“How do you embrace the democratization of content, the cheapening of content, while maintaining the integrity of your brand?” That’s how Daniel Alegre, president at Google for worldwide partnerships and business solutions, framed the challenge for traditional publishing in the digital media age. He was speaking at the 8th Annual Institute of Masters of Wine Symposium, on the opening panel, briefly interrupted by the mayor of Florence, Italy, who arrived on Italian time to give his welcome. There are more than 450 attendees here in Florence, including more than 120 who have passed the Master of Wine exam.
Sarah Jane Evans MW, next in line as president of the Institute of Masters of Wine, lead the panel, titled “Wine Communication: reaching tomorrow’s audiences.” It included Alegre as well as Jancis Robinson MW, the book author, wine writer for the Financial Times and chief at jancisrobinson.com, and Alessandro Torcoli, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Civittà del Bere, the Italian wine magazine based in Milan.
Daniel Alegre demonstrating a Google Hangout, with (from left), Sarah Jane Evans MW, Alessandro Torcoli and Jancis Robinson
Alegre’s main pitch was for Google’s Hangouts, a product that allows marketers to conduct one-to-many videoconferences with their customers, providing a direct interaction. In keeping with his job title, he suggests that companies finance these hangouts with the support of marketing partnerships.
Jancis Robinson
Robinson, who has powerfully leveraged a career in print journalism to build her presence on the Web, was blunt in her assessment that print is on a phase out. Robinson suggested that the future for books may only be in very high-quality editions, and went on to describe her entry into digital media as giving her a sense of freedom from editors.
It prompted me to ask the panel about the role of editors in the digital media community, and whether that role had been completely usurped by the search function.
Alegre suggested that there is a place for editors as curators on the Web—a job title, it might be worth pointing out, that is used often by digital retail clerks, who curate selections for customers. “People are going to be interested in someone organizing information,” he said. But there is a basic difference between curating content and the traditions that have evolved in the role of a magazine editor. There is certainly value in filtering the material that has already been produced on the Web. But editors initiate content generation; they select content creators who have particular expertise or talent regarding a specific subject and assign stories to them. They are active rather than merely reactive.
Evans acknowledged the challenge of the digital environment for editors, having played the role in print for much of her career. She believes that editors play a crucial role in shaping a discussion and lending perspective. A talented editor’s selection of the relevant information to deliver in a magazine, newspaper or book helps strengthen and focus a media brand.
Another attendee raised the issue of conflicts of interest posed by marketing partnerships, to which Alegre gave the standard response of digital media purveyors that young people today are more alert to marketing, and can tell when it is happening. In his presentation, however, he had given an example of just how a Google search can be scammed by marketers (a tale of how Jeep had neglected to purchase Google keywords prior to a major promotion, allowing their savvy competitor to do so and steal away the interest of those who went online for more information).
Given Alegre’s suggestion that editors may become curators in the digital media world, and Robinson’s misty-eyed view of Internet publishing, I remain puzzled about the future. The very element that I love most about my job description is quickly being redacted.
End Note: Rather than post this without an editor, I chose to delay its publication for 12 hours so that Tara Q. Thomas, the executive editor at Wine & Spirits, could read the text, remove some unnecessarily incendiary material, and clarify some of the argument.This is a W&S web exclusive feature.
Joshua Greene is the editor and publisher of Wine & Spirits magazine.
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Stephanie Johnson
Italian Wine Critic
Stephanie joined Wine & Spirits Magazine as Tasting Director in 2013 and became Italian Wine Editor in 2016. She spends a significant amount of time each year visiting Italy’s wine regions, tasting with producers and researching articles about their practices. Stephanie holds the WSET Diploma in Wine & Spirits and has worked in the wine retail and restaurant sectors, including five years as Wine Director at City Winery in NYC’s SoHo district. She previously worked in textbook publishing as an editor and marketing manager in Minneapolis, Chicago, Austin and Tokyo.
Thomas Whalen.
Sales Manager
Tom worked in fine wine sales at Zachy’s in Westchester and Crush in NYC before joining the W&S team handling advertising sales. A graduate of Skidmore College, Tom got his start in the industry through hospitality, including a stint as the GM and partner in Post Office Bar. He has also done consulting work for private clients on their wine cellars.
Tom brings a depth of knowledge to his role and, when he’s not networking with marketers, he’s busy raising his one-year-old son, listening to classic rock, or dipping back into Jon Bonné’s California Wine.
Alissa Bica
Tastings Coordinator
Based in Los Angeles, California, Alissa Bica is the Associate Editor and Spirits Critic at Wine & Spirits. She is also a sommelier at 71 Above and co-runs the home wine tasting company, Côte Brune and Blonde. In any rare moments of free time, she writes about obscure grape varieties in the blog Off the Beaten Wine Path.
David Paradela
Associate Editor
David joined Wine & Spirits in 2021 after immersing himself in the world of wine at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally from Boston, he graduated from Boston University with a degree in English and completed a master’s degree in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College in 2021. Prior to working at the magazine, he served as an editor and staff writer for the music blog Sound of Boston and worked in scientific publishing. Aside from wine, he loves basketball, arguing about Taylor Swift’s best album, and everything Greta Gerwig touches.
