"Remystifying wine" A case for fresh marketing

It was sometime in 2021, in the wake of the darkest parts of the pandemic and amidst a global reformation of civilization and priorities, that it dawned on me. Seemingly overnight, my social media algorithms began steering me, almost exclusively, toward aspirational influencer-type content from quote en quote “wine professionals” whose content sought to “demystify wine”. Mostly twenty-something pretty people, eager to provide a rudimentary wine education and entry level analytical tools to the masses. Their uniform presentation - emphatically defining words like “tannin”. These digital sermons were steeped in passion. An inspired and righteous journey of bringing wine to a greater audience, while fearlessly breaking down the aristocracy it had long been associated with. It struck me with a feeling not unlike watching a case of Burgundy sit on a loading dock in the Texas sun while the warehouse guys handle paperwork…”They might be ruining it” I thought to myself.

While this trend has waned a bit in the last two years, I view it as a symptom of the greater identity crisis wine is experiencing while trying to decide how to market itself amidst a shift in popularity. A topic I’ve found myself a bit obsessed with as of late. And while I am one hundred percent behind the efforts to “build a longer table, and not a higher fence”, my experience prior to the wine industry, as a passionate consumer, coupled with my career experience selling on “the street” would suggest a different tact. Remystifying, perhaps. I will provide my argument using three examples.

Example one - I recently was in Ojai, CA visiting my brother for his son’s third birthday party. If you’ve never been to Ojai it’s sort of like if the Beverly Hills farmers market became a town. It is quaint, and beautiful, and close enough to LA that it attracts a somewhat specific pool of the general population. I knew their friend, who is the sommelier at a very well known restaurant, would be attending, and I had procured a decent bottle of Beaujolais from the local retailer that I wanted her opinion on. Prior to me opening that bottle, the beverage consumption was probably 80% sparkling water - 20% beer. Mindless refreshment set to a string of casual discussions about local private schools and the merits of different electric vehicles. However, as this woman and I stood in a corner of the yard with a glass of red wine, engaged in discussion and analysis - a curious revolution was ignited. On this hundred degree day, in the span of about 20 minutes, everyone was drinking red wine. It blew my f***ing mind. It was like a commercial with real time feedback. And while, ironically, they weren’t drinking the same wine we were drinking, the allure of assimilating your own drink with that of the beverage professionals was insanely powerful. This particular influence is something that wine has tapped into to some extent. However, I can’t help but wonder if brands and marketers spent the money they invest on scores and tech sheets into targeting cultural influence, and the all powerful human emotion of desire, if we wouldn’t be in a different spot right now. Tequila, as a case study, has leveraged this concept to the hilt and it has paid off handsomely.

Example two: There is a bottle shop in South Austin that has become something of an institution in our ever changing city. The wine selection is curated by a colorful character from the South of France, who had a lot to do with getting me started on my wine journey. As a young and financially insecure musician with a love of cooking, and a growing interest in wine, I developed a bit of a routine. I would walk down the street to the shop and tell the man what I was making for dinner, and my budget (almost exclusively under $20). I would invariably be presented with a perfect pairing, complete with a fun anecdote about how he discovered the wine, or the area it was produced. I’d return and make a dinner I couldn’t afford to order in a restaurant, and sit at the table with my girlfriend and a bottle of wine with cursive French words on the label and a good story behind it, and be instantly teleported into some level of wealth and luxury reserved for the fortunate few. While I now know a fair bit about the soil types and farming practices of these regions, it was the romance of it that brought me to the table. Heartstrings are the hallmarks of effective marketing.

Example three: Wine sales is a little unique in that you have the ability to make a lot of sales presentations over the course of a single work day, so the feedback is both abundant, and received in real time. The true value of this is you can use this feedback to inform or tighten up your pitch at the next appointment. So, speaking from experience, when I present a great bottle, at a fair price, with a cool, funny, or sexy story related to the wine or its producer - my closing rate is much higher than when I present the same bottle with a pitch riddled with technical details on things like fermentation techniques and soil types. Obviously there are certain accounts that require getting a little nerdy, which as a passionate professional I am more than happy to do, however these accounts are the exception not the rule. Humans are interested in humans. They may also be interested in wine, or politics, or birdwatching, but subconsciously, they’re most interested in humans. A good story humanizes and elevates a bottle in an unforgettable way. 

Now, I am fully aware that anyone reading with any level of sales rep experience has likely lost interest at this point, as I am telling them what they already know. But herein lies the paradox. The marketing remains the SAME. The answer isn’t easy, but wine must find a way to engage with their customers on a deeper level. Furthermore, I believe it’s high time that brands rethink the expectations of distributor reps as responsible for growing the brand, and consider them partners in the closing section of the greater sales funnel. I know not every brand is behaving in this way, but it is still all too prevalent. I would be very intrigued to see if a winery took a portion of its travel budget and put those funds into brand positioning advertisement on social media, influencer partnership, or even just training on effective email and digital marketing, what the ROI would be. I have my own hunch. While again, I am all for making wine more accessible and less daunting to get in to, I think these efforts need to be coupled with efforts to just make wine “cool”.  I could be totally wrong on this, but at this stage of market uncertainty - maybe its worth a shot. 

Duncan Hill