Miners call for end of ban on big new ventures

June 28, 2018 | 12:30 am

MINERS in the country are urging the government to lift a six-year ban on new large-scale mining projects in the world’s no. 2 nickel ore supplier after the state removed restrictions on fresh smaller ventures.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said in a memorandum dated June 18, but not widely flagged, that a moratorium on government approvals for mining developments would no longer apply to smaller projects.
Mining is a deeply contentious issue in the resource-rich nation after past examples of environmental breaches, with only three percent of 9 million hectares identified by the state as having high mineral reserves being mined.
“There should be no distinction between large-scale and small-scale mining because their impact on the environment is the same,” said Ronald S. Recidoro, executive director at the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, which groups the country’s big miners.
“The wisdom (behind) the lifting of the ban on small-scale mining should also apply to large-scale.”
Former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez in July 2016 reinforced the moratorium that had been in place for four years, part of her crackdown on the mining sector.
Ms. Lopez, who has since been replaced by former military general Roy A. Cimatu, reiterated her stance in the wake of the environment department’s partial reversal of her previous order.
“The practical and wise choice would be to protect and nurture what we have instead of allowing extractive activities which benefit a few and jeopardizes the future of generations to come,” Ms. Lopez said in a text message to Reuters on Wednesday.
Small-scale miners in the Philippines mostly dig for gold, silver and chromite, which is commonly used to help make stainless steel. There is no official production data.
When asked about the decision to remove the moratorium for smaller mining projects, Wilfredo G. Moncano, acting director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, told Reuters the step would help “ordinary people” and that it was in line with President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s thinking.
“There is a need to correct historical injustices because ordinary people, especially indigenous people, should also benefit from the mineral resources of the country, not only big businesses,” Mr. Moncano said.
The government estimates that 60-70% of small-scale miners in the country operate illegally, causing environmental damage.
“There may be environmental violations, but these will be reduced because they are now legitimate mining operators and have obligations to comply unlike before,” Mr. Moncano added.
“So legalizing them is the better option.”
The order removing the ban on approvals for smaller projects, signed by Mr. Cimatu, was in a section of the environment department’s Web site that is not commonly visited.
Most miners were unaware of the change until they were contacted by Reuters for comment.
The government should similarly lift the moratorium on approving new big-scale mines, said Dante R. Bravo, president of Global Ferronickel Holdings, Inc., the nation’s second-largest nickel ore producer. “Given current economic conditions, I think we’d better encourage exports and the mining industry can help a lot,” Mr. Bravo said.
Analiza R. Teh, Environment undersecretary for Climate Change Service and Mining concerns, said “lifting of the moratorium on large-scale (mining) would require review of open pit mining.”
Mr. Duterte has rejected calls to reverse a ban on open pit mining which Mr. Lopez also implemented during her 10-month tenure.
And after last year’s clampdown, the government has been looking at fresh curbs to limit environmental harm, with plans to cap the amount of land that miners can develop at any one time. — Reuters

