We are thrilled to announce that you can now find even more of your favorite wines on Grappos.com. 34 new brands, in fact. Lots of really interesting wines from France, Italy, Chile, Spain, New Zealand and California.

Here's the complete list of new brands we added this week:

1749
Baron De Chartrons
Brady Vineyard
Brovida Cordara
Buca di Beppo
Capricho
Caves du Fournalet
Chateau De LA Roche
Cipressi
Contemassi
Cosme Palacio
Evohe
Finca El Origen
Glorioso
Gran Vino Sanson
Heritages
Jean D'Aosque
Jenard
Les Hospices
Masseria Del Fauno
Monti Guidi
Paso Grande
Penascal Estate
Piccolo Fiore
Pierre Chainier
Pol Remy
Poor Bob's
Roc De Chateauvieux
RSVP
Santa Carolina
Santa Dorotea
Secreto
Vina Mayor
Von Wilhelm

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Today, Hahn released a major update to their iPhone app. Actually, it's not as much of an update as a completely new app - and it's fantastic! As always, they're using the Grappos Mobile Service to provide the store location feature so their customers can find the neartest store or restaurant that carries their wines. It looks great, too.

It seems like they took their time and built this app the right way and it shows. It's fast, looks good, focuses on the important stuff and even uses some really nice animation on the "Wine" page. When you're on that page, try swiping the bottles sideways and you'll see what I mean.

Great work!

Click here to get the Hahn Family Wines iPhone app at the iTunes App Store

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After a lot of thoughtful, hard work, King Estate released their iPhone App and it's a good one. They've found a way to put the entire King Estate experience (social, shopping, events and more) into a fun and easy to use app for the millions of iOS device users out there. Of course, my favorite part of the app is the "Find Our Wines" feature, which is powered by Grappos. It just takes two taps and you can find the nearest restaurant or retailer that sells your favorite King Estate wines (when you can't buy direct from the source, that is).

Building an app like this can take weeks or months, but adding the Grappos store locator function is usually the easiest part. When our clients let us know that they want to use a locator on an app or mobile site, we send them a link...and that's it. One link that is pasted into the site/app and it takes care of everything for you. That way, you can spend more time making sure the rest of your app/site is something great that people will want to use.

It looks like King Estate did that and succeeded.

Great job @KingEstate!

You can get this app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/king-estate-winery/id472958015?mt=8

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Founded in 1979, La Crema quickly established a reputation for their intensely flavored, handcrafted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Since then, they've continued that tradition and their wines have been called "the ultimate expression of the Russian River Valley, Carneros and Anderson Valley." Most of their wines are easy to find, but 6 of them are only available from La Crema or at the tasting room, located at 235 Healdsburg Ave.

In fact, if you're in the area, check out their beautiful tasting room for one of their pairing events.

La Crema is using a Grappos store locator on their website and Facebook page. They're widely distributed, so you shouldn't have a problem finding their wines locally. For the month of September, you'll be able to find all of their wines in the "Top Picks" tab of the Grappos iPhone app.

http://www.lacrema.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/LaCremaWines

http://www.facebook.com/LaCremaWinery

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Long Meadow Ranch is a family-run operation where Chris, Ted and Laddie constantly strive to make wines that truly complement a meal, using organic, sustainable farming methods. In addition to some great wines, they also produce fruits, vegetables, world-class olive oils and grass-fed beef. If you're in Saint Helena, stop by for a tasting, then head over to Farmstead (the family restaurant) for an amazing lunch or dinner made of the freshest, local ingredients.

Long Meadow Ranch Website

Long Meadow Ranch Facebook Page

Long Meadow Ranch Twitter

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Freemark Abbey is more than a Napa Valley legend, they're one of the reasons the world takes Napa wine so serioulsy. If you've seen the movie Bottle Shock, you probably remember them as the only winery to have 2 wines at the Judgement of Paris, where California wines rocked the world.

Their wines are amazing (love their Petit Syrah) and their tasting room experience is fantastic. We're more than proud to have their wines on Grappos.com. Stop by or their tasting room or find some locally on Grappos.com, their website or the Freemark Abbey Facebook Page.

http://twitter.com/#!/FreemarkAbbey

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Just in time for the holiday weekend, you can now find Kunde Estate, Sonoma Coast Vinters (SCV) and Girard wines on Grappos.com. All three wineries have been producing award-winning wines for years and can be found on their websites, Facebook pages and with the Grappos iPhone app.

http://www.kunde.com/wine-finder

http://www.facebook.com/Kunde

http://www.girardwinery.com/index/page/static/subpage/wine_finder

http://www.facebook.com/girardwinery

http://www.sonomacoastvineyards.com/index/page/static/subpage/scv_wineFinderWine

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The King Estate Winery is located in beautiful Eugene, Oregon and I am really excited to be working with them. For starters, I graduated from the University of Oregon and finally have been looking for a good reason to get back there to see my beloved Ducks this fall. Second, King Estate has an amazing brand and an extremely active, interesting and thorough social media presence. They really know how to work it.

