News & Events
The secrets to building loyalty and securing future sales: Best practices for Wine Clubs
Creating a wine club goes beyond giving members a discount on wine. While the standard wine club discount is 20 percent, there are a myriad of other benefits you can add to make becoming a wine club member a compelling proposition and also reinforce what makes your brand special.
The Use of Modern Crusher/Destemmers in Winemaking
Patrick Saboe, director of wine for The Wine Foundry, used a Delta E2 before shifting to a Delta Oscillys. “The cage is upright with helical arms. The whole thing oscillates (shakes), and berries fall through holes,” he said.
Participating in a wine tasting event? Don’t make the mistake that most wineries do
The way I see it, the way to cultivate top customers is to see them at the top of a pyramid. Under them you have your customers that can be groomed into buying more, and then the large segment at the bottom of your pyramid, is your prospects. These are all the people that you have on your email list but have never purchased. Feeding this bottom segment should be a big chunk of your focus – but the truth is each of these segments needs a different approach.
Best Practices for working with wine distributors, restaurants & retailers
Getting your head around how to sell to restaurants and retailers can seem daunting at first. There are a lot of considerations for a small winery, particularly around pricing, volume and how much time it takes to be successful. Mark Enlow from Zeal Wine Imports shared his expertise on a recent coaching call. To simplify, I’ve distilled our conversation into three key points; doing your homework, the importance of a compelling brand story and what it takes to secure and maintain restaurant accounts.
People need your wine for the holidays! Gearing up for your biggest sales season
The wine industry as a whole takes this time of year pretty seriously. In October, November & December wine sales generally peak as people prepare for parties, celebrate with holiday dinners and buy gifts.
Your biggest marketing opportunity – Best practices for social media
It amazes me how much social media has changed the game for small businesses. Finally you are on the same playing field as companies (yes, that means wineries) with a much larger marketing presence, and budget. There are no longer any barriers to get people to learn about your wines - and build an engaged audience that will evolve into loyal customers. It simply comes down to what time you are prepared to dedicate to it.
Harvest Update – Georges III Cabernet Sauvignon
Temperatures in Rutherford are currently and forecasted in the mid 90's to mid '80's for the next 10 days, so we'll see the fruit come around nicely. We expect to make the call during the above dates and dealing with Mother Nature is a moving target - so we won't have a firm date until about 48-72 hours out. Above are a few images from our yesterday's visit to G3. You'll notice the canopy is just starting to break down. The "yellowing" of the leaves makes photosynthesis less efficient, which is what we want at this stage.
Making “extraordinary” wine? Why you need to talk less about quality and more about your story
You can find high quality wines everywhere these days. On a daily basis the wine consumer is bombarded with options of what to buy, and where to buy it. From the bottle store, to the grocery store; restaurant wine lists to wine websites and offers by email; the wine shopping experience is intense, to say the least.
Playing with the big boys: Best practices for email marketing
Even with no physical storefront some of the most successful businesses online rely on email marketing to promote products and generate sales. Think of how companies like Amazon, Groupon, Gilt and Zappos use emails to reach out to potential customers with timely and relevant offers. Email marketing can be especially important when you are in the business of selling something that is not a necessity
2014 Harvest is underway! Morgan Lee Sauvignon Blanc
The fruit is in the press, the juice is killer. This is a great start to harvest 2014! Let's make some wine, folks! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reply to this email. If you would like to be at the winery during any of the next steps in the process, please let us know as we'd love to have you join us!