NZ’s best kept secret: It’s food

June 28, 2018 | 12:07 am

AS PEOPLE who keep up with showbiz and society news know, actress Anne Curtis and businessman Erwan Heusaff had a fantastically stylish New Zealand wedding last year. At a June 13 dinner which Mr. Heusaff hosted in collaboration with Tourism New Zealand, he sounded as if he were in love with a place as well as with his wife.
“New Zealand for me, obviously, holds a very special place in my heart,” he said.
The dinner, a Kiwi-style cookout at Mr. Heusaff’s new cooking studio, Hectare One, in Makati City, was made with meats and fish from New Zealand.
For a fish course, with salmon, Mr. Heusaff brined it and cooked the fish at a very low temperature, and then popping it back in the fridge for the flavors to come together. The result was a delicately flavored, almost velvety fish that melted in the mouth. This was served with horseradish cream, pickled onions, and arugula puree, so that the sharper flavors could lend more structure to the fatty salmon. This was paired with a nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, which had the fragrance of grass, and a light citrusy flavor.
Next came roast beef, simply salted. It’s probably a testament to the quality of the beef that it was backed up by just one other ingredient, but it already had severally layers of flavor in itself. This was paired with a well-balanced pinot noir, which, despite its overt fruitiness, had a backbone of char and ash.
A more delicate lamb needed a little bit more for the flavors to come out, namely a cherry demi-glace and garlic confit, and what it may have lacked in inherent flavor, it more than made up for with a texture that immediately conjured the image of a soft and innocent lamb (we’re sorry, but rest knowing that you were absolutely tender).
When Filipinos think of the Southern Hemisphere, most don’t think of New Zealand. “Filipinos are probably more familiar with Australia as a destination,” said Kate Campbell, Southeast Asia PR Manager for Tourism New Zealand.
Still, New Zealand is an increasingly popular holiday destination for Filipinos — over 9,000 visited in the last year (year-end April 2018), a 28% increase from the previous year, according to a press release from New Zealand Tourism.
New Zealand probably has it made when you’re looking for a travel experience outside the setup of an urban sprawl. It has adventure trails, mountains, and meadows, and let’s not forget Hobbiton.
Why is it important then, to focus on produce, when you can eat anywhere in the world?
“I think it’s an essential part of a travel experience,” said Ms. Campbell. “If you’re choosing a travel destination, you’d want to know you can get good food there.”
“It’s one of our best-kept secrets.”
“When you go to New Zealand, what happens is, you’re actually surprised by some of the produce,” said Ms. Campbell. “It’s still a surprise to people, the combination of flavors, and how we present these foods from New Zealand.”
Visitors to New Zealand can try the Maori Hangito fresh seafood such as crayfish in Kaikoura and Bluff oysters in Southland, notes the release. They can also take advantage of wine trails and food tours which are available all year round.
“With Philippine Airlines introducing its direct, non-stop flights between Manila and Auckland last December, we are looking forward to welcoming more Filipinos to experience world class New Zealand food and wine first hand,” Steven Dixon, Tourism New Zealand’s Regional Manager, South & South East Asia, was quoted as saying. — Joseph L. Garcia

8990 breaks ground for P30-B Ortigas project

June 28, 2018 | 12:07 am

MASS HOUSING developer 8990 Holdings, Inc. has broken ground for its P30-billion condominium complex project in Ortigas Avenue Extension yesterday.
8990 Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer Willibaldo J. Uy said the company will start selling Urban Deca Homes Ortigas units in the next few weeks since it has yet to secure a license to sell.
“We’re waiting for the license to sell, but it should be coming any time now. We’ve got all the permits already except for the license to sell… I think it’s a matter of the signing officials weren’t available,” Mr. Uy told reporters after the project’s groundbreaking ceremony.
Urban Deca Homes Ortigas is 8990 Holdings’ largest project to-date, with 22 buildings with 19,000 units to be built on a 13-hectare property. Sizes for one- and two-bedroom units range from 27 square meters (sq.m.) to below 40 sq.m.
Prices start from P1.6 million, with each sq.m. approximately costing P65,000. This will bring down amortization costs to as low as P5,000 to P7,000 per month, depending on the buyer’s payment scheme.
Mr. Uy said 8990 remains on track for the project’s completion within five years. 8990 Holdings tapped Megawide Construction Corp. to handle the project.
The company expects young families and business process outsourcing (BPO) employees working within the area to drive demand for the project.
“One thing we’re excited about is we’re close to Ortigas, very close to Eastwood, very close to Vertis North. Ang biggest market namin is the BPO sector. Most of them are staying in Cainta, Taytay, so this will bring them closer,” Mr. Uy said.
The 8990 Holdings executive said the company is building more two-bedroom units for Urban Deca Homes Ortigas, after seeing strong demand at its Urban Deca Homes Manila in Tondo.
“What we discovered in our sales in Tondo, there are a lot more people that prefer two bedrooms, so we’re shifting. We had studios and one-bedrooms eh. We’re shifting to two bedrooms, and one-bedroom units on the corners to even out. For the family talaga,” Mr. Uy explained.
Urban Deca Homes Manila consists of 13 buildings offering more than 13,000 units, which is set to generate P4.5 billion in sales.
8990 Holdings generated a profit of P1 billion during the first quarter of 2018, following a 57% uptick in revenues to P2.5 billion. The company looks to net up to P4.3 billion this year, from a projected revenue of P11.5 billion.
Shares in 8990 Holdings dropped seven centavos or 0.96% to close at P7.19 each at the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia

