end of 2010 and 106 million of us are Tweeting away on Twitter. Even I am doing it and I must say it has been great fun. I get to “meet” people from all quarters of the globe and from all walks of life and develop relationships with people I already know . . . who have a shared interest: Wine. The only drawback I can see so far is that it takes time – with all the diverse ways we have to communica
te about wine (and I am including Blogging in this), it’s hard to find time to sit back and enjoy a glass! In my case it’s also slightly addictive – I love the news, the hints and 
tips, the banter and the discoveries that a couple of clicks can deliver.
As it turns out I am one of the 7% on Twitter and the 9% on FaceBook who fall into the 55+ bracket. Looking at the statistics the UK is placed at no 5 on Twitter re Country Share of Tweets and no 3 on FaceBook but it is the USA who leads the pack in both instances, coming in at no 1. Not surprisingly whilst looking around the internet to see how the wine industry uses social media (or doesn’t in a lot of instances) I came across a blog that I thought really summed up it all up – and it was written by an American.
o joined forces with Wine Country Connect where she is the National Buyer for Wine.Woot! and Rue La La. I thought this post of hers was brilliant :
Breaking Down “Wine Social Media”
Twitter = I need a glass of wine.
Facebook = You gotta see this glass of wine I’m having!
Foursquare = I’m having a glass of wine here.
Quora = Why am I having a glass of wine?
Youtube = Check out the dirt this wine comes from &/or watch me drink this wine.
LinkedIn = I drink wine very well.
(I must admit I ha
ve only just checked Foursquare out and had never heard of Quora! Both were created in 2009. Foursquare is a location-based social networking website and is available to users with GPS-enabled mobile devices, such as iPhones etc. Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it – and is generating a lot of hype with its success at the moment.)
So, I wondered, how are the wine industry . . . and specifically Bordeaux using social media? Not very many chateaux actually are. Those that I know of on Twitter and FaceBo
ok are Chateaux Haut Bailly, d’Yquem, Brane Cantenac, Palmer, Coutet, Bauduc, Domaine de Chevalier Haut Brion, Giscours and La Fleur Morange. If you know of any more please let me know and I will spread the word! It is a great way of engaging with wine on a more personal level – each chateau posts its news, events, photos of pruning/harvest, menus with food and wine suggestions etc. The end result is that you become engaged in their activities, “meet” wine makers, chefs, fellow enthusiasts, wine critics . . . and even musicians. All of a sudden the wine that you drank last night – or the wine that you want to drink tonight – takes on a whole different meaning.
For an example here are two videos from YouTube that Jean Francois of Chateau La Fleur Morange has put up on FaceBook. The first is a tasting by Andreas Larsson (awarded the 2007 Best Sommelier of the World and the 2008 Laureat of the Swedish Wine Academy Grand Prize). He is considered one of the leading wine tasters and travels all over the world where he´s hired as a consultant, lecturer, educator, speaker, wine taster. The second is a tasting by Chris Parente from his Blog Work Wine and Wheels. Chris’ work is in technology public relations and his firm is Strategic Communications Group but his full scale hobbies are discovering new wines and working on his BMWs.
So what’s new you might be thinking? Well amongst Jean Francois YouTube clips on FaceBook you will also find the group Mo accompanying their 2010 harvest and a few clips of songs titled Mathilde . . . why Mathilde? . . . because that is the name of his little daughter and his Second Wine. Now, don’t you think that’s a good conversion piece? And, after all, social media is all about conversation . . .
chateau gruaud larose is on fb
Thanks Jason – that is great news, I will have a look right now on FaceBook. Chateau Haut Bailly msged me today to say it would be interesting to do a comparison of Bordeaux's web presence with that of the States . . . something for a future blog perhaps?
Cheers
Nick
Nick — thanks much for including my video on the Morange. I must say Andreas has a big advantage in French pronunciation! Glad we came to roughly the same conclusions.
From a socmed perspective, an easy step for a lot of vineyard sites could be a community page, where people could post a comment or a story about their experiences with the wines. Then the company could do a contest, pick a winner every month, highlight them and give them something, etc. and so forth.
Seems easy, low cost entry into the two way nature of socmed.
Hi, Nick,
I love your post!
As it is, we have more Bordeaux chateaux on the social media… Vignobles Marie Laure Lurton in on FB, Chateau Paloumey also, and on Twitterb as well; Millesima, the bordeaux wine merchant is very active… There are some other chateaux on FB, but maybe not as active as those..
Thanks Chris – that's a good point re a community page being a winery's first step into social media. It's something I am going to keep my eye on and I'll be reporting back in the future.
Cheers
Nick
Hi Catherine,
Thanks for the heads up re Vignobles Marie Laure Lurton, Chateau Paloumey and Millesima! I hadn't realised that Great Wine Capitals are on Twitter & FaceBook too – I will hook up with you!
Cheers
S