Recently, I spoke at the License to Steal Conference in Ohio. I have been attending and presenting at this conference since its inception. It is one of the best marketing conferences for wineries in the country. Donnie Winchell, the Executive Director of the Ohio Wine Producers Association, is the brainchild behind the conference and her knack for finding speakers outside the wine industry … [Read more...]
(Publisher's note: This article is the first installment in a monthly feature about noteworthy or award winning wine labels from Midwest wineries.) Winery owner Micheal Bullock thought he had a great name for a white wine that he wanted to market to women: Lady Slipper. Aside from the soft shoe connotation, Lady Slipper orchids are the state flower of Minnesota, the home state of … [Read more...]
What if your winery could reach thousands of new potential customers by sending one bottle of wine? With extensive internet and social media followings, leading Midwest wine bloggers reach thousands of interested consumers each month. For example, Michigan by the Bottle, a blog that only reviews wines from Michigan, averages over 7,000 unique visits per month. And the Indiana based … [Read more...]
Recently, I spoke on the wine club panel at the Eastern Wine Expo in Pennsylvania. To prepare for the presentation, I interviewed a handful of wineries who don’t have wine clubs yet to find out why. The most common reason winery owners gave for not starting a wine club is that they did not know where to start. Many winery owners I spoke with also had no idea of the income that a wine … [Read more...]
Consumers today use their computers and mobile devices to research products before they make a decision to buy. To attract these consumers, you need an attractive, user-friendly website to provide a firm foundation for your business. It needs not only to exist; it needs to attract visitors, answer their questions, and entice them to buy. Here are my top 5 suggestions to improve your chances of … [Read more...]
The Millennial Generation – those roughly between the ages of 21 and 35 – has a strong interest in developing community ties. Supporting businesses near their homes makes them natural customers of local wines. “You want to support your state’s economy, especially when your state’s economy is not doing that well,” explains Cynthia Drake, 32, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. That's why she … [Read more...]
The Viticulture Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA) program, in which I am an instructor, has a 21st century educational vision for grape growing, winemaking and winery marketing. In my VESTA “Winery Tasting Room Management” class, students are taught winery tasting room evaluation, also known as a “Mystery Shopping” experience. The goal of this class project is for … [Read more...]
The event was an upscale food expo in Cleveland. I was pouring wine samples; the fellow pouring at the next table owned an award-winning winery in northeast Ohio. Our conversation turned to restaurant wine lists—specifically, why don’t we see more local wines listed? “Beats me,” he said, “and it makes no sense. They talk about using local produce, local meats, farm-to-table … [Read more...]
Often, it’s hard to find a parking spot at Herman’s Liquor Store in Ottawa, Illinois. The lines at the check out counter, always managed by at least two friendly and knowledgeable staff, attest to the popularity of the place. Once inside, you realize that this is not an ordinary liquor store. The well-stocked shelves not only display carefully selected wine from around the world, but … [Read more...]
Effective November 28, 2011, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the names of certain varietals as requested by various breeders, vineyards and wineries in the Midwest. Under the TTB ruling, these varietal names can now be used in designating wines so consumers can more readily ask for and read about them by name. The ruling also allows the use of the new varietal … [Read more...]
Recently, Midwest Wine Press spent time with Clara Orban, the author of Wine Lessons: Ten Questions to Guide Your Appreciation of Wine. Clara not only chairs the Department of Modern Languages at … [Read More...]
Publisher's note: This is the second in a three part series on how wineries structure successful events Lacking the dramatic backdrop of vineyards, urban wineries, such as family owned Easley … [Read More...]
