Cellar Tracker, Corkd, VinCellar Review

The work I do for my day job got me thinking about wine tracking / wine reviewing database sites. A recent project I was managing mashed together information from 17 web sites creating one global intranet site where 320,000 people view over 21 million pages each month. Over the weekend we launched the site and with a few minor glitches we were live for all to see on Monday.

Through my recent journey of wine reviews and wine blogging, I’ve discovered a need for a repository for the information. At the current pace, I’ll have a collection of 250 reviews by the end of the year. For me, keeping track of and referring to this information needs to be in a simple to use format. While many wine tracking sites are available, I’m reviewing my use of three: Cork’d, Cellar Tracker, and Vincellar.

Each of these sites has its strengths but I’m reviewing them based on my business requirements.

• I want a site that has easy entry of tasting notes, search of existing entries and easy recall of existing entries for comparison
• I want a site that allows me to easily slice and dice my entries by date, grape, price, score, etc.
• I want a site that is smooth, easy to navigate, and is not clunky or disjointed
• I want a site that provides the greatest exposure to the wineries being reviewed
• Nice to have: Connection to other wine lovers

Do you have a wine tracking site that you use? What do you like / not like about it? Let me know in the comments.

VinCellar

VinCellar stats indicate 74,000 users, nearly 600,000 cataloged wines and over 38,000 tasting notes. VinCellar’s unique feature is the ability to catalog, track and even sell your wine through their site.

The Good:

The user interface of VinCellar is spectacular. The tabbed navigation allows for easy access to your cellar, tasting notes, and the community. Well placed buttons facilitate quick entry of new wine and updating “consuming” wine from your cellar. Overall the navigation is smooth, intuitive and contains some unique features.  Each of the database collections is easy to sort, slice and dice for quick analysis of the wine entries.

What I Love:

VinCellar seems to love dashboards. I love dashboards. One of the coolest things for me is the tasting note dashboard that shows a synopsis of the entered wine including web pricing, community tasting note averages, other users who own the wine, and even a quick search menu of everything from Able Grape, Snooth, Wine Spectator and Wine Zap.

What I Don’t Love:

The lack of active users and tasting note entries often returns zero matches for comparison. Use of the search fields does not auto-populate with the data base. The community aspect seems to be focused on buying and selling wine, rather than sharing wine experiences.

Cork’d

Cork’d aims to be the “Simple way to review and share wine.” Cork’d has over 50,000 users. At publish of this article I was unable to validate the number of reviews in the database. Cork’d thrives on being a place where users can share and have a social experience with their wine tasting.

The Good:

The Cork’d interface is bright and clean. Users can easily create profiles, add buddies and use Cork’d as  a “Facebook” for wine conversations. Cork’d is also great at wine education and awareness with their database of grape profiles, winery profiles and the newly launched Cork’d Content that showcases articles about various wine topics.

What I Love:

I love the extensive database of wine and the ease of adding wine that is not already in the database. The format is also very conducive to conversation with other users through the discussion thread format on each database entry.

What I Don’t Love:

The navigation feels clunky and a little outdated. It is not easy to move from task to task, search or filter database entries, and slice and dice my existing entries. While I enjoy the conversational format and feedback of reviews, it takes too much time to find a consolidated list of comparative reviews. The database of reviews seems slightly larger than VinCellar but still returns zero results on some searches.

Cellar Tracker

Cellar Tracker contains the largest database collection of the three boasting nearly 100,000 users and 1.2 million tasting notes. Cellar Tracker is simple in form and function and its users are active. Wine collections can easily be cataloged, tracked, and the data can be sliced and diced seven ways to Sunday.

The Good:

The best part of Cellar Tracker is the vast amount of comparative data and the ability to filter it. The reports tab also provides an incredible amount of useful information about your cellar, tasting notes, and the community.

What I Love:

The search fields auto populate to aid in searching for the exact match. This feature helps to eliminate duplicate selection as it leads you more quickly to the selection you’re looking for. While on a selected wine (tasting note page) you get a vast amount of information including the ability to bid on user wines for auction.

What I Don’t Love:

Cellar Tracker is the most minimalistic in design. What the database has in data it lacks in navigation, and interface. The text based design is a distraction (to me) and makes using the site cumbersome.  Links on the site indicate that a new design is being launched in February (that’s this month).  The site doesn’t easily offer a way to connect or converse about various wines.