Known for its rum, Tanduay releases a whisky

June 28, 2018 | 12:06 am

TANDUAY’s latest product is Embassy whisky.

GET YOUR #pinoypride engines roaring, people — Tanduay Distillers Inc., overtook Bacardi as the world’s bestselling rum brand. Tanduay sold 19.5 million cases of rum last year said a story on BusinessWorld on June 14. Here’s the catch: apparently, the export segment represented less than 1% of total sales, so it can be inferred that a large chunk of those 19.5 million cases were consumed in the country. Take that, Filipino livers.
According to Paul Lim, AVP for Marketing for Tanduay Distillers Inc., almost 90% of that figure was local sales. He also noted that the top three spirits manufacturers in the Philippines are also included in the world’s top ten. “Ganoon kalakas ang mga Pinoy uminom (That’s how much Filipinos like to drink),” said Mr. Lim.
Mr. Lim talked to BusinessWorld during the launch of a new Tanduay product earlier this week, a whisky called Embassy.
Several components of the whisky are imported from a wide range of sources, from Scotland to Singapore, said Gem Leonard Boy, Junior Brand Manager for the whisky. It is finished and blended, then bottled in the Philippines. Some components are also distilled here (such as the sugarcane alcohol that goes into it).
“The transition from rum to whisky isn’t really that hard,” said Mr. Boy, citing the quality of the company’s people and the quality of its facilities in Laguna.
As for the product itself, it has an oaky aroma with a slight hint of wood and tobacco. It’s very drinkable — quite sweet actually. It’s akin to the honey blends that bourbon brands are releasing, but there’s at least a slight hint of pepper and heat at the end.
Dalmore, makers of some of the world’s most expensive single malts, made headlines a few years ago when its holding company was bought by Filipino company Emperador Inc. Tanduay did no such thing in the preparation of Embassy, and, as mentioned above, simply brought all the components for it to be blended in its local facilities.
When asked why an established rum brand like Tanduay might venture into the more competitive world of whisky, Mr. Lim said, “Consumers today are willing to try different types of spirits.” — Joseph L. Garcia

AirAsia cancels Davao-KL flights starting Aug. 21

June 28, 2018 | 12:06 am

MALAYSIA AirAsia Berhad is halting flights between Davao and Kuala Lumpur in August. — *LEAN S. DAVAL, JR*.

DAVAO CITY — Malaysia AirAsia Berhad is dropping its flights between Davao and Kuala Lumpur in August, less than a year after launching the service in December 2017.
In a statement, the budget carrier said it is suspending the four times weekly direct flight starting Aug. 21 due to “commercial reasons.”
Davao City Tourism Operations Office officer-in-charge Generose D. Tecson also confirmed the cancellation and said the local government respects the “business decision” of the company.
“However, I do hope that they can reconsider by opting to operate once a week flights between KL to Davao and do more aggressive marketing in the neighboring regions,” Ms. Tecson said in an interview with BusinessWorld.
Ms. Tecson said the city government remains confident the AirAsia cancellation will not affect the entry of other foreign airlines such as Cathay Pacific, which has previously announced that it is considering direct flights to and from Hong Kong.
“Hong Kong is a different destination,” she said in Filipino, noting that locals are more “aware” of it as a tourism site and that there are more overseas Filipino workers based there.
“Although, of course, both sides will have to market (the route),” the tourism official added.
AirAsia said it is offering clients who already booked tickets with several “recovery options,” including changing the travel date before the suspension, a reroute via Manila or Cebu, convert the ticket value to a credit account, or a full refund.
AirAsia launched the Davao-KL route in December 2017, which AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said was a direct response to President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s request, which was made when they earlier met in Cambodia.
AirAsia Philippines operates several flights from Davao to domestic destinations such as Cebu, Clark, Kalibo, Palawan and Manila. — Maya M. Padillo

