The New York Times published an interesting piece earlier today about an Oregon-based winemaker that has used social media to push their rieslings to prominence in only six years on the market. Riesling, as opposed to other better-known whites such as Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc, has always had a lower profile amongst American wine drinkers. The owners of Pacific Rim which produce affordable rieslings went after more experimental wine imbibers through a social media onslaught targeted at the 26 to 34 year-old range, also known in the wine and spirits world as the millennial generation.
Through tactics including a website called rieslingrules.com, the “Riesling Rules Book” and e-book which is filled with facts and pairings intended to promote rieslings, a Facebook campaign launched in 2010 and seasonal contests, Pacific Rim sells 200,000 cases of wine in 50 states with all major wine retail outlets. And, in case you were wondering, Pacific Rim has 28,000 “likes” on Facebook-nothing for the Portland, Ore. company to whine about.
