Pressing News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsletter published by
 
Fine Vine Wines, LLC
"The Wine Maker's Toy Store™"
1300 N. Interstate 35-E, Suite 106
Carrollton, Texas 75006
 
October 2009
Volume 7, Issue 10
866-417-1114 (Long Distance)
972-323-7921 (Local)
972-323-7955 (Fax)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grizzly 

WELCOME 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to Fine Vine Wines, LLC, "The Wine Maker's Toy Store". Whether you need home wine making products or just need information, we are here to serve you. I want to extend my thanks again for making The Wine Maker's Toy Store your home for your wine making needs. It continues to be my hope that every time you visit our web site or retail store, you will find something of value.

This month on the Vine!
Improved Online Ordering
2010 Limited Releases
Tasting Party
Monthly Give-A-Way
Wines of the Month
Bottling Party
Home Winemakers Club
Toy of the Month
New Products
IMPROVED ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After searching for 2 years, I finally found a company to help me with my web site and the owner was "right in my own back yard", he is a customer!  As such, not only does he build web sites, he and his father make their own wine!  This should help to not only make sure the web site is user friendly for ordering, but also user friendly for finding the right products and right wine kits for everybody.  If you can't tell, I am extremely excited about the new and exciting things I will be able to do to make the ordering side as good as the content.
 
The initial changes will take care of some of my immediate concerns and should be up and running by the end of the month.  Over the next several months, we will be adding more and more features and information.  This will also give me more time to find more products and use my "bean counter" hat to find ways to save money and keep our prices low.  When the changes are made, I will send an email to let everyone know.
ANNUAL LIMITED AVAILABILITY WINE KITS 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As with last year, we are going to offer the limited availability wine kits from four manufacturers.  The specific brands are listed below along with the normal number of wine kits in each release:
  • Mosti Mondiale Meglioli (12 kits)
  • Winexpert Limited Edition (5 kits)
  • RJ Spagnols (5 kits)
  • Cellar Craft (4 Kits)

The specific wine kits and pricing for these kits are normally released by mid-October.  As soon as we have the information for all of the brands, we will post it on the web site and include the information in an email.  In the meantime, here is what we do know:

Cellar Craft - Preliminary Release Information
  • January Release - Darlington Point, Riverina CABERNET - SHIRAZ, New South Wales, Australia
  • February Release - Canelones, Uruguay, South America - TANNAT
  • March Release - TWO HEMISPHERES RIESLING - New South Wales, Australia - Yakima Valley, Washington
  • April Release - TRIO TINTO - A fusion of classic Spanish grape varieties - Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Cariňena

RJ Spagnols

  • January Release - Ehrenfelser from Pfalz, Germany
  • January Release - Malbec Syrah from Mendoza, Argentina
  • February Release - Torrontes from Calchaquies Valley, Argentina
  • March Release - Trio do Vinho Tinto from Alentenjo, Portugal
  • April Release - Cabernet Franc Merlot from Stellenbosch, South Africa

Winexpert

  • January Release - South African Shiraz (Originally offered in January 2006)
  • January Release - California Lake County Trio Blanca (Dry) (Originally offered in January 2005)
  • February Release - Australian Petit Verdot (Originally offered in April 2004)
  • March Release - Pacific Quartet (Off-dry) (Originally offered in March 2007)
  • April Release - Italian Brunello (Originally offered in April 2007)

Mosti Mondiale

  • We have not heard any official news from Mosti, but I expect to see most of the same wine kits from the last 2 years and there may be a surprise in store.
In addition, we will be offering a promotion that you cannot get anywhere else!  I have not finalized the details, but I will give you a hint that it has something to do with Doug Pike and his humor.  Stay tuned for more details.
 
By the way, we are having a 2008 Limited Release Tasting Party.  See below for details.
TASTING PARTY 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 2008, we made all 26 limited releases from Mosti Mondiale, Cellar Craft, RJ Spagnols and Winexpert.  On Saturday, October 17, 2009, we will have a Limited Release Tasting Party of these wines.  The tasting will start at noon and end at 5 pm.  We will also have cheese, crackers and fruit to cleanse your pallet between tastes.
 
