Cosmic Questions for Galen Struwe of Sacre Bleu

From Mutineer magazine...(article link)


What is Sacre Bleu?

Sacre Bleu is no more or no less than a clever name for our wine. Most people get that it is a bit of a gag or innocuous curse word. The fact is that the literal French translation is “Sacre Bleu” and is an old reference to the Virgin Mary in Renaissance paintings.

How is Sacre Bleu different from more traditional French wines?

Sacre Bleu still tips its hat to the French traditions in that our Meritage Cuvee Gustave Fayet tastes out like a classic Bordeaux and the Pinot Noir still bears an earthy presence with the new world wine nod to being fruit forward. Our Chardonnay is unoaked so I’m not sure that we could be defined as radically un-French.

Talk about the production process and vineyard sources for Sacre Bleu wines.

Gustave Viennet is our winemaker. His estate is Chateau de Raissac in Languedoc. It’s been in his family for six generations so all of Sacre Bleu wines are entirely estate bottled. We’re pretty damn lucky to have Gustave Viennet making this wine. He’s a young man connected firmly to French winemaking but spent a couple of years attending high school in New York. So he knows what the American consumer prefers in a wine. He’s actually merged two distinct styles of winemaking; kind of an old world meets new world presentation.

How does Sacre Bleu use new media to connect with its drinkers?

We are fully committed to Web 2.0 or as the wine industry has come to embrace it as Wine 2.0. Look, there is no question that the brands of tomorrow are going to emerge from these platforms. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, Myspace and others have become the central conduits for the credible flow of information and entertainment content. ROI’s [Return On Investment] for big ads in Network television and major market newspapers are hard to rationalize anymore. The audience is not spending their time there anymore….big companies are slow to realize this.

Explain your unique partnership with the Fillmore.

The Fillmore Miami Beach is a Live Nation venue. Our promotional partnership with the Fillmore is a beautiful thing. We have been given great access to brand in the venue and to our credit we have done so quite tastefully. The Fillmore’s have great tradition so it was incumbent upon us as a corporate citizen to establish a presence there without seeming to intrude. Brand, be cool, be effective in getting your message out but do it with the same integrity found in the musical history of the Fillmore. I like what we have done there. So much of the credit for our presence there goes to our Jill Elliott and Matt McKenna from Live Nation.

Where are Sacre Bleu wines available?

Here’s the good news. The brand is expanding in 2009. We’ve made consumer impacts in Florida and the Mid West but plans for 2009 will enable us to be far more accessible.

Maria De Los Angeles takes us on a video tour of the Fillmore and the Sacre Bleu wine bar

We opened the Sacre Bleu Wine Bar inside the Fillmore Miami Beach last Saturday to help celebrate the music of David Byrne and Brian Eno. Maria streamed live from the Fillmore and we made it accesible through out Twitter page for everyone to enjoy. If you missed her check it out here. This is a world class concert venue. We love being there.

A wine blog that honors irreverence

Wine blogs are plentiful. There are literally hundreds to choose from. They come from wine industry insiders, wine consumers and often casual wine observers who use wine as simply an occasion to blog. Blogging about wine has become a bit of a cottage industry. In fact, it has it's own Top 100.

With a few exceptions,what's been lacking in this growing landscape is humor and personality. No one inside takes on the bloggers to suggest that they may be a bit too serious and polite. We couldn't possibly mock ourselves. This is wine, after all...until now.

We give you Wine-ing 2.0. This is the perhaps the most original writing out there today. It is irreverent. It is unapologetic. It wants to bite the hand that feeds it. It wants to instigate. In short, it is refreshingly entertaining. It is not, however, prolific. Its author seems to have the output of Guns n Roses. Posts come way to infrequently.

2008 has been a good year for writing about wine. We've seen a number of good blogs come on the scene. We really enjoy Katie Pizzuto at Gonzo Gastronomy She is both insightful and persuasive. We love what Courtney Cochran is doing with Hip Tastes. and Mutineer Magazine completely changes the alcohol beverage magazine game.

Read on. All of these writers are to be savored and paired to wonderful wines. If we're on a roll here then 2009 is gonna be a great year to read and drink.

Jill with Gary Vaynerchuk in Miami

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The Sacre Bleu Wine Bar @ The Fillmore Miami Beach

New photos from the Sacre Bleu Wine Bar at the Fillmore in Miami Beach. More photos to come...