Web Schmeb 2.0 & My Plot To Take Over The Wine World

So the whole purpose of this Murphy-Goode job promo is to open the channels of communication and basically light a fire under the wine industry's presence on social networking media - Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, blogs, etc. And for the most part, Murphy-Goode is doing a pretty decent job of getting the word out there, inspiring hundreds of hopeful lifestyle correspondents to go out and buy bottles of M-G for their videos. Then those lifestyle correspondent hopefuls send emails, tweets, facebook messages to everyone they know asking that they vote for their video, which will most likely (hopefully) inspire them to seek out Murphy-Goode the next time they are at the wine store. The ripple effect is pretty awesome. I am curious to see the actual effect social networking will have on the wine industry. Will people rely on tweets or Facebook recommendations for wine and if so, how much will social networking influence them? Or will people just defer to their local wine store for a recommendation? I know in the wine shop I work at, we bring in a lot of hard to find boutique wines. Our small size limits how many wines we can carry and our decision is ultimately based upon what our customers request. Most times the customers that do request wines are the over 40 crowd and may not have a Facebook or Twitter account, and often times have more expendable income. As soon as people figure out how to use Twitter and Twitter figures out it wants to be used, I think there will be potential.

So I want to hear from you (yes, you) my ten blog followers. Okay, nine blog followers (I'm actually following my own blog...don't ask.) Let me know what you think. How do you want to see social networking involved in your wine purchases? Or is this something that you just don't really care about?

Oh, and as far as my plot to take over the wine world, I could use your help. If you haven't already sold your kidney for votes(...or was that just me?) please take a sec to send me some love and vote for my video, no matter how obnoxious you may think it is. Thanks!

Vote here: http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=v5zgJ88-lVM

Ks

The Man Behind the Hype

This past Tuesday I had the great pleasure to meet Dave Ready, Jr., the winemaker at Murphy-Goode Winery, during his whirlwind tour of stops in the US to promote his Really Goode Job. I have to admit, meeting Dave Ready in person makes me love Murphy-Goode wines even more. I walk into Il Fornaio in the Denver Tech Center, where the wine meet & greet is being held, I am looking around and examining the schwag when Dave, whilst speaking with others, extends his hand out, introduces himself to me. Immediately, I'm pulled into the circle of conversation and a server immediately asks me which wine I would like to drink, the Fume or Liar's Dice Zin. The hour flew by quickly with countless questions by various inquiring fans. I asked Dave what he wanted to get out of this promotion, besides just an increase in sales. His reply was that he wanted to open up the communication with wine drinkers, to get them more informed of the process that goes into drinking a glass of Murphy-Goode wine. That makes sense. It's kinda like the difference between heating up a frozen pizza and making one from scratch. I don't know if anyone shares this opinion, but when I know it's homemade I feel like it automatically tastes better. All in all, Dave Ready has all the characteristics I would want in a friend - down to earth, passionate, and a sense of humor. Plus, he was in a band and had super long hair. How cool/funny is that?!?

Besides meeting Dave, I met some other cool people at the wine meet & greet, such as Bridgett, who runs Highlands Wineseller in Highlands Ranch, Sheryl who runs an internet business selling wine paraphernalia, and Rick Backas, another areallygoodejob applicant, who is just as cool in person as he is in his video. Check him out at rickbakas.com or vote for him for areallygoodejob here.

My Video is Officially Posted

After some deliberation, I decided to change my video a bit. You can see that video (and vote if you so choose to) at http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=v5zgJ88-lVM

But I must warn you, not voting for me does not give you free pass to visit me in Sonoma, should I get the job. I do get a list of everyone who has voted for me so just keep that in mind! Haha! Just kidding....Or am I?

