Wineries and Social Media Part II

Back in November I posted some thoughts on wineries using social media. I singled out Gary Vaynerchuck, but it seems that every wine consultant has social media advice for wineries.

I took a different approach. I am not a consultant, and I am not in the wine business, so any advice I have would be meaningless. Instead, I wanted to gather the thoughts of a diverse group of wineries to see how they were using social media (focused primarily on Twitter, Facebook and blogs). I sent requests out to several wineries and actually got quite a few responses. Rather than forcing this into a boring interview format, I am going to post their thoughts in a more free-flowing form. This is Part II, I have at least one more post planned, although I may try for a fourth if there is enough interest.

One of the things that repeatedly came up in my conversations with the wineries is that social media is important, but only in conjunction with other avenues of customer service. Adam Beaugh (Twitter), Director of Social Media for Jackson Family Wines, talking about La Crema Winery (Facebook):

There is a fundamental shift in communication going on right now, but I believe there needs to be a healthy blend of both traditional and social media. Shaking hands in the tasting room, responding to customer feedback on social network sites, monitoring user generated review sites such as Yelp and more traditional created content all help communicate the winery's story, passion and commitment to our consumer base.

Passion is another common theme. Winery owners/wine makers who are passionate about their wine, also seem the most likely to use social media sites. Yann Todeschini owner of Chateau Mangot (Twitter) also talks about passion:

The social media is a good way to explain our job, our passion to the customers. The wine is not only a drink, it's an historical and cultural product, and we believe in the passion we can transmit to our customers.
If we speak about US consumers, it's quite difficult for him to understand French wine, appellation, grapes variety, ageing..too much technical words…the social media are use to demystify the wine, to the customers.

Along, the same lines, Bob Lindo from Camel Valley (Twitter) sees Twitter as part of the strategy to tell people about their wines:

We don't do much marketing because we are overwhelmed with demand. However, our mantra is: make the best possible wine, win awards and tell people.

Wine: 2004 La Crema 9 Barrel Chardonnay



Review: La Crema has quickly become my favorite California Winery. They make a wide range of high quality wines at reasonable prices. And, while the wines are readily available they are not so ubiquitous that they are available on every street corner, so they still make for a unique presentation.

To make the 9 Barrel Chardonnay the La Crema winemaker chooses the best 9 Barrels from their run of Chardonnay, ages them longer, individually numbers them and bottles them. The math geek was excited because I was able to get number 1609.

I like this wine becuase it does not taste a like a Chardonnay. it is a crisp wine with strong citrus flavors and a hint of mint. The barrel aging add a toasty finish, but not too oaky, the way many oak-aged Chardonnays are. Overall, an excellent wine.


Price: $40.00

Grade: 90

Looking for some last minute wine gifts for under $20? Here are three recommendations that are unique, quality wines that are readily available at most wine shops:

Hanna Sauvignon Blanc: This is a highly-rated wine with a crisp clean taste and a hint of lime.

La Crema Syrah: This wine starts small with aromas of cherry and chocolate. It opens quickly and provides a strong finish that lingers on the palate.

Shotfire Shiraz: It doesn't seem fair to include both a Syrah and a Shiraz on the list, does it? Well, the two wines are so different that they really are geared toward different tastes. This wine is also highly-rated and it made Wine Specator's "Top 100 World Wines" list. This a very full-bodied wine, it has a strong taste of pepper and raspberries and strong tannins that stick around for a very strong finish.

My last post on my trip to Alexander Valley.

I want to finish up with some more highlights from the Healdsburg Winery Walk.

Aside from Thumbprint Cellars my other favorite winery in Healdsburg was La Crema. The staff at the La Crema tasting room was magnificent, they were friendly, knowledgeable and a lot of fun. Of course, the wines were good as well.

They have 4 different Pinot Noirs, from 4 regions, each one with a unique taste and bursting with flavor. Their Syrah was excellent as well. The wine that really blew me away though was...their Chardonnay. Specifically, their 9 Barrel Chardonnay. The keep it in a separate room and each bottle is individually numbered. Normally, I am not a Chardonnay fan...but this was a crisp, refreshing wine barrel aged, but without a heavy oak taste.




Passalacqua was unique because of the location. It was in an industrial part of town, inside a warehouse. The wines, were good, especially their 2005 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. It is a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Carignane, making it a smooth wine with strong hints of raspberry, a very fruity Zinfandel.




Finally, we have Lake Sonoma. This winery had the largest tasting room of all the Healdsburg wineries visited. They had a very good Sauvignon Blanc and a surprisingly good Cabernet Sauvignon, which had an interesting blend of blackberry and plum aromas. Surprisingly, they also had a Port, I am not a big fan of Ports, and this was no exception, but a lot of other tasters seemed to like it.