By: Shawn Zylberberg
One of the greatest living winemakers in the world, Michel Rolland, recently said that it has never been easier to make great wine, but it has never been harder to sell it. The entire wine industry, regardless of fine wine or bulk producers, can find common ground to agree with Rolland’s words. With wine consumption declining from historic highs to an extremely competitive market to volatile economic conditions, it is crucial for wineries to know how to market their product strategically by leveraging their unique story and identifying the magnets that will pull consumers and trade alike to place that bottle in the cart or list. The following are five key areas that are used to successfully market wines today.
Media Relations: The wine industry feels quite small at times, which highlights the importance of relationships in the community, whether it’s with wine critics, distributor partners, sommeliers and wine directors or high net worth consumers. At Colangelo & Partners, media relations is the most important factor when marketing a wine brand and driving sales successfully, from price points of $800 bottles to $15 bottles.
Wineries can start by identifying the right media contacts—those who specialize in wine, food, and lifestyle reporting—and critics that cover the respective region. Compiling a media list of these contacts serves as a guide for getting a winery in front of consumers, and reading their content is important to understand their style, audience and whether your brand is a good fit for the target publication. It is not recommended to reach out to the media list until your company messaging is ironclad as it will be easier to identify the best selling points in a tailored pitch.
Pitching and sampling remains the best way to connect with today’s best wine writers and engage them to write an in-depth story about your wines. A personalized approach that showcases deep understanding of the subject you produce and they cover is essential. A wrongly sent pitch can have serious consequences and come off as offensive to the writer. Remember, they receive hundreds of pitches a week so concise, targeted words are recommended.
When crafting a pitch, the best ways to engage writers includes an ‘exclusive.’ People want what they can’t have, and exclusives are a great way to form a bond with a writer and give them the keys to a story such as leadership changes, a new wine launch, winery or partnership. The bigger the better! This will result in the peak of media relations, which is when writers come to you without you typing a letter.
Wine Events: For making the strongest, most memorable impact on consumers and trade, a wine event is the best choice. Countless times, wine collectors have stuck to wine brands due to one in person experience that created a bond between them and a winery that’s everlasting. Wine dinners are very typical, and can be replicated from market to market to showcase portfolios for consumers paired with a great menu. But for an effective event that will attract media and trade, find a strong angle that writers will be intrigued to cover such as an anniversary, a vertical of one SKU that dates to the inaugural vintage, a new wine launch or an event with an important figure of the company. Filling seats is the hardest part, so making the event an attractive offer will help. After the event, following up with media and trade will be important to continue to build on the angle to produce results. As for consumers, leveraging purchase order forms at the tasting will increase sales. Do not expect consumers to buy the wines after the tasting as they will forget and put it off. Buying wine at events is about the moment.
Critic Relations: Building and maintaining relationships with wine critics is a must for successful wine marketing. Critics significantly influence consumer perceptions with the 100-point scale that affect purchasing decisions, making it essential to engage with them effectively. As mentioned earlier the first step is to identify which critics cover your region. Start with large publications such as Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Jeb Dunnuck, The Wine Advocate, Vinous, James Suckling, and Decanter. All of these magazines have a submissions protocol, some of which require fees such as Wine Enthusiast’s new tastings protocol.
Engaging critics beyond just sending samples is crucial. Invite them to your winery, attend annual events such as Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience or Vinous Icons or James Suckling’s Greatest Wines of the World series, or even participate in exclusive seminars at these events (although they will require large product donations). Supporting publications and building a rapport can lead to more favorable reviews and increased exposure. Additionally, consider offering exclusive previews of new releases or limited-edition wines to create buzz and anticipation among critics and consumers.
Great scores should be showcased in promotional materials, websites, and through social media channels to build credibility and attract new customers. It’s not enough to just send samples and collect scores. Although we are increasingly in a digital world, having winemakers visit critics in person in New York, Napa or elsewhere is important to build the bond. Better yet, invite critics to visit your winery and meet with the team to get a better sense of your story and how the level of quality is achieved in the glass. When annual tasting reports come around, critics will include in-depth information about the wines since they’ll likely remember a visit rather than a flight of 20 wines in a cold room alone.
Trade Tastings: If on-premise is a big part of your selling strategy, trade tastings are essential for building relationships within the wine industry. These events allow producers to connect with distributors, retailers, and sommeliers, creating opportunities for new business partnerships. Day time events during the week are best for trade as they are often working in the afternoon to late at night. Whether it’s a small eight person sommelier lunch or a large 40 person seminar with rows of tables, the tastings should include a presentation, winery spokesperson and even a co-host with high credentials such as Master of Wine or Master Sommelier to serve as a highly technical and knowledgeable guide for the attendees.
There is currently a high turnover rate for hospitality staff and many sommeliers have much to learn in their fast-paced roles. Building a presentation with concise, memorable educational points will serve as a strong guide for trade to drive sales. One could also utilize trade influencers with large followings on social media to raise awareness within the community. Many sommeliers and retailers in big cities are now throwing ‘pop-up’ dinners that bring lots of millennial and Gen Z consumers to the table. This could be a more strategic, less expensive approach than a large seminar.
The most successful wineries have perfected the art of personalization. Remember to follow up with attendees and have distributor partners continue to connect to make more placements based on the presentation.
Get Help: Lastly, media relations and communications programs are very labor intensive. Hiring a public relations agency with highly talented teams that are educated in all facets of the market can make the marketing process much easier and more effective. Whether it is an annual contract or three-month project to help build messaging, agencies have the know-how and relationships to offer helpful advice and guide your brand to the next stage.
About the Author: Born and raised in South Florida, Shawn Zylberberg joined Colangelo & Partners in August 2022 and is based in Miami, Florida. His wine journey started in New York City as a sommelier, but his passion was born during his years working as a writer at Wine Spectator. Shawn holds the prestigious WSET Diploma and continually cultivates valuable industry connections and storytelling abilities to materialize goals and identities across fine wine brands and portfolio companies around the world. His role at Colangelo & Partners is Senior Account Executive.
