I am very proud that I have received the support from two Greek wineries to adopt the AVIN for their wines. Gentilini from the island of Cephalonia and Manousakis from the island of Crete will start including the AVIN codes on their wine labels. This makes them the first two Greek wineries to use this tool.
The AVIN was created by adegga and is a unique digital number to identify and track a wine, similar to an ISBN number for books. The AVIN database is an open resource for the world’s wine community and can be used by any wine resource in the world. AVIN is also tracked by google and other services and a number of wine bloggers, including Catavino and myself, already use the AVIN in articles online.
Adegga has also combined the AVIN with the QRCodes technology, which results in a very powerful dynamic application. Simply snatch a photograph of the code with a mobile phone, connect and easily access information about the wine through adegga – this includes ratings, notes and prices. As a consumer, you have quick, easy and reliable access to this information at your fingertips.
I believe that the potential impact of this technology in the medium term is staggering. For a winery, there should be no excuse to not get involved, as using the AVIN is free. For an optional $ 150.00 yearly fee, a producer can add extra features.
Greek wine labels are often criticized for being confusing to consumers. By simply looking through existing sites that share tasting notes, it becomes obvious that the same wine often shows up in multiple entries under different names. The AVIN code will help to ensure that the wine in question is clearly identifiable.
I am very excited about the openness of Greek wineries to adopt new technologies. In a country where the Internet penetration still lacks behind, this move shows that Greek wine estates not only catch up quickly, but also are willing to lead the way. I hope that other wineries also become interested in using this technology, and I am more than happy to consult with them. Hats off to both Gentilini and Manousakis for making the first move.
Congratulations Markus! That is great news and hopefully the beginning of a revolution for the Greek wine consumer. The AVIN system will deal with two problems prevalent in today’s Greek wine, firstly the chaotic state of Greek wine labels (on one extreme no information whatsoever to the other extreme with a detailed run down of what was done in the vineyard and then the cellar – not to mention a lack of a translation on som ewines altogether) and secondly the variation in spellings (remember road signs?) of either wineries (Chatzimichalis, Hadjimihalis, Hatzimihalis etc etc) or grape varieties (Asyrtiko or Assyrtico, Xynomavro or Xinomavro etc etc).
Markus,
first of all thanks for supporting the project and for being such an active promoter of the Adegga and the AVIN. Secondly, thanks for convincing the first two Greek wineries to start using the AVIN and Adegga. It’s great to see the project moving forward and helping more and more wineries connect with consumers using the Web.
Thank you!
André
Welcome to the AVIN club! We have been using AVINs combined with QR Codes on our back label of our wines produced here in the Alentejo, Portugal, and agree that it has the potential to be a very useful tool. The only problem at the moment is getting people to learn about it and understand it, so the quicker the more wineries adopt it the better! And it is free! No excuses in these difficult times not to move on with technology!
Dear Markus
If we knew about the existence of Avin and Adegga, rest assured that we would have also taken advantage of this new technology. Somehow, it bypassed our radar and it’s only through the Gentilini Winery and Vineyards fan page that we found out about it. It looks like a great opporunity for Greek wines and wineries and we will certainly join. Your expert advice will be most highly appreciated, before we do.
Dear Yango, excellent news, I will be in touch next week – I am very excited that you wish to support the AVIN system, and I agree with you that it is especially valueable for Greek wines.
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