Their website is great and is constantly being updated. It's also a great example of how to make sure your customers know where they can find your store locator. King Estate designed a great map icon and it's always present in the upper right hand corner of the site. They're also using the Grappos Facebook App on their fan page to make sure that the people that don't visit their website can find their wines.

King Estate is set up for success on Grappos and I can't wait to see how many searches they pull in over the next few months. Good luck!

Website:        http://www.kingestate.com
Facebook:     http://www.facebook.com/KingEstate
Twitter:          http://twitter.com/#!/kingestate
Flickr:            http://www.flickr.com/photos/31447757@N04/       

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Sledgehammer Wine is a new brand that we've been working with for a few months. They make two wines - a cab sauv and zinfandel. Grappos isn't privy to their business strategy, but we know that they are doing a great job of managing the brand's social media presence because they are practically melting our servers with searches.To put it in perspective, when I saw how many searches were coming in, I contacted the client to make sure something wasn't wrong. Turns out, they're just executing a brilliant social media campaign and breaking every Grappos record, month after month.

I started to dig into what they were doing and it seems pretty simple. Lots of fun events and entertaining Twitter/Facebook posts that seem like theyre coming from your crazy friend who's always ready for mischief. And I love it.

So they're great Tweeters - a lot of people are. But they're also using every tool Grappos offers. By putting a store locator everywhere their fans hang out, they make it easy for consumers to find their wines immediately at a local retailer.

It takes talent and a consistent effort to get results like this, but you can't argue with success.

http://www.sledgehammerwine.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/Sldgehammerwine

http://www.facebook.com/Sledgehammerwine

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These are the top 10 searches from March 2011.

1)   Sledgehammer Cabernet Sauvignon
2)   Sledgehammer Zinfandel
3)   Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay
4)   Rombauer Zinfandel
5)   Red Truck Red Wine
6)   Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon
6)   Mutt Lynch Unleashed Chardonnay
8)   Semler Cabernet Sauvignon
9)   Mutt Lynch Chateau d'Og Cabernet Sauvignon
10) Mutt Lynch Merlot Over and Play Dead

These are the top 10 searches from February 2011.

1)   Sledgehammer Cabernet Sauvignon
2)   Sledgehammer Zinfandel
3)   Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay
4)   Red Truck Red Wine
5)   Rombauer Zinfandel
6)   Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon
7)   Colores del Sol Malbec
8)   Red Truck Cabernet Sauvignon
9)   Pink Truck Blend
10) Hahn Winery Cabernet Sauvignon

These are the top 10 searches from January 2011.

1)   Rombauer Zinfandel
2)   Sledgehammer Zinfandel
3)   Rombauer Carneros Chardonnay
4)   Sledgehammer Cabernet Sauvignon
5)   Red Truck Red Wine
6)   Colores del Sol Malbec
7)   Picket Fence Pinot Noir, Russian River
8)   Cycles Gladiator Cabernet Sauvignon
9)   Paraiso Pinot Noir
10) Aconga Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon

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Malibu Family Wines is another new client that is doing it right. A great website, a great Facebook presence…and it looks like they have a hell of a good time with their customers!

It seems like their fans are really engaged with the brand, too. The moment they installed their Grappos store locator on their site (http://www.malibufamilywines.com/grappos), it immediately generated a lot of traffic. I'll be visiting LA soon and will definitely make time and drive up Mullholland to Malibu Family Wines to check it out for myself.

https://twitter.com/#!/malibufmlywines
http://www.facebook.com/malibufamilywines
http://www.flickr.com/photos/malibufamilywines/

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Yesterday, we released our new SearchTracker reporting system to all of our clients. Now instead of waiting for a yearly/quarterly report, they can login and view their Grappos search data in realtime. That's handy, especially when you need to see if your last ad or social media campaign is getting any traction. It's pretty obvious to us when a new event, Tweet or Facebook page is getting people interested because we see the interest in certain wines go through the roof.

The new SearchTracker is just the first step towards a much more robust reporting system, but we will be releasing new features to our clients as often as possible. There's always another interesting way to view or interpret data.

We ran a report that shows where people have been looking for wine on Grappos recently and it was pretty surprising. When Grappos got started, the only searches we got were probably from our friends and family. As the business grew, all the searches came from LA, then San Francisco. Nowadays, we get searches from just about every city and town in the country. This map shows where the last few weeks of searches have come from.

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On December 9th, some of the most famous names in Australian wine are coming together for a promotion and contest called, "You Don't Know Oz". The details haven't been released, but Greg Norman Estates, Lindeman's, Penfolds, Rosemount and Wolf Blass are the featured brands, so it should be interesting.

You can also find all of these wines on Grappos.com

Check out the site - http://www.youdontknowoz.com

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A few weeks ago, Chateau St. Jean added a few of their wines to Grappos.com, but now you can find all of their wines on Grappos or at http://www.chateaustjean.com by using their "Retail Finder".

