Best Wine Shop in the Seacoast

Was there any doubt?  It's Ceres Street Wine, nestled down between the Oar House and salt piles in downtown Portsmouth.

For nearly 2 decades now, proprietor Dave Campbell has been hooking up locals and tourists alike with great bottles for every occasion.  And yes, if you think the last name and dashing good looks are more than a coincidence, you're right.  I hear this sentence about once a week: "Wait, Dave is your dad?!" 

Taste of the Seacoast magazine took the voters word for it, and I think they/we did a great job finding the best this and the best that of the area.  I quibble with a few of them (Portsmouth Brewery has the "Best Beer Selection?" Really?  They only sell their own beer!) Check out the results for yourself: http://www.tasteoftheseacoast.com/Feature-Stories/best-of-taste-2010-winners.html  How'd your favorite places fare?  Quibbles, complaints, kudos?  Have a glass of wine and see what you think.

Happy Anniversaries!

Happy Anniversary to...

...My old pal Brigham Pendleton, who is celebrating his 10th year of operating Brigham Pendleton Design. Brigham and I go way back to Flywire days, back when it was still VisuaLink Technologies, where he was employee #2 and I was employee #3. Good to see he's learned a thing or two from me about the value of PR; his press release was picked up in a nice blurb in the Portsmouth Herald. The new site looks good, too, with a distinctly 2.0 look and feel to it.

...The crew at PixelMedia, who celebrated their 15th anniversary this week with a soiree at their new digs on Pease. Of course, 15 years is like 60 in Internet time, so this is no small feat. Congrats to TJ and Erik and the whole gang. I'm waiting or the looking-back video to hit YouTube so I can link it; it was historical and it was hysterical. Great to see Evan Karatzas and Tom Cochiarro there, too.

...My new friend Kevin Hallenbeck, who has been training the best sales people in New Hampshire now for 15 years. In fact, that's his web URL: www.bestsalespeople.com. Kevin will be celebrating his crystal anniversary by launching a marketing campaign (with help from yours truly) and by moving into a new, larger space in Manchester.

Of course, marking an anniversary is an excellent publicity hook for companies, especially those that tend to work behind the scenes and out of the spotlight. To celebrate an anniversary immediately generates buzz about your company, and it validates you as a legitimate player in your market because you've stood the test of time. Business newspapers and magazines are likely to give you a blurb marking the occasion, and sometimes you can parlay that interest into a feature story. Your 5th, 10th, 15th, or 20th anniversary is also a great time to throw a little party for your staff, clients, etc. Ideally, you hold it in your office space, like Pixel did, where you can casually show off your people and your work. Don't be afraid to get creative with it, either; my dad, AKA The Wine Guy at Ceres Street Wine, made up special t-shirts that celebrated his "10th Wineversary."

The Wine Guy on the Shelf

Here's wishing Papa Campbell, Portsmouth's favorite Wine Guy, a speedy recovery from his recent surgery. The shop is open sporadically with "Backup Wine Guy" Paul running the show, so you might want to call ahead: 431-2640.

Today's Portsmouth Herald was a bit of a Campbell harmonic convergence. On the front page, there was an article about the progress of the eCoast Wi-Fi Project, which I helped initiate several years ago. Thanks to Herald reporter Adam Leech for diligently staying on this story.

Further inside, on front page of the Money section, was a feature on my dad, David Campbell (handsome devil, isn't he?) and his wine shop. Ceres Street Wine Merchants is the oldest (founded in 1992) and largest (a bit of a non sequitur, if you've been inside) wine store in the state. Great job by Diana Paquet in capturing the spirit and personality of my dad and his store.

Oh and the "buy local" thing he mentions at the end? That's www.buylocalseacoast.org -- a great idea to organize and promote local businesses to keep money and jobs local, while also celebrating entrepreneurship and business creativity. Not to be forgotten are the environmental advantages of buying local, especially with gas hitting 3 bucks a gallon and the holiday gift buying season upon us. Check it out.