Current and Upcoming Wine Maps

Using our wine map tube labels, here are our plans for continued mapping of the wine world.

We would love your input.

Current maps (including Germany which we are now putting the final touches on):

Upcoming maps:

We're now committing the resources to complete all of the maps within the next year. To be honest, when we started, we thought it would be much easier. But we haven't compromised accuracy, fact checking or quality in putting our maps together. Thank you for your patience.

Any amount of input on our mapping would be greatly appreciated. To show our appreciation, we're giving away a set of our first six maps. To enter, simply write a response to this blog post. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday, November 15th 2014.

Please have a go at any one, a few or all of these questions:

Are there any other countries or specific region(s) that you would like to see as well?
Would you like to see more folded maps? We launched a folded version of our Italian map but the sales were just meh - perhaps because it wasn't in a set.
Would a boxed set of all 12 maps (similar in format to the image below) appeal to you? What would be a fair price for this?
How about electronic version - Ipad, android tablet - of all of the maps? What would be a fair price for this?
Our current maps are 24x 36 inches. Would you like to see smaller format maps as well? Larger format?

Last but not least, would you like to see more countries/regions in David Gissen's amazing Metro Maps Format? In a boxed and/or electronic format as well?

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support!

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Comments

Steve, I was apparently one of the few who purchased the folded Italy map, and use it as a reference for that complex region, along with several books on the subject. The format and cardstock case are perfect, and I think offering the complete boxed set would be a great addition to anyone’s personal wine library! I also have the full size CA map framed in maple hanging on the wall in my house for easy viewing, but it is quickly in need of updating due to the changing appellation scene. Although I use a number of different resources for electronic maps on my iPad, yours are a superior presentation and generally much more accurate. As a geographer, travel junkie and wine enthusiast, I’d love to be your sales rep in the SF Bay Area and Nor Cal!!! Good luck with your continued success, “Your WineGuy” Michael A., CWAS, WSET-L3.

MJA on October 31, 2014
Hi Steve,
Like the new website. I have 4 of your maps up in my home and enjoy them greatly. Our guest room is dedicated to wine and travel. I would love to have a extremely large world map that covers the wall. Something that would make that even better, a wine focused world map. Maybe adding a dimension to the maps, texture, UV, etc.
Cheers
Chris

Chris on October 31, 2014
I personally would like to see more smaller format. I purchased the Metro Map for California and I think the size isn’t too small. That being said I also have purchased France, Italy, South America and Spain/Portugal, so my wall space is getting slim.

Also I want to reiterate a previous comment about how helpful these maps are for wine certification studying. I recently took the CSW and yours are the only maps that are thorough enough (more thorough than the actual study materials sometimes). Keep em coming!

Megan Bauer on October 31, 2014
Thanks, Michael – I wish the market was foolish! But $100 seems to push the upper limit for any publication. I know that Jancis Julia and Jose’s Wine Grapes gave lots of people sticker shock, even though worth every penny. I’ll definitely need to look into the coffee table format!

Steve De Long on October 30, 2014
It’s great to hear from such a wide group of wine lovers – from enthusiasts to pros – thanks so much!

And please add your opinion even if your point has already been made. It’s a great help to us and less painful than an online survey, which I can’t in my right mind subject anyone to!

Anthony – thanks so much, I’m blushing! $300 for the folded set? A guy can dream. . .

Ken – thanks for your support. Australia is next in the pipeline.

Russell – thanks for your feedback from a pro in the map biz!

Jorge – I love the metro maps as well!

Steve De Long on October 30, 2014
I think pricing the folded maps at $300 for a set is a bit foolish. I too, like the idea of folded maps but would not pay more than $100 for a set.

I use my ipad often when I am teaching classes and I think that a digital set of the maps would be very useful.

I really like the idea of a coffee table book of all the maps!

Michael on October 30, 2014
Steve — You already know I’m a fan, so no need to gush further here(!).

I love the idea of a boxed set, folded. While I like the unfolded ones for framing, they’re difficult to hang when I use them for teaching classes or host tasting events. I think the boxed set of all 12 might be priced at $300?

I would love to see them offered in larger formats, priced at $50 instead of $29, perhaps?

The site looks great!

Anthony Giglio on October 29, 2014
Also apps for the iPad would be fantastic!!! I use mine as a teaching tool, and your maps would be a perfect fit for the classes I teach.

Cheers again!
- Ken

P.S. – I meant pulltap in my previous post, not “pulps”.

Ken on October 25, 2014
Steve, I’ve been a long time customer, and a big supporter. I always recommend your maps to everyone I know as the best around, and I have every one (except the metros) framed and on my walls. I’ve been in the trade for almost twelve years, and I just took a new gig with a big Australian supplier, so it would be great if you could get the the Aussie map out ASAP! It would be indispensable to me, as my knowledge is focused mostly on French and Cali wine! I have a spot on my wall all picked out for the Australian map, so I hope you have it in the pipeline soon! Regardless; the new site looks great (I just made purchase of a pulp corkscrew I’ve never seen before), and I look forward to seeing more greatness from your site!

Cheers!
- Ken

Ken on October 25, 2014
So far this year I’ve sold nearly as many folded Italy maps as all of the rolled maps combined. I am in favor of folded maps. They could be self-covered, without the slip case, to keep costs down. A boxed set is nice, but my experience is that very few people buy boxed sets. You’d have to do all of your maps as folded maps to sell a boxed set – that is a lot of capital investment. I’d try adding folded maps one at a time – France, Spain – and see how sales go before investing in boxed sets.

I’m not a fan of the metro maps, and they do not sell for me – may be my client base.

For new maps, I would suggest regional California maps such as Napa/Sonoma and Central Coast, so you can see more detail than in the California map. Same for Australia – South Australia, NSW, and Victoria are essentially one big region, and then Western Australia’s southern coastal region. I’d either do those on a single map and skip the Australia map as this would allow more detail, larger scale, etc. If you do all of Australia, 3/4 of the country is non-wine growing.

Burgundy is probably another area. There is a big France wine map publisher that does a bunch of French regional wine maps. Perhaps Italian regions, for which there are essentially no maps, might be a better place to start.

The 24 × 36″ size is a great size – inexpensive off-the-shelf frame kits are available, etc. The french wine map publisher has 40+ French wine region maps at 12 × 16″. They are expensive for what they are and they are awful sellers – people buy the full-sized maps instead.

Digital versions – tough call. What would be the advantage/main point of your having a digital version? Your maps are too detailed to be seen on a tablet/lap top screen, so people have to zoom in. Yet there is no real road detail, so what does zooming in really accomplish? Your maps are really to be framed on the walls, or used as reference – people mark which varieties they have tried, people paste wine bottle labels on the map, etc. – none of which works in a digital format. People can use a digital map in a presentation, etc. but how many are you going to sell for that? Keeping up with changing software, etc. is also a hassle. Personally I would rather see resources going to new paper maps than to digital editions.

Russell Guy on October 23, 2014