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Grape Collective: Rethinking the Wine Magazine

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Grape CollectiveNew Online Publication Merges Content and Commerce to Connect More Readers To Wine

New York, NY (November 20, 2013) – Grape Collective, a new subscription-free online wine magazine, revolutionizes how wine media is consumed by introducing a digital platform that bridges the gap between reading about a wine and drinking it. Loaded with content from the industryʼs top writers and editors, Grape Collective is the only editorial format with integrated e-commerce wherein readers can read a story or watch a video about a wine, then procure it directly through the website.

Inspired by a common frustration among wine consumers—the difficulty of sourcing the wines we read about—Grape Collective founder Christopher Barnes set out to create a more seamless shopping experience. “In the past, my experiences of reading about a wine and then trying to buy it were extremely frustrating,” says Barnes, who was formerly president of the New York Observer Media Group and co-founder of amNewYork. “More often than not, I would find out that the wines that I had just read about in my favorite wine columns were unavailable.”

At its core, Grape Collective is a portal for top-notch wine content. It features regular, exclusive content from industry veterans including Dorothy J. Gaiter, who co-wrote the Wall Street Journalʼs wine column, “Tastings”, from 1998 to 2010, and Barbara Fairchild, who was the editor in chief of Bon Appétit magazine from 2000 to 2010, as well as a fleet of established and emerging writers. Grape Collectiveʼs collection of articles, video and multimedia features are geared to the casual-but-curious wine drinker, an audience thatʼs often overlooked by traditional wine media, which heavily favors the collector and connoisseur.

“We are rethinking a category where existing wine media focuses mainly on the affluent wine consumer, and most of the quality writing is hidden behind pay walls,” says Barnes. “Instead of charging our readers for access to our content, weʼre supporting our business via direct wine sales—a customer service that also generates revenue.”

The content that appears on Grape Collective—a behind-the-scenes video tour of Riojaʼs legendary wineries, an exploration of affordable alternatives to Sancerre, or an interview with Napa Valley pioneer Peter Mondavi, Sr.—is supervised by editorial director Nick Fauchald, formerly an editor at Wine Spectator, Food & Wine and Tasting Table.

“We want to introduce wines from a diverse selection of voices and perspectives that offer more insight and context than the industryʼs standard 100-point grading system,” says Fauchald. “Instead of tasting wines inside an isolated office, our writers are on-the-ground reporters who have the freedom to share their discoveries with readers in an exciting new way.”

Grape Collective believes good wine becomes better the more you know about it. As such, its content, updated daily, will both inform and entertain, covering a variety of topics that range from emerging winemakers to restaurant sommeliers and roundups of the wine blogosphere.

Grape Collectiveʼs retail arm is headed up by John Finkle, a New Jersey-based wine retailer and owner of Magnolia Wines and Spirits.

Grape Collective is now live at http://grapecollective.com/. For information, including press interviews, and other PR-related information, please contact Liz Kellogg at 646.389.5235 or liz@kelloggandcaviar.com.

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