I thought once I posted my video that I would feel a tremendous amount of relief but I think I'm feeling a little more nervous. Now that my video is actually posted, I'm nervous whether people will like it. I know that, realistically, there's not much I can do at this point. I just need to tell myself to trust that I did what I could, and if my message is in line with Murphy-Goode's, then that's how it should be. But in the meantime, I'm going to drink me some Murphy-Goode Liar's Dice Zinfandel to calm the nerves. I opened this bottle yesterday and it's amazing how it holds the aromas and flavors. Smelling it, I get a lot of the red fruit but there's also a refreshing component to it, as if I were breathing in deep the mountain air.

This gal is off to bed!

Cheers!

The Video is Complete...I think

So I've spent a great deal of today working on this video. I woke up today feeling as though I had plenty of quality material to sort through but once I started editing, more ideas started to flow about how to set up this video. It's definitely a bit frustrating. I'm my own worst enemy. I want this video to look good and to convey my passion and qualifications. So there's one part of me that wants to shoot more scenes, take more pictures and tweak the script a bit. But there's also a part of me that feels that if I keep editing and making changes that I'll never feel satisfied to post a video. And that's just something I need to live with. I know I'm not a director. I'm just someone that has an extreme passion for wine. So with that said, here's my video:

No video could exist without it's counterpart: Outtakes & Bloopers

I would like to thank everyone who came by and supported me while I filmed this, especially Jennifer Lathan for driving around Denver looking for places to take pictures and imbibing in a few glasses of wine with me. And to Meredith for helping me process. Thank You. Filming this has been such a blast!

A Goode Saturday

Yesterday I shot many-o-scenes for the video. Thanks to everyone who helped in the production, came over for support, and/or drank all they could of Murphy-Goode wine. And a special thanks to Mike for wearing a suit from the waist up! I think I've got lots of great video and will be spending the rest of this afternoon editing. Video(s) will be posted here once I've finished them just to give my fans (you) a chance to view them and post comments on your favorite one before I post one of them on the Murphy-Goode website.

And on to other Goode news...the winemaker, David Ready Jr., from Murphy-Goode will be at Il Fornaio in the Tech Center on Tuesday May 19th to conduct interviews. Goode timing, right? I see it as a wink from the wine gods that this job will be mine. All mine! Muaahahaha!

Okay, enough of my shameless use of "goode". Time to edit.

My mad video skillz

Okay, so by "mad" I mean "horrible" and by "skillz" I mean "skills" (who am I trying to kid here? I'm 28, I can't get away with that type of slang anymore!). To be more accurate, my title should read: "My horrible video skills" but it doesn't sound nearly as inviting as "My mad video skillz", right? It has been quite some time since I've played around with creating/editing video so I recorded a test video just to see if I still had it in me.

If all goes well, I'm hoping to shoot the video, edit it, and have it posted on Murphy-Goode's website by the end of the weekend. Let me know if you're interested in helping out in the production of the video or if you just want to sit around, drink some wonderful Murphy-Goode wine, and laugh at me...I mean, laugh with me. And at the very least, definitely check back to see how things progress!

***Disclaimer***
This video and its content is not at all what I intend on saying/doing in my real video.

Moving along

This past weekend I fully intended on rehearsing my script, recording video, and practicing loading the video onto my blog. I think it's safe to say I didnt' get around to it today. But I did do the laundry, go to the gym, and I learned how to play some chords on the guitar. Overall, I'd say it was a productive weekend.

I do have a script that I wrote last weekend. I feel like it captures my passion but I'm afraid that it's too "commercial-ly". Plus I'm looking for lots of crazy ideas to make my video memorable. Send me an email or post a comment if you have any ideas. It's got to be better than the filming-underwater-with-kayak-sinking-behind-me idea that Spradley and I thought of last week, or the naked jogging idea that Meredith's sister suggested. Plus, let me know if you want to be in the video or help out in the production of it, or if you know anyone who is skilled at video production. In my head, using the script that I have, there's room for some extras! ;-) So far there are 53 videos posted at http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-thumbs.aspx . There are a few videos that I like and if I weren't putting myself in the running, I could see myself voting for them. So I think my odds are good, well, they are at least better than winning the Powerball. But I still hold out hope...