The cost of this event is $10.00 per person.  For this price, you can taste as many wines as you like (spit buckets will be provided for those wanting to taste them all!) and help yourself to the snacks.  If you purchase any of the Limited Release kits that day, the $10.00 will be refunded to you!  If you have never tried any of these outstanding limited availability wine kits, here is your opportunity to find out what you have missed.
MONTHLY GIVE-A-WAYS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We all know that we are not dealing with the most robust economy right now and we are all trying our best to stretch each and every dollar.  We have recognized your plight and if you have looked at our prices lately, you should have noticed price decreases in wine kits, bottles and corks, among other items.  We will continue to squeeze our prices as best we can, but we wanted to do more, SO......
 
Starting in July 2009, we began giving away two $50.00 gift certificates each month.  These gift certificates will be redeemable for any product we carry, but can only be used for the cost of the product.  Any sales tax and/or shipping cost will not be covered by the certificate.  Anyone that places an order during the month will automatically be entered in the contest and we will announce the winners in the monthly newsletter and via email.
 
The winners for September 2009 were:
 
Michael Poche from Alexandria, LA
 
and
 
Dave Bonaker from Prescott, AZ
 
Congratulations to both.  Maybe next month you will be the winner.
WINES OF THE MONTH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All four of our wine kit manufacturers have added new wines to their line-ups and we are bringing them all in for you.  In addition, we are expanding our Cellar Craft line to include more of their white wines.  As such, we are going put all of these new wine kits on sale for 10% off.
 
The new wine kits are as follows:
 
Mosti Mondiale
  • Vinifera Noble - 10 liter kits
    • Amarone
    • Caberlot
    • Lambrusco
  • Renaissance - 16 liter kits
    • Gewurztraminer
    • Montepulciano
    • Pinot Grigio
    • Riesling
    • Rosso D'Avola

Cellar Craft

  • Cellar Craft 6 Week Kit
    • California Reserve Sauvignon Blanc
  • Showcase Collection
    • Yakima Riesling
    • Yakima Valley Pinot Gris
    • Washington Reserve Gewurtztraminer-Riesling
    • Washington Reserve Gewurtztraminer
    • Pinot Nero

RJ Spagnols

  •  Cru Select Dessert Wine
    • Cream Style Sherry 
  • Cru Select 
    • Australian Viognier/Pinot Gris

Winexpert 

  •  World Vineyard 
    • Italian Barolo 
    • South African Chenin Blanc
  • Selection International 
    • Australian Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre
    • Chilean Sauvignon Blanc

Remember with all of our "Wines of the Month", we try to anticipate demand, but may not be 100% successful. If we run out of a special, we will advise you of such and an expected ship date. We appreciate your understanding.

BOTTLING PARTY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next bottling party will be October 24, 2009.  We will start at 5:30 pm with food and tasting after the bottling is complete.  We have around 20 carboys to bottle and based on past bottlings, this should take about 2 hours to complete.  Depending on the turn out, everyone will get at least 3 bottles to take home with them.  I am trying to get Les Ferguson with RJ Spagnols to attend to talk about some of his wines we will be bottling.
DFW AREA HOME WINE MAKING CLUB
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next Cork's Crew, the Home Winemaker's Club meeting will be on Saturday, October 10, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at the store.
 
The club's website has been recently updated and can be found at http://www.homewinemakersclub.com or http://www.homewinemakersclub.org.
 
If you would like to be added to the club mailings, please give me a call.
 
Hope to see you there.
Toys of the Month
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the cold weather right around the corner, we are putting our Brew Belts on sale for $3.00 off.  These belts are UL approved and are designed to keep your plastic fermenting buckets at a constant 75 degrees for up to 8 days.
 
In addition, we are putting our most popular 750 ml wine bottles on sale for 10-15% off. 
 
