LusaWines informs

When we started this site, LusaWines.com-, B2C, Business-to-Consumer, with its domain registered on December 9th 1998, we weren't expecting the duty of communicating and commercializing at distance of a click would be so complex and effortful. At the time, the specialized press (1) only spoke about the advent of the electronic business and of the promising future of a New Dawn. Even know-a-days, although it isn't completely indifferent to the "business agents", the activity is unknown by many.

LusaWines invested in its own resources, hardware and software and assumed the responsibility of guaranteeing the consumer's trust. The costs were adjusted, definitely sustained and gained profits. The disproportionality of this investment compared to other analogues is that LusaWines is self sustainable and doesn't share the model promoted by the borough management system. It isn't identified with "operating mode" of the over exaggerated consumerist society, filled with "gourmet" and byte concepts.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the "novelty" in the area of distance electronic commercial transaction of Portuguese Wine, was Oportowines.com, domain created on May 24th 1999. The shop was well built, good programming and the best tools. But it didn't last long. (2)

During these ten years LusaWines.com aggregated in its data base, 500 national producers and more than 1000 brands of Portuguese wine, of all regions and sub-regions from Monção-Melgaço to Pico-Azores, without any commercial discrimination, and sold, from all of them, its respective raw material – the Grape's offspring.

This "new look" of LusaWines is a confirmation of hope during times of terrible uneasiness (3), criticism, in which we are living, near chasm and hell (4). We believe in the commerce and in the capital of its economy, great to make wealthiness, but awful to destroy, diversify and share its prosperity. The societies don't demand much from capitalism, since it promotes inequality, weakness and does not create impartiality, dignity and the value of dividing. Know-a-days, the wealthiness and luxury of the capital in Portugal, the financial "idiot" that supports it, private and public, provides perpetual incomes, feudal oligopolistic privileges, is against Private Initiative, Free Initiative, Social Agreement and enemy of happiness and of the Occident.

The electronic store, for consumers, is property of a small company, of a regional range and of familial state. It began in 1947, "Monte do Faro – Produtos de Consumo, Lda.", legal and physical holder of LusaWines.com. During 20 years candidatures to national and communitarian support programs were made, as to: SIMC (Systems to Incentivise Commercial Modernization), PROCOM (Programme to Support Commercial Modernization) and POSI (Operational Programme for Information Society). The working propositions were refused. It is regretful.

During these 10 years we have cohabited with exclusive and curious situations on the WEB.

Once we received an order from San Antonio in California – (USA). The demanding client wanted to purchase a particular wine which there was only two units, at a reduced price. The buyer wanted a box of 6 bottles. He continued insisting and after a few emails and phone calls we explained that the wine at issue was originally run out and its commercial value was around 150 Euros. We said that there was an available harvest from 1999 Tinto Douro, the brand's first edition, at an intermediary price. After an amiable conversation, and having the client said that the Wine was for his father's birthday, who was turning 80 years old, he revealed his contentment. We asked where his father lives and he was only 500 meters from our door.

The Wine and the brand at issue (QVM) are property of Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira's descendent.

Another rare situation happened when we received an email from an attorney's Office located in Lisbon, asking LusaWines.com to remove a certain brand from its data base. They argued that the Wine's brand had been acquired by another entity, which didn't authorize its exhibition and commercialization.

Time went by, and for our surprise, one day we were encountered with the news that in Vidigueira a property was sold to a banker and it was turned into a "bunker". We immediately related the email to the concern of destroying anything that was vestige of the land that produced good Alentejano Wine.

The wine which was properly certified and legally introduced in the market continues being commercialized. The brand is Paço dos Infantes. The banker is Oliveira e Costa.

Recently, the largest distributor and importer in the USA contacted us, in the sense of obtaining samples of Vinho Verde. After giving us the indication of 7 producers, we evidenced that only two were registered in the official controller entity FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Too bad! And as the "philosopher" Mick Jagger says: "You Can't Always Get What You Want").

The policy regarding the Information Society lost the initiative of creating a legal, administrative and tributary view (kind of Renewable) for a new generation of entrepreneur agents, that reformed the commercial material, being the avalanche, again, paradigm of the online distribution and independent commercial networks, opposing to the situationism, expansionist, generational offspring of a hyper-collaborationist politic. In the course of these last 10 years “e-commerce” projects emerged, originated from the different entities: communication operators and ISPs, company associations, bank, public and private, national and communitarian programmes. Every single one of them failed.