Facebook, Google ‘manipulate’ users to share data despite law

June 28, 2018 | 12:06 am

OSLO, NORWAY — Facebook and Google are pushing users to share private information by offering “invasive” and limited default options despite new EU data protection laws aimed at giving users more control and choice, a government study said Wednesday.
The Norwegian Consumer Council found that the US tech giants’ privacy updates clash with the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which forces companies to clarify what choices people have when sharing private information.
“These companies manipulate us into sharing information about ourselves,” the council’s director of digital services, Finn Myrstad, said in a statement.
“(This) is at odds with the expectations of consumers and the intention of the new Regulation,” the 2018 study, entitled “Deceived By Design,” concluded.
Myrstad said the practices showed “a lack of respect for their users, and are circumventing the notion of giving consumers control of their personal data.”
The case for the new laws has been boosted by the recent scandal over the harvesting of Facebook users’ data by British consultancy Cambridge Analytica for the 2016 US presidential election.
Information for the report was collected from mid-April to early June, a few weeks after the EU rules came into force.
The report exposed that Facebook and Google often set the least privacy-friendly option as a default and that users rarely change pre-selected settings.
Privacy-friendly choices “require more clicks and are often hidden,” it said.
“In many cases, the services obscure the fact that users have very few actual choices, and that comprehensive data sharing is accepted just by using the service,” the study said.
The EU has billed the GDPR as the biggest shake-up of data privacy regulations since the birth of the web.
The social media giant and Google separately already face their first official complaints under the new law after an Austrian privacy campaigner accused them of forcing users to give their consent to the use of their personal information.
Companies can be fined up to €20 million ($24 million) or 4% of annual global turnover for breaching the strict new data rules for the European Union, a market of 500 million people. — AFP

Robotics Barbie wants to inspire young scientists

June 28, 2018 | 12:05 am

LOS ANGELES — An inspirational new version of Barbie will encourage young girls to embark on careers in engineering and the sciences, the iconic doll’s manufacturer Mattel said on Tuesday.
Barbie, who first hit the shelves in 1959, prides herself on trying out jobs where women aren’t strongly represented, to add to her more traditional skill set of dancing with Ken and looking fabulous.
The company has announced a “Career of the year” Barbie who just happens to be a robotics engineer — a job that in real-life is occupied almost nine times out of ten by men.
Kids aren’t just supposed to play make-believe with the newest Barbie, however, as Mattel has partnered with games platform Tynker to provide owners with online coding experiences.
“For almost 60 years, Barbie has exposed girls to roles where women are underrepresented to show them that they can be anything,” Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s senior vice president for Barbie, said in statement.
“By playing with Robotics Engineer Barbie on and offline, we are giving girls a new platform for play in their imaginary world and teaching them important skills for their real world.”
The new doll joins a lineup of more than 200 careers held by Barbie, “all of which reinforce the brand’s purpose to inspire the limitless potential in every girl,” Mattel said in a statement.
Only 24% of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs in the United States are held by women. — AFP

