We just launched our website. And would appreciate comments. However I don't want to be accused of "SPAMING". Where should I place the link so that I don't offend anyone?

Thanks!

Sounds to me like it would belong under Buying and Selling Wine (although I only speak for myself). Very considerate of you to ask--I hope your wines are as good as your manners!

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"I've gotta be honest with you, guys. I need more cowbell."

Seems to me that listing the winery name in your "signature" would be OK. I do it. It also helps identify to everyone that you're In The Biz. Helps prevent "hidden agendas".

And in this case... we could all pretty much figure out the web address. Unless it wasn't obvious.

Loring Wine Company

Buying and Selling sounds like the right place, BUT you got my attention here anyways!
CHEERS...

Just post it here. You've been a member for almost 2 years. It's not like you are coming onto the site just to sell something.

Once you tell us where you work I can add you to the "Winemakers on WS" thread.

VM

Just do it.

Hear-Hear...oh wait, I think it's Here-Here!!

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"From wine what sudden friendship springs!"

Winemaster,

I bumped the winemakers thread for you.

VM

We spent a considerable amount of time in development. We would very much appreciate your feedback. (Either negative or positive) What we are looking for:

Is the site comprehensive?
Does it “flow?”
Is the information adequate?
What are we missing?
And most of all; do you like it?

www.frankfamilyvineyards.com

We thank you!

The website looks pretty thorough to me. It has all the necessary links and flows smoothly.

The only things I would add are:

1. Have your email address displayed on other pages besides the FAQ. I know you had the box in the "Contact Us" section, but having the email addy is good too.

2. How 'bout some pics of the tasting room?

Looks good. But, you might want to label the sparklers as sparkling wine, rather than champagne. Would be nice also to have more info on how the wines are made, where the grapes come from,who makes them, etc. Also, are other members of the family involved? If so, who, and what do they do.
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"Wine Makes Everyone Hopeful"---Aristotle or Plato

It looks very nice. However, I second the suggestion to replace "Champagne" with "sparkling wine".

I look forward to trying your wines.

I think your site looks excellent! Your wines also look wonderful.

I do agree with the "Champagne" thingie though.

Site looks great, easy to navigate, flows well. I really like when a winery site combines the ability to read about a wine (tasting notes and technical details) with the ability to purchase as you have.

I do have some suggestions however:

One thing I find missing from most winery web sites are notes on previous vintages. You should consider adding a section on with technical details and tasting notes on past vintages that are no longer available for purchase, and if you have updated notes on how a wine is progressing those should be posted to. Justin winery has a neat feature they publish which is a vintage chart of their specific wines going back about 10 years, you may want to consider that also. I think wineries underestimate how much interest there is (at least from wine geeks like me) on gathering info on wines in the cellar (or when considering for purchase, such as at auction).

Secondly, if you have a mailing list: On your contact page, you should indicate so, and include a form by which one can sign up.

When viewing product for purchase, allow the shopper to add an item to the cart without having to drill all the way into that item. In other words, say someone has clicked to view "Red Wines". The shopper is presented with seven choices, but in order to order any of them they must click on each in order to add to the cart. You should have the ability to add to cart both on the page displaying all seven items AND the specific item page.

On your order page, do not require the user to input the billing and shipping address twice if they happen to be the same. Simply add a check box to indicate that the shipping address is the same as the billing address.

On your order page you require a field for "County" - huh? Why, this is unnecessary. If this is for tax rate, implement the technology to figure it out from Zip code.

Finally, PLEASE have the respect to change "Champagne" to "Sparkling Wine" as others have mentioned.

Hope this helps

Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were forced to live on nothing but food and water for days. - W. C. Fields

Yes, Eric makes a good suggestion w/ regards to having tasting notes (and even critics' reviews and scores) of previous vintages.

Some winery websites have them and I find them extremely useful when I want to a) open a bottle or b) purchase one from other sources like online wine auctions.

I like the site but would like to see more info on the wines. Since you can't taste wine across the internet, interesting reading is a great replacement.

Oh, and you teased me right into wanting to try your 99 Cab but it seems no one ever ships to NJ.

I thought the layout was nice looking and easy to navigate.

I would agree that more information regarding the wines is always desirable. Detailed technical information and winemakers notes are always appreciated. Even better if they are also available to download in .pdf format to keep with my personal wine info.

In the "Our Wines" section, I thought it a bit odd that you classified all your reds together, but then had a separate area just for Chardonnay, "Champagne" & Port.

Also, as has been mentioned several times already, you really do need to change the "Champagne" area to "Sparkling Wine" . I'm sure it was probably an unintentional mistake, but as an educated consumer, it would turn me off right away.

All the best and good luck! Any retailers in Illinois where I can try your reds?

I have to be contrary here, just for information's sake: This was Hans Kornell Champagne Cellars from a long, long time ago, and I think it is quite reasonable if the winery wishes to keep the legacy intact even though the main winery's name has changed. Besides, its just semantics. I can't fathom anyone calling a sparkling wine "champagne" if they had, say, come on the scene within the last 20-30 years
(Schramsberg being a prime example.), but it is not the case here. Still, I would consider a change if only to avoid offending uppity people.

Uppity?

I beg your pardon...I resemble that remark.

It looks like you got some good content recommendations.

So my comment is about the time it took to go from page to page. I have a 10 MB link to the internet so this shouldn't be a problem. Either there was a lot of trafic at the time I was looking at your site or your graphics are not compressed as much as the could be. A pretty site tends not to crunch down the graphics as much as they could.

If nobody else has this problem then is probably the first reason and you can ignore me.

GMT, that is interesting background and I am glad you posted it. I am still of the opinion it should be changed to "Sparkling Wine". Continuing to call it Champagne only continues a legacy that ought not to have ever begun.

Gewurz makes a good point about moving from one page to another.

Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were forced to live on nothing but food and water for days. - W. C. Fields

I wasn't following that thread (perhaps I should go check it out), but imo it is not the same thing. Discussing California wines as Rhone style is different than calling a California wine "Champagne". Now if a California vintner called their wine "Chateaunuef-de-Papes" or "Hermitage" then you would have a case. No vintner is their right mind would do such a thing in this day and age.

Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were forced to live on nothing but food and water for days. - W. C. Fields

Well done, looks good. I toured through looking for the things that I had left out, and the main one is the declaration of age over 21 when ordering. This is a legal requirement in Australia (18 years) for obvious liquor licence reasons.
Also, get your terms and conditions in there now. It was not completed when I looked.
pete

www.peterhowlandwines.com

To all who took a few moments to look at our website and post feedback; we really appreciate your input. The comments have been very helpful. This site took a considerable amount of time to design. We are grateful for your suggestions.