The Synopsis:

VinCellar has the best interface with the most effective and visual interaction with the data.

Cork’d has the most social site and a robust wine education component.

Cellar Tracker has the most extensive user group and data base.

I’m going to enter all my existing reviews (currently 70) into each site and experiment more with the best solution. In the end it may be necessary to use two or more of these sites to provide the greatest exposure to the wine reviews and the wineries.

What are your thoughts?

Episode #30 Australian Wine Not the Kangaroo

 

Many people associate Australian wine with a little yellow kangaroo. While this little yellow kangaroo has done wonders for wine promulgation, it has also caused some negative backlash into the wine world. Australian wine has garnered a reputation for being big, fruity, and cheap, affordable, inexpensive. The price point has been fantastic for introducing people to the world of wine but it has also set the expectation that wine pricing should be under $10 and red wine = massive fruit bomb! The low price point (and the current economic time) has shook the California wine business like a 7.2 earthquake. Wine is way more than the little yellow kangaroo. Australia produces quality wine in many price points.

Today’s review is from Australia’s #1 export…no not Paul Hogan…a bolder, more alcoholic import…no, not Mel Gibson either! Today we review Australia’s #1 wine export, Jacob’s Creek. If you’re familiar with wine, no doubt you’ve seen and tried Jacob’s Creek. With a history dating to the 1850’s Jacob’s Creek produces over 1.1 million cases of wine per year. The vineyards in Southern Australia are some of the oldest and highest quality on the continent.

Jacob’s Creek offers four labels in a variety of price points and focus:

• Jacob’s Creek (main label): A variety of two grape blends and single varietal offerings ranging from $5-$10
• Jacob’s Creek Reserve: A mid price label with a range of white (Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rose) and red (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir) $10-$15
• Jacob’s Creek Heritage: Moderate price label with a range including Shiraz, Shiraz-Cab, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, and Chardonnay $20-$30
• Jacob’s Creek Three Vines: Contemporary label exploring non-traditional blends $8-$15

Reviewed in the video: 2007 Chardonnay, 2006 Shiraz, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Reserve label

The NectarView;

2007 Reserve Chardonnay

• The Stuff: 100% reserve block Chardonnay; 60% barrel fermentation; partial malolactic fermentation; 13.5% ABV
• The Swirl: Yellow gold tone with hints of green apple. Beer-like color.
• The Sniff: Bright acidity and lemon qualities with moderate hints of green grape and oak
• The Sip: Two dimensional wine with mellow front end consisting of meaty vanilla and pear and a bright acidic lemon peel back end. The flavor drops off quickly and leaves a moderate bitterness in the mouth.
• The Score: At $12ish I score this wine a 2+ (out of 5), for my tastes there are more complex and robust Chardonnays available for the money

Other researched scores: Cellar Tracker (3 scores at 80 points); Cork’d (1 score at 89)

2006 Reserve Shiraz

• The Stuff: 100% reserve block Shiraz; 18 months in oak; 14.3% ABV 
• The Swirl: Dark plum inkiness with mild jewel tones toward the edges
• The Sniff: Underwhelming nose with hints of blackberry and/or plum, moderate sprigs of clove and spice
• The Sip: Grape candy licorice on the front end with green twig component on the back end. The wine still feels young and could/should be cellared for a few more years.
• The Score: At $12 this is a pleasant Shiraz offering that scores a low 3.

Other researched scores: Cellar Tracker (2 scores avg 86.5); Cork’d (2 scores avg 87)

2005 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

• The Stuff: 100% reserve block Cab; 18 months in new and old French oak; 14.2% ABV
• The Swirl: Dark plum with  hints of aged rusty brown toward the edges
• The Sniff: Mellow aromas of sweet blackberry and a whiff of vanilla and cocoa
• The Sip: Mild front end with a wash of chocolate and berry; back end of bitter cassis and pepper spice. Slightly off balanced in flavor
• The Score: At $12ish can score this a solid 3 and makes the re-buy list. Paired well with our hearty beef stew.

Other researched scores: Cellar Tracker (1 score at 78); Cork’d (2 scores avg 85)

Have you had Jacob’s Creek? What is your experience with some of their other labels?