When we register types and brands of wine that are sold, we divulge more than 200 products. The cult of some brands is enormous in such way that it is difficult to distinguish if we drink from the "internet" or the mouth. The attitude of some "wine makers" is curious, consultants of large spaces and of the illusion of their brochures; they make wine for fairs, as well as develop special programmes for exportation, or foolish national elites.

Here is some interesting data, with the number of audited visits (certified and homologated), pages visited and number of clients, that over time we have conquered.

Report – Data Base

• 15 – Countries as a destination
• 500 – Wine Producers
• 500 – Brands of Wine sold
• 1000 – Registered clients
• 10.000 – Bottles sold
• 70.000 – Visits/average/month
• 300.00 – Spike of visits (September 2007)

LusaWines.com is the electronic commerce pioneer in Portugal. Today it is the most visited site of Portuguese Wines and it beats the number of "peaks" of the Official Entities and main Producers.

2011 – Vintage & Harvest = Grapes & Bread at Your taste.

António Teles – Business Owner (5)

(1) See Infer. Face (Dec-1997), Network (April 1999)

Know-a-day we see the "obstruction" of the insolvent and parasite Wine Cellars & Wine Producers and the reestablishment of the sector, but also the obstruction of the communication networks and infrastructures, forcing the telecommunication operators to do huge investments in order to support big portals, social networks, mobile applications, terrorism, electronic waste, headed for banality and vulgarity traffic.

(2) It had a technological support. The multinational Neoris, (Invisible Ink) as an informatics consultant and MSI Portugal. According to the specialized press the initiative was supported by many entities such as the Association of The Oporto Wine Companies (AEVP) and the own IVP. Investment of 48.000 contos in old Portuguese money. In the first month the activity profited 450 contos, only by selling Oporto Wine. The company was located in Estoril, Rua das Ginjeiras, "Casa dos Milagres".

One year later it disappeared from the network.

The enology and its actors emerge intensely – new protagonists, to prejudice the own producers. Some wine started to strike to the eyes, their investment out of the product is XXX times higher than production costs. These expenses were for advertisement and marketing. The specialized magazines and opinion makers appear. It's the advent of the "Performance Society".

Other initiatives arise up North. Located in Matosinhos, one of the most daring and resulting projects on the internet, but it didn't harvest many grapes. There are only a few stores that maintain independent and with longevity on the Web.

(3) The Field of the Castles

Europe lies, reclining upon her elbows:

From East to West she stretches, staring,

And romantic tresses fall over

Greek eyes, reminding.

The left elbow is stepped back;

The other laid out at an angle.

The first says Italy where it leans;

This one England where, set afar,

The hand holds the resting face.

Enigmatic and fateful she stares

Out West, to the future of the past.

The staring face is Portugal.

(4) Disturbances in London - 08-2011 Street Fighting Man

The villain that pillaged and robbed neighbors didn't go after Bread or food to survive. But when it's to sell a pair of jeans, the multinational appeal to the combat on the streets and turns on the sound of the video using a poem from Walt Whitman. We can conclude that the greedy mercantilism has the objective of destroying and inspiring the rebellion to the weak and vulnerable – The boy in the Black Neighborhood, that has to fight to see the sun rise, not necessarily for the "market & violence" but for communication, effort, shared sacrifice, education, work and social Justice.

(5) Stones in the road

"I may have defects, live anxiously and sometimes become irritated,

but I never forget that my life is the biggest company of the world,

and that I can avoid that it goes bankrupt.

To be happy is to recognize that life, is worth living,

even with all its challenges, misunderstandings, and its periods of crisis.

To be happy, is to stop being the victim of problems and being the author of your own story.

To cross deserts outside of yourself, and to find the oasis inside your soul.

To thank God for each morning for the miracle of life

To be happy, is not to be afraid of your own emotions.

It is knowing how to speak about yourself.

To have the courage to listen to a "no".

To have the strength to receive a criticism, even when unjust.

Stones in the road?

I save every single one, one day I'll build a castle..."

FP

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