The stomach prevails: France wins at World Cup on Russian cheese

June 28, 2018 | 12:05 am

DUBROVSKOYE, RUSSIA — Russian businessman Oleg Sirota thinks he knows why the French soccer team got off to a winning start at the World Cup: he is supplying their hotel with cheese and yoghurt from his dairy.
Sirota opened his small Russky Parmezan factory in 2015 as a patriotic duty to keep Russians supplied after Moscow banned fresh food imports from western Europe. Now he says he has sold 400 kg of Kolmogorovsky — his answer to Dutch gouda — plus dozens of jars of yoghurt to the French base.
“I understood what the secret of the French team is. They just fill themselves with good cheese, they eat it and win,” a grinning Sirota said in a storage room filled with cheeses.
France have qualified for the knock-out stage of the tournament hosted by Russia, with two wins in Group C.
Sirota’s story is rooted in Russia’s troubled relations with neighboring Ukraine and the West. The 30-year-old, a former IT specialist, said he had wanted to fight alongside pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine but had not found the courage.
Instead his chance came after the Kremlin banned wholesale imports of fresh dairy products and meat from the European Union in 2014 — part of its retaliation against Western sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its role in the rebellion.
That forced local producers to fill the void left by the absence of delicacies such as French Camembert and Italian Parmesan.
Sirota set up his business in Dubrovskoye, to the west of Moscow and less than 2 km from the French hotel.
The players seem satisfied with the food in Russia. “It’s not very different from what we have in France,” midfielder Nabil Fekir said.
Visitors to Russia are allowed to import small amounts of fresh food from the EU for personal use. Press officer Philippe Tournon didn’t confirm details of the players’ meals but said the team brought little from home. “We knew that we would find satisfactory food products in Russia, including in terms of cheese,” he said.
Sirota acknowledges the import ban has helped his business. “Maybe we’re not the champions in soccer,” he said. “But at least we are the champions in protectionism.”
And he makes no secret of his politics: outside his factory fly the flags of Russia and Novorossiya, the pro-Russian separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.
The Ukraine dispute lies center stage in the row with Western countries, including France.
But Sirota believes gastronomy trumps politics. “Maybe some people could have a problem with that,” he said. “But… in this case the stomach prevailed over the mind.” — Reuters

Unioil Philippines adds electric vehicle charging stations despite low demand

June 28, 2018 | 12:05 am

UNIOIL Petroleum Philippines, Inc. has launched on Wednesday its second electric vehicle charging station at its outlet along the northbound side of EDSA in Guadalupe in the hopes that it will encourage more drivers to switch from their fuel-powered cars.
“If you come here, it’s free charging for all electric vehicles… until the time comes that we see that there is sufficient demand,” Unioil President Kenneth C. Pundanera told reporters during the opening of the charging site.
Unioil on Nov. 27, 2017 became the first petroleum company in the Philippines to launch an e-vehicle (EV) charging facility at its fueling station along Congressional Ave. Extension in Quezon City.

“Right now, we are doing this to encourage more people to try the e-vehicles, to bring in e-vehicles. We’re also showing the government that we’re already building the infrastructure. No need to wait. We’re just waiting for the incentives for more e-vehicles to be sufficient,” Mr. Pundanera said.
Each EV charging station costs around P2.5 million to P3 million to put up.
“It’s very difficult to determine when the e-vehicles are gonna come in. It’s very difficult to determine when consumers will start accepting e-vehicles… the cost is a bit high for e-vehicles. We believe that this is the future,” Mr. Pundanera said.
Unioil’s EV charging station is equipped with the latest Chademo fast-charging protocol, which is compatible with most Japanese, US and European cars.
Even though there are no electric vehicles currently using its charging stations, Unioil is anticipating demand to spike in the future.
“We can’t say that we will only build when there are [electric] cars. Right now, what we’re doing is we’re putting first the charging facilities, showing people that it’s going to be ready — do not be afraid to buy e-vehicles. And to encourage government fast-track legislation that’s needed in order to encourage more e-vehicles to enter the Philippine market,” Mr. Pundanera said.
EXPANSION
As for Unioil’s regular fueling stations for gasoline and diesel, Mr. Pundanera said the company has a total of 61 operations outlets, mostly in Metro Manila.
He said 10 new stations are targeted to be put up this year, also in Metro Manila, Batangas and Pampanga.
“[The cost to build a station] averages from as low as P12 million to as high as P25 million,” he said, depending on the location and the size of the outlet.
Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian, Senate energy committee chairman who was a guest during the launch, said studies show that by 2025, e-vehicles will be priced the same as traditional cars. The price of lithium-ion batteries has also dropped by nearly 200% in the past six years, he added.
“It [e-vehicle] will become more affordable to the mass market,” he said. “We’re coming out with a legislation to promote the entire system of e-vehicles — from charging station, to the usage, all the way to importation and even manufacture of e-vehicles in our country.”
Mr. Gatchalian said his office is finalizing the legislation on e-vehicles, including holding another hearing to consult industry stakeholders such as representatives from car manufacturers, oil companies, gas stations, distribution utilities, and the tax agency. — Victor V. Saulon

