A new website allows wine lovers
to go straight to the source.
By
Christopher Zara
Ever wondered what wine produced in Iowa tastes like? Or perhaps the vino
selection at your local bottle shop has been uninspiring lately. Either way,
winerybound.com, a Web directory with information on 4,000-plus American
wineries, is here to help inquiring oenophiles. Mercer Island-based graphic
designer Heather Truchot first envisioned Winerybound, which started last
summer, after a label-designing gig for Yakima Valley’s modestly-sized Sheridan
Vineyard. Surprised to learn how smaller wineries often struggle to promote
their products, Truchot called upon the tech talents of her husband, Scott,
whose day job involves creating corporate Web infrastructures. Together the
couple developed a searchable online portal where users can gather contact
information, tasting notes and tasting room hours on subscribing wineries from
around the country. (Winerybound.com is free for users, though it charges
subscription rates for wineries.) Winerybound’s coolest feature is it’s
interactive Google maps, which allow you to get directions to the most obscure
wineries. And while you can’t purchase wine directly from Winerybound, you can
link to any winery’s Web site and make purchases as state shipping laws permit.
And with said shipping laws loosening across the country, the Truchots hope
their site will evolve into one, uh, sober business venture.
(c)
2005 Seattle magazine.