Okay, I have a question. Would you watch a Reality TV show about wine? To me this is a brilliant idea so you know I didn’t come up with it, but I think this would be a hit!
Some of you are probably familiar of a show called “The Voice.”. I’ve never watched it but after this I will. The premise behind The Voice is simple: you have known music personalities listen to blind auditions of wannabe singers. The stars pick the guy they like and the competition begins. The stars coach their protégés through the competition until they crown a winner. The viewer gets to see the stuff that people in the music business must contend with on the road to making it big.
Now, what if we apply this to wine? We get four celebrity-status winemakers to do blind tastings of aspiring wine makers wine. They select their guy and the competition begins. We get to see the nitty gritty stuff that goes on and the process of making a great wine, plus what it takes to launch a new wine label. We all know there’s more to the process than just what’s in the bottle! There’s the marketing process, designing the label, selling distributors, visiting retailers and restaurants, going to the tastings, and building a social media campaign. Then, there are the daunting legal and regulatory hurdles that have to be surmounted.
I’m getting all fired up just writing about it. We could pull winemakers from around the world or from different areas of the wine business: a Sommelier from a famous restaurant, a major wine distributor or famous retailer. We could get Gary Vaynerchuk, he’d love it, or a CEO from a major liquor company. I think this is a fantastic idea!
Oh man, think of the pairings we could come up with. William Koch could be a coach and Rudy Kurniawan could be the winemaker and they could call the wine SO, SO SUE ME! Or Drew Bledsoe could be paired with Tim Tebow to make the first 100 point Sacramental wine in Canada! Bethenny Frankel of SkinnyGirl could face off against Guy Anderson of Fat Bastard wines. I’m having way too much fun with this.
Well, I understand a show similar to this already exists. It’s called “CRUSHED” formally called “The Winemaker” and it’s into its second season on PBS, who knew? I am told it’s like “Top Chef” collides with the “Apprentice”. I think my idea would be far more interesting and positive. They wouldn’t have made up situations to deal with; they’d have the real challenges of making a wine start up work, which would be challenging enough. I’ll be looking to see if “CRUSHED” is listed in my area.
Now, there is a problem with this idea, how do we get the public involved? With current laws in place we couldn’t send out little sample bottles for people to try and vote, and watching a guy sample wine on TV would be like watching grass grow or a guy fishing, wait that one actually works. Well, let me go work out the bugs on this and I’ll get back to you. Check out and see if CRUSHED is listed on you PBS network. Stay thirsty my friends!
Don’t forget to send me your suggestions for the Great White Wine Hunt!
Griffy on Wine 