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View from the Punt — Part II — Winemakers Share Their Perspectives on TasteCamp and a few Lessons Learned
As a follow up to last week’s TasteCamp recap post — View from the Punt Part I, Winemaker Perspectives on TasteCamp — I’m concluding the TasteCamp series with perspectives from a few more winemakers that participated in TasteCamp 2012. And, As one of the organizers for this year’s TasteCamp, I have a few opinions of my own to share, which are noted at the bottom of this post.
I thought it was great to be able to get our wine in front of some new faces and it was nice to see some familiar faces too. Although the tasting lasted 1 1/2 hours, I don’t feel that I got the chance to chat with everyone. Perhaps a little more time would have been useful in getting the chance to meet everyone.
I like the focused, small group tasting environment, and it was nice to have just 3 wines to pour and talk about. I do agree that it would have been good to give the attendees some background info on each of the wineries, but I understand that it takes time and effort to compile all of this info. Overall it was a positive experience, and I hope to read lots of comments and blog posts from attendees about Virginia wine. ~ Kirsty Harmon, Blenheim Vineyards
To make the most of TasteCamper’s time in Virginia and to introduce them to as many wineries and wines of the region as possible, the TasteCamp agenda is packed by design. However, I agree with Kirsty and the other wineries that noted more time would be helpful for engaging more with attendees. It’s important to remember that learning is a two-way street at these events — winemakers want to learn as much from ‘us‘ as we do from them.
I personally was excited and honored to be among a community of diverse backgrounds and efforts of this industry! It was wonderful to put names to faces as well as to hear feedback from other areas of the country. Since a lot of the wines/wineries were from the northern viticulture region of Virginia, I was honored to represent the southeastern/northern neck area of Virginia where a lot of great wines are being produced. I do think it would be an added value to have more wineries from the other regions so as to have a more diverse sampling from all wine regions. There are wineries venturing in to new viticulture and are producing some exciting wines that most are not aware can be produced here. Virginia is definitely on its way to becoming more popular in the wine community/industry and although this event may have been small in attendees, the voice coming out of it is huge!
Coming from a small, low production winery that hardly anyone in the state of Virginia has heard about, let alone outside the state, it was a wonderful opportunity to not only get our name out to local bloggers/writers, but to also highlight a different area.
I was most impressed by how open minded and passionate everyone was about the wines. It was nice to find everyone to be as sponges trying to soak up details and opinions without bias. I felt very proud to be part of a diverse group, where although we each, as an individual entity, had visions of wowing the crowd with our wine; we also had pride in simply showcasing what Virginia can produce.
I am thrilled to hear comments and feedback about Viognier from our state! I love hearing that our <Virginia> Viognier can rival those found in France! ~ Terri Hyde, General’s Ridge Vineyards
When I was approached to recap my thoughts on this spring’s TasteCamp I thought it would be an easy write up. Upon reflection, I found it very difficult to describe why I want to be in front of wine bloggers, some of whom I know and others I do not. It’s about marketing, personal and regional branding, it’s about pride and ego, and it’s about camaraderie.
I think the marketing is a rather obvious point about getting your wines/brand out there. Pride and ego accompanied by humility require a little explanation. My cup of optimism runs over after pouring and discussing wines with passionate and seasoned writers of wine. I like to hear the honest remarks and enjoy the high regard from the evaluators. I’m further excited to know that I stand behind the table with winemakers sharing a philosophy and commitment to thrust Virginia into the world’s limelight. All of the writers/bloggers are excited by the breadth and quality of wines. There’s an exuberant camaraderie amongst winemakers and the writers/bloggers. Everyone here wants to be on board this new rising star called Virginia Wines. The excitement and enthusiasm is contagious and stands out during these events in a way that I’ve not experienced in any other venue. Ultimately, this is why I attend. ~ Derek Pross, Gadino Cellars
I appreciate the passion and enthusiasm Derek and all the winemakers shared during TasteCamp, and have heard similar comments from winemakers about a certain excitement when pouring for wine savvy writers/bloggers like the TasteCamp group.
First of all, wine bloggers are consumers – so at the heart of it, there is reason to engage bloggers for all of the very same reasons you would engage any other consumer, and it’s important not to lose sight of that. An opportunity to pour your wine for a consumer is an opportunity to sell your wine to a consumer.
