Wine journalist Jamie Goode of wineanorak.com gave a presentation earlier this year at a London wine conference that included the advice, “Social media is not magic, nor is it just a fad.”

Though they can’t solve all your problems, Twitter and Facebook are here to stay (at least for the foreseeable future), and wine producers, importers and vendors can use these tools to add some personality to an otherwise often intimidating…and dare I say, stuffy…business.

Yet Goode’s presentation also highlighted something that can be difficult for businesses investing time and money on maintaining a Facebook site or building up a following on Twitter. “It resists measurement,” Goode says. And: “You can’t do social media well under the pressure of achieving results.” Okay, but we’re bound to ask next: isn’t “achieving results” the purpose of any marketing strategy?

The strange thing about social media, though, is that it’s not just a marketing strategy, nor is it just branding. Social media, as it functions in the business world (and, arguably, in the personal world), is some sort of branding-marketing-communications-outreach hybrid for which we don’t yet have rules (weirdly quoting “Fightclub,” Goode also tells us, “The first rule is, there are no rules). That makes people very excited and very nervous at the same time.

In wine, more than most other industries, traditional tastemakers such as famous critics (Robert Parker, etc) and established news sources (Wine Spectator, the New York Times food and drink page) have long dominated opinion. But social media evens the playing field; all of a sudden, anyone can have their say—and people just might listen.

According to a 2010 study by Seattle social media marketing firm Lift9, there are over 7,000 wine tweets a day and over 1,300 wine-focused blogs. In addition, 700,000 people watch wine-related videos each month, though most are of the humorous variety, like “Borat’s Guide to Wine Tasting.” So there are a lot of folks out there looking to learn about wine and share their own experiences. What does this mean for wine producers, importers, and vendors?

In one sense, it’s an advertiser’s dream: self-selecting consumers receive targeted information that leads them to your company’s website, your company’s news, and your company’s products. And for those who believe in the power of branding, social media is the ideal way to turn your brand or store into an online entity that communicates with its costumers, press and others in the field in a way that reflects its own “personality” and ethos. As Goode says: “People get a more rounded view of who you are.”

But in the wine industry, this all plays out a little differently. The most important wine-buying sector—baby boomers—isn’t the same sector that’s spending all their time on Twitter and Facebook (namely, college students and twenty-somethings). But establishing a presence in social media now will not only lure in a new generation of wine lovers, but it will also make it easier later on as the platforms become more crowded and those for whom Facebook is more natural than face-to-face age, and presumably, start buying wine.

Founder of UK supper club “The Underground Restaurant,” Kerstin Rodgers, (also known as Ms. MarmiteLover and named one of London’s 1000 most influential people this year by the Evening Standard), encourages social media users to expand outside their own industry. “Don’t just talk to people in the same business as you,” she says. “Make your tweets varied and cultivate people who are geographically local to you.”

One drawback—a drawback I don’t necessarily see people discussing in their articles hailing social media as the future of all communication—is social media’s constant demand and rather addictive nature. At what cost to their marketing and communications employees are wineries “building a virtual buzz?” Rodgers also writes: “The best blog posts are often written at 2am in your pyjamas.” For those of us who’d rather be sleeping at two a.m. in our pajamas, this 24-hour schedule of around-the-world updates can be difficult to keep up with.

If you leave the office at five p.m. and don’t tweet until the next morning at 9:30 after settling in at work, you’re certainly missing some important conversations and updates. (Those in Napa Valley may feel especially behind when the workday in France is long gone by the time they arrive!) But if you do bring your work home with you, social media style, you’ll end up feeling like you’re never finished. There’s always one more person to tweet at, one more post to “like”… Building an online presence is time-consuming, but it shouldn’t be life-consuming.

The main point of all this: businesses like rules, and social media doesn’t quite have them—yet. It’s better to have personality on Twitter and Facebook, but too much personality can make those in charge of your “brand” very nervous. In the wine world, the main audience isn’t as “plugged in” as in many industries—but that doesn’t mean social media is unimportant. Remember Twitter isn’t just a marketing tool, so don’t use it that way. Finally: once you do “plug in,” remember to unplug every once in a while, too. Maybe leave the two a.m. blog posts to those who are doing that for a living. You can comment and re-tweet it in the morning.

