Millennial Wine Drinkers

A series of stories on Young Vines: Wine Buyers 21-35 years old who text their opinions on the spotJuly 2011 issueSoWine2: Marketing to Millennials  

By Janet Eastman

Tech-savvy adults in their 20s and 30s have found a new playground: vineyards. Capturing their attention and dollars was one focus of the Southern Oregon Wine Marketing & Sales Conference held on June 14 in Central Point.

Although Gen Xers and Millennials don’t have the spending power of older adults, they support the Buy Local philosophy, are willing to pay more than $20 for every fourth bottle of wine and, if well treated, will reward a winery by posting an endorsement that could be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people.

In the age of peer-to-peer review sites like Yelp and CellarTracker, “everyone’s a critic,” said Sheila Nicholas of Anam Cara Cellars in Newberg, speaking to 100 winery owners and tasting room managers attending the sold-out conference.

Using social media to build direct-to-consumer sales to all ages is now a crucial part of the promotional wheel. Think Facebook invitations. Live Tweets of events. YouTube videos that deliver information and fun.

“I don’t read anything,” said 24-year-old speaker Christine Collier, exaggerating to make a point. “But I watch everything.” At Troon Vineyard in the Applegate Valley, she generates an event calendar through dotCal and recommends Living Social and Groupon giveaways.

Other advice offered at the daylong conference presented by the Southern Oregon Wine Institute:

• Michael Donovan of the Oregon Wine Board said Oregonians drink a lot of wine, but only 15 to 18 percent of the wine sold here is made here. “An additional 5 percent would have a huge impact.” He added that 70 percent of wine buyers use Facebook and Millennials over 21 are more likely than others to buy wine online.

• The key to reaching Millennials, if that is your goal, says Dixie Huey of Trellis Wine Consulting in Vancouver, Wash., is to be where they are. Research their preferences and seek feedback about their experiences. “Every point of contact, from customer service and events, to emails and website presence, needs to appeal to them,” she says.

• Richard Roberts of Palazzo Creative in Seattle advised wineries to convey a consistent message through well-designed logos, labels, packaging, websites and social media platforms. His firm created a sophisticated new look for L’Ecole No. 41, updating the Walla Walla Valley winery’s logo of a schoolhouse. For others, he said edgy packaging “alienates some people,” but it also gives them something to remember. Printing words sideways on labels requires a shopper to take the bottle off the shelf to read it. “At that point, it’s halfway to the cart,” he says.

• A show of hands revealed that most of the conference-goers email newsletters and event alerts. Terry Miller of CRM Group in Redmond, Wash., said that although emails have lost some of their cachet, each dollar spent to create an effective one reaps $43 in sales.

• Josh Bradley of Shop Dragon in Ashland recommended updating websites to make them more usable on mobile devices. Delete cumbersome drop-down menus; add “share” buttons to encourage reciprocal linking. Also, take a free lesson offered by teachamantotweet.com to learn how to engage Twitter users.

• Jeffrey Kingman of Chalkboarder in Portland suggested shooting short, educational videos, uploading them, then spreading the word on HootSuite. “Ten minutes of your time can result in thousands of impressions,” he said.

Information on the presentations, which also included Paula Caudill of Abacela speaking about advanced social media and Carole Stevens of Folin Cellars offering practical advice on maximizing wine clubs, is available at http://www.sowicellars.com/sowine2.htm

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A Wider Scope for the World of Wine

By Janet Eastman

For those who enjoy a glass of wine unplugged – that is, sipping without simultaneously tapping out tasting notes on a keyboard – don’t panic. The World of Wine Festival’s Grand Tasting event, although moved to Jacksonville, will seem familiar.

As at past WOW events, you’ll be feted on Aug. 27 to a buffet dinner and round-the-region samples of artisan cheese, chocolate, even tea. You will also be able to taste more than 150 wines made from Southern Oregon grapes, including those awarded medals by professional judges. And you’ll meet the winemakers.

Multitaskers who prefer to swirl, sniff and Tweet during the event will be happy, too. Organizers are bringing technology into the tent.

The 9th Annual Southern Oregon World of Wine Festival has evolved to please Baby Boom traditionalists and those Gen Xers and Millennials who embrace digital enology.

For the first time, there will be a WOW Wine Store set up at Bigham Knoll Event Center, the setting of an expanded series of wine-centric events. But there will also be an e-commerce site, the launch of BuyRogue.com. Also being introduced is a People’s Choice Award. Votes can be cast in person and, perhaps, sent via smart phones.

Postage stamp-size Quick Response barcodes may be printed on signs and tags to direct users to websites with more information. There is talk of Foursquare check ins, geotracking and Google map overlays of participating wineries, restaurants and lodging. Expect a YouTube video series, instantly uploaded Facebook photos and uncountable Tweets from organizers and attendees.

It’s all part of the youth wine revolution that’s setting up play dates in Jacksonville. Tech-savvy wine appreciators, age 21 to 35, are showing up more often at tasting rooms, restaurants, shops and real estate offices, says Liz Wan, a wine-marketing consultant specializing in the Applegate Valley.

“Everyone wants to be inclusive because the desires of the generations overlap,” she says, “but the generations are also super unique. Millennials go deep in their research because they can access it at their fingertips in no time flat. They have been trained since birth to be info junkies. And if they happen to be into wine, they don’t do it halfway.”

The younger generations, who admit to sleeping with their cellphones, want interactive experiences, Wan says. They don’t care about reading Robert Parker’s judgment as much as poring over peer-to-peer reviews posted on Yelp or CellarTracker, then posting their own opinion.

In addition to the quality of the wine, they want to know how the winery operates: Does it have sustainable practices? A cool label design? Unpretentious tasting room staffers who take them seriously? Says Wan, who represents Serra Vineyards: “These consumers want to affect the world based on their purchases.”

Surveys show that although younger wine drinkers don’t have the spending power of older adults, they are willing to pay more than $20 for every fourth bottle they buy, compared to one in eight for Baby Boomers. They see supporting Oregon wineries as investing in the Buy Local philosophy. Now, only 15 to 18 percent of the wine sold in Oregon is made here.

“From my experience, the older set wants to know about the accolades and hear from experts what they are supposed to like,” says Mandy Valencia, 28, a wine reporter-videographer at the Medford Mail Tribune. “For my age group, it’s not 90 points on Wine Spectator or buying a showstopper, but a nice drinkable wine that you have good feelings toward.”

Wine tasting, she continues, is “almost like a treasure hunt, the adventure of going out, discovering new wineries and learning, then Tweeting and inviting friends to join you.”

Valencia says she’ll be at WOW’s Grand Tasting. “It’s communal,” she says. “You can’t fit all your friends into a car and go to different tasting rooms. But you can invite 25 or 30 of your friends to meet you there. WOW brings all the taste to you.”

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Janet Eastman covers food, wine and travel for national publications and websites. Her work can be seen at www.janeteastman.com

The WOW experience is now four days long:

• • Aug. 24: Welcome Cocktail Reception ($25)

  • Aug. 25-26: Wine education classes by Dwayne Bershaw of the Southern Oregon Wine Institute ($30)

  • Aug. 26: Gala Dinner ($125)

  • Aug. 27: Grand Tasting ($75)

Information at www.worldofwinefestival.com