In the video I mentioned the Washington Redskins and my annual disappointment. What team do you cheer for? How do you cope with the let down?

DRINK.HAPPY!

*This wine was provided as an industry sample with the intent to review

Colts vs Saints The Wine

Name 10 things that come to mind when you think of New Orleans and Indianapolis? I guarantee wine is not on the list. Wine probably wouldn’t be on the list even if you expanded it to 100. Add the Super Bowl in the mix and wine has the potential to become a small afterthought in the midst of the beer, bourbon, Hurricanes, and absinthe – where does the wine fit in?

The Super Bowl draws an audience of over 175 million people worldwide. 50 million American’s are enjoying Super Bowl parties. Common party food is pizza, wings, chips, nachos, BBQ, and of course BEER. This year an All-American city known for its Hoosiers and Indy racing goes against the deep south known for its French architecture, jazz and blues, and rich spicy food. What about the wine scene in each city?

Indianapolis is a city built on farming, industry and transportation. New Orleans is a city built on water trade, arts, and oil refinery. New Orleans holds a special place in all our hearts after the devastation experienced during Hurricane Katrina. Indianapolis is an often overlooked American city, except during football season, high school basketball, and the Indianapolis 500. What about the wine scene in each city?

Wine in the Super Bowl Cities

Saints and Wine
A Google search of vineyards and New Orleans is indication that this is a city, although steeped in French and Spanish history, not rich in wine making. The wet humid climate and the moist soils make New Orleans a difficult place to grow grapes. Pontchartrain Vineyards makes a valiant attempt with Cynthiana (bold red similar to a Cabernet Sauvignon) and Blanc du Bois (dry and fruity white). Although greatly outnumbered, a handful of wine bars serve the community. When visiting bourbon street, take a detour for some fine wine at:

Wine Institute of New Orleans
610 Tchoupitoulas St., 324-8000
www.winoschool.com

• W.I.N.O.’s Enomatic system, a self-serve draft dispenser, features 120 wines available by the ounce, but $17 Opus One shots add up.

Wine Loft
1901 Hwy. 190, Mandeville, (985) 674-5988
www.thewineloftofmandeville.com

• Small plates of New Orleans-style delicacies provide the unique stamp on the Mandeville location of this national wine bar chain.

Wine and food are inseparable. Food and New Orleans are synonymous. With New Orleans vibrant French and Spanish history, wine is still a thriving community. Louisiana residents consumer 2.3 gallons of wine per year (about ½ as much as California).

Saints Food and Wine Pairings
New Orleans food is rich, bold and spicy. Many of the dishes contain sausage and seafood. A common pairing may be an off dry Riesling, Burgundy Aligote or Beaujolais, and a sparkling wine (Brut style). Sausage based dished may pair well with Pinot Noir or a hearty Cabernet Franc. It may be best to avoid fatty (oaky buttery) Chardonnay and high alcohol Zinfandels.

Colts and Wine
Wine in Indiana? Does it grow among the corn? Indiana is home to 52 wineries, many of which call the Indianapolis and Southern Indiana area home. Indiana’s oldest and largest winery, Oliver Winery produces over 270,000 cases per year with a range of sweet white, sparkling, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel. While most of their grapes are brought in from other regions, Oliver is also home to 15 acre Creekbend Vineyards. If you find yourself in Indianapolis for a sporting event enjoy one of these fine wine bars:

The Corner Wine Bar
6331 Guilford Avenue, Indianapolis – (317) 255-5159
www.cornerwinebar.com

Deanos Vino
1112 Shelby Street Indianapolis, IN 46203
www.DeanosVino.com

Indianapolis Food and Wine Pairing

Indianapolis is an All-American city with great steak houses, big burgers, and hearty meat and potato meals. A classic pairing is Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Wine is a part of every culture and city in America. Wineries exist in every state in the country. I hope you enjoy the game, enjoy some wine, and enjoy your time with family and friends. DRINK.HAPPY!

Washington Grape Syrah or Merlot?

California is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon, big, bold, beautiful and sometimes over the top (kind of like the California lifestyle).

Oregon is known for its lighter, earthy, liberal, organic Pinot Noir (similar to the people who live there, eh).