Written by Erin Becker, Research and Innovation for Andes Wines, graduated with a degree in literature and creative writing from the University of North Carolina, where she was also co-founder and editor-in-chief of Campus BluePrint magazine and co-founder of an Arts and Cultural Policy think tank.

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 2-3702997
twitter: @andeswines.com

The recent announcement that AC/DC will be releasing a series of wines based on their famous singles (“Back in Black Shiraz,” “You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato,” and “Hells Bells Sauvignon Blanc,” among others) has led to both ire and fascination in the wine community. What will come next? The audacity! Does anyone think they can make wine? They say money can’t buy love, and it seems it can’t quite buy prestige among winemakers, either.

Yet this is far from a recent phenomenon. In fact, celebrity winemaking goes a long ways back. And AC/DC’s move isn’t unprecedented: Kiss, Motorhead, and Whitesnake all have wines of their own.

For some, it’s a labor of love. The family of Francis Ford Coppola, for example, has a long history of winemaking. British singer Cliff Richard has always been a wine enthusiast and used his massive earnings and celebrity clout as an opportunity to explore this passion. For French actor Gerard Depardieu, wine is a vocation, while the screen is just an occupation. Depardieu is involved in all aspects of production and business dealings for his wine label; in fact, his passport lists him not as an actor as a vigneron.

Unlike Coppola, Richard and Depardieu, other celebrities are simply wine dilettantes, exploring the enological world simply because they can. Sting, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, and David and Victoria Beckham all own vineyards and wine estates strictly for personal use. They’re growing wine grapes the way most of use grow chives.

There are also a good number of celebrities producing wine as a charity venture. Former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana partnered with Ed Sbragia of Beringer to make the Cabernet Sauvignon Montagia, initially raising $210,000 for a charity auction that transformed into a successful yearly project. Like Mike Ditka, who simply owns a brand rather than a winery or an estate, Montana’s main contribution is in promotion and name recognition rather than the technicalities of winemaking. He does, however, work with the “vision” of the wine, as well as participating in blending and tasting trials.

And of course, there’s also a business side to all of this. Rather than producing wine themselves, some celebrities lend their name or image to a wine label—for a small fee, of course. Among stars that have allowed a special one-time wine to bear their name are Carlos Santana and Bob Dylan. Martha Stewart, in a similar set-up, collaborated with Gallo to produce a series of low-cost wines for K-mart, but has little oversight in the winemaking process.

But let’s return to Coppola, who was dubbed by Forbes “The Godfather of Grapes.” The Hollywood director/producer is now selling more than 750,000 cases a year, and a few years backed was ranked the number two table wine by Information Resources. He also produces premium wines through a separate venture at Rubicon Estates.

Other notable celebrity wine names include: Mario Andretti, Dan Aykroyd, Antonio Banderas, Drew Bledsoe, Mick Fleetwood, Arnold Palmer, Jeff Gordon, Wayne Gretzky, Terry Hoage, Lil Jon (the rapper is re-imaged, rather humorously, as the owner of the upscale Little Jonathan Winery), Madonna, Dan Marino, Dave Matthews, Olivia Newton John (owner of Australian label Koala Blue).

For those who doubt the quality of celebrity wine, it may be interesting to note that Lil Jon’s Central Coast Chardonnay won a silver medal at the L.A. International Wine & Spirits Competition just two years ago.

However, for those who doubt the wine’s class, a subsequent tweet by Lil Jon may confirm your suspicions:

“FOR ALL YALL SUKKAS THAT WERE HATING ON MY WINE CHECK THIS OUT!! WE WINNING AWARDS TWITT!!! GET U SOME.”

Yet his winemaker, Alison Crowe, says there’s more to “Jon” than he lets on: “Let me just say that Jon is one complex man and is not to be underestimated—like the wines we make together!”

Can anyone make quality wine? Probably not. But if we swallow our pride and buy it, we may be pleasantly surprised by the number that can.

