After a four-year gestation, it’s nearly come to realisation. The new OnWine website is just days from going live. I offer this news with a mix of excitement, anxiety and relief. Excitement because without doubt it’s the most significant thing my business has ever created; anxiety because at time of writing it hasn’t yet been given the final seal of approval and relief because I’ve been referring to it in this newsletter for longer than I’d care to remember. In a nutshell, the website puts my whole working life and history online. It includes the online version of The OnWine Australian Wine Annual, which is fully searchable and sortable. It will also be updated monthly, to incorporate new releases and wine before release. All my articles and tasting notes will be online. The site also offers a daily wine news resource, wine educational material and even a live feed of share prices for Australia’s publicly listed wine companies. There will be four levels of subscriber to the site. Level 1 (Hobbyist) is free. It enables access to a database of all articles and tasting notes of at least three months age. It will also feature basic educational material, a calendar of wine events and wine educational videos as they become available. Level 2 (Enthusiast) will cost $3 per month. It provides access to the entire online version of The OnWine Australian Wine Annual, plus upgraded educational content. Level 3 (Expert) costs $8 per month, for which subscribers are able to access this newsletter live over the net. Many readers of the publication as hard copy might prefer to switch to the electronic version at the conclusion of their existing subscriptions. After a three-month period subsequent to initial publication, all articles and tasting notes then become available to the (free) Level 1 subscribers. The top level of subscriber is Level 4 (Insider). These subscribers will receive daily e-mailed newsbriefs (five per week), which will basically deliver what I learned about Australian wine the day before. This should include a mix of news, comment and the usual flavour of opinion with which readers of this newsletter should be familiar. Insiders also receive a free posted hard copy of The OnWine Australian Wine Annual and priority invitations to events such as The OnWine Experience and The OnWine Briefing, about which more will be uttered on another occasion. The fee for Insiders is $12 per month. Just so you can give it a try, I am delighted to offer existing subscribers to the hard copy of this newsletter a free one-month trial, at all levels. You won’t be posted a copy of my book, but you should be able to have a good crack across the functionality of the entire site. I will be mailing you shortly with the information you will need to give it a thorough work-out.
