The 451 Marketing Team is proud and excited to announce the winners of our Best of 2011: Social Wine Awards (hashtag #SocialWine).  This list of our top twenty picks represents the most voracious virtual viticulturists in Northern California. (To learn more about how we chose our winners, read our judging criteria here). Our Top Five are in no particular order – they are each the leaders in their category.  We’re sending out awards next week and we’ll be visiting a few of our winners in August to hear learn first-hand how they approach social media, how social media has changed the way the do business, and, of course, taste a few of their creations!  Congratulations to all of our winners!

Our Top Five: 

Robledo Family Winery
Best Brand Narrative


There are a lot of reasons we feel that Robledo Family Winery deserves to be in the top five of our Social Wine awards, but what stands out the most to us is that they do a great job of communicating the story of their winery across platforms.  ”The Story of the Robledo Family” relates the story of how Reynoldo Robledo worked his way up from a field worker to a successful and respected businessman and winemaker.   Both the website and Facebook have pictures of the family and ties to their Mexican heritage including pictures of Reynoldo Robledo, the founder, with the President and First Lady of Mexico.  The Robledo Family winery continues their story in the form of offline events including their beautiful Cinco de Mayo celebration on the grounds.

 

@RobledoWinery does a great job leveraging Twitter to engage their fans and other companies – promoting events, thanking guests, and using calls-to-action to interact with their audience.  They also promote events on Facebook where they respond to fan comments and reviews and “Like” fan postings.  It is clear that they really get it when it comes to social media – they make it really simple for their fans to connect to Twitter and Facebook from their home page to continue the conversation.

 

Twitter: @RobledoWinery

Facebook:  Robledo Family Winery

URL: http://www.robledofamilywinery.com

 

Hop Kiln Winery
Best Customer Focus


We chose Hop Kiln as one of our top five because of the amazing focus that their social media channels have on their customers.  Hop Kiln uses Facebook as their central touchpoint for engagement with their fans.  They do a great job of making the Facebook page about the fans – they post pictures of winery guests and Wine Club members enjoying their delicious wines.  They also promote events for their fans that themed and fun, including Wine Club BBQs, Ugly Christmas Sweater tastings, and Wine Stomp parties, just to name a few.  For those who enjoy the more serious side of wine, they also document the growth of their grapes and winemaking process with beautiful pictures of the grapes and the grounds.

 

And, although Facebook is where they have conversations with their customers and fan’s, it’s clear that they understand how to effectively use their Twitter hand as a central point of information for fans and visitors.

 

Twitter: @HopKilnWinery

Facebook: Hop Kiln Winery

URL: http://www.hopkilnwinery.com

 

Grgich Hills Estate

Best Promotion of a Personality


Grgich Hills is not new to the Wine Industry.  In fact, it’s legendary.  And it’s not just their tasty, award-winning wines that make them great – there’s a famous face behind that famous label.  Mr. Mike Grgich, a member of the Vintner Hall of Fame and renowned maker of the winning Chateau Montelena Chardonnay in the infamous Judgement of Paris.  Winespeak aside, Grgich Hills uses his incredible personality and signature blue beret to their advantage, promoting their brand and cultivating more than just grapes – they’re growing fans.  There are a ton of photos of Mr. Grgich throughout their website and Facebook page with fans, on the Estate grounds, and at California wine events.

One thing we love about Grgich Hills’ social media strategy is that they’ve set up a fan-gate on their Facebook page which helps them to cultivate a large Facebook fan following.  They also do a great job with Twitter handle serves as a wine news feed with stories about the Estate, cross-promoting events, and sharing industry news.  And while they don’t use Twitter account as place for non-stop customer dialogue, they do offer their followers with great content which, some would argue, is just as valuable.

Twitter: @Grgich_Hills

Facebook: Grgich Hills Estate

URL: https://www.grgich.com

 

St. Francis

Best Online Branding


St Francis Winery wins our top vote for Best Online Brand because they do an exceptional job of maintaining their brand across platforms.  The mission-style bell tower emblazoned on their label is consistent across all channels.  With this online brand presence in place, the team at St. Francis Winery leverages social media to promote events and tours, communicate the latest winery news, and share images from the Winery grounds.  They are a favorite of the Sonoma community and take advantage of the large followings of related brands by cross-promoting events.  The events? Fun and community friendly annual events –  their 2nd Annual Summer Film Festival (it’s free – July 28th is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – classic), Blessing of the Animals, and Fandango, the ultimate annual fan celebration.

Twitter: @StFrancisWinery

Facebook: St. Francis Winery

URL: http://www.stfranciswinery.com

 

 



Artesa

Best Integrated Campaign


Artesa Vineyards and Winery was chosen as a top five 2011 Social Wine Winner because of their fully-integrated approach –fans know where to find them.  They do a great job promoting all of their social channels by placing visible and integrated links to Twitter, Facebook, and their blog front and center on their home page.  All around, Artesa does great work promoting events on Twitter by including links and use of hashtags. Their blog– Artesa At First Crush., offers an inside look at events and tells stories about the winemakers and other industry happenings.  Their Facebook page is well-designed and branded, offering visitors a glimpse of behind the scenes at Artesa.  Overall, their thoughtful integration of social media with their overall marketing strategy is what makes them great.

Twitter: @ClubArtesa

Facebook: Artesa Vineyards and Winery

URL: http://www.artesawinery.com/

Blog: http://artesawinery.blogspot.com/

 

Our Top 20:

 

Armida Winery

The Armida winery has a very effective website. There are events posted throughout the year and easily accessible links to their social media sites. Their Facebook page is a strength, with 1,811 likes and 322 check-ins. While their Twitter footstep isn’t huge, they do a great job using the channel to send out information to followers and start conversations.