Erin Becker, Research and Innovation for Andes Wines, graduated with a degree in literature and creative writing from the University of North Carolina, where she was also co-founder and editor-in-chief of Campus BluePrint magazine and co-founder of an Arts and Cultural Policy think tank.

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 2-3702997
twitter: @andeswines.com

Start-Up Chile has been in the news lately thanks to Vivek Wadhwa of Harvard and Duke. Wadhwa had initially thought that growing Chile’s tech start-up industry so rapidly was impossible, due to cultural and economic constraints. But now he is pleased with the rapid transformation that this country has been able to make, due to what he praises as “an open economy and a vibrant democracy.”

Start-Up Chile is a government program here in Santiago that sponsors foreign and Chilean entrepreneurs who want to start their companies in Chile. It’s designed after the philosophy of former minister of economy Juan Andrés Fontaine: “Instead of changing the world through revolution, we can change it through innovation.” The idea is that entrepreneurs use Chile’s business-friendly economy as a platform to “go global,” which is both good for Chile and good for the start-ups. The ones who make it through the admissions process received $40,000, a work visa, and access to key business and social networks in Santiago. The program hopes to have 1,000 participants by 2014.

Wadwha is especially pleased with Start-Up Chile’s focus on the innovators rather than just the innovation. He makes a good point: “buildings and industry don’t make innovation happen—people do.” Though he acknowledges it is “too early to declare success,” Wadhwa is pleased with the people-centric aspect of the program.

The story was picked up by US radio station NPR (National Public Radio) and re-broadcast by at least six other local US radio stations. Rather than just praising Chile, NPR focused on Wadhwa’s not-quite-implicit critique of US immigration policy that came along with his kind words for the start-up program:

“Chile has been taking advantage of American stupidity,” says Vivek Wadhwa, a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studies the economic impact of immigrant entrepreneurs.

The articles all report that Chile’s economic climate and open-arms attitude to international entrepreneurs make it a perfect place and time for a program like Start-Up Chile. According to the World Bank, Chile’s economy grew by 5.5 percent between 1985 and 2009. The World Economic Forum ranks it the most competitive economy in Latin America, Portfolio.com reports.

Of course, all these media accolades don’t mean the program can count its chickens before they’re hatched—and of course they won’t. Well-connected, well-respected, well-funded and with an awesome website to boot, Start-Up Chile knows that in the end the true measure of a program like this is ultimately how many of the start-ups become more than just that. Yet it’s nice to get the buzz going—and keeping it going will be key.

AndesWines plans to stoke this culture of networking and entrepreneurial chatter by launching an expat-networking group. The group will meet monthly or more often for good wine, good conversation, and to make connections with other foreign entrepreneurs, expats working in Chile, permanent travelers and all others who have found themselves living in Santiago.

Check back into AndesWines.com and AndesOne.com soon for more information as the expat group gets under way. We’ll also be featuring a continued conversation about entrepreneurship in Chile.

The international buzz on Start-Up Chile:
National Public Radio says:
Andrew Nicol is a young entrepreneur who was born in Australia and attended law school in the U.S. After graduation, he got an employer-sponsored visa that allowed him to work in New York. But when Nicol wanted to leave his day job and start a company, he was stymied. Leaving his job meant losing his visa.
So Nicol decided to go to Chile.
“I’m basically leaving New York to come to Santiago to start a business that targets New York consumers — just because it’s so much easier to do it from here, and there is so much more support from the government here,” he says.

Portfolio.com says:
Some facts to consider: According to the World Bank, Chile’s economy grew by 5.5 percent between between 1985 and 2009. The World Economic Forum ranks it the most competitive economy in Latin America. And Chile’s corporate income tax rate is normally 17 percent, but has risen 20 percent in 2011 (it will lower to 18.5 in 2012 as part of the country’s earthquake reconstruction program), one of the lowest corporate income tax rates worldwide.

Washington Post says:
“When I arrived in Santiago, I found that Start-Up Chile entrepreneurs were holding nightly meetings to review one another’s business plans and product ideas. They were teaching one another skills, and were building the friendships and global networks that stand to increase their chances of success. The gatherings could easily have been mistaken for ones in Silicon Valley.”

