Wine biz Tweeter these days on social media

Karen Cline does yeomen’s work as coordinator of publicity and marketing for the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. She’s a go-to resource for me, someone I can hit with an e-mail or phone call on any given day and get what I need – story ideas, trail info, contact information for a winemaker or proprietor or someone associated with wine -- to continue churning out the blog posts on a daily basis. Any trail or winery would be lucky to have her.

So while I was pleased to hear that the trail sent her to Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, a few weeks ago to participate in the third annual License to Steal Marketing Conference, as someone who works for a newspaper I wasn’t thrilled to hear that we and our media brethren are being slowly phased out. Not maliciously, mind you, but because so many other forms of marketing, much of it now through social networking, are becoming increasingly successful at a cost far less than running an ad in any of the major media.

“A lot of wineries are slashing their advertising budgets and using more social media to get to customers,” she said. “One person said they slashed their ad budget for print media and traditional radio, and things like that, to 25 percent of what it normally would be.” Gulp.

Cline was one of around 90 people who attended the three-day conference, sponsored and coordinated by statewide wine offices of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Essentially it was a chance to share experiences and swap notes, then bring the ideas back to their respective wineries or wine trails to see what might work for them.

“Some wineries realize the value of bloggers, some of them have contacts like yourself,” she said. Others are doing [the blogging] on their own.”

One irony was that Cline wasn’t sure when we talked exactly who was making contact through myspace and Facebook and Twitter or producing their own blog because the event’s coordinators gave out a list of attendees that only included physical addresses. Not a phone number or Web site or anything else. But that problem was soon to be rectified, and Cline was waiting for that other data to be e-mailed so she could make a better assessment of who was dabbling in what social media.

Appropriately, a local newspaper carried a story on the event. Lifestyle editor Carl Feather wrote that Bill Geist, a marketing consultant from Wisconsin, was the guest speaker. Editors and representatives from major wine media, including the Wine Enthusiast, Vineyard and Winery Management and Wines and Vines, presented a session and were available for story pitches from the attendees. Tim Morarity, editor of Wine Enthusiast, was one of the evening’s keynote speaker.

Several observations based on a year doing this blog and out of my conversation with Cline:

* Check out this home page for the Norton grape, part of an extremely successful marketing campaign being done in Missouri. “Norton is a variety of grape, and they’ve actually personalized Norton himself into a person and they have very cute promotional ads and stuff, and he has a Facebook page," Cline said. "And the woman who does the marketing and advertising for Norton, she’s on Twitter, so I'm following her around now.”

* There are marketing directors out there working wonders by utilizing the media without incurring a cost. Certainly, the Brandywine and Lehigh Valley trails have generated much publicity for some of their events. To a lesser extent, from what I’ve seen, the Bucks County and Berks County trails have gotten stories written in the mainstream press. Alison Smith with the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau seemed to create a ton of coverage for the recent Tour de Tanks, including TV drive-bys, that helped to drive record crowds into all the wineries during the March event. A few at this point -- Chaddsford, Crossing Vineyard and Hauser Estate -- are leaning on agencies to provide press releases for upcoming events, but those remain in the minority.

* Wine trails are becoming more and more useful in order to drive traffic. And you’ll see those continue to develop in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The half-dozen wineries in Maryland’s Frederick County have developed a trail, for instance, and another seems to be taking shape in and around Lancaster, Pa. The Mason-Dixon Wine Trail actually includes four wineries from Pennsylvania and four from Maryland, and after several years of falling by the wayside has re-energized its efforts to develop new initiatives.

* Finally, my observations is that some proprietors seem put off by even a phone call; indeed one question that some of the old-line winery owners seem to ask is how they’re going to find the time to upgrade their marketing and promotional arms with all the work required to run the winery. It’s a good question, but taking five or 10 minutes to talk to someone (whether it’s me or one of many other bloggers now writing on wines in this area) would seem to be a good way to get the word out with an absolutely minimum amount of investment. As someone told me a while back (and if you don't mind me getting just a bit self-serving), “It only takes a little while to talk to you. You’re doing all the work and taking the pictures and writing them up. They don’t do anything. They should be very grateful.”