Twitter to confirm new accounts in fight vs spambots

June 28, 2018 | 12:04 am

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter on Tuesday said it will begin asking for e-mail addresses or phone numbers to confirm new accounts as part of a battle against manipulation, particularly by automated bots.

Adding a way to check that a real person is behind new accounts was described by Twitter as being among measures to fight abuse, trolls, and hateful content.
“This is an important change to defend against people who try to take advantage of our openness,” Twitter executives Del Harvey and Yoel Roth said in a blog post.
The requirement will be rolled out later this year, and Twitter promised to make sure the change does not harm aspiring users in “high-risk” places.
Twitter recently began taking more steps to clean up spam and automated activity, and “close the loopholes they’d exploited,” according to Harvey and Roth.
“We’re also now automating some processes where we see suspicious account activity, like exceptionally high-volume tweeting with the same hashtag, or using the same @handle without a reply from the account you’re mentioning,” they said.
Twitter systems identified and challenged more than 9.9 million “potentially spammy or automated accounts” weekly in May, according to Harvey and Roth.
Twitter last month said that it was stepping up its long-running battle against online trolls, trying to find offenders by looking at “behavioral signals.”
The new approach looks at behavioral patterns of users in addition to the content of the tweets, allowing Twitter to find and mute online bullies and trolls.
Even if the offending tweets are not a violation of Twitter policy, they may be hidden from users if they are deemed to “distort” a conversation, Twitter said.
Twitter already uses artificial intelligence and machine learning in this effort but the latest initiative aims to do more by focusing on the actions of certain users in addition to the content.
Twitter is among online platforms under pressure to do more to safeguard against being used to spread misinformation or promote division, as proved the case during the US presidential election in 2016, in which US intelligence says Russia meddled to help Donald Trump win. — AFP

Global Ferronickel expects flat earnings this year

June 28, 2018 | 12:04 am

By Anna Gabriela A. Mogato, Reporter
GLOBAL Ferronickel Holdings, Inc. (FNI) expects net income to be flat this year, despite seeing stronger demand for nickel ore from China.
“[This year’s] growth will be relatively the same as last year. We expect the same results from last year,” Global Ferronickel President Dante R. Bravo told reporters on Wednesday.
FNI’s net income stood at P779.7 million in 2017, nearly 20 times more than the P37.5 million it recorded in 2016, due to better selling prices and “favorable” foreign exchange impact.
While nickel prices are expected to steadily rise this year, Mr. Bravo said the company’s bottom line will be affected by the new tax law and tighter regulatory requirements.
“You combine the impact of the excise tax and the other collateral impact plus the increase in regulatory requirements, plus the environmental cost, then it has affected our bottom line,” he said.
“Even if we expect a better price compared to last year but because of the impact of the bottom line, it will be offset by whatever it is that we have.”
However, the company expects to benefit from the continued peso depreciation, as it exports to China.
“What is consoling, because we are an exporter, the peso has depreciated by 6% so that means an additional 6% also. If your cost has risen by say, 10%, then there is only a net loss of 4%,” Mr. Bravo said.
Global Ferronickel is also looking to take advantage of rising demand for electric vehicles, which make use of nickel as a raw material in manufacturing.
“Every year there is an increase in production, an increase in demand of electric vehicles, the estimate is at around 30% to 40% globally but in China it’s increasing more than. The biggest producer of e-Vehicles is China at this point, more than Tesla,” Mr. Bravo said.
While Indonesia is its main competitor as a nickel ore supplier to China, Mr. Bravo said the firm has an advantage. “We’re close to China and our ores are capable of being smelted in China,” he said.
This year, the company is eyeing to ship 6 million wet metric tons of nickel ore.
At the same time, Mr. Bravo said the company is looking to add limestone to its portfolio, after it found a large deposit of the mineral in a one-hectare lot in one of its mines.
This will give the company an opportunity to expand to the cement business, allowing it to take advantage of the strong demand for construction materials amid the government’s “Build Build Build” program.

