Is There Such a Thing as a Feminine Style Wine?

I was in a restaurant the other day and the sommelier recommended what turned out to be a glorious Chateauneuf du Pape. La Crau de Ma Mere 2004. The sommelier said it was a feminine style wine because the winemaker was a woman. I was eager to see what that type of wine would be. I still don’t know.

The wine was rich, deep dark fruit, smoke and lavender. It actually tasted very much a New World style. Yet I wonder whether there is such a thing as a “feminine” wine. Yes, some wines are more elegant and lighter than others, and some are dark and brooding, but I wouldn’t call one feminine and the other masculine.

I also thought it was odd that the wine would be considered feminine just because the winemaker was female.

So my question is this: Is there such a thing as a “feminine” style wine? And if so, is it synonymous with light and delicate? And if not, what would it be?

The restaurant, by the way, was Chez Papa Resto in San Francisco which has some of the best food in the City.

 

Focus on what you do well, not on what someone else does poorly

There have as of late been quite a few blog posts about the folly of hiring so-called Social Media “Experts”. Most make the very good point that merely because someone has created a Facebook page and knows how to spell “Twitter” it does not make them experts in the art and craft of wine marketing, branding, and communications.

Just as people are smart to be wary of web developers who live in their mothers’ basement and have built websites for their friends and some small businesses, whom you hire for your business is a very important decision. There’s a lot more to building a successful ecommerce website than knowing HTML and Flash.

That said, I’ve also noticed that many if not most of the people doing the complaining are basically complaining that they stand to lose business if people choose someone else for their social media consulting. Yes, they are right to be concerned; everyone these days needs to maintain and increase their client list. Their bios show how long they’ve been in the business as compared to other people who claim to be experts. So the blog post comes across as just a big complaint, rather than helpful tips to others.

Sometimes you just have to focus on what you do well. Spending too much time and energy focusing on who is following you on the freeway and less time keeping your eyes on the road create its own set of problems or even a crash. And it is also possible that a newbie has a great idea that never occurred to you because you are used to doing things the same way over and over and have gotten into a rut.

Let customers and potential clients know your skills and your vision. Demonstrate what you can do for them, and let the other folks stand or fall on their own. And who knows, maybe you can also learn something from a newbie.

 

The Passion of the Newly Converted

Over and over again we hear how everyone must immediately enter the social media space. Blog posts have been written saying that you cannot wait because “there is such an impossible catch up that you will never get current.”

This is just nonsense. I don’t mean to say social media has no value. It has great value. Wineries (and other businesses) can do very well to communicate with their customers, listen to them, re-create the tasting room experience online. It’s good to monitor your brand to see what others are saying about you.

But social media can only work as one element of an overall marketing strategy. There are many reasons a winery may choose not to enter this space.

1. They are small and like it that way. Not everyone wants to become a megawinery. They may not have the staff (some wineries are literally one or two-person operations). Their efforts may be better spent elsewhere.

2. They may not be good at it. Not everyone is sociable. Social Media has been compared to a cocktail party. Not everyone likes cocktail parties. Some just stand around in a corner staring at the onion dip. If you can’t do it well, it can actually hurt your brand to do it.

3. They may want to do it but just cannot afford the staff or the time. It’s not something you can do every now and then. Social media does require a commitment. In old media, a winery may realize the benefits of a full page ad in the Wine Spectator, but if they don’t have the money for it, they don’t get to take the ad. And SEO should not be neglected. That takes time too.

4. Sometimes an email list is all they need to sell their products. If their wines are well-reviewed, they may sell everything on the website and run out of product before the next vintage. And they can be fine with that.

But if they don’t do it today, guess what? They can indeed do it tomorrow. Over time they can learn the advantages of social media, they can learn how it works and do it well, they can decide to allocate resources to it and drop other methods of promotions.

My point is not that social media has no value. It has plenty of value. It is important.  But if a company wants to wait and see what happens in this fast and ever-changing space, that’s ok. To say it’s too late if they don’t do it now makes no sense on the face of it. Does this mean there’s no point in starting up a new winery a year from now? They won’t be entering the social media space until then. How is it that they can they do it next year but an existing winery cannot?

So yes, social media is a good thing. It opens up markets, it connects with your customers. It can, if done right, help sell more wine. So while people who are comfortable being early adopters can benefit from their embrace of the new, there are others who prefer to wait and see where this is all going and then follow the crowd. There is room for all models.