Winemaker's meal April 25 at Crossing Vineyard

Jason Brounce will have a hand in the winemaker's dinner on April 25.

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For those living somewhere in the Philly or surrounding area and looking for somewhere to go on Saturday night, April 25, Crossing Vineyard and Winery in Washington Crossing is planning a Spring Winemaker’s Dinner.

Guests will receive a five-course gourmet meal, a chance to sample the winery’s new release wine – and some inside information on its winegrowing plans for 2009.

Cost is $89, plus tax and gratuity. Entrée substitutions may be arranged in advance. Seating is limited.

Guests also will meet Jason Brounce, Crossing’s vineyard manager, who says he developed a “love of processing fruit” during his 14-year journey from “historic farming” to state-of-the-art. Brounce, who will offer a preview of plans for this year’s vintage, says agriculture has been part of his life since he was 16 and learned farming from a generation that used horse-drawn equipment. He studied agriculture and business management at Penn State, then worked for a family farm founded in the early 1800s. He grew high quality, small fruit in its orchard and helped start a cider press and bakery.

Brounce said he left farming for a few years in search of a “better career,” but all endeavors left him feeling that “something was missing.” When he joined Crossing Vineyards in 2005, he said, he was “able to tie in my traditional beliefs, my state-of-the-art learning, and my love for producing fine products from the fruit I grow.”

Dinner will begin at 7:30 p.m. with an amuse bouche of seared scallop with horseradish remoulade, paired with Crossing’s Viognier ’07. Next is an entrée of pissaladiere (onion tart), paired with Riesling’ 07, then a plat du jour of veal roast with preserved lemon sauce, baby carrots with sultanas and creamy braised leeks, paired with Chardonnay ’07, Cabernet-Merlot ’04 and Vintner’s Select Red (NV, new release). A cheese course, paired with Merlot ’06 and Late Harvest Vidal Blanc’ 06, follows, then strawberry-rhubarb tart for dessert, paired with Brut Rose (NV).

Reservations may be made by calling 215.493.6500, ext.19 or online at the winery's Web site. Directions to the winery can also be found there.

Terrapin releases put on Friday's schedule

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Terrapin Station Winery will unveil this year's versions of two of last year's best-selling wines later this week: the 2007 Cecil Red and 2008 Traminette Reserve.

Janet and Morris Zwick, proprietors of the Elkton County winery in Maryland, said they would be celebrating the release of the Traminette on Friday at Cherry Hill Liquors at 8 p.m. That's a couple of hours after a tasting at Gilly's in Rockville. Other tasting dates are planned for a number of dates in May. All will be posted on the Web site of the winery, unique for its packaging in a box.

Three more wines are also on the way: Vidal Blanc, Cayuga, and Five Rivers Rose', a new varietal. Terrapin Station has plans to build a tasting room, but for now has depended on a network of stores to sell its product.

Morris has been more than accommodating to talk about winemaking and his wines any time I call. For that, I'm happy to get out the word about these releases.

On Easter, perfect pairings and LCB discounts

The kids are home. Company's headed over later. So it's time to open the best bottles laying in the racks in the cellar or chilling in the small upstairs refrigerator. Yesterday that meant uncorking a 2007 Naked Chardonnay from Chaddsford. Might duplicate that for starters today, perhaps opening one of the bottles we bought from Pinnacle Ridge. Or perhaps the Zafferano from Va La in Avon Grove. For our turkey dinner, we could uncork any number of Cabernet Franc bottles that we've bought from wineries around the region, including Stargazers in Pennsylvania and Woodhall in northern Maryland. Or we could add a little more color to the table with a bottle of Rose that we bought a few weeks ago during our visit to Waltz Vineyards in Manheim. The primary purpose of that trip was to catch a glimpse of the new tasting room and purchase a couple bottles of their signature, the Merlot. That's until we had a taste of the Rose and Chardonnay, which also found their way home with us.