A good wine to try, 2005 Clos du Val Cabernet Sauvignon. It usually goes for ~$30 and it's on sale for ~$24 at Bonnie Brae Liquors off of University. It's 85% Cab Sauv with the rest consisting of Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petite Verdot. Lots of black fruit on the nose. It's very smooth in the mouth, with almost sweet nuances and firm tannins. Very nice!

Cheers!

What Wine to Pair with Squirrel

It's an odd title, I know, but it's an odd day. Literally. Today's date is 05-07-09. The next time there will be an odd sequence like this will be on July 9th, 2011. A date with this sequence is pretty rare. What's also rare is to see a fox walking around the office parking lot with a dead squirrel in it's mouth. To be accurate, the fox had 2 squirrels, but he had "squirreled" away the 1st squirrel in the bushes and ran off with the 2nd one. I can only assume he was saving it for dinner. He took off in the direction of LiquorMart so my imagination makes me think that he went to eat his delicacy, get an idea of the flavor profile of the squirrel and then go pick out a great wine to pair with his dinner. Perhaps he has a female (or male) companion to impress. I don't necessarily know the mating preferences of foxes. To be fair, I do know my mating preferences just not that of the Vulpes vulpes. So to answer the question of what pairs with squirrel, hell if I know. I'd probably just go with a Pinot Noir. If anyone has any idea of what to pair with squirrel, post your comments!

A Tasty Night with Murphy-Goode

I am having the most fantastic night. To set the scene for you, I sat in traffic for almost 1.5 hours, it's wonderfully 80 degrees in Denver, and I'm hungry. The traffic alone is enough to put me in an unhappy place but surprisingly, it didn't. The stars must be aligned, I guess. Meredith and I, despite our earlier disagreement regarding who should call the cable company, have put our differences aside to make dinner together. Tonight we made asparagus & pancetta pizza. This is a favorite of ours, practically a staple in our house. I had some Murphy-Goode Chardonnay open and I figured I'd try pairing it with the pizza. My first impression of the chard was that it was a medium to full-bodied chardonnay with very noticeable toasted/vanilla notes on the nose with underlying apple. The Chardonnay paired very well with the pizza. The richness of the pizza is cut by the acidity in the Chardonnay. Plus with the salt in the pancetta, it was a nice change of pace to have the subtle vanilla & the roundness of the Chardonnay. We sat on the back stoop, eating pizza, drinking Murphy-Goode, enjoying the evening sky, and watching our puppy Fable to make sure he doesn't dig another damn hole in the backyard. The only thing that could've made this night more perfect would be having my "the softer side" music channel on Pandora playing in the background. If only one of us had called the cable company...

How this all got started

A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....okay, so only five days ago and in San Francisco, Murphy-Goode Winery officially launched their newest, most likely biggest, job search ever - to search for Murphy-Goode's Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. This position is a six month contract to learn all there is about Murphy-Goode, the Sonoma wine life, and to essentially blog, post, and tweet about the experience. And did I mention it pays $10,000 a month? Umm, yeah.

So after the jaw dropping, WTF, pinching myself response, I thought seriously and said to myself, "I could do that". And I mean it. When I'm not working full-time for a pharmaceutical company, I work part-time at a wine store. I'm just geeky enough to document every wine I taste in my wine journal but still approachable enough to have a laid back conversation about wine. I read a lot about wine - grapes, soil composition, tasting notes, history, new advances in viticulture & viniculture, etc. I facebook and twitter practically all day long ( I hope no one from work is reading this!) and in terms of blogging, well, here you go. All I need to do is brainstorm for ideas for the video, which I'm guessing, accounts for 90% of the application process. Piece of cake, right?

To answer Murphy-Goode's question, "Are you in"? I say proudly and confidently to no one in my living room and to the blogosphere, Yes, I am!