URL: Armida

Facebook: Armida Winery

Twitter: Bruce Cousins

 

Beaulieu Vineyard

Very interactive and aesthetically pleasing website, containing lots of information and links to social media . The are very active on Twitter, with 3,593 followers and 2,330 tweets, and do a wonderful job engaging with customers and other companies.

URL: Beaulieu Vineyard

Twitter: Beaulieu Vineyard

Facebook: Beaulieu Vineyard

 

Benziger Family Winery

The Benziger family winery uses a very diverse and effective mixture of resources to enhance their online presence. Their website is user friendly and embedded with tons of videos. Their Facebook page has over 5,100 likes and 554 check ins, their Twitter handle has 3,894 followers with almost 2,000 tweets. They also maintain a Youtube channel, with 30 current subscribers.

URL: Benziger Family Winery

Facebook: Benziger

Twitter: Benziger Winery

Youtube: BZTV

 

Cakebread Cellars

Cakebread Cellars has an incredible social media program in place. Their website is thorough and user-friendly, their Facebook has almost 14,000 likes, Twitter handle has 5,000 followers, and they maintain an active Youtube account. Overall, this is a winery that is truly embracing social media.

URL: CakeBread

Facebook: Cakebread Cellars

Twitter: Cakebread

Youtube: Cakebread Videos

 

Castello di Amorosa

The Castello di Amorosa winery uses Facebook very effectively, their page has 4,300 likes and 2,100 check ins. Their Twitter handle has 1,700 followers and has a clean, custom background. They also operate a blog, showing dedication to maintaining a well-rounded use of social media to engage with fans.

URL: Castello di Amorosa

Facebook: Castello di Amorosa

Twitter: The Castello

Blog: Castello di Amorosa

 

Chateau Montelena

The Chateau Montelena winery is in an interesting position regarding their social media presence. Their twitter handle has over 4,000 followers and they maintain an up-to-date blog. Their Facebook page has 619 likes – with a little work, their Twitter followers could easily turn into Facebook likes, which would be the icing on the cake for their social media program.

URL: Chateau Montelena

Facebook: Chateau Montelena

Twitter: Winery

Blog: Chateau Montelena

 

Francis Ford Coppola Winery

The Francis Coppola Winery has a great social media presence.  Their Facebook page is impressive with over 10,000 likes and almost 2,000 check ins. They use Open Table for easy reservations, and have a growing number of followers on Twitter, which is currently at 2,700.

URL: Coppola

Facebook: Winery

Twitter: Francis Coppola Winery

Open Table: Reservations

 

Ridge Vineyards

Ridge Vineyards has a strong Facebook page, with over 4,000 likes. They have a very activeTwitter handle, with over 3,400 followers and 2,593 tweets and do a good job utilizing handles and hash tags. The company also maintains a blog.

URL: Ridge Vineyards

Facebook: Ridge

Twitter: Ridge Wine

Blog: 4488

 

Rodney Strong Vineyards

The Rodney Strong Vineyards have a very nice website, 1,790 Twitter followers, and beautifully branded Youtube channel. They don’t have a Facebook page, but their other social channels do a great job communicating with their respective communities.

URL: Rodney Strong

Facebook: Rodney Strong Vineyards

Twitter: Rodney Strong

Youtube: Rodney Strong Vineyards

 

Rombauer Vineyards

The Rombauer Vineyards have a very diverse use of social media including 4,800 likes and 31 check ins on Facebook, 1,700 followers on Twitter with 1,200 tweets and a visually-pleasing background, and a blog.

URL: Rombauer

Facebook: Rombauer

Twitter:  Hailey R. Cook

Blog: Uncorked

 

Rubicon Estate

The Rubicon Estate has a developing social media campaign, composed of a Facebook page with 3,100 likes and 1 check in, a Twitter handle with 1000 followers and 400 tweets, and a Youtube channel with 10 subscribers. They are using appropriate resources in an effective manor, creating a user-friendly way to communicate with the winery via social media.

URL: Rubicon

Facebook: Niebaum-Coppola’s Rubicon Estate

Twitter: Rubicon Estate

Youtube: Rubicon Estate

 

Seghesio Family Vineyards

The Seghesio Family Vineyard’s social media presence consists of a Facebook page with 3,766 likes, a Twitter handle with 1,979 followers, and a very nice website. What they lack in number of followers/likes they make up for in the amount of content they share.

URL: Seghesio

Facebook: Seghesio Family Vineyards

Twitter: Seghesio Vineyards

 

St. Supery Winery

The St. Supery Winery has a very impressivestanding in the social media realm. Currently their Twitter handle is followed by 11,500 people and their Youtube channel has 45 subscribers. These are both larger than average numbers, suggesting a strong presence online. There is a great deal of opportunity for this winery as they do not have a developedFacebook page, despite their website having a link for one.

URL: St. Supery

Twitter: St. Supery Winery

Youtube: St. Supery

 

Sterling Vineyards

Sterling Vineyards’ biggest online asset is their website. They have an engaging and interactive website that encourages customers to learn and communicate through their vineyard. Their Facebook page has 759 likes and their Twitter handle is followed by 786 people with 188 tweets.

URL: Sterling Vineyards

Facebook: Sterling Vineyards

Twitter: Sterling Wines

 

Wente Vineyards

Wente Vineyards has clearly made efforts to increase their social media presence. For starters, their website is awesome, lots of pictures and information for customers to take a look at. Their Facebook page has 8,000 likes and their Twitter handle is followed by 2,800 people with 2,600 tweets. This is a vineyard with a very large following, and clearly they are making a focused effort to remain in constant contact with them.

URL: Wente

Facebook: Wente Vineyards

Twitter:  Wente

 

 

Let us know what you think of our picks in the comment section below!