Lorenzo Biscontin
I’m copying from a winery catalog:
“Since 20XX, the “Xxxxyyyzzz” label has represented our most prestigious wines. These are the result of intense work that begins with meticulous preparation down to the last detail, from the vineyard to the winemaking process. The grapes harvested come from the finest vineyards. After careful vinification, primarily in barriques for 18 months, the Reserves are aged for another 12 months in the bottle.”
The name of the winery doesn’t matter, because it’s a text that’s found substantially similar in the catalogs, websites, and posts of the vast majority of Italian wineries. For at least 10 years now (I know: it’s a conservative estimate).
Always the same things, all of them. The age-old problem of wineries’ inability to differentiate themselves in a fragmented sector Appellations, internally leveling brands, play a significant role. All true, all correct.
But what if, instead of impossibility, it were also, above all, inability? The text above, even before being commonplace, banal, and therefore indifferent, is devoid of meaning.
Let’s analyze it sentence by sentence.
“Since 20XX, the “Xxxxyyyzzz” label has represented our most prestigious wines.”
Here is objective information that tells me that this label (which, as the producer intended, doesn’t reach the level of a brand; it remains, so to speak, a sticker) is the one where I find the estate’s best wines. Good.
“These are the result of intense work that begins with meticulous preparation down to the last detail, from the vineyard to the winemaking process.”
Well, look at that, I thought you didn’t give a damn, you worked when you felt like it, doing things haphazardly. Or that you only cared about the vineyard and not the winemaking, or vice versa. Above all, I imagined that if this were your modus operandi, you’d come and tell me.
“The grapes harvested come from the best vineyards.”
Which is fine. The problem, however, is that the winery also has a line of single-vineyard wines (crus), so the concept is a bit shaky. Without forgetting that saying so automatically implies that the other wines come from the worst vineyards. That’s fair, of course; but it doesn’t sound that good.
“After careful vinification, primarily in barriques for 18 months, the Reserves are aged for another 12 months in the bottle.”
Wow… I thought you were doing the vinification haphazardly! What does “…mostly in barrique for 18 months” mean? That a significant portion of the must (how much? 60%? 90%) undergoes integral fermentation inside the barrique and then continues to age there for 18 months? That a minority of the wine (how much? 5%? 35%?) ages in tanks (what type? Steel? Cement?) and the rest in barriques?
You’ll say, “Easy to criticize, but how things can be done differently and better?” I think in a lot of ways. Here follow just two examples.
Transparency and precision.
If I’m providing technical information, they must be transparent, comprehensive and precise. If I’m afraid of being boring, I avoid the technical information and talk about something else. Otherwise, the message doesn’t provide the information the audience needs, at best, or raise doubts about the winery’s competence and reliability.
About transparency, for example. I say I harvest by hand in multiple passes to select only the perfect bunches at the ideal ripeness? Fine, then instead of showing you photos of the perfect bunches brought to the winery, I’ll show you photos of the discarded grapes.
All studies on storytelling demonstrate that stories of overcoming problems are the ones that generate the most interest, engagement, and credibility. This is something we’ve actually known since we were children, because fairy tales ended “…and they lived happily ever after,” AFTER the protagonists had gone through a series of vicissitudes.
In wine, “They were born happily ever after and…they lived happily ever after.” Heaven on earth, if it weren’t for the “hard work,” “commitment,” and “dedication” required in winemaking.
And this brings me to the second example.
The vineyard makes the wine, I don’t do anything: he’s the good one.
One of my regrets as a consultant in the wine industry is that I haven’t been able to convince any clients to position themselves according to this concept. I’ve had at least three who could.
One told me, “Organic certification doesn’t interest me because it’s expensive, requires a lot of paperwork, and is a liability if I happen to have a bad weather year. But the vineyard is in a prime location (on a hill, editor’s note) and I rarely do more than two copper treatments a year.”
Another told me, “Pruning is minimal now, because we’re in a prime location (again, editor’s note) and the vines are more than 30 years old.” years, so they regulate themselves.”
On the other hand, what else does “prime area/cru” mean? What’s more powerful than saying: “The location is so good that the interaction between climate, soil and vine is such that I do little or nothing, the vineyard does everything”
Ballet dancers are taught to show only grace and hide effort. In wine, doing things effortlessly is seen as a sin.
I’ll let you in on a secret: another of my clients has a farm with vineyards, cellar, dairy cows, and the cows’ related crops. When he has to tend to the vineyards and cellar, he always says it feels like a vacation compared to his other jobs. After all, you don’t have to wake up at 5 a.m. every single day (Saturdays, Sundays, Christmas, etc.) to milk the vines.
Conclusion
Communicating something original depends primarily (only?) on us.
Even if every single thing isn’t exclusively ours, the combination of what we do best is. It’s the concept of the Best Selling Proposition, which contrasts with the classic Unique Selling Proposition, and you can find it outlined in this post of mine from 2008.
To do this, however, requires in-depth self-knowledge, because only then will it be possible to fill the word “authenticity” with content that is true, credible, and relevant to the audience. This is a task that wineries rarely undertake.
Large brands, however, have understood this for a long time and dedicate attention and resources, both human and financial, to it. Because it’s not true that artisanal is always more authentic than industrial, but it is true that original and coherent will always be more authentic than banal and dissonant.
If you don’t believe me, ask Coca-Cola why in 1985, New Coke, which in blind taste tests was the favorite of all colas, was such a disaster that it put one of the world’s strongest brands at risk.
