Napa and Sonoma on the Web, Lynmar Winery Russian River Valley
When people plan a vacation they turn to their computer and there is no place where that is truer than in wine country. It is the incredible list of attractions that makes people spend hours poring over winery website looking for those places that will most appeal to their tastes and aesthetics. Not all wineries are created equally and what appeals to one person is different than what appeals to another.
The other day a new client was emailing us about possible wineries, in the process including a list of wineries recommended by a friend and co-worker. We always like recommendations, but in this case the suggestions came from a male wine collector who obviously adored expensive Cabernet blends. The client and her friends were not and what they would enjoy was going to be very different.
It’s funny how some of the wineries that have the deepest technological backgrounds (the owners made their fortunes in .coms, video games and tech) often have the most prosaic websites. There is a tendency to make a site generic; they look at what other wineries are doing and assume they are doing it correctly. Sometimes they are doing it wrong because they miss what the wine tourist is looking for, a unique and interesting experience.
When I see a winery website, and I see a lot more than the average tourist, the ones that stand out go beyond the publicists tale into what makes the place special, different from their neighbors, exceptional and extraordinary. Recently Lynmar Winery in the Russian River Valley launched a new website and this is a company that has no problem be exceptional. They site prepares the enthusiast for their visit while enticing them with the possibilities.
The key is to speak to the wine tourist who doesn’t know a lot about wine, most of our clients don’t claim to, but they want to learn. So, if you can entertain them while you educate them they’ll think of you as a friend, a friend they want to visit in wine country, and that’s the whole idea.
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