One of the great myths of the wine industry is that „a great wine will sell itself‟. The truth is that in order to be sold, the wine and the consumer have to be brought together. This means at the very least there has to be a distribution channel. But more than that the consumer has to know about the wine and then decide to purchase it, often in the face of competition from many other options, many of which will not even be wine. Furthermore, the decision to purchase is also situational in terms of motivations, needs, atmosphere, social situation, budget, convenience, fashion, peer pressure and many other factors. Indeed, a key realization in understanding wine purchasing patterns is that the vast majority of wine is consumed within 24 hours of purchase, something which is not akin to the image of buying a bottle „to put it down‟ often, perhaps unwittingly still conveyed in the popular wine media. In fact, one of the things that we would like to „put down‟ is the archaic production focus that still exists with many in the industry.