10e20 - Latest Comments in Wine Tasting with Social Media

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

Shana Ray — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:42:24 -0000

Great to read a review of wineries using social media by someone outside of the wine industry. Next time, tweet out that you are coming to Sonoma County and see what happens. ;)

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:00:56 -0000

They go together like bacon and anything that would taste better with bacon. :D

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

Ben Lang — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:35:46 -0000

wow who would have that that wine and social media went together

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

joshua — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:01:44 -0000

hey test the water some work some dont. People get the idea that when you promote a blog you need to be on all social sites just do the ones that work best for you and build up from there.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

4You — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:47:40 -0000

Cool article! Well, I think that Social Media is a many-sided marketing tool which is available to help businessmen to achieve their target audience.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

David — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:12:24 -0000

Cool - been a few years since we were in the Nape Valley. Actually, it was in the days when decent Napa Valley Cabernet was still affordable.

One of my favorite places ever and it was interesting to read how some of the wineries are embracing social marketing.

Nice report - thanks!

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:08:55 -0000

I totally agree, Mandy! :D

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:08:32 -0000

"We strive to keep our interactions with consumers as relaxed and un-pressured as possible..."

You definitely achieved that when I visited. I like how you talk about making sacrifices and focusing on what's more important -- you have a nice, small social media presence but work with the time and staff that you have and are willing to sacrifice a huge social media account in order to provide a solid in-person experience and run your business smoothly. I totally respect and admire that!

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

mandy — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:32:30 -0000

Thanks for the the post - sounds like a great trip. Its great to see the wineries using social media to relate and connect with their target audience. As a business social media can provide a platform for opening discussions, and sharing your views and options. In this way social media sits really well with wine tasting allowing you to discuss and share your favorite wines with other interested parties.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

1WineDude — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 20:45:23 -0000

Nice to see some places that "get it"!

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

Josh Stein — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:07:30 -0000

Thank you for the kind words about our tasting room and social media presence. I would like to point out that our fan page is separate from our main FB account page--which has close to 200 friends, some of which are in the industry (as you will find with just about every winery's friends) but most of whom are consumers who friended us as a result of tasting our wines in the tasting room or at a trade show or because of the various digital breadcrumbing we do (additions to sig lines, mentions in articles, etc.). I think you'll find that for a large enough business--one where job categorization and diversification are possible--keeping up a clear brand presence that is smoothly interacting with consumers and encouraging exactly the kinds of re-tweets and status updates and comments mentioned above is a task that is easily added into the company's management and customer service structures. However, for a small winery--there are TWO of us plus a two-day bookkeeper in our back office--creating the more robust presence that social media really require is tough. Twitter in particular is so in-the-moment that to keep our authenticity (meaning, avoiding pure selling tweets) and also keep up a steady flow of interesting, non-repetitive tweets is simply not that easy. A small business requires people who can do ten things at once, and there is never enough time to do everything as well as we would like in the ideal. We strive to keep our interactions with consumers as relaxed and un-pressured as possible so that the experience of tasting our wines is not one fraught with anxiety or ambivalence, as it is in so many tasting rooms. If that means our social networking is not as robust as it could be, we will take that as a trade-off because it still allows us to put our emphasis where we think it matters most: getting consumers to taste and enjoy our wines and want to bring that experience back home with them. I understand how social media can allow for that extension, but as with many of the other marketing channels we use, the pragmatics of the size of our company become a major factor.

Josh Stein
Brands Manager and Assistant Winemaker
Hagafen Cellars

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:04:05 -0000

Definitely agree with you -- the social media signs were enough to pique my interest and stay memorable, and I'm sure it did the same for other young people/social media savvy folks.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:01:20 -0000

Holy music, Batman!

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

frank — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:16:25 -0000

So I, myself, am a wine taster as well. Been looking around for new types that I havent come across or have heard of before, and I thought I'd pass this along to see what you thought about JM Fonseca Twin Vines. Its a new wine, well, at least I havent heard of it in the past. Wanted to know if you've heard of it, and if you have and have tried it, what you thought about it. The URL is too messy to put up so I shortened it down.

http://tinyurl.com/meko65

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

WineDiverGirl — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 15:00:04 -0000

Great post...and nice to have the new company in the SM world with Hagafen and Castello di Amorosa ...other (earlier, formidable) pioneers: Twisted Oak Winery, Hahn Estates...

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

Lisa Williams — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:52:27 -0000

Great idea Todd! We've got some special wineries in the region.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

chriswinfield — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:09:36 -0000

Hey Nate!

Rebecca told me she saw you - so cool (and what a small world!)

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

RickBreslin @drvthru — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:32:33 -0000

... posted in Hagafen Cellars was enough to generate positive Yelp reviews, and brought in some wine tasters.

Thanks again for the nice write-up,

Rick Breslin
Drive Thru Interactive

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

RickBreslin @drvthru — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:30:13 -0000

This is an excellent article, and a valuable contribution to online marketers in the wine industry. Thanks for sharing!

One major point for all businesses to consider when forming a social media strategy - you don't have to do all the heavy lifting yourselves (e.g. build a fan base or follower count of 30,000+). Instead, motivate your customers to share their positive experiences in their social networking circles. Therein lies the true benefit of SM.

Case in point: A simple sign

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:04:18 -0000

I'll happily take you up on that offer! :)

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 12:02:52 -0000

Well I signed up for St. Supery's wine club so I'll be a repeat customer. I've already recommended the Castello wine tour to my family and friends the next time they're in Napa, and I'm probably more likely to buy all three wineries' wines if I see them at the store.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

keith — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:51:49 -0000

Great if you went to Supery and others but how long will the product stick with you after you leave?

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

andrew wee — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:00:40 -0000

Great publicity for the 3 highlighted wineries, esp with coverage on 10e20.
If anything, it's proof for great ROI (and foresight on their part) on the social media spend.

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

Stephanie Woods — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:31:30 -0000

When you come back to the Okanagan in the spring I'll take you guys on a wine tour. There are soooo many amazing wineries here!

Re: Wine Tasting with Social Media

rebeccakelley — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:11:06 -0000

Jason had mentioned that he follows a guy who does marketing for a winery, but we didn't realize he worked for St. Supery until after we had visited it.