Sony Pictures Entertainment recently announced that it will promote its upcoming $80 million film Memoirs of a Geisha using non-traditional marketing tie-ins such as clothing and make-up. In addition to a limited-availability line of Kimono-esque dresses from Banana Republic, the campaign will feature sake-infused oils and beauty products from Fresh, Inc., a cosmetics company and subsidiary of Paris-based luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessey Louis Vuitton SA (try fitting that on your corporate letterhead).

The Wall Street Journal reports that execs from Fresh, Inc. began developing the line of sake- and rice-based beauty products independently of the film project while exploring Japanese beauty rituals for a line of oils, lotions and body scrubs. When they heard about the film, they pitched Sony marketers the idea of a tie-in. The result is a special line of products and packaging based on "the beauty rituals of a geisha" (per Fresh founder Lev Glazman) currently on display in Fresh, Inc. store windows.

Sake, the Japanese rice wine enjoying a surge in popularity in the US thanks in large part to the widespread appeal of sushi, is hardly your typical beauty product ingredient. But the wine's inclusion in Fresh, Inc.'s new line underscores an interesting trend afoot: this country's consumers' growing acceptance of and curiosity about wine. Since Sideways brought the stuff to the masses, the universe of folks "in tune" to wine has grown seemingly exponentially. What was once obscure and stuffy is now at the epicenter (sorry, Californian here) of our cultural consciousness, showing up in contexts and categories never imagined...like makeup.

www.fresh.com

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Posted by Courtney at 03:45 PM •

I'll never forget that line from one of my all-time favorite 90s teen drama-comedies, Clueless. It's the way the film's heroine, Beverly Hills uber teen Cher, first meets her love interest. The impossibly suave (of course he turns out to be gay) hipster breathes this to her in class after gazing up her, admittedly, great gams. Ah, high school.

But did you know that legs are actually out these days? Yes indeedy, according to celebrated wine glass maker Riedel. The maker of the super expensive and therefore coveted Sommelier series of stemware has released a line of stemless, er, stemware, apparently to cater to the anti-establishment wino in all of us.

The tumbler-esque glasses look like real wine glasses only, you guessed it, are sans stems. What may initially sound like a calculated product-tinkering ploy to bring a new sub-set of wine glass consumers under Riedel's umbrella (which, by the way, this pretty much is) has actually proven to be a smashing success. Savvy shoppers are snapping up these amputees like they're going out of style (they're not), and the company recently added "philanthropic" to its list of descriptors with the release of a limited edition of the glass in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The pink-bottomed stemless "O" series glasses feature a concentration of fuchsia at the base that fades up the sides. WineEnthusiast.com reports that Pink "O" glasses are specifically designed for drinking Chardonnay and Viognier but are also "the perfect size and shape for all-purpose use." Better yet, Riedel will donate 15% of sales from Pink "O" to the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Foundation. As if that weren't enough: these suckers are dishwasher safe.

Two of the pretty tumblers cost about $19 and are available through various online merchants.

www.riedel.com

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Posted by Courtney at 03:54 PM •

Most of the cocktail-sipping world will immediately recognize the name "Grand Marnier" as one of the preeminent top-shelf liqueurs your hard-earned paycheck can buy. At about $70 a bottle for the entry-level version of the orange-flavored liqueur, it's hardly cheap stuff. But even the cognac cognoscenti may not be aware that the renowned producer of the stuff, owned by French luxury goods group LVMH,

has begun selling a special bottling of Grand Marnier commemorating the 150th anniversary of its founding called Cuvee du Cent Cinquantenaire. The price tag for Cuvee du Cent Cinquantenaire is sure to make even the most spendthrift of connoisseurs balk: it clocks in at about $250.

Even more over the top is the marketing campaign parent company LVMH has unveiled to sell the stuff stateside: it essentially plays upon the fact that few consumers can actually pronounce the French liqueur's name. Seriously. Initially released in 1977 to commemorate the Marnier-Lapostolle company's 1827 founding, the exorbitantly priced liqueur has until now not been marketed in the US. NY-based creative agency Walrus is behind the campaign, which strove to capitalize on the product's exclusivity in its marketing. Not surprising for a spirits company commandeered by the world's leading luxury goods company. Advertisements' taglines will read "Hard to find, impossible to pronounce, and prohibitively expensive." Yes indeed.

