Vineyard & Winery Management

March/April 2013

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UNCORKING PR PAUL WAGNER Learn to Win Spring training for wine writer season There is nothing more frustrating than spending a lot of time, money and effort on a public relations program, only to see the results fall far short of expectations. This is one situation where we can learn from the world of sports. After a loss, a bad team immediately looks for someone to blame. A good squad analyzes the game as a team, and works together to improve every element of its performance. This is why good teams win more games than bad teams do. Let's take a look at some of the things that can go wrong in the world of winery public relations, and how a good team might be able to turn things around to win the next game. FEELING LEFT OUT? A writer or a magazine publishes a round-up story about your region or a variety you make, and you are not included in the story. You sent the wines in time for Just as stepping up to the plate doesn't guarantee a hit, getting a writer to taste your wine doesn't guarantee press coverage. Photo: Thinkstock w w w. v w m media.com the tasting, and can't understand why yours weren't included. What went wrong? Let's start with the basics. It's a saturated market, and there are too many wines, and too many wineries. Most journalists feel the need to try and simplify this market, and give their readers some helpful advice that will guide them in their purchases. That means that journalists are going to focus on some wines and ignore others. So why did they pick the wineries they did? When we call writers to find out, we often get the same answer: "In the blind tasting, their wines weren't as good as the ones we covered." + Focus your efforts on writers who Fair enough. In baseare receptive to your wine style and ball, getting into the story. batter's box doesn't guarantee a hit. Your wines + Fine-tune your story to make it as got their shot, but they memorable as possible, and train struck out. That's why your spokesperson to deliver it. they didn't make the + Prepare the writers for the interfinal cut. views, too. What can you do about that? You certainly + Deliver that story with conviction and can't change the results style. of the tasting, although + Get the writers all they need when we have occasionally they need it. been able to suggest that perhaps the bottle was flawed and that the wine deserved another chance. But instead of focusing on the last tasting, I think you are better served focusing on the next tasting. I suggest that you purchase the wines that got the positive coverage and taste them blind with your winemaking team. It's a great way for everyone to understand what that particular writer wants in a wine, and maybe what you need to do to make that style of wine. Not every writer is going to like every wine. This is a great example of how you SHORT COURSE M a r - A p r 2 0 13 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 17

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