Merlots from Canada - What a drop

Hi. This is Wayne Mansfield with an update to Merlot A Day. Sorry I've been away for a while, but I've actually been away for five weeks. And over the next few episodes, I'll update you with the merlots I've been drinking from all over the world. We spent two and a bit weeks in the UK. Some fabulous merlots, but unfortunately not from the UK.

So I'll come back in a later episode and tell you the fabulous Chilean and other South American merlots I was tasting there. Then I spent some time in Canada, and we're going to talk in this session about three merlots that I tasted when I was in Canada. And then a couple of weeks on the Zuiderdam cruise ship and the wines that they had to share. So today I'm going to talk about three particular merlots. Lauren, who's putting together this video, will have behind me also the vineyard tours notes, how the wine is put together and why that's special. But three particular ones.

So the first one was called Sterling Merlot. And I'm a steak and merlot person. My best steak ever in my whole life, and that's not exaggeration, was at Whistler resort, the Westin Inn. It was absolutely fabulous. And it came with a local merlot, a Canadian merlot from the Sterling estate. So its merlot is just superb. In terms of cost, I'm not really sure, because we were in a five-star hotel, so they were charging outrageously for it.

But it's probably a $25 a bottle, really great taste, and I would give it, if it was possible, five glasses out of five on our scale. It was great value, amazing drinking, and very moorish. So that's the first one. And then on our trip we went a bit further down the track, and we went to Jasper's Creek, which is part of the Rocky Mountains. And there, with the evening meal we tried Cedar's Creek Merlot. It was superb.

Again, we don't hear much about Canada, because their wineries are very small and they produce, you know, five to ten thousand dozen bottles. So they're not exported anywhere of any extent in the world. But if you go to Canada, I'd recommend Cedar's Creek Merlot. It's a great drop. Again, pretty close to top. I would think it's probably $35 a bottle, but a great drink. And then in Banff at the Banff Springs Fairmont Hotel, which is just, just superb, we had with our evening meal a wine called La Frenz Merlot. Now I don't think it was a Canadian one with a name like La Frenz.

But it could have been, because as you know, French Canada, they have great wines as well. So the notes that Lauren had put up with this video will say where that comes from. But again, a superb merlot. But this one was nudging about $50 a bottle. So on the value stakes, probably not as good as the Sterling, but certainly a fabulous drink. So there's three more to my Merlot A Day, as I go around the world trying to sample every merlot that there is in the world. I can tell you it's a fabulous journey, and thanks for sharing it. 

So disappointing... best steak in Sydney no longer!!

Oooops not so good STEAK

It has been three years since I had steak at The Meat and Wine Co Steakhouse on Darling Harbour and I was so looking forward to my "steak on a plate..." and glass of merlot.

Well, the experience was just above average!! The service was terrible... the first time I can remember the waiter rubbing my shoulder... yes, the young waiter rubbed my shoulder and said... "I will be your server this evening..."

The time from being seated to having my order taken was inordinately long... and my Merlot took even longer to arrive. My standard order is "rib-eye steak please, medium rare and NOTHING else... no sides, no sauce, no chips... just the steak and my red..

Well from the photo you can see the steak was covered in "something" and it was COLD... and I rarely leave any steak behind... well I could finish this one.

So on my Platypus Jack scale it was a 1/5 because I at least got to eat half. I won't be back there for at least 3 years!!

Give your good stuff away for FREE and charge for your better stuff - the NEW reality

Here is Seth Godin's blog for today:

Better than free

Seth Godin

How do you compete with free? How does a wedding photographer or a travel agent—someone who used to

make a good living performing a task that was hard to do without them—compete against ubiquitous free alternatives?

There's only one way: Sell something better than free.

Make a product or provide a service that's worth paying for.

You don't need a better way to talk about what you do, or a better gimmick, or a better social media strategy. In fact, you need to reinvent and rebuild what you make for a new reality, a reality where paying for something is an intentional act of buying something way better than the free alternative.

I'm sorry if this seems obvious. It's apparently not obvious to all the frustrated people I encounter who are still trying to sell the old thing in a new market.

My advice..

Give your good stuff away for free - what you used to charge for before, and charge for your better stuff!!

A to Q of Social Media Optimisation

The all new principles of SMO, Focus on the user and all SEO will follow. 

ⓐ Create – Maximize your creativity with original quality content.

ⓑ Relate – Create relatable content, or make your content relatable.

ⓒ Captivate – Fun and interesting content, stand out from the noise.

ⓓ Arouse – Arouse an emotion, it is the constant of all viral success.

ⓔ Enjoy – Have Fun! All the most popular media personalities enjoy it.

ⓕ Share – Seek shareable content, Reciprocate sharing with movers.

ⓖ Acknowledge – Acknowledging others encourages engagement.

ⓗ Contribute – Find ways to contribute desired value to audience.

ⓘ Influencers – Identify key influencers to foster connections with.

ⓙ Communities – Existing communities can expand your reach .

ⓚ Reputation – Build personal reputation & brand, as a reliable source.

ⓛ Engagement – Tag – Cite – Reply – Comment – Proactively engage.

ⓜ Authority – Become a notable authority in a field of expertise.

ⓝ Leadership – Lead in social with original ideas, be a Thought Leader.

ⓞ Social – Be sociable, try to visualize & reach the individual person.

ⓟ Media – Learn to master the media platforms you need to reach.

ⓠ Optimization – Target, optimize content/keywords integral to SMO

For more about SMO check out PEG FITZPATRICK

Strategies for Succeed in Business [Book Review WINNING without LOSING]

Whatever your job is, chances are you find it hard to switch off. Today, we work longer hours, at weekends, at home and on the move - while the office is only ever a click away via smartphones and the Internet. But as much as we assume that this is the price of success - it doesn't have to be this way. Martin Bjergegaard and Jordan Milne are here to show you how to build your business into something big, sustainable and widely recognized - and still lead a happy, whole and balanced life.

Martin Bjergegaard worked for McKinsey & Cobefore becoming one of the co-founders of Rainmaking. Along with his co-founders, built a portfolio of 8 startups with a total of 50 million dollars in annual revenue, 100 employees, and offices in London, Copenhagen and Munich. Jordan Milne is a respected Canadian entrepreneur and writer and a contributing editor at NYC-based financial magazine AiCIO As a member of The Sandbox Network; the foremost global community of extraordinary young achievers below 30, he helps aspiring young leaders accomplish their goals.

Buy in Australia from Fishpond