Advertising aficionados are split over whether the difficult-to-pronounce name will lead to more intrigue and therefore greater demand or will simply result in intimidation. In other words, there is certainly a school of folks in the US of A that would prefer to stick with the familiar. Macaroni and cheese and MceeDees, thank you very much. Not so with luxury consumers, hope Grand Marnier marketers. Robert Passikoff, president of New York consumer research firm Brand Keys told the New York Times that "If you can't pronounce the name, all of a sudden it becomes something that's slightly less attainable for the consumer and it becomes more desirable." Hmm. That hasn't been the case for other products with tough-to-say names such as "Daewoo" (cars), and "Ephedrine" (weight loss), but let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, and for those who've read this entire piece and still can't figure out how to say the liqueur's name, a rep for Grand Marnier offered this phonetic tip: "CuVAY doo san sin-khan-ten-air." Now do you feel like spending $250 for a sip of orange-flavored exclusivity? Nor do I.

www.grandmarnier.com

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Posted by Courtney at 01:22 PM •

As if the British-based conglomerate Virgin Group didn't already have it all, they've added a wine label, Virgin Vines, to their stable of travelmeetsmobilemeets-
entertainmentmeets...stuffy sommeliers and high end stemware? Hardly. Mogul Richard Branson's latest venture, launched during New York Fashion Week last month, features two varietals--Chardonnay and Shiraz--in screw top-topped faddish packaging aimed at the under-30 set. With a rather poser-ish (sorry, Rich) Flash-animated website aggressively aimed at denoucing all snobbery associated with wine, the whole thing smacks more of a marketing gimmick than a serious vinous effort. It's probably no surprise, then, that that's exactly what it is.

Here's a sampling of the kind of defiant-and-horny-7th-grader-in-the-chat-room-type propaganda they've got online (about the Chardonnay): "Cool and crisp with a serious rebellious side. With an ultra-clean finish, the perfect wine to serve your love in a romantic outdoor setting, or to order for that soon to be "new friend" standing at the end of the bar." Right. As if that wasn't enough, they've also transformed the usual wine vocabulary into their own prepubescent gibberish. A sampling, in lieu of the traditional definition of the wine term, "complex": "A non-desirable trait in a partner. Usually leads to lots of serious talks and heart-wrenching debates." No further comment required on that one.

In spite of all this ranting, I've got to give them props for attempting to bring wine to a bigger audience. However, I wish they would do it in a way less embarassing for the rest of the wine community, which is probably at this moment wincing that 13-year-olds now associate wine with picking up chicks in bars, casual dating, and pseudo misogyny. But hey, with a tagline that says "Unscrew it, let's do it" what do you expect?

www.virginvines.com

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Posted by Courtney at 01:45 PM •

If you're like me, you dread those words uttered by so many a chintzy party planner, "Oh, and please be sure to bring some drink - it's BYOB."

Until now, that is. I recently picked up a one-bottle neoprene wine bottle carrier/cooler/protector from Built NY. It's made from the same stuff wet suits are made of and is as adept at keeping wine cool as keeping surfers' bods warm (cheers to that). Plus, the flexible but firm neoprene material keeps bottles from clanking and stands sturdily upright when bottles are inside. Made in seven colors and available in one- and two-bottle styles, BYO bags make bringing your own a bit more bearable.

Folks who dig it: Consumer products geeks at Business Week and Fortune magazines, both of which awarded it "product of the year"-type accolades in 2004 and 2003, respectively.

Props: Go out to David Rosoff, my friend and sommelier extraordinaire/GM of LA's uber eatery Campanile Restaurant, who introduced me to the BYO Bag.

http://www.builtny.com/1btote.php

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Posted by Courtney at 02:33 PM •

For my first post EVER I thought I'd include a pic and keep it short 'n sweet. Keep your eyes peeled for future posts chock full of the latest and hippest in wine gear, gadgets & the good stuff itself. Until then, I will leave you with one of my favorite wine quotes, from a fellow sommelier I've never actually met but whose site I just happened to blunder upon and think he sounds like a pretty cool afficionado:

For me, a great glass of wine is something pleasing not only to the taste buds, but also nourishes the soul's yearning for the understanding of man's place in the universe.
- Jeff Morgenthal, Master Sommelier candidate

Thanks, Jeff. I think that's pretty cool - a bit deep, but hey, you go. I sense your enthusiasm for the stuff 'n I like it. Until next time...sante!