Yesterday's match with steaks featured a bottle from the "state store," something I don't write about much on a blog that's focused on regional wines and wineries. But I had noticed during a couple of visits to premium collection stores around the region that some of the higher-priced bottles, those quoted at $60 or more, had been marked down to $19.99. Bought one last month outside Harrisburg, a 2000 Cims de Porrera Priorat, and several other wines quoted at $40 and $50 were marked down under $20.

Found a similar sale at the East York store on Friday, with bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Miguel Torres vineyard in Spain dropped to $19.99. The 1996 Mas La Plana hit it off perfectly with the slabs of meat that made a quick trip to the charcoal grill.

I'm a sucker for the "old stuff," certainly anything that I know was in the ground prior to 2000. Gave this wine a couple hours to open up by uncorking and then decanting. It was one of those with such an aromatic bouquet that you just wanted to stand there and inhale. Eventually we did get around to polishing off the bottle.

Checked in with Tony Jones (the chief of product management and pricing division for the state’s Liquor Control Board) and Steve Pollack (the head of the Chairman's Selection program) to find out how often they were knocking the price of some of these premium wines and, if I bought them, how quickly I had to drink them.

Jones said the sales are just a matter of controlling inventory. "We’re a retail business and all of our investory equates to dollars," he said, "so we like to see a good sell-through time frame. We like to see a product sell through in six months, ideally 90 days, but when it comes around six months and we're still seeing a good deal of intentory left on a product hanging around, that’s what motivates us to sell it through and move on to other products."

You'll likely find these significant markdowns at the premium collection stores only, and the new price will be uniform across the Commonwealth. Jones and Pollack noted that this particular wine, and other premiums priced to move, don't necessarily have to be consumed quickly. Maybe buy a couple and drink one now, then cellar others to open in 2010 and 2011 or beyond. They figure to show well for the next few years, at least.

Jones noted that state residents have access to more of these discounts through online sales at the LCB's premium collection site. Generally, he said, they'll pull the wines they need to move off the shelves and promote them online to customers who have signed up for e-blasts. Anyone purchasing these can designate which store they want the wine shipped to. The wine cannot be received at someone's residence or business.

"We expect to have another sale coming up after the wine festivals [at the end of the month and the start of May]," Jones said. "The majority [of sales we've done in the past] have been online only. [This sale] is probably only the second time we’ve allowed the inventory to stay in stores. We don’t want to tarnish the Chairman’s program by having a bunch of discounted items out there, so we move [them] online."

Blending together a bit of this, that

Amid all the e-blasts and e-mails I have received the past 48 hours, let me clear the notebook a bit.

From Adam Borden, who's heading up Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws and directed an effort to hand out flyers at Monday's Opening Day at Camden Yards in Baltimore: "We had a decent but not great turnout, about 10, and handed out probably 10,000 fliers," he wrote. "Boy, did I have to get my elevator pitch down! I got it to: 'We're a Maryland non-profit trying to change our laws.' Many people said they did not care about changing any Maryland law without even hearing what law it was, though on the opposite side, a few actually were already members and had signed up for email alerts. I am not sure we will do it again, but we sure got in front of a lot of Marylanders."

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From Dr. Vino, who posted on his blog Thursday a link to a story that ran in Tuesday's New York Times on restaurants beginning to serve wines from refillable tanks: essentially, wine on tap. Here's the Times story and below the Dr. Vino blog entry.

The NYT ran a story yesterday about wine served in restaurants from refillable tanks. It’s a win-win idea since it lowers the cost per glass of wine reduces wine’s carbon footprint with less packaging mass, similar to the bag-in-box idea I detailed in the Times last summer.
Let’s just hope the restaurants that do use the system pass on the lower costs to diners. Such is the case of those detailed in the story. Last spring, I also saw an affordable tank wine (”Mas vino,” pictured above) offered by the glass at Small Shed Flatbreads in Mill Valley. I didn’t try it because I was too busy trying a prosecco.

