Our first user contest: Tell us what you think!

(Here’s a link to take you directly to the survey, if you don’t want to read about the contest)

Well, Able Grape just launched its second beta, and it’s high time we had our first user contest. I have two goals for the contest:

• Get the best, most insightful, and creative feedback I can about how to make Able Grape the most useful search tool possible for the international wine community.
• Get people signed up for Able Grape’s email list, so we can keep in touch as we make huge steps forward based on what we’ve learned.

There, that’s it, nothing complicated. I need your help, and I thought a contest would make it fun. Since Able Grape started as a labor of love, and remains a modest, self-funded endeavor, we don’t have a huge budget for fancy contest prizes. But I thought I’d dig into my own personal cellar for a few wines — hopefully there’s something for everyone on this list:

• 1964 Gaja Infernot (according to one source, a wine that was “never commercially released,” this wine is on the list at NYC’s Cru for its vintage year in dollars. Wow!)
• 1971 JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese
• 1978 Produttori del Barbaresco Rio Sordo (their first vintage ever from this cru, and a great one)
• 1988 Clos Vougeot, Gros Frère & Soeur
• 1988 Richebourg, Jean Gros
• 1983 or 1979 Hanzell Pinot Noir
• 2002 Littorai Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir
• 1989 Pichon Lalande
• 1990 Ermitage ‘Le Pavillon,’ Chapoutier
• 1990 Figeac

How the contest works

Here’s how the contest works. To enter, first sign up for Able Grape, if you haven’t already — it’s quick and free — and then fill out our short, 14-question survey. That’s all. There will be at least four winners:

1. The person who sends in the most thoughtful, complete, and useful feedback. I’ll be judging these. I’m looking for frank but constructive criticism, specific examples of what you like and don’t like, and creative suggestions. I’d like to get more than just first impressions; ideally, you’ve run enough queries to learn Able Grape and get a balanced impression of its strengths and weaknesses. If there are enough great responses, I may award more than one “winner #1.”
2. The person who sends in the most popular suggestion for a new feature or improvement (question #13 on the survey). This will be determined by a reader vote at the end of the contest.
3. The person who referred winner #1 to Able Grape.
4. The person who referred winner #2 to Able Grape.

These last two are your motivation to let all your friends and colleagues know about the contest, and encourage them to enter: if one of them wins, you win! (please register first, and have your friends/colleagues put your name in question #2; yes, blogs are eligible and I much appreciate your help). My plan is to give each winner, in the order listed above, their choice of one bottle from whatever’s still available. If you live somewhere where a contest like this might be prohibited by law, I’ll try to find something fun and equivalent. If you have any questions about the rules of the contest, please post them as comments here, and I’ll respond so that everyone can see.

I plan to close entries on 15 September. Good luck, and thanks for being a part of Able Grape!