The goal of this series is to connect with wineries and wine business that use Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) effectively. These interviews can serve as a catalyst to help other wineries and wine businesses to see the benefits (and pitfalls) of joining the social revolution. Click http://drinknectar.com/tag/wineries-on-twitter/ to view all interviews.

Lange Twins:       On the Web    –    On Twitter    –     On Facebook

How long have you been using Twitter?

I’ve been on Twitter since Sept. 2008 – my how the time flies!  I actually had to Google search ‘how to find out when you joined Twitter’ to get this answer.  Not a good sign – do the questions get harder?

What prompted you to dive in?

I’m an addict for new technologies and with all the media coverage on Twitter, it looked like it was here to stay.  Now look at it – something like 600 tweets per second?

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

I look at Twitter as just one more way for us to interact with our fans – the keyword there is interact.  It’s tempting to just scream offers and news from the rooftops but it’s much more enjoyable when you get to know your Twitter fans.  It’s amazing who is following you!

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

Brand awareness and interaction is the goal for me.  If someone buys your wine, enjoys it, and tosses the bottle, that’s where the interaction stops.  If this same customer does a simple Google search for the winery and finds a great way to interact with the winery (enter Twitter & Facebook) then that experience is strengthened. 

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

Oh, there are tons!  My favorites are the customers who find our wines out in the market and tweet about how much they enjoyed it.  For such a small brand like LangeTwins, it’s really cool to see where people are finding our wines and what they think of them.  On the flip side, if they don’t like it, Twitter and Facebook give you a line of communication to have a dialogue with that customer – that’s vital.

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

I think the biggest barrier is time – most family wineries like ours are running 110% all year long.  It’s fun, but incredibly consuming.  I’ve made social media (blog, Twitter, FB) a priority because I see the value in it, and, I enjoy it!  But it took a bit for everyone @ LangeTwins to come around.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

Jump.  Pour yourself a glass of wine some night and spend 30mins browsing around Facebook and Twitter.  Then watch that 30mins turn into 3hrs!  Now you’re hooked.

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

We’re a multi-generational family owned winery that crafts wine from sustainably grown winegrapes.  As a 5^th generation family farmer in Lodi, California, it’s important to preserve the land we farm for future generations.  From using solar panels to produce green energy to restoring native habitat areas amongst our vineyards, we take an all-encompassing approach to sustainability.

New release?  Nice timing!  We are just releasing our Proprietary Tier of wines, which are limited individual lot selections sourced from our favorite vineyards.  Our initial release is a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2008 Chardonnay.  The wine label was chosen by our fans on Facebook and our blog!  Talk about a social media wine…

What is your favorite rock band and why?

Oh man – I am probably going to be ousted by the family now.  Metallica!  Since I was a kid, they’ve always stayed in my Top 5 (well, there was a rough patch there with Load/Reload) and Dec 08 my wife surprised me with concert tickets.  It was insane.  Their last album, Death Magnetic, is amazing. *changes Pandora station to Metallica*