‘Media, Wine Writers and the Future of the Industry’
Posted by Ray O'Connor | Filed under Media
Jancis Robinson mediated a discussion on the above topic joined on the panel by Jose Penin, Gary Vaynerchuck and Steven Spurrier, who launched the proceedings. I would be lying if I said there was anything to relay on Steven’s talk which was simply a powerepoint presentation on a wine magazine that he works for. A hard gaze in to the future to see what beholds his peers would have been slightly more engaging.
Jose Penin told the room that the war on wine scores seems to cover up the quality of wine writing. He feels it’s important to remember the human element behind the wine and the work which has gone in to producing it. He feels that as the culture of criticism increases the intellectual aspect diminishes. With regards to current wine writing, I was interested in his approach to contemporary media saying that the elder few should step aside to give way to newer, faster formats like anything in real-time.
And then there was Gary! He gave a fantastic, almost breathless rant on the power of each individual and their potential to have a presence online.”This is not an age game, this is a mentality game. This is a democracy!” He believes that no human being is the gate keeper for what the public read but acknowledges that with all the writers out there that the cream will rise to the top. ” Today is not the death of wine writers, today is the rise of wine writers.”
But how can anyone make any money out of this? Vaynerchuck spoke about the Amazon ‘Kindle’, the handheld device which enables the reader to upload ebooks from their pc. He sees this as a way of cutting out the publishers share of the cash, resulting in greater financial return for the writer. ” This is the biggest moment in media since the dawn of the printing press.”
Jancis Robinson concluded by taking us back in time to the days when she used to contribute to wine magazines saying people rarely ever challenged their opinion. “Perched in our Ivory towers only the odd letter by post challenging their views would remind us that we weren’t invincible”. Today, there are even critics of the wine critics, she said. Watch this space for our video interview with Jancis, coming soon.
Gary Vaynerchuck clearly stood out as the shining light in terms of views to the future. I’m sure it’s not the last we’ve heard of him.
Tags: Amazon 'Kindle', cream will rise to the top, Gary Vaynerchuck, Jose Penin, Steven Spurrier
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