Comments on: Wine Tourism Goes Local!

By: Maria

Maria — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 00:16:57 +0000

This summer my husband and I, my daughter, my son-in-law, and our twin granddaughters traveled to Napa and Sonoma. As Mark points out, not many places are “family friendly”. Yet we managed to find a winery that welcomes families with open arms. It is Larson’s Family Winery in the Carneros area of Sonoma County.

It isn’t easy to appeal to grandparents, parents, and two two-year-old girls, but we had a wonderful time.

the wine is very good, the grounds are beautiful without that “manicured garden, please don’t touch” look. They have sheep, goats, horses, and toys for the little ones, and plenty of wine for the adults.

Best of all, the staff was superb. Very down to hearth, knowledgeable about wine, and very easygoing.

this winery is certainly reaching out to the younger generation.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:11:34 +0000

Correction: “can not” effectively utilize social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to name just a few, they’re missing a golden opportunity to interact with this new generation of wine drinkers.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:42:40 +0000

Linda,
Very interesting look at the current state of wine tourism. I was most interested by the target age groups that you cited that wineries are trying to reach. If a high percentage of this targeted group is between the ages of 35 to 47, chances are they have children. Most of the wineries that I’ve visited don’t have anything for kids to do. Creating a “family-friendly” place, might be a means to attract this audience.

On the flipside however, the Millennials are a very inquisitive and social bunch. This targeted audience loves to be engaged in fun activities/experiences that they can share with friends, family and their co-workers. Additionally, if a winery doesn’t have a presence and can effectively utilize social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to name just a few, they’re missing a golden opportunity to interact with this new generation of wine drinkers.

By: Wine Tourism Goes Local! : PALATE PRESS | The Bottle and Cork - Napa and Sonoma Wine blog

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:56:59 +0000

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By: Wink Lorch

Wink Lorch — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:29:08 +0000

Thanks, Linda, for a fascinating update on the wine tourism initiatives happening in California. I was particularly interested in Sonoma Co’s Tourist Board’s research into the average age of the wine tourist and how wineries are looking to attract the younger visitor.

The vast majority of European wineries are just so far behind in their wine tourism offerings – on the one hand, it makes them quaint to visit perhaps, that’s if you actually find they have the doors open to you or can get an appointment – on the other hand, many larger wineries in particular are just missing an important trick in creating brand loyalty. Perhaps amazingly, many European wineries are actually closed to visitors over the harvest period, they simply do not have the visitor facilities or staff in place to cope.

Anyone who’s visited a winery anywhere in the world and enjoyed a great experience, will want to share that experience with friends over a bottle of that same winery’s wine. Logical, isn’t it? European wineries do need to wake up to this soon!

By: Tweets that mention Wine Tourism Goes Local! : PALATE PRESS -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention Wine Tourism Goes Local! : PALATE PRESS -- Topsy.com — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:41:24 +0000

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