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| Figuring it out |
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Trying to explain the concept of Wine X is like trying to explain rain to people who don't know what water is. You either "get it" or you don't.
Before going any further, take a look at the simple puzzle below. The goal: connect all nine dots with four contiguous straight lines. (I'll explain its relevance - and the solution - a little later).
Wine X Magazine is a young-adult lifestyle magazine with wine (and other beverages) grafted onto it. We're about wine, food and an intelligent slice of vice, and we're very proud to offer a new voice for a new generation of wine consumers in Australia. The concept of Wine X was born out of need. I was in my twenties, had just "discovered" wine and was looking for wine publications and tasting groups I could identify with on a peer-to-peer level. After an exhaustive search, I came up empty. In fact, even though there were plenty of wine magazines, newsletters and gurus out there, nothing and no one was targeting people like me - under age 40 and wine "illiterate." Being young and stupid, I began my one-guy crusade to fill this gaping void. Thus, the birth of Wine X. |
Back then, the challenge was - and is still today - to create an identifiable forum in which young adults can feel comfortable with wine. Actually, the identifiable part is easy. We simply tap the expertise of talented young writers and cutting-edge art designers and reflect the real-world lifestyle of these adults. That's easy. It's the comfortable part that's difficult.
Unfortunately, there's a thick air of pretension that surrounds wine - a pretension generated by elitists who use their knowledge for self-empowerment and promote it through wine magazines catering to the rich and famous. Over the past several decades, wine has been taken off the dinner table and placed on a pedestal and worshipped. You can't just drink it anymore. One must now read trade journals and take classes to appreciate wine. You have to study it; scrutinise its colour; be skilled at identifying the faint hint of Russian tea leaf in its bouquet; and adept at gracefully cascading it over your palate so as to fully appreciate its complexity. Yeah, right. It's just this kind of pedantic intimidation that keeps the vast majority of people - especially young adults - away from wine. The fear of saying or doing or ordering something wrong around family, friends, waiting staff... well, it scares the shit out of them. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "I like wine, but I don't know anything about it." I drink wine, but I can't tell you what I taste." "I love wine, but..." "I'm into wine, but..." It's our goal at Wine X to remove the "but" from the vocabulary of young consumers when it comes to wine. Because whether the wine establishment wants to admit it or not, it takes no more sophistication or education or social status to enjoy a glass of wine than it does to enjoy a glass of milk. You either like a wine or you don't. Period. The end. That's why, for example, Wine X wine reviews are filled with descriptors that the average wine consumer can understand. After all, how many people actually taste all those fruits and vegetables that leading wine critics and trade magazines tell us we should find in our glasses? (To tell you the truth, I doubt some of them do!) The Wine X ratings system was devised with consumers in mind, not the trade. We relate wines to people, places, movies, books, music and things the vast majority of you can really identify with. You see, we believe wine is about passion Ð passion for life, friends, family, the things you enjoy the most. The bottom line is that the way people feel about wine is subjective. Let's keep it that way. Let's not dictate what or how or why people should enjoy it. Instead, let's simply suggest - through music or film or fashion or life's experiences - how people might incorporate it into their life. Oh, here's the solution to the puzzle.
Cheers.
Darryl Roberts |