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Paradocx Vineyard in Landenberg, a member of the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail, will hold its 2nd Annual "Bud Break Bash" from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 9. There will be live music from 3 to 6 p.m. and a bonfire from 6 to 7 p.m. It's a celebration of the beginning of the grape growing season, signified by the grape vines breaking their first buds. “Bud Break Bash” will have something for all ages, including live music from The Acoustic Groove Project, wine tastings, cheese samples, hayrides, winery tours, and tours of the vineyard, where those conducting the tour will point out new bud growth. A ceremonial burning of the old grape vine trimmings will be held after dinner. Standard wine tasting fees apply ($5 for tasting of 7 wines). Everything else is complimentary.

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Clover Hill Vineyards & Winery in Breinigsville listed its receipes from the recently completed March Madness and gave notice to one of this region's unique events: A Day in the Vineyard. Held in conjunction with Pinnacle Ridge and Vynecrest, "the Hill" will serve as the location for grand tastings several times on Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7. Activities after the grand tastings then will move to the other two wineries. The cost is $25. To sign up or for more info, call Clover Hill at 610.395.2468.

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Maryland Governor's Cup winner Black Winery Vineyards has moved to summer hours (Wed-Fri, noon-5 p.m.; Sat, noon-6 p.m.; Sun, noon-5 p.m.) and will begin a weekly "happy hour" called Friday Night Flights starting next week, the 17th, from 5 to 7 p.m.

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Black Ankle and Serpent Ridge Winery (Westminster) are among various Maryland wineries looking for volunteers to pour during the upcoming summer festival season. Best place to start is the site for the Association of Maryland Wineries for a list of wineries near you. If they need help, you'll likely find that request on the winery's home page. E-mail Tracy at tracy@blackankle.com if you'd like to assist Black Ankle and volunteers@serpentridge.com if you want to assist Serpent Ridge. Those folks are asking for the following: Name/Contact Info/Date and shift you would like to volunteer, First (11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.) or second (2:30-6 p.m.). Time slots will be filled on a first-come basis and we will need to know if you would like to volunteer by May 1.

NY's next wine hot spot: Champlain region

Director Jim Trezise of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation reported in his weekly e-letter that the next area is his state to develop as a wine producer is the Champlain region — near Lake Champlain which separates New York and Vermont. He wrote that it already has three wineries, with more to come. He added that last week the foundation got notice that Eminence Road Farm Winery in Long Eddy is officially open and will be selling at area farmers’ markets and local wine shops. Owned by Jennifer Clark and Andrew Scott, the winery is located in a mountain valley in southern Delaware County (no wineries there before!) and is making unfined and unfiltered Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Dry Apple Wine and others (visit www.eminenceroad.com). He said: "When I first came to this industry 27 years ago, there were wineries in about 7 counties — compared with 45 now (of 62), which is just wonderful politically. Frankly, the industry is growing so fast it’s hard to keep up with it. As far as I know there are now 262 fully licensed (federal and state) wine producers (not including satellite stores), with many licenses still pending at the State Liquor Authority. Last week, a representative from the federal Tax and Trade Bureau said New York now has 294 TTB-approved licenses, which means we’ll probably top 300 in the near future. Now I ask you: What other industry in New York State is growing that fast?

Also in his newsletter:

CORNELL UNIVERSITY has been a major partner in the renaissance, reputation and growth of the New York wine industry, exemplified most recently by the unveiling of a new Teaching Winery on April 1, the first day of the Wine Industry Workshop in Ithaca. The event began with the cutting of a grapevine by Susan Henry, Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, who has been the driving force behind several key initiatives that promise a bright future for both Cornell and the New York wine industry. Several years ago at a strategic planning retreat of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, Art Hunt of Hunt Country Vineyards strongly suggested that Cornell become more involved with the industry beyond the traditional research. While some were initially resistant, Dean Henry was receptive to the concept and started by creating a new four-year undergraduate program in viticulture and enology. Art’s son Jonathan was the first to enroll, and is now deeply involved in the family business. In the past, students had no good place to make wines, making the teaching winery a key addition to the education and training process. It’s the first such facility in the eastern United States, and one of the finest in the country. The $900,000 winery at Cornell Orchards includes all the equipment needed to make and analyze wines—fermentation tanks, barrels, a sophisticated lab—as well as grapes grown by Cornell on that site and another. In addition to creating the V&E curriculum and teaching winery, Cornell has recruited several superb young extension agents and faculty members—Chris Gerhling, Anna Katharine Mansfield, Ramon Mira de Orduna, Hans Walter-Peterson, Gavin Sacks, Justine Van den Heuvel, Miguel Gomez, Brad Rickard—who bring diverse talents and new energy to the research and extension programs. A decade ago, the relatively small size of New York’s wine industry may not have justified this type of investment and commitment, forcing New Yorkers to train elsewhere and creating a brain drain. That has now changed, with world-class research facilities and faculty luring tomorrow’s leaders into the heart of New York wine country.

