Wine on the web

Wines & Vines, March, 1998 by Larry Walker

Susan O'Hara of Northwest Wines in Vancouver, Wash., has been an avid follower of the internet for years. "I love the ability to find all kinds of wonderful information, except that with more and more information coming from a proliferation of sites, it becomes more difficult to find what you are looking for," she said.

What O'Hara has done with her startup web site, which was launched January 1st, is put together information on the wine producing regions of Idaho, Oregon and Washington so those seeking information will only have to go to one place.

"The idea is to bring together all the information a person needs to plan a trip to one of the popular wine country regions. I get frustrated by having to visit dozens of sites to get the information I need, and I figured I wasn't alone."

O'Hara, whose background is in research, writing and marketing, provides information, maps and listings of wine-related businesses, including restaurants and lodging.

O'Hara said the site is off to a good start and was selected the Site of the Week by the Food Services Professionals network. She said she is close to an agreement with a major Pacific Northwest wine publication which would allow her to use the publications wine reviews on the website.

The basic winery listings are free but wineries are charged for more detailed information. Restaurants, lodgings and other wine travel-related businesses pay a fee for site listings.

RESOURCES:

Goosecross web site can be viewed at http://www.goosecross.com

NetMarketing can be found at http://www.netb2b.com.

The Parlor, 221 Main Street, Suite 960, San Francisco, Calif. 94105; Tel: (415) 908-1690; Fax: (415) 908-1692; E-mail: info@theParlor.com. Web site: http://www.theParlor.com

Wine Industry Public Relations Seminar, 443 La Verne Avenue, Mill Valley, Calif. 94941; Tel: (415) 388-3949; Fax: (415) 388-3909

Wines Northwest, 16420 McGillivray Boulevard, Suite 103-435, Vancouver, Wash. 96683; Tel: (360) 604-1203; Fax: (360) 604-1211; E-mail: Susan@winesnw.com. Web site: http://www.winesnw.com

RELATED ARTICLE: IT'S THE WINE, STUPID

One point that web designers and users agreed on was not to go chasing after technology. Gaspar Magisa of The Parlor said that not every web site had to be flashy. "In some cases, you just want to present information."

David Topper of Goosecross was adamant about not "chasing technology." "More advanced technology may wow people, but remember what business you are in. You are there to sell wine or to introduce your wine to the consumer. Far too many web sites get caught up in the technology and the costs often outweigh the benefits. Stay focused on wine."

RELATED ARTICLE: Wines & Vines sent questionaires to a sampling of wineries across the U.S. related to web site use and development. The response rate was 60% and all but a few of those responding were willing to share information about web site experience. We would like to thank those wineries who took the time to respond. Later this year, Wines & Vines will be surveying suppliers on web site use. In the meantime, we ask those wineries and suppliers who have web sites to e-mail their web site address to: winewalker@aol.com