POLL: Think this wine will succeed?

[Jenise]

Talk about a niche market: it's wine just for hunters!

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/03/26/wine/doc47e3051173d0f524126218.txt

I'm guessing no based on the failure of attempts to market wine just for women and Gen Xers, for instance.

Hard to know.

This is a much smaller group than the other two examples. And this is a group that spends large sums of money on all sorts of things related to their hobby/passion.

I think the novelty of it will get them to a certain point as well. People who have loved ones who are passionate about something are always looking for something "different" and hobby-related that they can get as gifts.

Just hard to say.

[Jenise]

I was thinking this particular segment of the market is probably already buying wine with dogs on the labels.

Jenise,

I am laughing....I think you have that one right! I call them critter wines, my friend will almost buy any wine with a critter on it...gasp!
I need to give her a shopping list when she goes out to buy wine.

Thanks for the laugh

Michael

Jenise,

Success for gimmick wines is relative. They certainly won't be around for long, but they might sell out the first vintage. Consumers of those kinds of wines are a fickle bunch. Like a bad joke, they circulate for a while until they aren't cute or funny anymore.

The photos are hilarious. Loaded guns and glasses of wine. It reminds me of a liquor store sign I once saw in Nebraska. It advertised 'LIQUOR-GUNS-AMMO'. I wonder if Dick Cheney drinks the stuff?

Talk about a niche market: it's wine just for hunters!

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/03/26/wine/doc47e3051173d0f524126218.txt

I'm guessing no based on the failure of attempts to market wine just for women or Gen Xers, for instance.

The person who runs JV wines here in Napa is a friend, remind in a few months to ask him how Gauge is doing? I would go the way you voted.

I voted no just because they haven't released a sweet 16 gauge. You never know about new labels sometimes things just click and you have a hit.

Hard to know.

This is a much smaller group than the other two examples. And this is a group that spends large sums of money on all sorts of things related to their hobby/passion.

I think the novelty of it will get them to a certain point as well. People who have loved ones who are passionate about something are always looking for something "different" and hobby-related that they can get as gifts.

Just hard to say.

You underestimate the capacity of hunters to swarm over any new hunting-themed product, gadget, etc.

I vote no based on the fact that this is pretty much a marketing gimmick and nothing else. In my experience, you buy a wine once or twice based on this stuff and then move on. The only thing I can see that would lead to longterm success would be if they sell really exceptional juice at a really good price. If they can establish a reputation for that, then they'll get plenty of hunting and non-hunting customers. But I don't get the feeling this will happen.

I think the Village People missed the hunter costume. Somehow I don't see many hunters drinking wine, and the demographic appears to be shrinking, at least in the Adirondacks, according to a recent Adirondack Life exposé on how the tradition is being lost on the current batch of kids, who prefer video games.

[Jenise]

You underestimate the capacity of hunters to swarm over any new hunting-themed product, gadget, etc.

I may, but the few hunters I know are typically beer drinkers. And the few who enjoy wine will never turn down a glass, but they don't know one wine from another and don't aspire to. You, I realize are both a hunter and someone who cares what he drinks, but in my experience that places you far above average. And that makes you too sophisticated for this product--you know it's just a gimmick, what you care about is the quality of the wine where I'm thinking the guy who would fall for the label will probably stick with Yellow Tail at half or a third of the price.

Owing to my desire to keep my posts PG, I won't share the images this brand has conjured up in my twisted mind.

It might work IF the wine really tastes good with game and IF a sufficient number of hunters is seeking an wine and game pairing and IF the demographic is even going to read the ads. Well, that's why I voted "no." Still in all, there are restaurants which do serve game where the product could be introduced and maybe the gimmick would catch on from there.

An ancillary question which pops into my head is how will they manipulate the wine to make it a good pairing with game? Or have they found a gamey terroir?

Marketing ... pfooey.

How about "Pansy," wine for the gay palate? No, I am not making it up.

How about "Pansy," wine for the gay palate? No, I am not making it up.

It's been very successful in Ponsonby Road (that's in Auckland, NZ, BTW).

I am amazed that voters think this will fail. They will sell out. Never underestimate the the gullibility of the American consumer.

Never underestimate the the gullibility of the American consumer.

If O gets elected, will it contradict or confirm your asseveration?

It's been very successful in Ponsonby Road (that's in Auckland, NZ, BTW).

Are you saying that heterosexuals secretly want a taste, or that most folks in Ponsonby Road are gay?

[Jenise]

It's been very successful in Ponsonby Road (that's in Auckland, NZ, BTW).

Are you saying that heterosexuals secretly want a taste, or that most folks in Ponsonby Road are gay?

She means the latter. When I arrived in Aucklund on my one visit there, I went into a Hilton and asked the concierge where the gay part of town was. Ponsonby Road, was the answer. So that's where we went to look for a B & B for the night, thinking that would be the area with all the coffee houses, galleries and cool restaurants. I wasn't wrong. Great neighborhood.