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1 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | N o v - D e c 2 015 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m Lisa Boulton, executive director of the Calaveras Visitors Bureau, said she heard that no vineyards in the area had burned and that there was "barely any negative out- come" to the wine industry. Rough- ly half the harvest was completed before the fire started. Fires elsewhere also have threat- ened winery operations. August wildfires in British Columbia's Okanagan area – notably the Tes- talinden Fire – threatened the Rus- tico Farm and Cellars and Church & State wineries near the city of Oliver. Flames came to within 50 feet of Church & State's produc- tion facilities. Tinhorn Winery also had to contend with the Testalin- den Fire as well as with controlled burns nearby. While life and limb are most important in these situations, the potential economic damage from d i m i n i s h e d t o u r i s m r e l a t e d t o the fires is a concern. The public appeared to be staying away from areas near, but unaffected by, these fires, including the Napa Valley and Washington's Cascade Valley. "It's time to remind folks that Napa Valley wineries are open for business," McGaughy said. "We don't want this to deter people from coming up here." U.S. consumers are increasing their use of the Internet to obtain information about wine; but accord- ing to a recent survey, this is not yet translating into sales. There has been a steady rise in the Internet's influence on the U.S. wine market since 2011, accord- ing UK-based Wine Intelligence, which conducted an online survey of 2,227 wine consumers in the United States. Forty-one percent of those surveyed stated that they use wine merchants' websites, and 37% said they utilize newspa- per or magazine websites for wine information. Thirty-eight percent said they use social media to get updates about wine discounts and promotions. Roughly 11% of survey respon- dents said they shop for wine online. Although low, this figure has more than doubled since 2011. Internet searches for wine infor- mation do not translate into sales, according to Wine Intelligence ana- lysts, because of the "convoluted and restrictive legislation surround- ing liquor sales at the state level." The report also finds, "America's bricks-and-mortar retailers remain quite effective at fostering and maintaining strong personal rela- tionships with their customers." For Internet-based sales to grow, said Wine Intelligence research director Juan Park, it would require legislation to make online purchas- es simple and straightforward, as well as reduced delivery and trans- portation costs. "Consumers are hardly going to spend extra money on a regular wine they can find in a shop when there is an extra deliv- ery cost and an extra delay as to when they can access the wine," he said. "A mixed model such as 'click and collect' could be the best of both worlds – online efficiency and access to information, but with speedy access to the goods pur- chased and no extra delivery cost." T h e c l i c k - a n d - c o l l e c t e - c o m- merce model originated in the UK, and U.S.-based businesses are now experimenting with the concept. Consumers purchase retail goods online for pickup at a specific out- let. This could be a store, but also a warehouse or so-called "dark store" – a location designated for customer pick-up only. I n l a t e A u g u s t , A m a z o n announced that it is testing a new "Prime Now" service that will deliver wine to Seattle buyers within hours of purchase. One-hour deliveries are priced at $7.99, but two-hour deliveries are free. Direct-to-consumer sales remain the bread-and-butter for U.S. win- eries. "If there is such a thing as a 'typical winery,' the majority of a winery's DTC (direct-to-consumer) sales are done in the tasting room and through wine club shipments, and 80% or more of wine club sign- ups occur in the tasting room," said Jeremy Benson, executive director of Free the Grapes! "Therefore, the majority of winery DTC sales are driven by tourism, not the appear- ance of the Internet as a new sales channel." Most wine professionals say the Internet is nominally effective at helping wineries get product buzz. It works best for promoting Increased Internet Use Doesn't Equal Sales BY LINDA DAILEY PAULSON Jeremy Benson of Free the Grapes! points out that the majority of DTC sales are generated by tourism, not Internet transactions.