Nearshore Americas Blog says:
Three months later, Wadhwa’s perception has undergone an incredible change. Tweeting from a Start-Up Chile meetup this week, the professor was decidedly glowing in his remarks. He told us that “When I advised the Chilean government to try something like this, I was optimistic that we could do a pure “people play”—in other words, focus the entire investment in people rather than infrastructure and industry as is the norm for regions. I am totally blown away—as are the Chileans—with its success.”

Erin Becker, Research and Innovation for Andes Wines, graduated with a degree in literature and creative writing from the University of North Carolina, where she was also co-founder and editor-in-chief of Campus BluePrint magazine and co-founder of an Arts and Cultural Policy think tank.

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 2-3702997
twitter: @andeswines.com

A section of the Spectator article reads: “He made it. Three months and 21,000 miles later, wine fanatic Cristián Muñoz has completed his journey from Santiago to New York on an 1150cc BMW motorcycle, accompanied by a 3-liter bottle of Carmenere. His mission: to raise awareness of Chile’s unique varietal. The journey began on July 4, and finished on Chile’s Independence Day, Sept. 18.”

The Carmenere Adventure 2005 was the first international campaign organized by Andes Wines to promote Chilean wine abroad. The route through the Americas, from Santiago to New York City, was completed singlehandedly by Muñoz, a commercial engineer.

Muñoz presented the emblematic Chilean varietal Carmenere in a series of promotions as he traveled, beginning a new phase of marketing by launching the wine in many of the countries he visited. The Adventure’s mission: that importers, retailers and distributors will begin to look at Chilean wine as a wine with history, passion, and a sense of adventure—a crucial branding for the Chilean product.

The journey of 30,000 kilometers (about 18,650 miles) passed through Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and many cities in the US. After beginning with optimism on July 4, the “Road Marketing” expedition ended successfully on the intended date, Chile’s national day September 18.

In New York, a group of American motorcyclists escorted Muñoz as he entered the Big Apple, which ensured this “epic journey” would have the visual impact to get Americans talking about this wine.

Once inside the city, the schedule of meetings and visits began with two official photographs, one in front of the Statue of Liberty and the other in Tribeca Grill, the latter with sommelier David Gordon, Jorge Perez, and Thomas Byrnes, owner and president of Tedward Wines Ltd.

Before New York, in Washington D.C. Muñoz had been received by the ambassador of Chile to the U.S., Andrés Bianchi, who gave a clear signal about the importance of this campaign in influencing the country’s image.

Earlier, in Texas, Muñoz had prepared for the last section of this journey, which included more than 8,000 kilometers (about 5000 miles) through the cities of Montgomery, Miami, Atlanta, and finally D.C. and New York.

And there had also been many interesting steps along this way. In the Mexican capital, the magazine “Motociclismo,” together with a motorcycle club, received Muñoz and helped him change his tires and perform the necessary maintenance to carry on to Texas.

Earlier, in Bogota, the motorcyclist was greeted by a special reception. In Maracaibo, Venezuela, he dared to take the Amazon route, which definitely had its ups and downs.

In Brazil, the Carmenere Adventure 2005 had an unforgettable experience. Muñoz participated in interviews for radio and press alongside Daniel Geisse, commercial director of Cave de Amadeu, which is owned by Chilean winemaker Mario Geisse of Colchagua Valley.

In Uruguay, the land of tannat, the motorcyclist visited H. Stagnari Vineyard and together with Jeannie Fontaine, executive producer of Montevideo’s Channel 10, analyzed the importance of this emblematic varietal of Uruguay and the Chilean varietal Carmenere.

And on July 5 in Mendoza, the Carmenere Adventure celebrated its first stop at Argentinean vineyard Tapiz, which hosted a tasting of their wines, like that of the Carmenere of the Aguatierra Vineyard in Limarí Valley.

It’s also necessary to highlight this adventure’s central character: a three-liter bottle of Magnúm Carmenere. The three-liter bottle is the enologist’s chosen method of bottling a wine to ensure great aging potential, due to the smaller oxygen-to-wine ratio.

