IRVINE, CA—(Marketwired – January 08, 2016) – Thanks to the vision and leadership of Hollywood–based visual artist Kathy Lajvardi, digital creative/executive Naushad Huda, fashion/investment executive Taj Ahmad Eldridge, and the support of WineDirect, a pioneer in winery direct–to–consumer sales, a uniquely innovative company has taken flight to serve the interests of the future of wine.
ILTG Media, Inc. (parent company of www.ilikethisgrape.com) is a global media company and content creation studio aimed at defining modern wine culture. The company approaches wine from a modern drinker's standpoint, as part of a lively continuum of intertwined interests that include fashion, film, food, music, and other essential aspects of contemporary culture. ILTG's vision is to lead the inevitable changes in the industry and democratize wine by defining it as part of a lifestyle worthy of today's diverse world, while never forgetting its history and place in humanity.
WineDirect CEO Joe Waechter expressed his confidence in the new partnership. “The modern wine consumer is often overwhelmed, both by the sheer volume of choice and by mainstream wine marketing. Wine is an experience to be enjoyed and shared. ILTG is looking to bridge the gap between what the industry is today and what it should be: a modern culture that enjoys wine in the context of other contemporary interests like food and music.”
With offices in Orange County, New York, and Santa Monica, the ILTG team includes award–winning wine writer and editor Paul Hodgins of The Orange County Register and far–flung creatives reporting from England, South Africa, Spain and other parts of the world. With celebrity interviews, inventive pairings such as the widely popular VINOMUSIC content channel (connecting wine with music), no–nonsense descriptions of wine, and comprehensive coverage of groundbreaking cultural events such as BottleRock Napa, ILTG presents wine meta–contextually for a generation that yearns for a more accessible approach, unique storytelling, and a voice they can relate to.
“I feel strongly in the importance of integrating cultures, ideas, and people to help further society. With the WineDirect partnership, our audience will be treated to original digital video content, films, and much more to further our ambitions of changing an industry,” said Huda, CoFounder/Creative Director.
“In a world where SBNation is changing sports reporting, BuzzFeed is changing video consumption, and OZY looks to enhance investigative reporting, ILTG looks to influence the modern wine drinker and achieve revenue outside of traditional advertising channels while focusing on our primary goal: to help the wine industry sell more wine by making the consumer's experience with the product less transactional and more relational,” said Eldridge, CoFounder/CEO.
About I Like This Grape
I Like This Grape is part of ILTG Media, Inc., a global company that will explore other projects and forms of media while maintaining the irreverent and determinedly iconoclastic spirit of the modern wine drinker. New digital video content from I Like This Grape will launch in the spring of 2016.
About WineDirect
WineDirect is the leader in winery direct sales. Headquartered in the Napa Valley, it offers a broad range of commerce, marketing, and logistics solutions including the Vin65 ecommerce and point–of–sale platform, bi–coastal fulfillment services, and marketing tools to help wineries grow their businesses profitably. By combining all important aspects of a successful DTC program into a unified technology offering, WineDirect provides the consumer insight and flexibility necessary to ensure a superior customer experience and to ultimately sell more wine.