Hmm, the title seems a little racy, but I didn’t intend … oh never mind.
So, I posted an announcement in Wine Talk about our new advocacy and wine review publication, The Soul of Syrah, and it sank like a rock. Does that mean syrah is truly dead? Is it a good thing we named it the ‘Soul’ of syrah?
Anyway, I am seeking community input here because we are imminent on launch. We’re trying to spread the word, get the blog up and create a rich environment, putting out a call for samples, and looking at August as the first mailing. Any advice, good bad or indifferent, will be appreciated. (“Give up,” is the only advice we won’t listen to!)
We are unabashedly a syrah-advocacy effort. Strictly grass roots, and straight to consumer and media. Although reviews will be very laser-focused, we are organizing them entirely differently from existing publications (see thread in Wine Talk). Our aim is to move syrah sales.
As part of every issue, we want to invite a guest essayist from retail/wholesale. We’ll also be looking for retailers who want to offer time-limited Soul of Syrah packs. At this time, advertising special offers via our blog, monthly emails, and in the print publication is FREE. Eventually, we’ll charge a minor cross-promotion fee, but for right now, we just want to get syrah flowing into the hands of consumers.
My partner Laura Ness and I are funding this entirely out of our own lint-filled pockets, so any advice, questions, concerns, guidance would be greatly appreciated!