Showing posts with label information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label information. Show all posts

Monday, October 4, 2010

SHELF TALKERS GET SMART


QR code

You see them nearly everywhere you buy wine – the shelf talker.  That's the little card which tells which flavors to expect in the wine and – most of the time – how the wine scored in the various wine publications.

Cellar Key can do that - and more.  Cellar Key's information is on a QR code – a two-dimensional interactive icon - which would usually be printed on a tag around the wine bottle's neck.  You scan the code with a QR reader in your smartphone, and, voila!  Everything you could possibly want to know about that wine is at your fingertips.  Scanning the code automatically launches a content-rich microsite, optimized for smartphone.

Cellar Key launched in September, 2010, and is featured on six wines - Argyle Pinot Noir and Vintage Brut from Willamette Valley, Oregon; St. Hallett Faith Shiraz and Poacher’s Blend from Barossa, Australia; Wither Hills Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand and Argento Malbec from Mendoza, Argentina.

The Cellar Key technology offers digital access to information about the product on which its code appears, potentially providing the user with a virtual connection to wineries around the globe through the use of a smartphone.  Cellar Key was launched by Lion Nathan Wine Group in partnership with Scanbuy and its ScanLife technology.

You may start seeing the Cellar Key icons popping up in different places – not just as shelf talkers in wine stores.  The code could appear on wine menus and in printed articles or advertisements.  Users will instantly access resources such as winery videos, reviews, winemaker information and food pairings.  Of course, you can also share and engage on social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter.

Argyle's founder and winemaker Rollin Soles is thrilled to be a part of the launch.  “Cellar Key is a giant step toward bringing my story and the story behind the wine directly to the consumer,” Soles said, “establishing an instant connection to the wine through the palm of the hand.”

Lion Nathan USA General Manager Steve Myers said, “Premium wine consumers desire to learn more about the wine that’s in the bottle.  We are very excited to be...putting them in the driver’s seat.  Cellar Key not only lets us connect with our consumers, it effectively conveys a sense of place, personality and deeper understanding of the wine’s region and the winemaker.”

Plans to expand Cellar Key to other wines are slated for 2011 and beyond.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

WINE NUTRITION


Wine Nutrition Facst

Health-conscious types are always worrying about the nutritional value of the food they consume.  There's good reason for that.  For instance, if you have tried to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet, you have no doubt found that there is almost no prepackaged food available in regular supermarkets that lacks that substance.

The wine drinkers I know aren't losing too much sleep over how nutritious their favorite beverage is.  In case you are wondering, the nutrition facts for wine, according to Calorie Count , are as follows:

One glass of wine - one 3.5-ounce glass of wine - contains 85 calories, none from fat, 5mg of sodium, no fat, no cholesterol, 2.8 grams of carbohydrates, less than a gram of sugar, almost no protein, no vitamin A or C, 1% Calcium and 2% Iron.

You won't find the familiar nutritional grid on a wine label like you do on other food and beverage items.  Winemakers are not required to conform to that regulation.  For one thing, the nutritional labeling you see on prepared food is the result of regulations from the Food and Drug Administration.  Wine is governed by the Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).  Rarely do federal agencies get a first-column check mark in "working and playing well together."

So, while not a particularly nutritious item to consume, wine does not appear to be harmful from a dietary standpoint.  Aside from nearly 11g of ethyl alcohol - the major detriment which causes wine to receive a nutritional grade of "C" from Calorie Count - and some trace elements, the main ingredient is water, 89g per serving. How bad is that?

Obviously, the abuse of alcohol takes its toll in ways not measured by a simple nutritional profile.  Also, some are allergic to alcohol and react to wine with flushing in the face and neck.  Some people simply have no tolerance for alcohol and shouldn't drink at all.  But let's go forward assuming no alcohol-related health problems and a healthy, light-to-moderate wine consumption level.

After water and alcohol, sugars come in a distant third place on wine's ingredients list.  Sucrose, glucose, fructose and maltose are present, but at least there's no high-fructose corn syrup in there.

The type of wine has a lot to with the nutritional numbers. The nutritional profile above seems to be about the same as that for white table wine.   Red wine shows far less sugar and sodium amounts.  Dessert wines contain much higher levels of sugar but the numbers on other ingredients are pretty much the same as in a table wine.

All this attention to the nutritional aspect of wine is rather silly, of course.  We don't drink wine for its nutritional value, we drink it for taste, for aromas, to complement a meal, for metaphysical or philosophical reasons.  We drink it because we like the way it goes with a salad, with a cool night, a sunny day, a fireplace, Chet Baker, Chet Atkins, the news, a movie or haiku.

The bottom line is, there appear to be no nutritional roadblocks that would prevent you from enjoying a glass of wine.  Conversely, there are no compelling reasons - nutritionally speaking - to include wine in your diet.  If you need to focus on the nutritional value of the things you consume, your time would be better spent looking into high fructose corn syrup than into wine.  Cheers!