So when a “consumer” is also a “blogger,” how does that impact an event like this from the winery perspective – how is it different than attending to the hordes at a drunk-fest?
Well the way I see it, it’s worthwhile to first note that a “content creator” is not by default a “social influencer.” Put another way: two people can go start a blog and write about wine; in one year, blog “a” can have 1,000 daily readers, and blog “b” might only have 20 – or even be defunct. This is important because:
- Negative content posted by minimally influential creators is largely irrelevant to wineries’ overall branding efforts.
- The value of linkbacks in association with desirable keywords (“Virginia, Wine”) cannot be overstated, and while proportionate to the posters’ social influence (traffic) – the facts of the matter stand: “any press is good press.”
So when it comes to an event that offers me the opportunity to put my wines in front of the blogger-consumer, here’s how I feel:
- Good or bad, any resulting posts provide linkbacks out of the deal, which boosts my “Digital Street Cred” …an investment in SEO efforts.
- If my wines garner positive posts, the benefits are self-evident.
- If my wines garner negative posts, I have the opportunity to learn from valuable consumer feedback. And heck, maybe people start following me on twitter or Facebook just to see how bad – and if I can’t turn a few free followers into new fans just because one person said something mean, I better stop making wine and get back to drinking it.
Of course, there’s another factor to all of this… it’s not all sunshine and glory. The benefits of promoting my wines to so many bloggers with minimal effort must be carefully weighed against the circumstances: pouring wine for bloggers who’ve just been swooned by another producers’ intimate barrel tasting, or who’s palates have just been rocked by hours of food and drink, are far less desirable conditions than standing beside other producers on an equal stage, with balanced chances of pouring for a “fresh” palate (needless to say, WBC11 was a fiasco of an arrangement). Have you ever noticed how blog posts are dominated by mentions of those producers and activities that received the invitation/opportunity to really drive home the “wow” factor for the bloggers? It’s incredibly difficult to compete for any serious attention amid 20 other wineries when only 3 of them have been selected to provide the group with dedicated face-time in a unique setting (read: guaranteed “tasting room” or “cellar” bias).
Finally, regardless of the conditions, every winery must consider participation in events such as these from a “defensive” perspective. For example, when the 12 gold medal winners of the Governors’ cup are announced, more than appreciation for those twelve wines crosses a consumer’s mind: it also (fairly or unfairly) invalidates the quality of wines not mentioned. In similar fashion, when a blogger steps up to an event like this, if exposure to participating brands helps to affirm said brands as “established” in the blogger’s mind, then so too are other brands somewhat discredited by their absence.
At the end of the day, this is an opportunity to engage consumers, and carries with it all the same pros/cons of attending something like a generic wine festival. But unlike a general wine festival, there are some additional opportunities to extend the ROI, which are inherent in a “blogger festival,” ranging from SEO improvements to potentially viral brand mentions.
All of this considered, outside of unrelated hardships (staffing or scheduling issues, inhibiting costs of attendance/wine/travel, etc.,) – unless the organization of the event so egregiously devalues the opportunity for your winery, my opinion is that any winery confident in their wines should absolutely attend these events. And while the format might not immediately feel ideal for your business model or wine style, refusing to attend severely inhibits your ability to do anything about it. So any winery saying “I would go if…” should consider establishing a relationship with the community before pressuring said community to change. In a nutshell: if you don’t like how bloggers and blogging works, either zip it and quit it, or put your big boy pants on and get your brand in the game. Because unless your brand carries so much weight that you can dictate the terms, you’re probably looking to build that weight – and refusing to attend these kinds of events doesn’t speed the process. Meh, and I don’t know – if your business model doesn’t call for having any serious “weight” in the industry in the first place, why do you even care about your brand? Enjoy your hobby, and hopefully, it doesn’t cost you the farm. ~ Allan Delmare, Rappahannock Cellars
Allan makes a number of notable points and I appreciate his insights and candor about wine writer/blogger events and especially his sensible view of potential negative reviews. Each of us — winemakers and the blogger crowd — can learn from less than sun shinny feedback. ‘In a nutshell: if you don’t like how bloggers and blogging works, either zip it and quit it, or put your big boy pants on and get your brand in the game.’ Hat tip Allan.