We're big fans of their Cinq Cepages Cabernet Sauvignon and are heading to CostCo today to pick up a few to go with our non-Turkey Thanksgiving dinner extravaganza. http://www.grappos.com/?pid=1875078&zip=94102

Chateau St. Jean also has a nice Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/chateaustjean) where you can keep up on all the latest news and events, like their upcoming open house celebration.

These are the CSJ wines you can search for on Grappos.com.

Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Pinot Noir
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Chardonnay
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Fume Blanc
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Cinq Cepages Cabernet Sauvignon
Chateau St. Jean California Cabernet Sauvignon
Chateau St. Jean California Merlot
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Merlot
Chateau St. Jean La Petite Etoile Vineyard Russian River Valley Fume Blanc
Chateau St. Jean Robert Young Vineyard Alexander Valley Chardonnay
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Riesling
Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Gewurztraminer
Chateau St. Jean Belle Terre Vineyard Alexander Valley Chardonnay

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We just added 118 new brands (almost 600 new products) to the searchable Grappos database. Most of these are available nationally, so if you're looking for some wine, sake or soju from all around the world, give these brands a try. You can also find them by using the Grappos iPhone app, which you can get here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grappos-wine-locator/id393180302?mt=8

Alakey
Albertoni
Alexander & Fitch
Almond Creek
Bad Dog Ranch
Bears' Lair
Bell Wine Cellars
Bivio
Black Mountain
Blue Fin
Brovida Cordara
Brumaio
California Winery
Carmenet
Ce Chateauneuf Du Pape
Cedar Brook
Charles Shaw International
Chateau California
Clos de l'Oratoire
Clos De Nouys Vouvray
Coastal Ridge
Coastal Vines
Congress Springs
Contessagiulia
Cottonwood Creek
Crane Lake
Curtis
Domaine Laurier
Domaine Napa
Dona Sol
Douglass Hill
Down Under
Ernst Gouws & Company
Estrella River
F W Ritzman
Falcone
Fat Cat
Fife
Filus
Forest Glen
Forestville
Fourgreen
Fox Brook
FoxHollow
Gassier Sables d'Azur
Gibson
Grand Cru
Green Fin
Green Truck
Grove Ridge
Hacienda
Haraszthy
Harlow Ridge
Hatsumago
Heliotrope
Heritages
Jarhead
JFJ
JW Morris
Katana
Kurosawa
L'Attitude 39
La Boca
Laurier
Les Moirets
Long Lake
Masked Rider
Medrano
Mizubasho
Monte Guidi
Montpellier
Montresor
Motos Liberty
Naked Earth
Napa Creek
Napa Landing
Napa Ridge
Napa River
Oak Vineyards
Okunomatsu
Pacific Oasis
Patianna
Picket Fence
Pink Truck
PKNT
Powder Keg
Quail Creek
Quail Ridge
Rabbit Ridge
Rancho Sisquoc
Rare Earth
Raymond Hill
Rigal
Robert Hall
Rockbrook
Rockhollow
Rusack
Rutherford Vintners
Salmon Creek
Santa Barbara Crossing
Santa Barbara Landing
Sea Ridge
Silk Road
Silver Ridge
Sonoma Landing
Stonehead
Terra Robles
Terramia
Thousand Oaks
Three Knights
Tierra Brisa
Trellis
Ventana
Veuve Du Vernay
Wild Hare
Yaegaki

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How do you get the word out about where consumers can find your wines?

How do you tell a friend where they can buy a wine you recommend?

Use a Grappos Search Link.

What is it? A Search Link looks like this: http://www.grappos.com/?pid=463971&zip=94109

This link will open a search for Ridge Vineyards York Creek Zinfandel in San Francisco, CA. You can create links to any wine (in the Grappos database) and location.

Here's how:

1) Go to Grappos.com

2) In the wine search field, enter a brand and select the wine you want from the drop-down menu.

3) In the location field, enter a zip code or city and select the area you want to search from the drop-down menu.

4) Hit "Search".

5) When your search is complete and you see a list of retailers and markers on the map, look at the upper right corner of the Grappos window and you'll find that "Create Link" has appeared. Click it.

6) The url should have changed from "www.grappos.com" to something like "www.grappos.com/?pid=463971&zip=94109". Copy that link.

7) What you do with it is up to you. You can Tweet it, post it on Facebook, email it to someone, text it to a smartphone, embed it in a blog or add it to your website.

When anyone clicks on the link you created, they'll see the same search you created.

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People used to ask us all the time, "Does Grappos have an iPhone app?" Well, I'm proud to finally say that we do!

It's FREE and you can download it here.

The app has all of the functionality of the website, plus two added features that make it really useful while on the go: GPS-enabled search and a personalized "favorites" list.

Give it a spin and let us know what you think. We're working on new features for the 2.0 release. Follow @grappos on Twitter for more news and updates.

facebook.com/grappos

twitter.com/grappos

grappos.com

grappos.posterous.com

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