Commercialization of this website

[Roy Hersh]

Your idea would have to be better than this to win!


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... gne30.html

[Al B.]

Roy,

I give in. You'd better send your bottle over to Francis Ford Coppola. His ideas are clearly better than ours.

I just would never have thought of putting champagne into a coke can and then painting it all pink.

Sheesh. Guess that's why he's the millionaire and I'm not.

Alex

[Roy Hersh]

First let me say that on the brink of the New Year in the UK and other parts of Europe such as Portugal and Spain etc... that there were many great posts here. Stewart had a hard time and narrowed it down to three great individual efforts and we discussed it from there. He made the final decision ... which was exactly who I was thinking should be the winner.

Congratulations to Frederick Blaise ... you have won a bottle of your choice of 1970 or 1977 Taylor VP from my cellar. How I will get it to you is another story. You work out the logisitics with me and the bottle is yours.

Runners up were Derek and Alex and both were very close.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions and we'll have more contests in 2006!

[Frederick Blais]

Wow! Thank you very much Roy! This is great gift!

I hope that in return, all these ideas will help you greatly improving your business.

Now for the logistic, its getting complicated with our monopoly. I may have family going to Victoria island next month, will chat to find a way to make the bottle come to me :)

I had the 70 and 77 in the last year and the 70 did impress me much more and as I still have one bottle of 77 left, I'll chose the 1970.

[Roy Hersh]

Consider it a done deal. Congrats!

Whether in a week or five years, the bottle will sit in the cellar until we've found a reasonably easy way to make the handoff. Maybe in Portugal?

[Derek T.]

Well done Fred

Good luck with the logistics :?

Happy New Year to everyone

Derek

[Al B.]

Fred,

Congratulations - you were a deserved winner. I have to say that I did enjoy reading through all of the contributions that were made. Hopefully many of them will be put into use over the next few months and years.

Alex

[Derek T.]

Roy,

From memory I think this is the first thread to run to 4 pages - perhaps you should offer up more free bottles to encourage debate

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

Fred,

Congrats, a great job, well done

[Roy Hersh]

Derek,

I was actually thinking along the very same lines. What if in 2006 I was to pay you for your posts, along with others? The more the merrier.

Say $1 for every 100 posts?


That would equate to a "penny for your thoughts."

[Derek T.]

Roy,

I appreciate the offer but I couldn't possibly take a "kick-back" from my input to the Forum

Derek

[Im a Dad]

Roy - here's my suggestion - echoing others' comments, you have a wealth of information and contacts and have up to now been extremely generous with your time! Why not put all this in service in a consulting capacity - Henry Kissinger's consulting firm here in NY comes to mind - you could charge by the hour for telephone and in-person consultations, and require payment for any of your expenses in connection with a consultation as well. Perhaps you could have a 1-hour minimum, although people could buy time in advance and then you could bill it out in say, 10 minute increments (like many lawyers do). Just my two-cents' worth.

[Im a Dad]

Why not offer it free of charge to students studying in the wine programs at Cornell, in California, etc. Also, send it to the winemakers at leading vineyards in the US and around the world for that matter, as well as to the managers of the top wine stores in the US and UK. They say in politics and policy-making that getting to the top 1% of the "opinion makers" ensures a trickle-down effect that will impact many many more constituents. That principal could work in this context as well!

[Al B.]

Ted,

I really like one of those ideas you've just posted. In the UK, its relatively easy to find out which Universities offer courses in Viticulture or similar topics (there won't be many).

Once identified, it is also very simple to find the person in the University who is the leading Professor or Tutor on the course.

It would then be possible to write that person an individual letter with a copy of the newsletter and details of the website for them to use as a teaching resource.

What do you think Roy? Do you want me to dig out a copy of the UK University Course Guide and see if anyone over here teaches Viticulture?

Alex

[Eric LeVine]

Roy,

One last idea. See if you can work with Eric at Cellartracker to cross reference your database of tasting notes with his. Whenever someone reads a tasting note for a port or wine you have a tasting note for your note would be displayed in the same area that Steven Tanzer's notes are displayed. If they click on your picture they're taken to your web site or a page to sign up for the newsletter. This will drive traffic to your site and hopefully a percentage of people clicking the link would sign up for the newsletter.

