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"Editor\u2019s Note: If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion in \u201CThe Startup Review\u201D series, please see the details here.\nSTARTUP DETAILS:\nCompany Name: Vinix\n20-word Description: Vinix is a wine and food social network. It gives you a blog platform and the ability to easily post videos, classifieds, photos, wine reviews and restaurant reviews. Everyone can subscribe for free and add contacts, choosing through professionals and passionates alike. Google Maps mashups for site content are also available.\nCEO's Profile: My name is Filippo Ronco I'm from Chiavari (Genoa, Italy) and I'm 33 years old. I own Vinix and VinoClic, an online advertising agency for advertisers of the wine &amp; food world, active since October 2006. I have personally organized all the editions of the TigullioVino.it Meeting, a national event in which all the best Italian and foreign wine makers are introduced to the press, traders and public, tasted by the TigullioVino tasting panels. I have taken part, as speaker, to some conferences on online communication, with a particular emphasis on the online publishing, online advertising and c.d. web 2.0 instruments.\nMashable's Take: Italians are known for their passion for cuisine. From pasta to wine to breads to cheeses, the term connoisseur, presumably a Gallic concoction, applies to many of the people in the much historied Mediterranean-Tyrrhenian-Adriatic nation of the southern EU. So it seems only fitting that some technologically-adept food hounds have built a social network crafted to be used exclusively by social eaters and drinkers - as well as the restauranteurs and juicers who serve such individuals.\nVinix, a network whose name may at first glance be very unfortunately mistaken for an insect or weed repellant, is a place of simple construction. Which for some may be part of its appeal. Quite straightforward and with minimal flair, it\u2019s somewhat generic in layout. But it certainly has utility. Users can of course create profile and share reviews, but the list of options also extends to blogs, photos, videos, classifieds, and even scheduled tastings. What would it be without such events, after all? Even companies like Wineries and olive oil producers can establish themselves on the site to connect with one another and even derive promotional attention and consideration.\n\nWhat\u2019s especially interesting about Vinix is that it doesn\u2019t seem to wish to dabble lightly in the food world for its users. Just by looking at its two-tiered registration structure - one part being free and another paid for - Vinix, now in its so-called 2.0 phase, which began June 2007, is clearly working to connect all parts of the food business, from the supplier to the consumer. Indeed, while most users will connect via the free option, merchants can sign for pro-level subscription, for which some 100+ euros must be spent. This is most definitely not typical of social network today to do. But Vinix is different than your big-brand MySpace or Facebook. It\u2019s much more a purist enclave than other sites on the Web. Heck, even its limited language support, which obviously presents Italian as the main course with a touch of English if users so choose to go that route, shows its heavy focus on the Italian food market. The service is no doubt made to cater to one demographic - foodies, and Italian foodies in particular - and very little else.\nOf course, given its limited reach in macrocosmic terms, one must ask if it will age well. Such limited reach obviously won\u2019t grant it enormous global success. It simply has to play to its base, for lack of better phrasing. And as it looks today, it seems Vinix is doing alright for itself. It appears to exhibit a healthy status. Building on the old adage, time will tell whether Vinix grows and grows to become the default Italian nameplate for culinary social networking.\n\n\nSponsored by Sun Startup Essentials\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/04/24/vinix/>