Winelover Winery Visits Task Force Report: Follow-up and Reporting

Previous posts in Winelover Winery Visits Task Force Report series have described the Formulation of the Winery Visits Task Force, Winelover Preparation for the Winery Visit and Winelover Winery Visit Task Force Report : Site Visit. This post deals with follow-up and reporting on site visits.

 Wine Bloggers Press Trip, Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Tavel © Spaswinefood

Apha Estate, Greece © Spaswinefood

#Winelovers, Plovdiv © Spaswinefood

#Winelovers, North Greece Press Trip © Spaswinefood

#Winelovers, Domaine SKouras, Greece © Spaswinefood

It has indeed been a pleasure to have worked with my #winelover colleagues on this task force. Now it's time to report.

Part Three: Follow-up and Reporting

      A.   Identification of data gaps and mechanisms for getting missing data

Often when you begin to write, some of the common gaps surfaced include:

     1. Missing good quality photos/visuals to help tell the story (if a written report).

Potential Solutions: Press Kit photos, contacting winery or regional wine association for photos, etc. Photos taken by participants on #Winelover trips shared on Instragram and Pinterest are another source. Always give credit to the source(s). Also, do not forget to © your own photos etc. that you include in your posts.

2. New interest/questions often arise during the write-up, which the winery visit did not address. Commonly most winery visits focus on tasting their wines, a quick look in the cellar and sometimes a peek at the vineyards.

Potential Solutions: If you know in advance you want to do something specific then request this information in advance and/or plan an online follow-up. Again contacting winery or regional wine associations can often provide the specific information you want.

3. Specific details are often hard to get during a large group visit, such as the winery story, viticulture, viniculture, in-depth tasting details, and specific information on wines (such as, a non-marketing perspective – readers often like knowing if there is something different, special, or unique about the wines), the people that make it happen – proprietor(s), winemaker, etc., wine region (US -AVA, Europe – AOC/DOCG, DOC etc.)

      Potential Solutions: Research online and/or contact potential source(s) of information.

4. Other overall mechanisms for getting missing data: Online research often answers many of your questions, or will provide missing data.  Most important however is to not forget that the winery PR person, or the regional winery association is often the best sources. Contacts at the winery and/or local representatives are worth their weight in gold when you get back home. Also, do not forget posing your questions within the #Winelover community or to other wine groups. Often group members can point you in the right direction to a source where you will find the missing information.

In the case of #Winelovers trips it seems that communication with the host is key in order to get the kind of information needed in advance. If we were all more prepared before arriving there would be better questions. Since most wineries have some kind of PR, getting information in advance would be helpful in being prepared.  

B. Formatting, content, and timing of reporting

Formatting

It is important to use a consistent form and style (choose one form and style format and stick with it). Remember whether you write online or for a print publisher the use of headings and subheadings are important. Readers quickly judge anything on the Internet by scanning down the left margins for key words they like and to judge the length. So the words at the edge of the page are the most important to keep them reading. Also always use photos, charts, graphs etc. to enhance your writing.

Content

Choose a primary focus for each article/post you write. Typical online publications like articles around 400-600 words. To turn up in a Google search an article needs at least 400 words. Sure it can be longer but when it goes beyond 1000-1200 words consider breaking the article into two or more with different foci. Remember that the average attention span for the written word is around 300 words so visuals really help.  Leading with a visual always gets more clicks.

The content of your article should always be in good taste. If you cannot write something positive about a specific winery or site visited then consider not writing about it. Consider taking another focus for your article. Yes, you can be a critic. If you plan on being a critic be professional and make sure you use an analytical approach versus an attack. Do not write about an area in which you have limited or no expertise.

Again do not forget to copyright your work. It can helpful in some cases when your work might be stolen by someone who copies and pastes at their website.

Timing

With micro-blogging (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) posting is often immediate while writing a blog post takes longer. When sharing a blog post, the greatest impact within the group is often within one to two weeks. Nevertheless, reporting later is not a problem for other audiences. Besides you might consider who is your target audience (fellow bloggers, wineries, winery visitors, travelers, etc.). Wineries always like reading articles written about them. Aim for posting your first article within a month; however, they will read later posts. In the case of wineries, they often like to share with their customers and other members of the wine community. Winery visitors and travelers will often discover your writings through searches. Although it is considered faddish by some, certain articles are best if they are published just before a season or holiday. Even after you post your article you may later develop insights that allow you to write further articles. For example, sometimes a wine (Chardonnay Day, Champagne for Valentine’s Day, etc.) or a region (a wine region being named the wine region of the year, top five wine regions) becomes a hot topic and you find you have almost the perfect article, with a little tweaking, that is ready to go. This is perfect timing so take advantage of it.

Note: The above applies mainly to general blogging however, it is important to note that micro-blogging can be very effective. Hopefully, micro-bloggers within the #Winelover community will add some of their best insights on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. There will always be new platforms.  Could a general set of guidelines work across all platforms?

      C. Content

After all the data have been collected, it is time to add value by drawing it all into a cohesive whole. In terms of formatting, it is suggested that the report follow along the lines of the data collection effort. Of course if the report is not a straight-up reporting on the facts of the visit, but is, instead, some unique perspective, then the Winelover has to determine the best organization schema for that report.

#Winlover Hangout 2016, Athens, Greece © Spaswinefood

Do not forget to checkout the next post in the Winelover Winery Task Force series by Tomislav Ivanovic.

#Winelovers Hangout 2016, Greece © Spaswinefood

I also invite you to check out my travels in Argentina and elsewhere at Spaswinefood.

Sharon

January 2017

Cafayate, Argentina 

© Spaswinefood


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