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...]
Record-high gas prices this spring threatened to deflate plans for tasting rooms to welcome a steady stream of visitors coaxed by unusually mild temperatures. But, according to tourism officials in wine regions throughout the Midwest, wine lovers don’t mind paying current gas prices, as high as $4.25 a gallon in some areas. Midwest wine tourism officials interviewed last week reported no … [Read more...]
Could bottled wine become passe? Wineries aren't ready to move out of glass containers yet, but a future with fewer wine bottles seems more plausible than ever. Boxed wine, after all, is roaring back into style and now there's a new trend -- keg wine -- which is making headway on both coasts and has now come to the Midwest. The Gotham Project, a collaborative effort between New York winemakers … [Read more...]
Many attendees of the various recent Midwestern wine conferences were entrepreneurs gathering information to start a winery. At the Cold Climate Conference in St. Paul on February 24th, 2012, a panel made up of Midwest winery owners discussed various considerations for starting a winery. Participants in the discussion were: Karin Koenen, Hinterland Vineyards, Clara City, Minnesota, … [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...]
Ohio’s 2011 growing season and harvest was one of the wettest on record. “It was the worst harvest I’ve seen in 30 years. We had 75 inches of rain,” says Nick Ferrante, owner and winemaker at Ferrante Winery and Ristorante, speaking at the 2012 Ohio Grape and Wine Conference, sponsored jointly by the Ohio Grape Industries Commission, the Ohio State University Extension office and the … [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...]
Winery workers are accustomed to customers who say how much they would like to work at a winery. Brad Johnson, external relations manager at Fireside Winery in Marengo, Iowa, is now making his customers wishes come true through two carefully monitored volunteer programs at Fireside. (One of the 10 largest wineries in Iowa, Fireside, after only 5 years in business, has an annual production … [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...]
Just because a winery is new or small does not mean its business model is simple. Consider Seven Springs Winery which has been in business only three and one half years and sells 13,000 gallons a year. Owner Mike Bleile is already growing grapes for two of Missouri's most prominent wineries, running an on premise gourmet deli and working with an internationally known winemaker at another … [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...]