SUSTAINABILITY is a pervasive topic these days, and Cornell Cooperative Extension is one of the nation’s leaders in defining and refining it for New York grape growers and others. In fact, its comprehensive program (VineBalance Sustainable Viticulture) is being transplanted in Michigan and Washington State by Welch’s, which is owned by National Grape Cooperative headquartered in Westfield, NY. VineBalance was created by statewide CCE director Tim Martinson and his colleagues Alice Wise (Long Island), Hans Walter-Peterson (Finger Lakes), and Tim Weigle (Lake Erie), and now involves over 100 wine and juice grape growers throughout the state. The program includes a comprehensive workbook, and practices reflecting the grape growing conditions in the northeastern United States, although much could also apply to juice grapes in other regions. Since Welch’s sources grapes from all three states, uniformity of sustainable viticultural practices is important, especially as an increasing number of major retailers like WalMart are demanding products reflecting sustainable practices. There are similar programs in other states like California (Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance), Washington (Vinewise, for wine grapes) and Oregon (LIVE), and over time a challenge will be creating an integrated system which is both broadly applicable yet also responsive to local conditions.

FIGHT THE RECESSION: BUY LOCAL WINE is the theme of a terrific new poster created by artist Joanna Purdy for Fox Run Vineyards that may be adapted to any part of the country. The poster is reminiscent of those during World War II appealing to self-help and community spirit, and may be seen at www.foxrunvineyards.com. The first 500 printed copies of the poster have been funded by Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association. For more information on adapting the poster locally, contact Leslie Kroeger at Fox Run (leslie@foxrunvineyards.com, 800-636-9786).

YATES COUNTY (where I live in the heart of the Finger Lakes) is bucking the statewide decline in farms and acreage (-2.3%, -6.3%) with big increases in farms (142 new ones, 20% more) and acreage (11,000 new, up 10%) from 2002 to 2007. It’s also one of the state’s major sources of organic products, with 49 farms on 5,500 acres generating sales over $2.7 million. The key is diversity. When I moved here 27 years ago, the region was an ugly mosaic of abandoned vineyards, ramshackle barns, and rundown farmhouses. The transformation has largely been brought about by an odd combination of the wine industry renaissance and a growing community of horse-and-buggy Mennonites who are excellent farmers and stewards of the earth. As in other areas, dairy is the largest sector (262 farms, 12,150 cows—1 for every 2 humans) and livestock farms have also increased (363 farms, 19,000 cattle), but the grape and wine industry (with 26 wineries) is a major economic engine for agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing. In fact, the 750 agri-tourism jobs represent a major “industry,” and wine is largely the catalyst.

Manatawny has Concord back on its shelves

Speaking of Manatawny Creek, owner and winemaker Joanne Levengood sent out an e-blast late Friday night that the Concord has passed muster and is ready for purchase. The winery will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, but closed tomorrow for Easter.

Levengood noted that 20 cases of Winter Warmth remain and the winery will keep its 20 percent off sale running until this wine is gone.

Manatawny is a member of the Berks County Wine Trail, which at this point still doesn't charge for tastings. So a trip to any of those wineries will get you a sample of most if not all their wines for free, something that's rare in this region nowadays.