To see the pricing on these items, click here.
NEW PRODUCTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you can see from the news above, we have been diligently adding more and more products to our web site.  To see all of the products added during the last 60 days, visit our New Products Page whenever you visit the web site.
 
If you are looking for a product that I do not carry, my distributors are LD Carlson and Crosby & Baker, Ltd.  You can see their complete product list at their public catalogs. If you find anything you would like me to add, please let me know.
 
Now with over 110,000 posts!
 
When you have a question or just want to learn more about wine making, don't forget our forum! We have over 1,500 registered members with over 110,000 posts! We have some extremely knowledgeable wine makers with loads of valuable information willing to assist you in your wine making needs. Responses to most posts are made within minutes. We are also known to have an occasional contest available to forum members only with valuable gifts, savings and coupons!
 
Whether you are an expert or a novice, it is an excellent place to ask questions, exchange ideas and meet other home wine makers. If you haven't logged into the forum, try it sometime. I think you will find it most informative and enjoyable, as well as, a great place to meet fellow wine makers.
 
DISCOUNTS
 
The most common discounts are listed below:
 
CUSTOMER REFERRAL PROGRAM
 
We have a customer referral program that provides additional discounts to registered users. We will give you a coupon worth 5% of the first order placed by any person that you refer to our web site. The stipulations are as follows:
  1. You must be a registered user of finevinewines.com,
  2. The person placing the order must register and provide your full name in the appropriate field on the registration screen, and
  3. The discount is only good for future orders with finevinewines.com and is not redeemable for cash.

CUSTOMER APPRECIATION PROGRAM - FVW GROWERS CLUB

Please check out our FVW Growers Club. You can get all of the details on our web site, but the bottom line is we want to buy your loyalty! Once you spend $500 with us, you get a 10% discount on all non-Winery Related Items.  Find out more on the web site.
 
REGISTRATION DISCOUNT (FIRST TIME ORDERS)
 
To receive this 5% off, all you have to do is register with us and place an order for $50.00, or more (excluding shipping and taxes). If your first order is for more than $140.00, we will give you 10% off.  When you register, you will also be given the opportunity to sign up for our monthly newsletter, which is the only recurring email we send. We will not blast you with email after email touting our current specials. We encourage you to register to make the ordering process easier on you.
 
BIRTHDAY CLUB 
 
If you are a registered user and have provided your birth day and month, every year you will receive a coupon good for $5.00 off any order over $25.00.  This coupon is in addition to any other discounts in which you may be entitled.  These coupons are emailed on the first of the month and are good for your birth month only. To join up,  register, go to the My Account section and provide your birth day and month.
 
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
 
We appreciate all of your comments, whether good or bad. To demonstrate our commitment to outstanding customer service, I have created a web page with your feedback. As we receive emails that comment about our service, I will post them on this page:
 
As a reminder, we continue to add products and content to the web site, therefore, if you have any special requests, please let us know. We like to hear what you have to say about our site, our products and/or our customer service, good or bad. Please send your comments and/or suggestions to [email protected]
 
Don't forget we like you to CALL!
 
If you have any questions about our products, our service and/or wine making, please call us. We are here to serve you and enjoying assisting you in any way we can. We have an international toll-free line so you WILL call us.   Someone is usually at the store between 9 am and 7 pm, Monday through Saturday. We always try to answer the phone when you call; however, sometimes, we are unable to answer the phone as we are on the other lines or we have customers in the store. If you get the voice mail, please leave your name, number, brief message and a best time to call. We will return your call just as soon as we can.   If you don't want to call, just send us an email. We usually answer our emails daily. Please remember, we are a resource and we are here to serve you. 
 
We don't want to be the biggest store, just the BEST!

Cheers!
George Cornelius, President
Fine Vine Wines, LLC, The Wine Maker's Toy Store
 
Contact Information
George Cornelius - President  - [email protected]
Mark Cornelius - Shipping Manager - [email protected]
Joseph Schuitema - Resident Wine Maker and Technical Creator - [email protected]
 
phone: 1-866-417-1114