No, no !! Not that closet … the wine closet!

 I’ve been a wine enthusiast ever since my first taste of Chateauneuf  du Pape many, many years ago as an exchange student in Fribourg, Switzerland. One wife, two daughters, two English son-in-laws and two grandchildren (not to mention the dogs and cats) later – and about 30 years… I can finally focus on  my passion.. Wine!

I’ve been on the sidelines for a long time reading and responding to blogs and articles about wine, but never initating the discussion. Well .. here I am..ready or not:-).

The world of wine has a lot to offer and talk about. Why the fascination? As Paracelsus once said (some time in the sixteenth century), “wine is a food, a medicine, and a poison, it’s just a question of  dose”.

Wine has been with us for well more than a thousand years. Careful with the dose, I enjoy wine.. not because it might be good for you (although that ain’t bad!), but more because of what wine represents.  To me wine complements and enhances food and it challenges me  to evaluate its appearance, smell and taste. But well beyond that, it reminds me of what is embodied in this thing called “wine”, such as history, geography, climate, culture, language and many things more.

With that in mind, this wine blog will touch on multiple issues dealing with wine keeping in mind that some are very well covered elsewhere, thanks to many passionate wine bloggers – thanks guys (Oops .. and gals)! So tasting notes, sure – but this is not the main focus.

The main focus will  deal with issues currently facing the industry that make it difficult for it to continue to grow and prosper. As with any business, the wine industry must be competitive and profitable. Issues spanning access and distribution, taxes, brand visibility,  and cash flow, make it tough to survive never mind prosper. As the saying goes, it takes a large fortune to make a small fortune in the wine business.

And this is particularly important for small and medium sized wineries who have neither the scale nor budget to circumvent the many impediments placed before them.

So now you have it.

Hopefully .. not “just another wine blog”, but one that you’ll find interesting, sometimes controversial (of course.. that’s always fun!), and informative.

PLEASE .. let me know what you think. As the name implies (ViralVines) ..we’re here to talk about and promote wine. If you have a particular area that you would like to focus on, let me know …always open to suggestions and dialogue.

Here I go again…… talkin’ up the grapes!