May 27, 2012
Raising a toast to a more competitive wine market
A sunny day it was today when one of my favourite wines, Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc, received a rating of 5 suns from former SVD wine journalist and now TV4’s wine expert on the morning show.
Finally some respected wine journalists are talking about direct sales of wine! More power to them.
Have a great weekend!
Mark
It took a few years to come to reality but now Stockholm residents can have their groceries home delivered with some wine. And if you have not been smitten with the weekly grocery bag and recipes bug, now is your opportunity to jump on the bandwagon because your weekly matkasse now includes two bottles of wine!
Our new partners Mathem.se is the smart company offering the wine and food service as reported by Metro.
Mathem.se are not the first grocery home delivery service but they are the first to offer both the pre-arranged matkasse along with your everyday grocery needs and now the first to actually offer wine too!
Of course this will attract its critics as APW did last time we tried this with the evil people at Slussen but some are positive too and nothing in this long country can be done with alcohol without threats of lightning, thunder and damnation by the “all alcohol is bad” lobby.
Now you have more time to enjoy your family, let Mathem take care of the good food, wine and recipes!
Cheers
Mark
Drive through any suburb or country town in Australia and you have a good chance of stumbling upon a sign proudly announcing that it was the “tidy street winner for 1987″ or “proud second prize tidy town winner 2002″. Competition and pride are two factors that seem to encourage Australians to bring out their lawnmowers and keep the streets clean.
A good dose of tidy town pride is badly lacking in Stockholm after the snow has finally melted. Walking through the usually beautiful Östermalmstorg (trying to ignore the ugly Åhlens building) today it looked like the locals had been out protesting over the weekend or the street cleaners had been on strike for a prolonged period.
The umbrella attached to the middle of the upright statue and the stones strategically placed on the reclining statue added to the general feeling of neglect and disrespect about the square. The snow has melted and the Stockholm city council should start with cleaning up the main tourist areas and beauty spots.
Kalgoorlie has a better chance of winning the tidy town award over Östermalm if the competition were held today!
Cheers
Mark
Rosé wines have been released and I am wondering who is going to drink them, much the same as who is buying all the spring clothes in the stores now when I am still walking around in winter clothes, hat, scarf and gloves?
An autumn day was how my son described today’s weather as we headed off to school “with an early snow” he added for effect!
Today is one of those days when you have to believe in the power of optimism and and in people who “make their own weather”. I try hard to bring my own weather with me wherever I go. Regardless of what the weather app on my wife’s IPhone says, I strive for a constant “25 degrees with sun” every day.
Maybe it is people like me who are now rushing to their computers to buy their rosé and spring wines?
Have a great weekend, you know what my weather will be like anyway!
Mark
Another week has flown by with my also flying but our team here has been burning the candles at both ends. Fantastic article in Metro yesterday about our Facebook wine tasting. No jokes about the screen getting wet with wine – it was a fun event enjoyed by quite a few members.
Another few wine clubs launched last week and this week. We are very proud of all our partnerships and certainly this one with Dagens Industri
Plans to move office are progressing well, have signed up a really cool design company to make sure our offices are functional and super cool for the next five years. Christer and his team at DAPStockholm has to take juggle our big ideas with our small budget and make it somewhere we all love to work in and reflects our company’s principles and vision.
Where is Spring?
cheers
Mark
You would be forgiven for thinking I didn’t actually return from NZ in November if you were a regular reader of this blog. In fact it was followed shortly thereafter with a working trip and part vacation to HK and Australia and then wooooosh, back into the new year where it has been full on full on.
I have decided however to return to my blog on a regular basis.
First Quarter is almost over and business is good as we spread the good wine around Sweden.
We have launched a number of new wine clubs for our prestigious partners and added a number of excellent new team members to our rapidly growing company. What takes up my time now is integrating them into APW and maintaining our great culture, finding new office space to fit everyone and ensuring that our customers’ and partners’ expectations are understood and exceeded.
I have met a number of people recently who have asked why I have stopped writing my blog so enough with the excuses now, I am back!
Cheers
Mark
Hawkes Bay on the north island was my second last stop and took me to Lime Rock Wines in the central plains area. Rosie and Rodger presented their wonderfully minerally wines and we ate spinach pie at their home.
This morning Simon from Sacred Hill showed me what spectacular chardonnay and Shiraz the region produces.
Quick jump up to Auckland for the amazing finale: fish and chips on the beach in Devonport with wonderful warm and funny people including David and Morag Jordan, Chris Yorke and Bob and Marianne Campbell. They all bought along more amazing wines than I had had at some of the winery visits. When the sun went down and the Pegasus Bay Pinot noir was finished I jumped in to the taxi to the airport.
30 hours and I will be home!
Photos will follow when I return.
Cheers
Mark
Central Otago is a 40 minute drive from Queenstown, one of the most beautiful scenic towns I have visited. The soaring jagged mountains skirted by green hobbit filled fields and the wide inviting lake are picture postcard perfect.
Visiting this region was always going to be the highlight for me and the view and the wines gave me the warm Kiwi welcome.
Tasted a wide range of wines with a few juicy pinot surprises. Aurum is run by Burgundy born and trained winemaker
Lucie Lawrence and her kiwi husband. They made intelligent, beautifully crafted wines of some finesse.
Lunch at Mt. Difficulty was a nice break after the regional tasting. A quick drive past the iconic Felton Road which adjoins Mt. Diff explained why Mt. Diff’s wines were so good, with potential to rival Felton Road one day.
Dinner in Queenstown at Wai was very good and got to drink the favorite Pinot of the regional tasting. Will not disclose it in hope of buying some for our members!
Hawked Bay today…….
Cheers
Mark
Thursday was the conference and speaking after an international panel that included Wine Spectator columnist Matt Kramer was a hard act to follow. My message about new ways to market in Scandinavia resonated with the audience frustrated by years of banging their head against the monopoly’s door.
Yesterday was a tour of Nelson including the Woollaston estate and the amazing art collection of its US owners. Even had my first memorable meal with the bright and witty management team.
Now up early for Queeenstown and Cental Otago.
Cheers
M
Yesterday we were in Christchurch with the opening of the conference. Met some very interesting people from Italy, Napa, Argentina and India.
We did a wide ranging tasting of Waipara valley wines 50 mins north of Christchurch with UK wine journalist Anthony Rose from The Independent and Mimi Avery from Averys as well as Margaret Rand from Decanter. 80 wines with varied quality with the surprise being the quality of the Chardonnay, compensating for the lack luster Sauvignon Blanc.
Today we flew back up to Marlborough and visited Nautilus and Seresin among others. Seresin are deadly serious about their biodynamic agriculture practices and we saw the manure pits that are made from their own horses and cows whose primary job is to provide manure to be made in to a tea to be sprayed from the back of a horse drawn cart-sprayer on the vines.
The viticulturist Colin Ross was a fervently passionate West Australian from Margaret River who could be the poster boy for biodynamic viticulture. The wines were very good so who am I to argue with cows horns and home made pooh tea!
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