Russian River Valley and social marketing
In an earlier interview, we looked at the workings of regional wine marketing organisations around the world and interviewed a community leader from the Weinviertel and Napa Valley regions. This time we visit the Russian River Valley.
Wine region: one sixth of Sonoma is covered by this wine-growing area, which has enjoyed AVA status since 1983. Its climate is cooler than the regional average, often with fog due to the proximity of the Pacific Ocean, and is therefore known for grape varieties such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Name: Russian River Valley Winegrowers
Established: 1995
Members: 282
Answers: Wendy Hilberman director
Please tell us about a successful project of yours focusing on community wine marketing!
I would like to introduce the so-called Neighbourhood Initiative. Our Board of Directors has decided to build all our marketing activities around it. It is a multi-pronged education and marketing campaign that is unique among AVAs in the US. And the results of our work are clearly visible:
200 wines tested – more than 200 wines have been collected and analysed in order to make our operations legitimate.
We have had GuildSomm Masterclasses in five cities: the President of the Guild of Sommelier, Geoff Kruth, introduced our wine region through masterclasses in four cities in the United States and Hong Kong. Next year Geoff will continue this series in Europe with events in Stockholm, Amsterdam and Warsaw.
New York Masterclass: five Russian River Valley winemakers travelled to New York to represent fifteen of our members at an event attended by 65 sommeliers and journalists.
Sonoma Summit: At the invitation of the Sonoma County Vintners regional organization, we presented our initiative to RRVW sommeliers at the Sonoma Summit.
DTC training: as part of RRVW’s new initiative to strengthen direct-to-consumer sales results, we developed a program to train winery tasting room and business department staff.
2017 Sonoma County Barrel Auction: The Neighborhood Initiative Committee, with the help of dedicated members of the organization’s tasting panel, plans to put together a Neighborhood Barrel Auction Item highlighting the RRVW community in conjunction with the 2017 Barrel Auction.
Press coverage: there have been numerous articles about the RRVW’s work and the project itself: Wine Advocate: Melissa Vogt explores the Russian River Valley region in a five-part series; GuildSomm: Rebecca Fineman, „Neighborhoods of the Russian River Valley”; Wine Enthusiast: Virginie Boone, „Making Sense of the Russian River Valley”; PinotFile: „Russian River Valley Neighborhoods”, Steve Heimoff: „The ‘neighborhoods’ of the Russian River Valley”.
If you could give one tip to a representative of an organisation like yours, what would it be?
First, do the necessary research. Define your goals, map out your target audience, plan your team, develop a timeline and execute what you have planned.
How is the organisation funded?
Membership fees and programmes cover our operation costs.
Adrienn Tóth