Weinviertel and community wine marketing
We continue our series of interviews in which we look at the wine marketing activities of international wine organisations through three questions. Last time we visited Napa Valley, now it’s time to visit the Austrian Weinviertel.
Wine region: the wine region of Lower Austria is the largest in the country (13 356 hectares) and is currently making a major effort to reach out to the international wine world as well as the domestic public. It is here that almost half of Austria’s total area under Grüner Veltliner is grown, so it is no coincidence that the region’s flagship wines, Weinviertel DAC and Weinviertel DAC Reserve are made from this grape variety.
Name: Regionales Weinkomitee Weinviertel
Established: 2003
Members: As it is a statutory NGO, it does not have a traditional membership, but nevertheless there are around 750 wineries in the wine region that produce Weinviertel DAC wine.
Answers: Ulrike Hager, Marketing Director
Please tell us about a successful project of yours focusing on community wine marketing!
Every year in March we organise Weinviertel DAC shows. At these events, both the general public and the trade have the opportunity to taste the wines of the new vintage, meet the winemakers who make the wines, discover new lots or even strengthen ties with old favourites. In 2016, we organised a total of five tastings in different cities (3 300 guests and 140 wineries in Vienna, 500 guests and 70 wineries per venue in Linz, Salzburg, Götzis and Munich) for a total of more than 5 500 guests.
We have been organising similar tastings in Austria and Germany for over fifteen years and they are still very successful. The number of guests and exhibiting wineries is growing every year. This is a key date because it is the start of the sales of the new vintage. We also launch advertising campaigns in newspapers and magazines at the same time as the events, so the press also helps to attract more consumers to our typical regional wines.
If you could give one tip to a representative of an organisation like yours, what would it be?
The starting point for any marketing activity is a quality product. If there are no good, high quality wines, marketing is a waste of money, it cannot make up for poor quality. The second important criterion is to build a professional, prepared and cooperative network of partners with other wine regions, PR agencies and other players in the sector.
Negative comments about competitors should be avoided at all costs, but this is in fact a matter of course in any profession. Any activity you undertake should be closely aligned with your objectives, rather than spreading your resources between too many different activities.
How is the organisation funded?
Two-thirds of our budget comes from wineries. One of the sources of this is the marketing fee paid for every bottled Weinviertel DAC wine. In case a winery does not produce Weinviertel DAC wine, it does not have to pay. An additional reimbursement is made to the wineries if they participate in one of the tastings or presentations we organise.
In addition, in Austria there is a legal obligation to pay a marketing fee for each wine produced and sold. In cooperation with the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, we can also use this amount for our activities.
Adrienn Tóth