Making history relevant for the modern consumer w/ Aly Wente, Wente Family Vineyards

With 143 years of history, Wente Family Vineyards is the US’s longest continuously family owned and operated winery, even producing wine through Prohibition.  Aly Wente, Chief Revenue Officer, discusses how Wente leverages its rich history to re-launch historic brands, connect with younger consumers, and embed the messaging in social media and hospitality to differentiate itself.  

Detailed Show Notes: 

Aly’s background covered in prior episodes, but she is now in charge of all revenue vs marketing and hospitality previously

Wente Family Vineyards is the longest continuously family owned and operated winery in the US

• Based in Livermore, which competed w/ Napa in the late 1800s for quality wine, but benefited from a railroad that went into San Francisco
• Known for Chardonnay, originally planted in 1908, cultivated the “Wente Clone,” which underpins ~75% of California Chardonnay
• 1st to varietally label wine post Prohibition to use transparency to promote the quality and authenticity of the wine
• Sauvignon Blanc Clone 1 is also a “Wente Clone” and is what much of New Zealand SB is based on, originally from Chateau d’Yquem from cuttings brought back by Charles Wetmore, CA’s 1st Agricultural Commissioner

Wente acts as a historian of CA wine, e.g. - its SB is named Louis Mel after one of the original farmers of SB in CA

The re-launched Cresta Blanca brand has deep ties to history

• Was Charles Wetmore’s original winery and ties to his vision for quality
• 1st CA wine to win on the global stage, winning the 1889 Grand Prix in Paris, 87 years before the Judgement of Paris and put CA wine on the map (pre-Prohibition)
• The wine label was inspired by an original late 1800s barrel wood carving of a wine goddess

Changed branding from Wente Vineyards to Wente Family Vineyards to highlight the family element, with 5 generations of knowledge passed down from one generation to the next

Younger consumers don’t always start with history, but they are eager to learn

• They look for value, authenticity (Wente uses the family to do that), transparency (Wente is working on a new project to highlight this more), and sustainability (may be table stakes vs a purchase driver)
• Anything but Chardonnay (“ABC”) movement has been picking up steam, especially with younger consumers.  Wente working on counter positioning to make it cool again, led by Aly and her sister Niki including a social video spoofing a Hilary Duff quote that “only old men drink Chardonnay”

Organic social media is the #1 priority, Wente has undergone a big evolution with social

• Aly and Niki use @wine_sisterss to test social content and themes outside of the core @wente account
• Hired 2 social media interns - did a contest for the internship, social growing significantly

Using history in hospitality - always testing and learning

• Launched “5 Generations of Wente” tasting to tell the story with each glass
• Redid wines in the tasting room to tie back to history of Wente and Livermore
• Cresta Blanca cave tours start with a museum of old winery items through historic caves

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