PORTFOLIO
Project: “ridiculous tasting notes” for a winery located in the south Okanagan in British Columbia
Project: copy for winery website, The Farm
Project: sample sales flow/email campaigns for direct to consumer wine club
EMAIL SAMPLE 1
Subject: post-thanksgiving wine orgy
Body:
This is not about the flesh-on-flesh kind of bacchanalia.
(get your mind out of the gutter)
But the juicy-juice kind.
Yes, the latest Crushable offer is coming down the pipe next week. So consider this a heads-up…
This wine pack hails from the lovely chunk of limestone called Prince Edward County (in Ontario).
And the goodest news is that we’ll be shipping to every province in the dominion this time.
The six pack is from a Mother-Daughter team called Grange Of Prince Edward. The wine is delicious and the grapes are ethically farmed.
The digital shopping cart will be open on Oct 16. I’ll send you an email that day.
But in the meantime, ponder this:
I have poked, prodded, tested and indulged in these wines. Beyond being ridiculously delicious, they have a super power: they still taste fresh and mysterious after a week of being open.
This is some kind of special forest magic, and I want for you to be a part of it.
Maggie (the winemaker) calls it a biorational approach.
Since the words “organic”, “sustainable”, or “natural wine” are fraught with such navel-gazing bullshit, she took it upon herself to go beyond that.
This means experimenting to always do what is best for the land.
For example, for each acre under vine, Grange matches it with more than an acre of fallow land (wildflowers, tall grass, wetland, etc). This draws pests away from the vines and to these other plants, leaving Maggie with no need to spray insecticides.
Imagine a vine of the earth, tended by a delicate and confident hand, thriving far beyond the chemist’s greasy little trickery of the average bulk Canadian winery.
If Maggie didn’t exist, some fantasy writer would have to invent her.
Lucky for you, the wines are a reality, and you won’t have to imagine anything after Oct 16.
Send me any questions you have in the meantime, and watch your inbox for the first day the offer is open.
EMAIL SAMPLE 2
Subject: turns out Emerald City was the family farm
Body:
Creek & Gully is very much a family affair.
Annelise and Kaleigh started the cidery as a succession plan for their orchards. It keeps the operation going, they’re still using the apples, just in a new, value-added way.
But the seeds started way before that.
(I swear, no pun was intended there)
Anyway, before the gals came up with the idea, Annelise wasn’t even living in Naramata anymore. In fact, she said that growing up she took whatever other job she could so that she would not have to work on the farm.
She went off to school in Victoria and, upon graduating, wondered what she was going to do with her career.
During this time, her father would call her up nearly every day. He would quickly sing a line or two from the Elton John song Goodby Yellow Brick Road, claim her mother was crying in the background (she was not), and then hang up:
"When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man"
To complicate matters, her dear friend Kaleigh had been dating her brother.
All signs were pointing back home.
It goes without saying that, when I talked to them about this offer, both gals stressed that they could not have done it without the help and push from their parents.
These old Naramata orchards are in their blood, and they are here to guide them through the next generation with their own unique spin.
In a touching act of symbolism, Kaleigh and her husband got married underneath their oldest Red Delicious apple tree, planted by Annelise’s great-great-great Grandfather 106 years ago.
Those same apples went into one of the bottles in our 3-pack on offer now.
But that offer won’t last much longer than Annelise’s dad’s sing-song phone calls.
EMAIL SAMPLE 3
Subject: vicar of Vosne-Romanee heaps blessing upon thee sent
Body:
The Tawse Natural Series could be renamed the “Naked Series”.
In the sense that this is very forthright juice, wholly indicative of the storied Niagara vineyards (Quarry Road and Redfoot) from which the fruit came.
During Paul Pender’s tenure at Tawse, they became fully organic and biodynamic. And grew from 1000 to 30K cases (as a result of buying more quality vineyards, not cutting corners).
The commitment from ownership and staff has been there from Day 1, and never changed.
Paul recounts a story from his second year as head winemaker.
The owner, Moray Tawse, was hosting a Grand Cru dinner as a fundraiser for sick children. Moray likes to do things to the max, so he invited Aubert de Villaine, that bastion of Burgundy from the cathedral of Pinot Noir that is Domaine de la Romanee-Conti.
Young Paul got to taste a years’ worth of salary in over a dozen DRC wines that night.
Later, hands shaking, the Tawse team took Aubert down to the cellar for a barrel sampling of their own pinot.
They received some very constructive feedback. The old master didn’t give his hosts empty praise like saying it was all amazing. But he was polite and thoughtful.
Later, at the very end of the night, as the festivities were winding down, Aubert snuck away from the group and motioned to Paul.
Paul followed. And once they were suitably isolated, Aubert leaned in, waved his hand around, and whispered:
“This is a very beautiful building. But all of it means nothing. Remember that where you grow the grapes, and the vines, that’s the most important thing.”
He held Paul’s gaze for a moment, unblinking. Then, baton suitably passed, he trundled on his way.
Paul told me he’ll never forget that simple but essential moment.
And this commitment to the health of the vineyards shines through in all Tawse wines. But especially the Natural Series of our current offer.
OTHER WORKS/ARTICLES/COMMISSIONS
“A Crisis of Authenticity”, Les Caves du Pyrenes
“Canadian Wines, It’s Their Time to Shine”, Academie du Vin Library
From orgy propositions to projectile vomit: an exposé on private wine tastings, and why I’ll never stop hosting them
Sex and wine: where progressivism and misogyny collide"
“5 Great Value White Wines”, Now Media
“Are We Lying To Ourselves When We Say We Support Local?”, Now Media
“This Wine Tastes Like My Childhood”, Now Media
SOCIAL MEDIA/VIRAL CONTENT