Visit Loudoun was thrilled that Loudoun County, Virginia was selected as the host destination for Taste Camp 2012! Our goal is to increase exposure for Loudoun as a destination, and working with wine bloggers facilitates the relationship to help build awareness about the quality of wine and travel experiences emerging from Loudoun as a wine travel destination. We hope that all ‘campers’ will remember the authentic experiences had with the winemakers, winery owners, and fellow wine bloggers, and that they will pass along these great experiences in their blogs and with family and friends. Thank you to all the bloggers who enjoyed the visit to DC’s Wine Country. We are continually growing, and with four new wineries scheduled to open this summer alone, there’s always something new and exciting to write about. We hope to see everyone again soon! ~ Stacey Sheetz, Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association (Visit Loudoun)
Thank you Stacey and to the entire team at Visit Loudoun for all of your help with planning TasteCamp. I would like to also thank the Marketing Office of the Virginia Wine Board for sponsoring the TasteCamp lunch with Pizzeria Moto on Saturday afternoon — very much appreciated (and the pizza was great)! Much thanks also goes to each winery that shared their wines with the TasteCamp group.
As I noted in my previous post, helping organize TasteCamp allowed me to cross one more profession — event planning — off my potential future career choice list. In the spirit of improvement, I’ve recorded a few lessons learned on how I might improve planning for future wine events, and I present them here for consideration for TasteCamp 2013 in Quebec.
- Start early. Though I could make a many (irrelevant) excuses, I did not begin my part of the planning soon enough, and this procrastination resulted in unneeded confusion leading up to the event. Next year, I believe Lesley Trites, author of the Girl on Wine blog, and Remy Charest, author of Wine Case blog, will serve as local hosts. I recommend that TC2013 planning begin today. 🙂
- Retail Sales. While we’re on the subject of early planning, I recommend that consideration be given to finding a way to allow wineries that pour at the grand tastings to sell their wines to attendees. Here in Virginia, this was not possible due to the labyrinth of licensing and ABC regulations. Well, it may have been possible had I planned far enough in advance for off-site sales.
- Less compressed schedule. For many attendees, TasteCamp is a once-a-year chance to catch up with friends so the party tends to go late in to the night (and wee hours of Saturday) after the Friday evening dinner. Perhaps a 10am on Saturday morning, and one less vineyard walk on Saturday would be more reasonable and allow more time at the Saturday grand tasting.
- Invite local winemakers/winery folk to participate in the evening dinners (at a minimum, the BYOB Saturday dinner). Having winemakers participate in dinner may provide attendees a better/another opportunity to interact with local winemakers and learn more about the region. Trying to learn about a particular wine or winery in a few minutes at one of the grand tastings isn’t ideal. I believe having more time to interact with winemakers without them having to pour wine and manage a tasting table would be beneficial for attendees.
- Provide each winery a copy of attendee list along with blog site and Twitter names prior to the event and encourage them to connect before TasteCamp.
- Provide each TasteCamp attendee with a list of participating wineries along with Twitter handles and encourage them to connect before the event.
- Provide phone numbers for local Taxi or shuttle service to each attendee in case the bus leaves them. Ok, kidding, sort of. I would recommend that in future events, consider assigning everyone a bus buddy (I recommend Marie Payton 🙂 ) or count attendees when getting off and back on the bus before leaving a vineyard. This year we left two behind — my bad ya’ll. (although, a head count would not have been helpful as two attendees who took the bus to dinner actually rode back to hotel with someone else)
- The Friday and Saturday evening dinners at wineries, vice a local restaurant, seemed to work very well. Keep this format of dinners at the wineries. (I believe from past attendees that the lunches were always held at wineries?)
If you attended TasteCamp this year or in prior years and have other suggestions on content and/or schedule improvements, leave a note in the comments section.
For more perspectives on TasteCamp 2012 Virginia, please check out these posts from fellow TasteCampers (if I’ve missed linking your post here, please let me know):
- Boxwood Winery Hosts TasteCamp 2012 by Cat on the Boxwood Winery blog (another must read Virginia winery blog).
- Notes on (Taste)Camp, with apologies to Susan Sontag by Annefield Vineyards owner Stephen Ballard, on the Annefield Vineyards blog (a must read winery blog).
- Surprised by “Little Burgundy” at TasteCamp: Ankida Ridge by Julia, posted at New York Cork Report.
- TasteCamp 2012, The Wine Stand Outs, Part 1 by Shannon at Grape Occasions.
