In the same month as Decanter Magazine launched it’s electronic version for the iPhone new wine magazine ‘By The Bottle’ launched its first issue exclusively for the iPad. Revolutionary by wine trade standards By The Bottle is entirely electronic and it’s free. Billed as an innovative lifestyle magazine for wine lovers it ‘offers a blend of articles that range from being fun and lighthearted to serious and provocative.’ If Decanter is your wine enthused Uncle then By The Bottle is your floppy haired, posh, younger cousin.
Unlike any wine title gone before, to the untrained eye By The Bottle could be mistaken for a copy of men’s mag GQ: it’s a little bit sexy with an undertone of Top Gear meets Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. As an exclusively electronic magazine it punches above its weight in terms of artistic and technical impact with enough pop-ups and push-me buttons to keep even the most disengaged wine drinkers turning the page.
Pushing the boundaries of wine writing outside of the geeky the first issue seems a little fragmented in it’s features list addressing topics for the boys like which car to drive on a booze cruise, learning to play poker, cigars and gangster movies you may have missed. Then for the girls there’s a recipe for muffins and doing yoga at your desk….. The lean towards the blokey is a shame because for all the trend setting and lifestyle ambience the magazine should be credited with its only downfall is its nod towards the future self of your floppy haired cousin fairing in the footsteps of your wine enthused Uncle.
Only last week The Sunday Times Style magazine listed ‘ordering wine confidently’ in position number 12 of it’s 40 things to do before you’re 40 guide that every self respecting woman in the country should be referring to. So why, at a time when women are literally crying out for the wine trade to speak to them, is it so much easier to masculinise wine?
We talk about a trade whose future success relies on engaging with the millenials and the techno savvy and engaging By The Bottle has taken major strides to reach out to 50% of them but if women are still feeling baffled by wine as they approach their 40s I can’t help thinking By the Bottle is missing a Miss Bouquet trick.
By The Bottle is available to download for free from the iTunes App store.