New York is producing quality Riesling ranging from sweet to off dry, this opulant varietal is often misunderstood but pairs well with tons of food (akin to the oft mis-understood and passionate New Yorker).

What about Washington? Is Washington the Merlot king – underappreciated, oft-maligned, but delightfully robust? Or, is Syrah the fruit of the Evergreen State – deep purple with bright bold berry and hints of smoke on the water?

I asked informally on Twitter a week ago and the vote was pretty close.

• 10 Merlot, 8 Syrah, 4 Riesling, 2 Chardonnay, 2 Bordeaux Blend

This is research for a future article on a national web site as well as a potential tasting event. Please use the voting buttons and share, re-tweet this with friends. Thanks for your participation.

If you have a favorite WA Wine / Winery or select “other” please share in the comments!

The Guide to the Social Galaxy

I do not proclaim to be a social media guru, expert, or marketing maven. I am, like many of you, learning to use the tools through observation, success and failure, and absorption of the mass quantities of information. While my journey with Twitter began only three months ago for DrinkNectar, I have been using social media for two years for Real Estate and personal connection. There is so much great information out there for businesses to digest. Getting started can be a challenge and once you’re involved, filtering the knowledge can be downright overwhelming.

Many sites are dedicated to collecting and distributing Social Media tips and information. Mashable is among the best. I highly recommend bookmarking their site and following them on Twitter for a real time stream of new information. Below are items I’ve bookmarked over the last few months that may be valuable, regardless of if you’ve been using Facebook / Twitter since they came on the scene or are just getting started.

Building the Brand:

The Difference Between Logo, Branding, Advertising, Marketing and Promotions

This great post by Rick Bakas, Director of Social Media for @StSupery Winery, helps businesses clarify each of these categories. Before launching any Social Media strategy (or any marketing strategy period), it would be beneficial to start here and identify the difference with your own brand.

Develop your Strategy:

Once you’ve established your brand, logo, and marketing strategy, you’ll want to include Social Media as a part of that strategy. Social Media is not your strategy, it’s a part of your overall brand voice. I recently asked Oregon winery Sokol Blosser about social media strategy,

“We didn’t want to just jump in and hope that social media worked… we created a plan that mapped out several specific things: what kind of information we would post, the “voice” of our brand on social media, how many times a day we would post… goals, etc.  Having a plan from the beginning helped us to have a clear understanding of what social media could provide for us, spared a lot of headaches and helped us to feel confident.” – @sokolblosser

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Interview with Gary Vaynerchuk  

In this video Gary V talks about the four “C”s to social media strategy: Content, Community, Customer Service, and Care. Gary is enthusiastic and his passion is contagious. Check out this short video to help light the fire.

Wine Social Media: Do You Have What It Takes?

For more on strategy, I really enjoyed this post from Eric Hwang @bricksofwine. Eric’s post is geared for wineries but contains great information for all businesses developing a brand, marketing and Social Media strategy.

Going to Social School:

Learning the tricks of the trade can help make Social Media tools more efficient. When you are efficient, you can be more effective. On the surface these tools look to be simple but as you’ll soon find out, there are several nuances that can make using them infinitely more powerful.

Twitter Lingo for Wine Geeks (Part 1: Finding & Following)

Twitter Lingo for Wine Geeks (Part 2: #Hashtags)

The folks at @enobytes are on to a great educational series on Twitter. Parts one and two contain information that is beneficial for the ‘new’ user as well as the ‘veteran’ of Social Media. These two posts (and I’m sure there will be more) are great starting points for using and understanding Twitter.

32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business

Twitter and Facebook are two powerful Social Media tools. They are not interchangeable and a smart business will be on both and have modified strategies for using each. Tweeting your Facebook status to Twitter seems to be a major turn off to Twitter users. While Twitter is a real time stream of information for interacting and connecting with your followers, Facebook provides a landing page where fans can interact with you AND each other AND your content.

Time to Take Action:

Ok, you have your brand strategy set and you’ve tackled the basics of integrating Social Media into that strategy. You’ve take some steps to become educated on the key tools of Social Media. Now you’re ready for action!

What Can Social Media Do For You and Your Winery

Barbara Evans (aka @seattlewinegal) is an excellent resource for action oriented Social Media advice. In this post she talks about six great action items that can come out of using Social Media tools.

