Winery Web sites sometimes leave too much to the imagination

The frustration with winery Web sites continues. I can’t imagine there are many wine consumers remaining who don’t do a preponderance of their pre-shopping on the Internet. Whether you’re looking for tasting notes on a wine that sounds interesting, an extra-special wine at an extra-special price or simply curious about the latest vintages and varietals offered by a winemaker, there’s nothing easier than clicking a few keys and checking out the maze of information available on the World Wide Web. In some cases, winery Web sites are delightful, consumer-friendly platforms where wine producers and sellers make viewers feel they’ve been ushered into a private audience with the winemaker, where the only thing missing is a glass of wine to swirl and sip. Some sites reflect the personality of the wine and it’s maker (check out Bennett Lane’s Web site for an example) and you can almost taste the style of winemaking simply by watching the Web site take form. But too many Web sites not only are bland or uninformative but in some cases downright misleading. I was reminded of these blatant weaknesses earlier this week when working on a story on last-minute Thanksgiving Day wines. I was concentrating on Colorado wines, since those are easy for the procrastinating shopper to grab on the way to holiday festivities. But finding accurate information for my readers was more-difficult than imagined. I won’t name wineries, but here are some problems I’ve recently encountered while reading (or trying to read) about Colorado wines: Lack of accurate wine descriptions - Saying it’s a “hearty red” or “luscious white” simply isn’t enough if you don’t include the varietal or the blend of varietals. No price - Why not advertise how much a wine costs? While some wines understandably may cost a little more (or less) at the tasting room, in smaller towns such as mine the liquor stores aren’t about to undercut the local winery, so prices remain pretty equal wherever you shop. Expired vintages - One of the major Colorado wine producers has a Web site promoting several wines going back to 2000 but nothing more recent than the 2005 vintage. 2000? When you make only 200 cases of a wine, it’s unlikely you still will have anything remaining eight years later unless it's something like a Barolo by Bartolo Mascarello. (If you do have something else, you ought to think about dumping it right away.) When I called the winery because I was curious about a 2002 Cabernet Franc advertised on the Web site, the person in the tasting room assured me none of the wines listed online were available. So what is available? “Well, you’ll have to come here to find out,” I was told. End of sale. Faulty directions, or none at all, to winery - It’s nice to think about a winemaker plugging away at perfection in a quiet, isolated winery surrounded by vineyards, but not if you’re trying to buy or sell that wine. Forgetting (or refusing) to update your Web site is a huge marketing failure, one that shouldn’t be committed in this day when Web site designers are so affordable. If nothing else, wine makers and seller should take the time to learn how to update their own Web site. In his typical "cut to the chase" manner of speaking, Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV recently told the Winefuture conference in Rioja that producers not taking advantage of the Internet and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are “lazy” and losing a vital opportunity to interact with their customers. “I don't give a crap about about Facebook and Twitter but I care about consumers,” said Vaynerchuk in a story on Decanter.com as reported by WineBusiness.com. “You should be embarrassed if you don't recognize that this platform allows you to talk to them.” Vaynerchuk went to say it’s not his well-known wacky personality that sells wines, it’s his focus on customer service. 'People think Wine Library TV was successful because I'm crazy and have toys on my table but plenty of people don't like it,” Vaynerchuck said. “I'm not the most educated but I'm passionate and I care. What is missing is customer service and caring.”