IntoWine.com Announces New Web 2.0 Centric Content Strategy

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 24, 2007 -- IntoWine.com (http://www.intowine.com), a destination site for both wine enthusiasts and the wine curious, has re-launched with a new Web 2.0 centric content strategy. The features that form IntoWine's content strategy include:

Wine Country Maps Mash Up - An interactive, Google powered map that plots the various public wineries in Napa and Sonoma (http://www.intowine.com/region-map/sonoma), this maps mash-up is ideal for people planning a wine country road trip or a winery hop. IntoWine is profiling every public winery in Sonoma and Napa with plans to expand the tool to other wine regions thereafter.

Contributing Writers - The site has more than 30 contributers writing columns on everything from wine storage to Napa Valley wine careers.

Wine Quiz - Pulling from nearly 100 different wine trivia (http://www.intowine.com/node/330/quiz/start) questions, the quiz asks a different random set of questions each time a user participates.

Wine Storage - A considerable portion of IntoWine is devoted to detailing issues related to wine storage (http://www.intowine.com/wine-oddsnends/wine-storage).

Social Networking - A social networking component is scheduled to launch in the Fall of 2007. Users will be able to create their own personal profile, create and join public and private wine discussion groups, inventory their cellars, and post their wine "wish lists" among other things.

Wine and Food Pairing Engine - What's a good wine to serve with that mint marinated rack of lamb? Scheduled to launch in Fall 2007, the food and wine pairing engine aims to empower users with the wisdom of the masses. Users will be able to upload their wine and food pairing recommendations right into the tool. Users can then search for "Lamb", "Rack of Lamb", or "Rack of Lamb with Mint" and see myriad recommendations of specific bottles to pair with the dish.

Video Wine Tasting Reviews - Scheduled for launch in early 2008, the Video Wine Tastings will be an Ebert & Roepert style panel review for wines under $15. Panels will consist of 2-4 wine experts with the experts rotating depending on the week. Users can sit at home and taste wines right along with the panel, comparing and contrasting their own tasting notes with those of the experts.

IntoWine.com President Brad Prescott commented on the strategy: "We acquired IntoWine in February of 2007 and immediately embarked on an aggressive site transformation with a new design and content strategy. The old site we inherited was like finding a rare painting in the attic. We dusted it off and realized there was this amazing content on the site, it just needed to be cleaned up and made current. We re-launched the site with dozens of new contributing writers, a new look and feel, and a commitment to empowering wine enthusiasts by offering the latest in Web 2.0 applications. There is so much wine knowledge out there -from wine industry professionals to home enthusiasts- and we want to provide a forum for people to both share their knowledge and learn about wine from each other."

Regarding the new features, Prescott added: "For the interactive wine maps, we are organizing wine country so people can find the types of experiences they want. Some people are seeking a quiet place for a blanket picnic, others are seeking great Pinot Noir. Simply. we want to make a wine road trip less of a random shot in the dark.

The Video Wine Tastings are something which we hope wine labels and distributors in particular will embrace. They know their wines better than anyone, it's free advertising for them, and what wine maker wouldn't want to guide consumers to the ideal food pairing for their wine?

Wine storage is another area we are excited about. People spend thousands and thousands of dollars building a wine collection. The wrong decision on how and where to store the wine can result in a huge loss of time and money. Our plan is to slowly but surely become an authoritative wine storage resource by covering every angle of it. We don't sell wine storage solutions so it's easy for us to be unbiased.

Finally, our contributing writers are a key factor for us as they provide a broad spectrum of opinions about wine. We have a diverse group of writers -chefs, winemakers, wine directors, and enthusiasts- so there is no one voice of IntoWine. And that is deliberate because wine has universal appeal."

Founded in 1996, IntoWine.com was acquired in early 2007 by EMG Media LLC, a privately funded San Francisco based web publishing firm.

###