My Social Media Resolution

This post is one I wrote to provide specific action that businesses can take when jumping in to the Social Media world. The post covers three high level ideas, 1) Connect with connectors, 2) Go local, 3) Don’t be shy. Specific granular suggestions are given for each are.

17 Blog and Video Topics for Your Winery

I love specific ideas and suggestions. Eric Hwang shares 17 very specific ideas that can help your winery generate good content for Twitter or Facebook. Great resource for overcoming the all too common ‘writers block.’

Eight Things Wine Lovers Want from Wineries on Twitter

Shannon of @michbythebottle pulls back the covers on eight very simple ways wineries should use twitter to engage the wine community and their customers. If you need some very basic steps to follow, this list will help drive your success.

Other Resources:

Social Media Do You Need a Professional?

Ten Tips to Get Re-Tweeted on Twitter

Still on the fence about Social Media? Watch this!

Wineries on Twitter: Sokol Blosser

Wineries on Twitter: @sokolblosser on Twitter

The goal of this series is to connect with wineries and wine business that use Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) effectively. These interviews can serve as a catalyst to help other wineries and wine businesses to see the benefits (and pitfalls) of joining the social revolution.

Interview Questions

How long have you been using Twitter?

Sokol Blosser has been using Twitter since the fall of 2008.

What prompted you to dive in?

A few of our consumers and colleagues were using Twitter and other free social media outlets to express their food and wine interests, share information, and quickly get the word out about events and other industry news.  We wanted to be in that “inner circle” and make sure Sokol Blosser stayed in the forefront of our consumers’ minds.

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

We didn’t want to just jump in and hope that social media worked.  Once we learned how to use sites like Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter, we created a plan that mapped out several specific things: what kind of information we would post, whether or not we would use social media to sell wine (promoting deals and sales), the “voice” of our brand on social media, how many times a day we would post, what our goals were for social media, among other things.  Having a plan from the beginning helped us to have a clear understanding of what social media could provide for us, spared a lot of headaches of the “figure it out as we go” method, and helped us to feel confident.

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

The biggest benefit to us is the connection to our consumers.  We don’t use our social media for promoting deals, simply for relating relevant content to fans who are interested in what’s going on at the Winery and in the wine industry.  We get a lot of visitors to our Tasting Room who say they’ve been following us online and just had to come out and see what Sokol Blosser is all about.

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

There are many!  We have seen more visitors to our Tasting Room in the past year than ever before, more RSVPs to events, and more press releases being picked up by the media.  By connecting with people using social media, we are taking advantage of a free tool to tell our message to an audience that is interested and wants to learn.

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

I believe that most wineries think that social media tools take up a lot of time – time they can’t afford with their already full schedules.  Sure, it takes a little time to get your social network set up, but those wineries might be surprised to know that we really devote very little time during the day to social media – we’re just consistent.  Every day there are more tools available that make networking easier, and with the possible return on what is actually a very small time commitment, I’m surprised more wineries aren’t jumping on the 2.0 bandwagon.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

Create a plan!  Know what your company’s goals are for your social networking endeavor, how much time you plan to invest each day, and who will be in charge of the “voice” of your brand online.  Then – and this is the tough part – stick to the plan and be consistent.

Also, keep it real and stay positive.  Nothing turns fans, friends and followers off faster than promising something you can’t deliver,  over-posting about certain topic or special deal, or bashing other companies, wines, or people. 

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

In 1971, Susan Sokol Blosser and her husband planted grapes on just 5 acres in the Dundee Hills.  As one of the pioneering wineries of the region, Sokol Blosser has played a key role in developing and shaping the now-prominent Oregon wine industry.  The winery is still family owned and operated, with the second generation now at the helm: siblings Alex and Alison Sokol Blosser.  While the estate has grown to over 85 certified organic acres, the winery works to create wines of world-class quality, produced in a sustainable manner, which reflect the distinctive flavors of the grapes, soil and climate.

What is your favorite rock band and why?

Personally, my favorite rock band is No Doubt – I dig their hip style and the way their music has evolved over the years.  Around the winery during harvest time we listen to a lot of Beatles tunes, though – gotta love that!

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