RedWhiteBoston's Blog

Thanks so much for letting us participate in your great event tonight. Since these questions weren't asked, I thought I'd make sure to answer them. 
 
1. What are @KingEstate and other wineries doing right when it comes to social media and wine? 
 
They are engaging with the customers (consumer and trade) and press. The key word is engaging. They also are trying to give the highest level of customer service. 
 
2. How do you think Twitter and Facebook users can use social media to maximize their wine drinking experience? 
 
Wine is a communal product and the sharing of the experience is implicit in the product. Social networks are key sharing platforms and help bridge the sharing experience across geographical and temporal distances. Social media also gives a wine drinker UNPRECENDENTED access to wine makers, winery owners, professional critics, wine bloggers, retailers, importers, helping them enhance their experience through growing their knowledge and enjoying magical moments by sharing your experience with wine celebrities or experts or aficionados. 
 
 
3. What are good internet strategies for people in Massachusetts to use to get their hands on wines that can't be legally shipped to them?  
 
There are three key things I recommend. Finding a retailer in your state willing to help find the wines. Connecting with an e-tailer that is CA, OR, WA, NY, VA based (since in those cases they buy wines directly from the winery in those cases or import), check to see if they ship to your state, and request wines from them directly. This one is not as well recommended but in many states where wine is made or sold there is often a service where you can have the winery deliver the wine to the shipper where you take possession and ship the wine to yourself. 
 
 
4. Could you give us a peek into what's on tap for wine and technology in the coming months? 
 
In Boston you have one of my favorite leaders in bringing cool innovative technology to wine is Scvngr.com. We also anticipate wine ecommerce growing larger and larger in 2011 to actually become a relevant category. Look for more innovation in the mobile arena with companies like Drync (another Boston company) and HelloVino. We see social gaming really jumping into the arena this year. More and more social media usage from wineries, wine retailers, and more. Bloggers will really emerge as a force this year as a result of new content distribution networks. I see "Badges" actually being used in 2011 by retailers and etailers and starting to emerge as a new form of wine criticism. Finally I see one of the greatest challenges in wine online, data, starting to be solved (but unfortunately not completely) in this epic year. 
 
 
5. What are some good digital strategies for DRINKING BETTER (our theme for 2011) and involving your friends at the same time? 
 
Buy direct from wineries (it helps them in more ways than you realize and 2011 will be the year you see the smart ones giving more privileges for this relationship). Support your local retailer to get expert advice and create a relationship for exploration of new wines. Find a favorite etailer (they are very aggressive and sophisticated in pricing and getting better in their selections). Make friends with an online expert or aficionado. They will help you find new wines, new ways to understand wine, and are all great people. The one thing that is true of this industry is that wine is  
 
To finish that I will give a few quotes from one of my heroes and the father of all New World Wine: 
 
 
I say to consumers: instead of relying totally on critics, drink what you like and like what you drink. 
Robert Mondavi 
 
Even more importantly, it's wine, food and the arts. Incorporating those three enhances the quality of life. 
Robert Mondavi 
 
Happy 2011 to all.