WineGame app brings the Master Sommelier experience to the masses

June 28, 2018 | 12:04 am

LAST WEEK, Rob Wilder, the co-founder of ThinkFoodGroup, announced the release of WineGame, a simple app that instantly turns any bottle into a fun, multiple-choice blind tasting game. Even if you don’t know Wilder’s name, you certainly know his partner’s: star chef and humanitarian Jose Andrés. The game began as a late-night lark between Wilder and Andrés who would challenge each other to blindly taste and then correctly name the wine hidden inside a paper bag.
Blind tasting is a big part of what all sommeliers do to earn their stripes. And it ain’t easy. The challenge of deductive tasting is one of the reasons why there are less than 250 Master Sommeliers in the world. That’s why another one of the brains (and palates) behind WineGame is Keith Goldston, who became America’s 47^th MS and the youngest to pass all three parts — theory, tasting, and practical — on the first go.
The goal with WineGame is to make blind tasting way more accessible, super social, educational, and fun. “Somebody who likes wine but doesn’t know much, can still play,” says Wilder.
HOW IT WORKS
First, the app directs you to populate the game with wines by either scanning a label with your phone’s camera or typing in a keyword. Without fail, from Old Westminster Albariño (an obscure wine from Maryland) to Nino Negri Sfursat 5 Stelle (a hard-to-find Italian gem), and even Bota Box Brick Merlot, the app was unstumpable in finding the bottle I wanted to taste.
“Scanning a label, putting in a keyword, finding any wine, and getting the facts about it, that’s actually pretty easy,” says Wilder. “There have been people building those databases for a while.”
Next, you’re prompted to discern the grape. Five options are presented, and you get three tries. Then it’s on to country, region, and vintage/label. If you get stuck, there’s a “hint” button to help narrow down the answers. The fewer mis-guesses, the more points you accumulate. The platform generates logical answers to each question, so that gamers learn even when answering incorrectly.
“That’s the special sauce of WineGame,” said Wilder. “Right answers are easy. What’s hard is taking those right answers and turning them into a multiple-choice game with wrong answers.” In the case of a rosé from Provence, for instance, the app had me choose not from a random selection of five wines, but from related Provencal rosés that would make any pro take pause.
Before the big reveal, WineGame asks you to rate the wine.
“This is an important moment for the game, because you’re deciding how much you like the wine before you find out what it is or know anything about how much it costs,” says Wilder. Unless you were the host who bought the wine and scanned in the label for friends, players are scoring wines without any label or cost bias. “We’re betting that data will be really interesting for restaurants.”
MONETIZATION
While at-home use will be free, WineGame aims to make money by licensing their proprietary software for events, blind flights at restaurants, upgraded private dining, on-premise entertainment (think bar trivia), and so on.
“Thinking of adding a wine to your list? Put it in your game and you’ve got a focus group.” In the app’s Game Center, there are also leader boards akin to the Strava app for athletes that allow players to track stats locally and globally. “Imagine the business traveler sitting at the bar all alone and the bartender says, ‘Hey, you want to have some fun?’”
Bartholomew Broadbent, named one of the “50 most influential people in the wine world” by Decanter Magazine, agrees. “WineGame is brilliant for the novice or expert alike. I’ve played it with Master Sommeliers and complete novices and everyone loves it.”
“My suggestion,” he adds, “would be to go into your local wine shop, give them a budget of, say, one hundred dollars, and have them select six wines which they give you in brown bags, having already set them up on your WineGame app. Then, you take your bottles home and start playing with your friends, so even you don’t know what the wines are. If you like Trivial Pursuit, if you like wine, if you have friends, then you need WineGame.” — Jason Tesauro, Bloomberg

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