- An Enologist’s Perspective on the Virginia Wine Industry by Keith at Wine ORL.
- TasteCamp East 2012 — To Each Their Own! by John at Anything Wine.
- Scenes from TasteCamp 2012 Virginia by Lenn at New York Cork Report.
- TasteCamp 2012 Visit to Linden by Todd at Virginia Wine TV.
- TasteCamp 2012 in Virginia, USA – A Tour d’Horizont by Christian at Schiller-Wine.
- TasteCamp Day Three by Paul and Warren at Virginia Wine Time.
- TasteCamp Day 1 Reception and Dinner at Breaux by Kurt and Carol at Wine About Virginia.
- Day 1 at TasteCamp: Welcome, Lunch and Grand Tasting by Kurt and Carol at Wine About Virginia.
- My first post on TasteCamp 2012, View From The Punt – Perspectives on TasteCamp from the Other Side of the Bottle – Part I.
- Taste Camp: Ruminations of a Taste Camp Rookie Part 1 by Hagan at LocoWino.
- Taste Camp: Ruminations of a Taste Camp Rookie Part 2 by Hagan at LocoWino.
- TasteCamp 2012: Day One by Anthony at Virginia Pour House.
- TasteCamp Recap by VWD and GEG at Swirl, Sip, Snark.
- A Taste of TasteCamp 2012 at Breaux Vineyards by Kirsten at Cellar Blog.
- TasteCamp 2012 in Virginia: First Impressions by Remy at Wine Case.
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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here
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Jordan Harris said:
Frank – sorry I never responded to you. Honestly, I realized my passport expired, freaked out, and came back to Canada to get it renewed so i could continue working in the USA. All better now, but it made me completely forget to respond.
Anyway, I think that Taste Camp was a great program. The concept of puting everyone together for the tastings in my opinion is a good idea. Maybe have basic information like contact, twitter handles, URL, etc, but that would be it. In reality we often forget that the reason for doing what we do (well, most of us) is about the wine. The reason bloggers do what they do (well, most of them) is also about the wine. Trying to create the “experience” around what the winery is about might blur the wines. Keep it simple, keep it about the wine which it was this year.
I do strongly disagree about your statement about having sales available. It is a mute point anyway since you are going to Quebec next year and the SAQ will never let that happen, but sales hurts a wineries focus on showing you the best in their wine. This is why many festivals are the way they are. We will inherently focus on making a sale instead of discussing the wine. This is about marketing, not direct sales. I know this is a though because of the wineries that said they could not go because they don’t see an ROI and that they could not risk lost Saturday sales. If someone is not making wine they feel can get great response, then that is their problem. If they are making wines that can get a positive response then there is a simple ROI. Is it from direct readership coming in the door, no, nor is any rating from any publication. It is a sales tool for those that do come in the door. If you can not use a positive write up within your own company to help increase sales, then there is nothing you or I could ever do for them. They just aren’t interested in selling product. Getting in front of 40 bloggers is the easiest and cheapest for of marketing and sales strategy we have ever undertaken.
On the last post it was also discussed about the bloggers/writers commitment by them not spitting. I personally did not see this. In fact i can promise that our staff happily cleaned about 50 spit cups, so someone was using them at our place. The reality is in most places we make it hard for people to spit. To spit into and over-flowing communal dump bucket at a crowded table is simply gross. My recommendation would be that you require host wineries to supply individual spit cups to promote safe and responsible tasting.
Overall, I really thought it was a well executed event that has great potential for any participating winery as well as any participating blogger/writer. If someone does not believe that bloggers are valuable then they are stuck in a time before the internet started being the main source of information for the world. They are part of the current form of information exchange and you just have to weed through more to find consistently accurate information. The same held true when email overtook snail mail and then even moreso when Facebook messaging overtook email as the widest used platform. It is an electronic era and we have to emrace it to be successful. I say kudo’s to a great event and i hope we can participate again sometime.
BTW, Allan’s comments were impeccable. Good job Allan and i am glad you said it, because i simply can’t put it into words the way you did.
DrinkWhatYouLike said:
No worries, Jordan, appreciate you commenting here. Glad you are still able to work here in the US (I would have been en route to raid your cellar if you were not returning 🙂 ). Agree that keeping it simple, about the wines is the key!
