My Latest Interview: “Thinking Outside the Bottle”
“Post-Pandemic, Wine Writers Prepare for a More Diverse and Delicious Future”
by Kathleen Willcox
Kathleen Willcox, co-founder of the drinks marketing publication Thinking Outside the Bottle, interviews L.M. Archer and other wine writers about the future of wine writing, post-pandemic.
“Wine writers occupy a strange, small precipice that hovers over, observes and analyzes—and is deeply impacted by—several industries. Publishing, travel, events and of course, the business of making, shipping and selling wine itself. The pandemic has had an outsize effect on all of these sectors, and it’s unclear how and if they will ever return to what they were.
Even before COVID hit, some of these industries, particularly publishing, were on shaky ground.
According to an analysis in The New York Times, pay cuts and shutdowns across the media landscape have been widespread since the economic downturn that left 30 million Americans unemployed,. An estimated 37,000 media employees have been laid off, furloughed or had their pay cut.
The travel industry suffered worldwide losses of $4.5 trillion, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s annual Economic Impact Report. The live events industry lost an estimated $30 billion. The 97% of U.S. wineries that produce 50,000 cases or less annually lost an estimated 36%-66% of their revenue in 2020, the California Wine Institute reports.
The direct impact on the industry, from losses in sales and tourism, is estimated to be $5.9 billion, according to a study from Sonoma’s School of Business and Economics.
If the industries that pay wine writers’ bills are all in the red, where does that leave the writers themselves? The truth is, it’s complicated….
L.M. Archer, a writer, photographer and content provider for consumer, B2B and B2C platforms, her work can be found in Wine Enthusiast, The Buyer and Oregon Wine Press, among many others:
Like many of us, Lyn’s wallet took a serious hit due to the shutdowns, at least initially….” READ FULL ARTICLE HERE.
Photography by L.M. Archer here.
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