Hello!
My name is Rolando, from Rome, Italy, I’m a blogger and a podcaster. I work in the computer worlds since 30 yrs. 15 yrs ago I studied as sommelier here in Rome, I did some little restaurant service, some tasting sessions and some speeches about wine and technology. Little things, no national or international events. You can find me in the web as Wine Roland, this is my nick on Twitter, Telegram and Instagram.
Perhaps you’re wondering why you’re receiving this newsletter. Well, I’ll be honest with you. I’ve added you to my list because we was in contact for an interview for my blog, The Digital Wine. I apologize if you feel annoyed by this, but I’m starting now with this English newsletter. So, you can do one of these two actions: un-subscribe from this or stay subscribed. In the last case, if you think that this newsletter can be interesting you can share it with others friends of you. Or you can write me an indignant email, and I will reply with my personal apologies.
Why I titled this email “A newsletter like a podcast”? Well, let’s I explain you what my podcast is.
I hope that among you readers there are listeners of The Digital Wine. It’s in Italian, so I suppose there aren’t so many.
In the beginning there was only my blog, the digital Wine, and it stil exists of course. The Digital Wine podcast born at 2019, July, the first real episode was on 13 July 2019 where I told about news from the world of technology applied to the world of wine. There was news about Australia that has completed satellite mapping of its vineyards, the partnership between Wine Folly and Global Wine Data Base, the Uncorkd platform to order wine in a wine shop or restaurant, and so on.
What I do when I register an episode
I record two episodes at a time and schedule them for the following week; on this page you will find all the episodes.
To start podcasting you really don't need much: just a smartphone and the built-in microphone, start talking and send the recording on the platform we have chosen. That's all.
If the microphone of the smartphone is of good quality, and today practically everyone is, the recording will also have a decent quality, not the best but it will certainly offer a good listening. I recorded my first and second episode in this way, if you listen to the latest episodes you will hear the difference. Then I switched to an external microphone, a €15 Lavalier that did its job quite well, then a portable Zoom recorder for €80.
My current setup is a Shure SM58 dynamic microphone, a Scarlett 2i2 4th gen. external audio device, a good headphone and my MacBook with Garage Band.
There are really many podcasts around the net, on any subject; podcasts talking about books, cinema, food, wine; podcasts teaching photographic techniques, or how to make an electrical system, how to climb mountains. Stand up comedy, stories, politics, religion, crime stories. All you can imagine. Just scroll through any database of one of the apps to listen to podcasts and you will find so much of that material to miss yourself.
Why I podcast
I started my blog The Digital Wine in 2016, writing about digital technology can help wine industry to evolve, to improve. There’re some posts in English, too. But I needed anything new. My first episodes are about history of wine, in ancient Rome, ancient Greece, Renaissance, Middle Age and so on. It was very exciting to study and read books about these topics to give my listeners the best I could. I learn so much when I prepare my podcast episodes.
I know some winegrowers listen The Digital Wine, friends of mine, mainly. I think my target are people interested in wine, in technology, in wine history. I seldom speak of tasting notes, there’re some others podcast that do this, better of me, I think.
The podcast eaves me the freedom to speak more broadly about wine and technology, sometime only wine, other one only tech, and another again of winetech. I think I’ve done well my duty if I’ve captured my listeners’ attention and curiosity.
So, I podcast because it’s fun and I want to share my fun with other people.
It forces me to evolve, trying to improve the still not so good quality of my episodes. It forces me to find always new ideas, thinking of new ways to propose the topic of wine and technology to my listeners. It push myself to find interesting people to interview, learning new things about this topic, and about people as well.
It is also a way to test myself; I spoken many times in public, I could look them, if they’re interested or boring. Speaking in front of nothing for an audience that I don’t see, it is not as simple as I thought, and especially in the first few episodes the pauses between one sentence and another were embarrassing. Fortunately, many things can be fixed in post production.
Podcasting is increasing its base of authors and listeners, it seems to relive the pioneering times of the first blogs in the 90s, and now almost all radio broadcasters are also inserting their columns on podcasting platforms. Podcasting audience and authors in Europe aren’t so wide as in USA; it’s good, it’s stimulating, some times idealistic.
Why this newsletter?
Right, in this first email I’ve told you what is for me podcast. I’d like this newsletter was the same: a way to talk about wine and technology, updating you the news in the wine industry, commenting reports. And knowing nice people as you are. This is a work in progress but I couldn’t do it without your help, your suggestions and critics.
I hope you and me will keep in touch for a long time.
Oh, yes. Sorry for my English. I know it isn’t good, but I’m going to study it.
In the meantime, thank you for reading. You can read other on my blog the digital Wine, choosing Blog (English) in the menu.
And, as I say in the final greetings of my podcast:
Drink in moderation and never do it before drive. To the next glass!
I hope you appreciated this newsletter. Of course you can un-subscribe in every time you want. You can stay in touch via Twitter, Instagram or Telegram, where you can find me as Wine Roland. You can read my blog and listen my podcast (only in Italian for now, sorry) using iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and whatever app you want. And you can funding The Digital Wine, blog and podcast, if you subscribe the paid version of this newsletter. I’m going to prepare exclusive content for my paid subscribers.