 

Why Social Media Training Needs to be More Social

Seminars have been given on the care and feeding of Social Media. An expert stands in front of the room, eager attendees listen closely and write down every word on their computers or on paper.

Webinars are the same, except the attendees are at their own place of business or watching at home in their pajamas.

But in both cases, there is a distance and a barrier to learning just what Social Media is all about. Like many lecturers, there are people who know their subject far better than their ability to communicate it. And the lecturers aren’t always aware of the paper shuffling, the foot tapping, and the quick and not-quite-so-furtive glances at watches.

There has to be a better way, and in fact, there is. It’s a group of people getting together and talking, sharing, asking questions, getting answers. Both lecturer and attendee have their assumptions challenged, their premises questioned and a spirited dialogue emerging. Which is exactly what Social Media is about.

I have given these seminars to various groups of wineries. And what I have found is fear, doubt, and a general reluctance to engage in social media. Everyone nods approvingly, takes copious notes, and ultimately does not understand the concept. Even our question and answer sessions, while more dynamic, still have the residual “I’m not sure I understand so I won’t say anything and appear dumb.”

Granted, this could be because I am not the world’s finest communicator, at least in this format. But why should this be a lecture anyway? My own style fits very well into the style of what social media truly is. It is a dialogue, a conversation, with questions and answers.

Enter Beerinars. Let’s talk about social media over a beer (or wine, or iced tea or water or whatever) and ask, answer, challenge, offer, speak, listen, tell jokes, trade stories, learn, teach. Everyone will do each of these things. I call these sessions Beerinars even when given for wineries, mainly because wine-inars sounds dumb, iced-tea-inars is idiotic, and I happen to like beer as well as wine!

So if you just want to gather somewhere (and it doesn’t have to really include beer, or anything alcoholic, this will be during the workday) we can find a friendly spot and figure out how to participate in social media in a way that works specifically for you.

If you happen to be a winery or wine-related client of eWinerySolutions, you can sign up for these sessions at www.ewinerysolutions.com/webinars and the sessions will be in their Napa offices or other convenient spot. If you are not a client or just prefer doing this outside eWS, contact me at larry@beerinars.com and I will gather the info and set something up and get this show on the road. The cost is minimal. And even less (for eWinerySolutions clients).

For the record, I am the Director of Social Media for eWinerySolutions, but they are merely a client of mine. If your web host, employer, or best friend is a competitor, keep in mind that I do not trade info to them, from them or with them.

Larry Chandler

@larrythewineguy

 

Do People Really Care about Direct Wine Shipping?

With all the talk about direct shipping, one question keeps coming back to mind. Do people really care? I don’t mean the wine industry people, or collectors, or people just passionate about wine. But the average guy, who just wants a good bottle of wine for that night’s dinner, does he care?

He can go into his supermarket or local wine shop and find something decent. He’s not looking for a Block A, Clone 2 or Famous Vineyard wine. He just wants a good red or a white for tonight.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely one of those who are outraged by the outright purchase of the various state legislatures by the liquor wholesalers. I talk to out-of-towners (yes, I’m here in the enlightened—if broke—state of California) and tell them to voice their displeasure at the restrictions imposed on their wine purchases back home. But ultimately, will they? Are they angry enough to complain or merely disappointed or even relieved that they don’t have to succumb to the pressure of joining a winery’s wine club?

I bring this up only to wonder if there is perhaps another approach that people like myself (and you, I hope) can use to persuade people to get mad enough at their states for these shipping restrictions.

I know the tireless efforts of Tom Wark and many others in the wine industry is having some effect in some states (e.g., Tennessee and Kansas which now allow direct shipping). But wouldn’t it be a lot easier if somehow we can get people angry enough to demand it themselves? Legislators will respond to angry voters. Perhaps a campaign against “government bureaucrats who tell you what to eat and drink for dinner”?

 

Social Media HighWire Act Without a Net (or Strategy)

Everyone is talking about social media. In fact, that is what social media is, getting everyone talking. But are they talking about you? And if so, what are they saying?

So perhaps you do want to be involved in social media. What is social media anyway? Social Media is simply a set of tools to enable individuals and businesses to communicate easily with other individuals and businesses.

Unlike traditional media, social media is a two-way street. Traditional media, whether it is newspapers, TV, or even websites, is a one-way street. Information comes from the source, and is distributed to the readers, viewers, and users.