We do part ways with the retail sales — I feel this would have been beneficial to the wineries and Taste Camp attendees. Many of the out of staters may never get to purchase some of the wines they tasted due to the various shipping regulations. Heck, I would have liked to buy a few bottles of wines from a few of those pouring. I consider having wines at TasteCamp available to sell more of a convenience. I would be curious what some of the attendees and wineries that participated think on this topic.
Agree with your suggestion; “My recommendation would be that you require host wineries to supply individual spit cups to promote safe and responsible tasting.” This should be added to the list for next year for sure.
Thanks again for commenting — other than disagreeing with me on adding retail sales to the grand tasting, you’re 100%. If I were JSuckling, I’d give your comment a 98. 😉 Cheers!
Jordan Harris said:
98 – that is a mediocre score for Suckling. As long as you kiss up well you can receive that 🙂
Jason Todd Phelps said:
Frank,
Great wrap-up. I was curious how everything went down especially with all the concerns about WBC11, which I firmly believe could have been enjoyed by more if they rolled with it like we have to to make the best of each day. But I digress.
The only thing that jumped out at me was the concern about the wineries given special consideration or promotion of award winners taking focus away from the others. That concern calls out a specific class of people, those aren’t really as curious as they claim to be. Anyone who digs deeper and is objective about what they see, hear and taste will give everyone a fair go. If too many bloggers/consumers are not living up to this, and thus the concern, I think there is a bigger problem there. There is no “price of admission” relative to how responsible people should be in the wine blogging community, but the ones who are stand out. Wineries definitely need focus on the true explorers and adventurers and not and “hangers-on”.
Jason
WineWatcher said:
How does one go about being included in these events? Always seems to be the same clique at these.
DrinkWhatYouLike said:
Hello Wine Watcher: My apologies for the delay in responding… not sure what you mean by always seems to be the same clique at these events. TasteCamp was my first time meeting about 1/2 of the attendees, and several others I only see about once a year. A couple others I see more frequently since we live here in Virginia. Several attendees that have attended past TasteCamp events were invited to attend this year, and many more saw the buzz on Twitter or Facebook and asked to attend. Was a mix – no clique.
Christian G.E. Schiller said:
Frank, I have not problem with any of your suggestions, except for two:
In my view, the schedule was not too compressed. It was just fine, perfect. I would not change anything in this regard.
Second, participation of winemakers: this is a very good idea – and we had this on the first evening – but I would not invite a local winemaker to the BYO Bottle Dinner. This seems to be an event, where participants want to present their favorite wines or the region they come from, etc. Local winemakers do not really fit there in my view.
Cheers.
Christian
DrinkWhatYouLike said:
Hi Christian — thanks for stopping by to comment on my TasteCamp lessons learned/suggestions. I appreciate what you say about the schedule not being too compressed — a couple of folks noted the schedule was too tight, and I tend to agree with them. A little more time at the grand tastings would have been nice.
I have to disagree that the local winemakers would not fit in at the BYOB dinner. I view this as a perfect chance to visit with and learn more from the winemakers, outside of the winery when they are focusing on presenting their wine or vineyard. I feel the BYOB dinner would have been a perfect setting because winemakers are also wine lovers (of course, right 🙂 ) and have diverse wine interests — would have been interesting to have them bring wines they are drinking other than their own. I’m hoping Lenn, Remy, et.al. will take this suggestion for next year.
Cheers!
Lenn Thompson said:
Frank: You actually suggested inviting winemakers etc. to the BYO when we were planning it. It’s an interesting thought, but there are a few reasons why I tend to disagree with it.
First, TasteCamp is already a very immersive experience — we’re surrounded by local wine almost from the moment we wake up to when our heads hit the pillow. It’s nice to step back, have a chance to talk with other attendees (about the wines we tasted during the day or just to get to know them better) and have one agenda item that is NOT all about local wine. I love spending time with winemakers, probably more than most, but it’s nice to have a relaxing evening.
In the past — specifically in the Finger Lakes — we had a post-BYO gathering and did invite folks from the industry to join us. It was a lot of fun. So perhaps that’s something we should revisit going forward. Maybe we could/should have done that at Black Olive at the NCC.
You’re right that the itinerary was (and always is) aggressive. That’s mostly by design. We want to pack as much in as we can. This year actually seemed better paced than past years where we’ve had to hurry or got behind schedule.
Always good to hear feedback though. Thanks.
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