Roy, THIS is right on the money. I have 12,000 people registered for CellarTracker. I would like nothing more than to let them know about the best place on the NET to learn about PORT. Whether your content is premium only or wide open, I have the technology to do the right thing by your business!

[Roy Hersh]

I wondered where they got the expression, "bully pulpit" and now I know.

Eric, there is no place that I'd rather be! it just makes too much sense for both of us, so, we'll make it happen.

Having watched CT from the earliest idea and beta phases to now, it is unbelievably impressive, what you've accomplished!

12k active users, or folks that have uploaded their cellars?
I believe that what would really impress folks here, who may be unfamiliar with CellarTracker (if there is a wino somewhere who may have been visiting another planet for a year and a half or so) is for you to share:

a. the number of tasting notes on your site and
b. a thumbnail sketch of the functionality and advantages of CT

Although there are only 270-something "members" here, there are many multiples who only lurk and never sign up for the FORUM. That is true for the vast majority of the Port wine industry ... who have been recipients of the newsletter, in most cases, since its humble beginning in Feb. 2004. Nearly 60% of the traffic comes from the UK.

[Steve H.]

Hi Roy,

I know much of this conversation has gone on significantly prior to this post but I just read the thread and would like to add my perspective.

I assume: That the truly knowledgeable persons who are confident in navigating their purchases are in the minority. And I assume that those who have the depth of pocket to make mistakes and not care are also in the minority.

I assume there are far more people that might be better represented by my demographic in these two categories. I have the budget (and commitment level) to buy 2-3 cases of premium wine per year, with only one of them being Port. Each and every $50-$100+ bottle of Port is NOT an impulse buy. I do not have the experience, or retailer contacts to feel very confident that each purchase will result in a good Port experience. My cherry-picking one/two bottles from various retailers does not lead any to make an effort to remember my name!

So I say this: The current value of this website to me is in giving more info to be able to buy intelligently. Tasting notes are 1/2 the equation. I think having one or two "known palates" and an average of FTLOP member scores (like how CellarTracker does it), are both valuable ways of discerning the wines I would be interested in.

Fully the other 1/2 of the issue is in finding the reputable retailers and a decent price. Roy, I completely agree with your desire not to have your opinion tainted with an appearance of "opinions for sale." The only way I can see that you could avoid this while providing buying help/discounts, is via a form of group purchasing, or co-op buying groups, organized here on this Board.

I see this going something like this: "Joe Bob Thornton has worked out a deal with ABC Wines. They have made a deal for any FTLOP members to buy one or more bottles of 20** Port for $xx per, plus taxes and shipping. You must respond to them by such and such a date." I would pay to be a part of such a co-op, or think it appropriate that a fee/percentage of the purchase go to this site.

The rather poor psychologist in me wants to pursue the thought in a somewhat different direction. I hope I am not stepping on your toes here, but what is your current payoff for doing this? The reason I ask that is that there are payoffs that could taint one's opinions that are not monetary in nature (like emotional, social, etc.). The key to being free of influence taint, is to be aware of one's payoff's and have excellent personal/moral boundaries - not necessarily just be free of monetary compensation. I know you have stated clearly this is something you do not want to do, and I can only respect that. But let me say just for myself that it would not bother me to know that you were compensated by some entity in the Port trade. In fact I assumed that you were until I read this thread. For me, where your income comes from is not the issue - your integrity is.

Sincerely, and with many thanks for your labor here,

Steve Harrison

[Roy Hersh]

Steve,

Thanks for you well thought out post. Integrity is firmly in place, still.

I don't know that we'll ever have a buying co-op here, although we've already discussed that possibility. In the MARKETPLACE Forum, there is plenty of offers that are worked out with retailers in the UK and USA to provide some advanced buying ops for the FTLOP members. Some have even offered 5% discounts. Others just provide a great list of hard to find wines at various prices.

My payoff, today, was being asked to join a panel of Port experts with Rupert Symington and Clive Coates and others ... leading 75 individuals from No. America in a very deep vertical of Graham's. My "payoff" was to sit in front of them and be able to be the "voice of the consumer" while the others had a different take. That is about as far as my payoffs normally take me. I don't have any trouble sleeping at night, so you need not worry about me.

The only other "payoff" might be considered obtaining samples to review when a new generally declared vintage takes place. Others may view it differently, I don't really consider it a payoff. 8)