I received today a press release that I want to discuss with the caveat that you please provide feedback and thoughts in the comments.

FEV, The Spanish Wine Federation, is a private group dedicated to tracking, promoting and defending the image of Spanish wine both nationally and abroad. In Spanish, they emailed me a decent newsletter full of information on Spanish wine sales and conferences which they host to discuss issues relevant to the industry.

In today’s press release from the FEV:
“Márgenes y Estrategias en la Industria del Vino” - Las empresas del vino analizan en Madrid los efectos de la crisis en el sector

“Margins and Strategies in the Wine Industry” - Wine Businesses analyze in Madrid, the effects of the economic Crisis on the Wine Industry
The “crisis”, as it is called in Spain, refers to the downturn in world markets that we are all surely aware of. However, it is far beyond a crisis here in Spain, and getting worse. High unemployment, expensive housing and immigration issues are all starting to take a toll on the Spanish economy. So far, we have not seen this become a huge issue within the wine industry, but it will eventually, so any preemptive talk is welcome in my opinion.

To the release: It states that 150 businesses in the wine sector helped support a study at the international level, focused on both the competitiveness of the Spanish wine sector and the current key markets for wine sales. They first took a look at a new report presented by Rabobank on the need for wineries to balance profitability and investment to ensure a healthy future. I believe you can find information on the report here, though there is no …

After Gore’s speech, the keynote speaker at the II International Conference on Climate and Wine in Barcelona was allotted a certain amount of time dedicated to questions and answers. One question fielded by Pancho Campo and asked of Al Gore was, “what is the responsibility of the wine industry in relation to the climate crisis?”

After I had watched this clip for the umpteenth time, it dawned me that his passionate speech about brand loyalty as it relates to trust is really no different than what makes a blog successful. Trust is the key to any successful relationship and the foundation for future growth. It is because of trust that you choose to read and interact with us. It is because of trust that we come to many of you for advice and clarity. Without this trust, without this dynamic relationship, you would not share our site with your friends, nor would they with theirs. I say this because web 2.0 is the new marketplace, where friends tell friends about products they adore, sites they appreciate and companies they respect. I love this clip by Gore because it not only enforces a long held belief Ryan and I have lived by for years, but it give it a tangibility that it didn’t have before. Wineries who place conservation as a priority and the life of their consumers as a focal point is a winery that will have a better chance of succeeding in the future. Interesting thought, is it not?!

Video content from the conference was produced by Richard Gillespie please contact us if you are interested in hiring Richard for your next project.