But with social media, everyone creates content, and everyone absorbs the content that is created—if they choose to pay attention to what you create.

So it’s important to get people to pay attention to you. But here’s an important question: How? And Who?

And the answer to that is called a strategy.

But a strategy really doesn’t need to be a dozen people sitting around a conference table for 6 months figuring it out. That is quite daunting. There are just a few steps involved, and that involves asking questions about both your customers and yourself:

1. Know your customers. Are they young, impulsive, eager to try something new? Or are they older and buy full cases of your $200 Cabernet solely by allocation?
2. What is lacking in your current marketing efforts? Are your sales declining in restaurants, in the wholesale market, at the winery itself, through the wine club? Or do you sell everything you make and then go skiing in Switzerland for 6 months?
3. Do you have a marketing department and/or a large staff generally? Do you do everything including making the wine and sweeping the floors or are you a multi-brand Mega Winery?
4. Are you looking to establish new brands? Social media is great for this.
5. Look at the existing social media sites and see where your competitors are. Do they know something you may not?
6. Are you patient? Or are you the type to expect results from Day One?
7. Are you nimble enough to change tactics and strategy if necessary?

All of this is relevant to what strategy to pursue. And it will be different for each winery. And monitor the results and make changes based on what you find.

Most important though for the winery to think about, if you don’t really “get it,” if you just don’t see the point of social media, then don’t do it. You won’t do it well, and may actually harm your brand.

And sometimes the best strategy is to sit it out until it is clear just how to monetize all this. There’s no need to buy commercial time on TV if you don’t know whether your customers are watching 60 Minutes, Desperate Housewives, or the WWE Smackdown.

Plan your destination first. It’s better to be left behind at the station than to get on the wrong train.

 

New Vine Logistics update in the SR Press Democrat

Taking a break from mostly Tweeting (@larrythewineguy) about the New Vine Logistics fiasco. There is a great article in the Press Democrat about it, so read it here: http://bit.ly/wDsPN

 

How will the fallout from the NVL fiasco impact DTC?

Are other fulfillment houses at risk if wineries pull their wines in fear of yet another shipper going bust? Will wineries lose interest in DTC if they don’t have the facilities to do their own fulfillment? Amazon was supposedly going to give this whole category of DTC a lift. What will happen now?

I don’t think anyone knows exactly how this will play out, but it is time to start thinking of alternatives and how to best overcome these newly placed obstacles.

It is a disaster for the wine industry, even if a particular winery is not impacted. Many people who are expecting wine club shipments and don’t get them may quit other clubs too.

 

NVL shutdown a real clusterfuck

A few of the issues regarding the NVL shutdown:

NVL handles wineries, 3rd party retailers and wholesalers. There are many shops that have no physical presence, but store all their wines at a fulfillment house. If they use NVL they could be in big trouble, depending on how soon they can move their wines over to another house. Some may close. Smaller wineries may also close as they don’t have the deep pockets to wait this out.

Another problem is that their computer system keeps track of which wines are in bond, which are not. You can’t just open the doors and move out the wine. Other fulfillment companies are trying to salvage this and are meeting with NVL’s bankers right now.

Some wine clubs were getting ready to ship out the monthly shipment. Those wines are being held until all this is resolved.

Amazon, which was using NVL as its fulfillment partner has first rights to buy NVL. But it may take time to sort all this out.

Since NVL did permit and compliance reporting for many wineries and retailers, those entities may be in default with the various states if no reports are issued. Only a few employees are still on the job.

Some foreign wineries and marketing agents shipped a container a month to NVL.

Other companies are also at risk. Website hosts, such as IBG, eWinerySolutions, Nexternal, may find some clients going under. This will impact their bottom line too.

 

NVL Shutdown

Note from Katie Hoertkorn regarding NVL shutdown:

Dear Customer, This communication is to inform you that New Vine will no longer be able to receive and/or process any further orders for shipment from our facility and will be shutting down the ability to submit orders electronically through New Vine Online. For status on orders submitted or pending, please continue to use our extranet as we will continue to process prior orders in our system to the extent we can. We extend our sincere apologies as New Vine has abruptly gone into a state of financial crisis and is currently working on the plan forward to communicate further updates about the state of the company and how best to interface with New Vine for all of your inquiries. Thank you, Katie Hoertkorn