FAQ

Q1. What is the VineFinders business model? How will you make money from it?

Well, we really don’t know! Tell us, please.

In 2002 it seemed a good idea to collect vineyard location data for in-car navigation units. GPS manufacturers cried out for content, then changed tack and lowered prices and used only free content! Meanwhile, we’d started, and didn’t know where/when to stop!

ADVERTISING on the site will provide a few cents here and there, and will be worth the trouble if/when we get millions of hits.

LISTING FEES for individual vineyards were rejected by us early on, as most don’t have advertising budgets. The time taken to twist their arms wouldn’t be worth the return – but it might change!

The contracts we have obtained for sale and/or use of vineyard location data are “milestones” we’ve listed on the ABOUT US page.

Q2. Grape bunches represent some sites and Wine glasses others. Why?

There are twelve (12) categories or location types in the VineFinders databases, with some locations having more than one location type (eg a vineyard that has a cellar door and its own winery for wine production). The Map Data Sciences mapping engine delivers your search selections individually or combined from 5,800 businesses displaying 7 location types (each with a different symbol) across 85 regions - that's quite some sophistication and power. There is a hierarchy involved for the display of the icons representing the location types. For example:
* cellar door locations are shown by the wine glass, even if co-located with a vineyard and/or winery
* the bunch of grapes represents a vineyard without a cellar door or winery
* a wine bottle represents a production winery, which may also have a co-located vineyard, and
* a wine bottle emblazoned with a “N” is a Negociant, who produces a finished wine from non-estate-grown fruit, or from purchased wine, or (rarely) just labels wine that has been bought already bottled.

The icons aren’t perfect, and we intend to improve on them and to offer other wine industry categories. To receive updates on our functionality, register for our occasional email newsletter.

Q3. Can I have your job visiting cellar doors around the country?

Yeah, at VineFinders we swan around beautiful countryside in our chauffered limo on sunny days, being refreshed by crisp rieslings, savvy blancs and sublime semillons, while entertained by enthralling vignerons al fresco over exquisite regional cuisine before repairing to the barrel room for a few real wines... Yes, that's what we do - in our dreams! The reality is hitting the road at first light on a carefully-planned itinerary to maximise the number of vineyards found, with road entrance locations recorded on our GPS, then moving on searching for the next vineyard, and so on until dark - rain, hail or shine! Then spend hours hunched over the laptop entering data, and more hours poring over maps planning the next day. The remuneration... well, we've received three free bottles of wine from vignerons who support our efforts as we've swanned around the cellar doors of Australia [thankyou Golden Ball (Beechworth, Vic), Tunnel Hill (Coal River Valley, Tas) & Two Tails (Northern Rivers, NSW)]!

Q4. I can't find a vineyard/cellar door/brewery/etc when using the dynamic dB & mapping engine?
OUR HINTS:
a. NAME SEARCH SPELLING: Try a similar spelling or abbreviated spelling.
For example, rather than "Saint Regis" or "St Regis", try just "Regis" - it will take you to the St Regis Vineyard & Winery in the Geelong district!

b. CAN'T REMEMBER NAME: Try a town or postcode search where you think it is. The nearest 20 locations will then display on a map, with the 20 results shown in four tables of five beneath the map.

c. NARROW YOUR SEARCH: What was that Riesling I had at the vineyard near Swansea? The search engine will first ask you if it's Swansea (NSW) or Swansea (Tas) and then return the 10 nearest vineyards with that variety in either the Hunter Valley or the East Coast of Tasmania, according to your choice. There are other ways to narrow your search.

d. AKA (also known as), PKA (previously known as) & BRANDS:
It's quite common for one vineyard to produce wine under a completely different name, or to differentiate quality into distinctly named brands, and/or to have an estate label for wines grown on the home vineyard, and another label for wines made from purchased fruit. And then there are ownership changes, marketing gurus, and/or other difficulties in keeping track...
When searching, try any different brand names, or old names, whatever - and, as it's inevitable that we will miss new changes, please let us know!

Q5. I searched by postcode but my Pokolbin vineyard was not mapped. Why?

A search by town or postcode delivers the nearest 20 results from our database. Nearest, in this context, means the nearest as the crow flies to a single centrepoint for the postcode (and may include locations outside the postcode). But for postcode 2320, for example, we have over 100 vineyards! Then again, some locations border different postcodes and use a neighbouring one in their addresses. So, if you don't know the vineyard name, you may need to do a regional search, and home in to the location area you're searching.

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