Vineyard owners increasingly keen to be promoted by ‘wine influencers’

Vineyard owners are increasingly keen to be promoted by so-called ‘wine influencers’ – in an indication that the pulling power of social media is beginning to appeal to wine makers.

Just a few years ago, the concept of wine makers being interested in featuring on well-followed social media accounts might have seemed relatively alien. However, a new report from the Times is shedding light on an increasingly popular phenomenon for the industry, as what the publication described as a “new wave of vintage bloggers” burst onto the scene.

Influencer Margot Ducancel told the Times that she was previously met with bemusement when she approached wine makers to ask if they would be interested in appearing on her account. “They didn’t understand what it was all about,” she said. “There was quite a lot of hostility.”

Now though, vineyard owners appear keen to be promoted by wine influencers, whose reach often extends beyond traditional spheres of wine connoisseurs.

Laura Bounie, head of press relations at PR agency Sowine explained that the industry had taken some time to come round to the notion of social media’s influence in the wine trade.

“It is quite conservative,” she said. “But when they saw the rise of influencers in other areas, they realised they had to use them as well.”

Bounie said that part of the appeal of this new wave of wine influencers lies in their ability to connect with audiences using simple language that makes sense to their followers.

“Neophytes can follow them because their language is very simple and that helps to popularise wine,” she explained. Traditional critics, she continued, have a tendency to use terminology that “can make a glass of wine seem very complicated”.

Margot Ducancel, a 33-year-old influencer added further weight to this theory, saying “I consider myself to be an enlightened amateur who will talk about wine in an accessible way rather than an expert.”

Laura Bounie said that her client list, which ranges from individual châteaux to professional bodies, were now prepared to pay anywhere between a few hundred and a few thousand euros to feature on an influencers’ profile. The fee, of course, is dependent on statistics such as follower numbers, engagement rates and other metrics.