Arts
This week's two-part episode begins with Amber Lucas, who is back on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger. She is a lifestyle blogger and Instagram wine influencer. She is featured in an article that appeared on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, (see below) with an article entitled, “The Disruptive Power of Instagram’s Wine Influencers.” There is a paywall on the article at the San Francisco Chronicle website, which will make it impossible to read unless you have an account with them. Amber describes the article as “fair” and tells about cooperating with Esther Mobley, the San Francisco Chronicle journalist who wrote the article. Amber Lucas has been named a Wine Unify Award recipient. The Wine Unify website title says, “A more diverse wine industry starts with you.” Amber admits to hearing questions about her qualifications as a wine influencer and so she is emphatic about placing herself in a position to learn more about wine all the time. One critic, whose name does not need to be repeated to make the point, was quoted in the Chronicle, using big words such as, “They’re wanna-bes practicing a nauseating form of self-aggrandizement.” This elicited a loud and righteous, “Aw, give me a break, man!” from host Steve Jaxon. Amber explains that she works closely with wineries and winemakers to share their stories with her audience. Her blog and her Instagram pages tell the whole story. She also says that some misunderstanding about what she does is a confusion between marketing and advertising, what they are and how they are different. She is emphatic about providing marketing services to her clients, not advertising (in the sense of a series of billboards or commercials that are bought and paid for by the number of days or minutes or seconds of exposure). Photos from Amber Lucas' Instagram page.