This bottle accompanied Muñoz throughout his entire journey and was a crucial part of the allure of this campaign, as the first bottle ever to participate in an adventure like this.

As an historic testament, the bottle was signed by important members of the wine world all along the Adventure’s route. In this way, the varietal Carmenere ensured that our country is known as a destination that’s safe, adventurous, and home to top-quality wine thanks to a huge diversity of valleys and terroirs.

For the first time, Chile has developed and pulled off a unique promotion, innovative and with high commercial impact, despite a market crowded with well-known countries like Australia, Spain and South Africa.

Right now Cristian married a wonderful Colombian Girl that met in this incredible adventure and lives in Chile.

The event was sponsored by Revista America Economía y Vendimia

andes@andeswines.com
twitter: @andeswines

The WUN will create opportunities for the development of new studies and research that will easily transfer to all aspects of the wine business. Rather than remaining in University libraries, these studies will influence the industry at large, efficiently and profoundly.

This week, AndesWines made contact with all Latin American universities that have programs in agronomy and oenology. Next week, the company will continue its mission by contacting programs in Europe, the U.S., and Oceania.

The thesis summaries will be published in their original language in http://www.andeswines.com. When published, the site will become the first online registry of winemaking and wine research, all freely available to participating members.

To participate in the site, researchers must send a Word document with a summary or abstract of their findings (2 pages or less), including their name, e-mail, degree and university to andes@andeswines.com.

The countries invited to participate are: the U.S., Canada, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.

Erin Becker
Innovation & Research

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 2-3702997
twitter: @andeswines.com

The event is sponsored by Diario Financiero and Capital magazine, being the main motivation the creation of the first “Wine Private Equity” in Chile. This fund will work through a plan of attraction of private investors and will be activated in the United States thanks to the join venture with Pan American Real Estate Group which is leaded by US investor Matt Scoggins. The areas of interest are wine, energy, boutique hotels and Chilean movies.

The objective of the “Wine Private Equity” in a first stage is to administrate USD$ 20 M together to buy a set of vineyards in different valleys. These vineyards must have a great potential of growth on a medium term, so the company can make use of their potential, work on the value through an intelligent management for 2 and up to 5 years to then sale it for a higher price.

The Wine Investment Circle and the Pan American Real Estate Group have already generated a great opportunity to invest in the area of Chilean cinema, thanks to the contact provided by Andes Wines to link a local producer and an investor to analyze the ways of financing this type of projects.

The II Wine After Office event will launch the “Wine Investment Circle” starting at 8pm at the terrace & bar from Atton El Bosque Hotel and the sponsors are First Tuesday Santiago, Blue Company & Boldlab.com The media partners are Revista Capital, Diario Financiero, Nirvino.cl and labuenavida.cl targeting communication to executives of the stock market, equity funds, wealth management and finance offices from the real estate, energy, gastronomy, tourism and wine trade.

The hosts of the II Wine After Office will be Pamela Villablanca, International Director of Andes Wines, former Veramonte Ambassador for Huneeus Vintners, family owner of Quintessa & Veramonte among other properties; Maximiliano Morales, C.E.O of Andes Wines; and Sebastian Hoppe, Director of Investment for the company, who will share the initiative of the “Wine Investment Circle” and steps to follow in Chile and USA.
Dynamic of the II Wine After Office

The event is open to the community with the purchase of a rechargeable card for wine which will allow the entrance to the event, and also gives access to taste a great variety of wines available in the wine dispenser at Atton El Bosque Hotel. Tickets are available for purchase prior the event, contact us to arrange details of reservation and payment to the info below.

Assistants will select their Wines among a 16 red Wines at the modern “Wine Dispenser”, the card is sold for $ 7.000 and is charged so you can have pours of either 25, 75 or 150cc. Some of the wineries that offer their wines at the dispenser are Anakena, Botalcura, Lagar de Bezana, Casa Marin, La Rosa, Sutil, Miguel Torres, Nerkihue, Chocalán y Lafken del Valle de Maipo Alto.

Andes Wines
andes@andeswines.com
(56) 2-370 2997
twitter: @andeswines.com