibella Kerasos Nero d'Avola Sicily 2011, $18.95
-Musella Valpolicella Ripasso 2009, $29.95
The Food: bruschetta, charcuterie, cheeses, breads.
The Downside: I was actually expecting to taste more wines, say, at
least one for each supplier.
The Upside: there is a possibility for out-of-province sales, and
selling mixed cases in the future as winewire.ca works on these issues.
The Contact Person: david@profis.ca or info@winewire.ca
The Event's Marketing Effectiveness and Execution (numerical grade): 88

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