Corey Warren
Tastings Editor
Corey Warren moved to New York in 2015—fifteen years too late to join The Strokes—after earning a degree at Cornell in Comparative Literature. He started polishing glasses at Betony and threw himself into the restaurant world. Later, while a captain at Aquavit, he began working part time in the Wine & Spirits tasting department. Now, in addition to running tastings, he serves as critic for the wines of the Loire, Southern France, Argentina and South Africa. Corey likes almost anything bubbly, from Miller High Life, the Champagne of beers, to Champagne, the Champagne of Champagne, but he’ll drink anything once, and loves finding unique wines.
Tara Q. Thomas
Editor at Large
Since Tara Q. Thomas joined Wine & Spirits in 1997, she’s traveled the wine world from Argentina to Australia. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, with more than 20 years of experience in the food and wine world, Tara puts her culinary knowledge to use as W&S’s resident food critic, and is the critic for the wines of Austria, Germany, Eastern Europe, Argentina, and the Mediterranean. She’s particularly enthusiastic about the wines of Greece, where she once lived and cooked. Outside of W&S, Tara has authored two books, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wine Basics and The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Wine; contributed to the Oxford Companion to Cheese as well as Oxford’s forthcoming volume on spirits; and writes a wine column for Culture: The Word on Cheese.
Patrick J. Comiskey
Senior Correspondent
A former sommelier, Patrick J. Comiskey serves as the W&S critic for all domestic wines outside of California—including New York, Oregon and Washington—and contributes articles on the wines and viticulture of these areas. His wine travels include regular visits to US wine regions, as well as trips to France, Italy, Germany and Australia. Comiskey’s writing credentials include contributions to the San Francisco Chronicle’s wine section, the Los Angeles Times, Bon Appétit and the Robb Report, and also teaches classes and moderates panels on viticulture, wine tasting and various wine regions. His recent book, American Rhône: How Maverick Winemakers Changed the Way Americans Drink (UC Press 2017), was shortlisted for the 2016 André Simon Food & Drink Book Award and 2017 Louis Roederer Domaine Faiveley Wine Book of the Year.
Annette Farrell
Production Manager
Annette's entire career has revolved around magazine and print production, developing systems, and providing production support for dozens of magazines at a number of large publishing companies, including McGraw Hill, Condé Nast, and Hearst. Annette has joined the Wine & Spirits team to manage our production systems and develop and optimize our print production process.
Susannah Smith
Editorial Coordinator
As a retail buyer, Susannah traveled abroad extensively, especially in Italy and Greece, to learn the stories behind her favorite wines and then connect others with the vines and the humans that make them. She is excited to join W&S, since that is the magazine’s mission. Raised to be curious, she finds, after over 20 years in the world of food and wine, that she loves best how wine touches so many disciplines—history, language, geology, cuisine, biology, horticulture—keeping the quest for knowledge fresh every day.
Joshua Greene
Publisher & Editor
Editor and Publisher of Wine & Spirits since 1986, Joshua Greene began drinking wine with meals during a summer in Galicia, Spain, at the age of 13. In later years, he worked in wine shops in western Massachusetts and served as wine captain at Wheatleigh, a small inn in Lenox. After graduating from Princeton University in 1981, Greene pursued a career in magazines, focusing on the management of special-interest publications. His work with Wine & Spirits began on a consulting basis, eventually leading to his purchase of the magazine in 1989.
Greene has traveled extensively in the wine regions of Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and all the major wine regions of the United States. In addition to his duties as editor and publisher, Greene serves as the critic for Napa Valley, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Portugal, Rioja, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He also writes feature stories and commentary for each issue of the magazine.
Nick Mrozowski
Art Director
As the former creative director of WWD magazine and Adweek magazine in New York Nick has extensive experience in the areas of advertising, marketing and branding.
Roy Schneider Jr.
Director of Finance
Roy joined Wine & Spirits in 2003 to oversee the daily and long-term finances of the magazine. He handles cash flow works alongside the publisher to develop and fine tune strategic plans; Roy also manages basic business operations of the company—from IT to human resources. If there’s a problem, he’ll solve it.
Having begun his career on Wall Street, Roy holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and has worked for a number of corporate and boutique firms from New York to Japan. While he clearly enjoys wines—having, over the years, sampled many thousands—he remains true to his Caribbean roots and maintains a primary love for rum.
Chloe Jenkins
Account Manager
Having spent nearly a decade in the marketing world, Chloe followed her enthusiasm for wine to work at a wine marketing company, before joining the team at Wine & Spirits. She loves using creative strategy to help brands tell their stories and connect with their audiences. Chloe holds a Level 3 (Advanced) Certification from the WSET, as well as specializations in French and Italian wine.
Patricio Tapia
Senior Correspondent
After graduating with a degree in journalism from the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Patricio Tapia attended Bordeaux University in France, where he studied for a diploma in wine tasting and winemaking. Since then, he has visited wine regions around the world and authored several books, including his annual Descorchados, a Chilean wine guide; The Wines of Colchagua Valley;TodoVino and Wines for Great Occasions. Tapia is also the South American correspondent for The Oxford Companion to Wine,The World Atlas of Wine and Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book. For the past three years, he’s been a host on the El Gourmet channel in South America. At Wine & Spirits, Tapia is the critic for the wines of Argentina, Chile and Spain, and regularly contributes articles on these regions.
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Google’s Daniel Alegre at the IMW Symposium
Daniel Alegre demonstrating a Google Hangout, with (from left), Sarah Jane Evans MW, Alessandro Torcoli and Jancis Robinson
Jancis Robinson
