13 May 2010
A Consumers Perspective: Social Media and Wine
WELCOME GUEST BLOGGER Melinda Knapp
There is a lot of talk about social media in the wine world these days. For me personally, social media has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people who share my love of the grape. As well as connecting with those in the industry.
However, the question that often comes up when wineries are considering the jump into social media is – What is my return on investment (ROI)? This is something that is really hard to gauge. Now, while I am certainly no expert in marketing, I am one in consuming. I buy and consume quite a bit of wine. As a consumer, walking into a wine store or the wine section of the grocery store can be intimidating. I could go with the old standby, but I really want to try something new. How do I choose? What is going to make a bottle jump out and say “buy me”? Familiarity. I am looking for something familiar to me like winery, vineyard, region etc. This is where social media comes in. My time spent on Twitter and Facebook has exposed me to many wineries in Washington I hadn’t known existed. In fact, I have 166 wineries on my WA wineries twitter list and I am sure I am missing some. What does this have to do with picking out a wine? Let me share my experience. A couple of weeks ago at my local grocery store, I was perusing the wine department as I normally do. My eyes fall upon a bottle of wine from a winery that I had just followed on twitter, Kyra Wines. I am thrilled because I had just read about this winery and had made a mental note to look for their wine.
Kyra Wines is located in Moses Lake, WA. It is owned by Kyra and Bruce Baerlocher. Kyra serves as the winemaker. Together they transform the grapes from their vineyards on the Wahluke Slope into some amazing wine. All their wines feature the wonderful artwork of Kyra’s brother.
Their 2006 PSV Red Wine is sourced from their Purple Sage Vineyard (PSV). It is a blend of 80% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Sangiovese. One of the first things I noticed upon opening this wine was the beautiful dark garnet color. On the nose I was getting berries and lots of spice and gingerbread; just like warm fruit cobbler out of the oven. This wine has such a great full mouth feel. Bright acidity with tart raspberry on the front palate that flows into a nice long finish with bing cherry and caramel. It only got better once I added food. As suggested on the back label, I paired it with a barbequed steak and homemade caramelized onion BBQ sauce.
This wine was a definite home run and one I want to have in my cellar. I am also excited to try more of the Kyra Wines lineup. I owe this great wine experience to social media. I mean, who knows how long it would have taken to me to discover them otherwise?
Follow Kyra Wines on:
Twitter http://twitter.com/kyra_wines
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kyra-Wines/66100809286
About the Author
Born and raised in Skagit County, about 60 miles north of Seattle. Payroll administrator by day, food & wine fiend by night, weekend or really anytime I can. Because of my love of the Great Northwest I have narrowed my wine focus to Washington. Both my husband and I love to cook and we indulge that love by cooking for our friends and pairing wine to those creations. Wine and food are a natural fit.
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