Ep. 1434 Laura Burgess | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

Hey, guys. Check out Italian wine unplugged two point o brought to you by Mama jumbo shrimp, a fully updated second edition, reviewed and revised by an expert panel of certified Italian wine ambassadors from across the globe. The book also includes an addition by professoria Atilushienza. Italy's leading vine geneticist. To pick up a copy today, just head to Amazon dot com or visit us at mama jumbo shrimp dot com. Welcome to Mastercross US Market with me, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews of experts in sales and distribution, social media, communications, and so much more. We will quiz each of our esteemed guests at the end of each episode to solidify the lessons that we've learned to sharpen your pencils, get out your notebooks, and join us each week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wide market. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Laura Bridges to the podcast. Laura is a writer and editor based in California with over ten years of experience in the food and beverage industry. A former Sommelier with extensive winemaking experience Laura brings a full circle understanding of the wine industry to the table and specializes in translating complex topics into engaging easy to read stories. I've worked with Laura for a number of years, and I'm really excited to have her on the show today to talk about all things content and wine. Welcome to the show, Laura. It's great to have you here. Thank you. It's so great to be here with you, talking about my favorite things. Fantastic. Alright. So before we dive into today's discussion about vocabulary and words, can you tell us a little bit more about how you got into the wine industry originally and also came to care so much about the words we're using in the wine industry? Sure. So like so many of us in wine, I really fell into this industry by accident, and it was for me because I was a bartender, and at the end of the day, I wanted to drink wine. And so I started going down this rabbit hole of really loving wine and learning about it one glass at a time, and a mentor of mine said, hey, why don't you start a blog and start to teach other people what you're learning. And so I used this blog, which was called Laura uncorked. As a way to kind of direct my own learning. And what I discovered was that what was really available for free on the internet at the time, which was two thousand and nine or twenty ten, was pretty traditional, dry, wine education material. And it was not fun for me to read, and it was hard for me to understand and kind of demotivating in some ways. And so I decided I was gonna try to learn this stuff and post about it on my blog in words that I understood in the hopes that other people would also understand it. And in a lot of cases, I couldn't find something out there about what I wanted to do. So I started trying on all of these wine jobs. So I worked as a sommelier, I worked in several retail shops. I poured wine on a sailboat, and I worked a whole bunch of harvests, and I worked in tasting rooms. It was amazing. Everyone likes wine better on a sailboat. It's what I learned, but so I was working in vineyards doing the pruning. And, I ended up writing about wine as an accident afterwards. I didn't really wanna be a writer. I wanted to fall in love with one of these jobs. But I just discovered that there was this constant disconnect kind of between what was out there and the words we were using to teach new people and the reality of the process. And that sort of led me you know, to being a drinks journalist for a while and then working with some e commerce retailers who sort of shared my idea that we could use better language to sell wine and to get people to fall in love with it. And I think what happened was I kept taking these jobs where I was on the ground, dealing with your everyday consumers. And I was also dealing with, you know, winemakers and marketers who were saying, these are the words for our story. And I was watching people's eyes glaze over when I tried to tell them. So, yeah, that just led me to realize that, like, the words we use are so important, and we can change our words a little bit, and it can have a huge impact on the people we're talking to. Yeah. It sounds like through your experiences, you realize there was a big disconnect, right, between how the industry was talking about wine, but how consumers wanted to learn about wine and receive that information and the experience you had on both sides of working in those consumer facing spaces, but also being part of the industry, give you a really valuable perspective to tackle this challenge head on. Yeah. Exactly. And, you know, I'm really passionate about helping small wineries be able to do what they do. Which is make delicious wine and sell it. And sometimes it's as simple as just, you know, meeting the wine drinker where they're at so they understand. And then they'll turn around and share it with all their friends and Isn't that what we all want? Is more people drinking great wine? Exactly. Absolutely. On that note, you know, in this episode, we're gonna talk to you about all things vocabulary and how we can do a better job as wine marketers and communicators, and wineries connecting to our audiences, consumer specifically, and turning our prospective buyers into lovers of our brands. And, you know, Laura, you've had experience writing for a number of consumer publications, like, real simple and Christie's and others. So you're super well versed in this, and I'm really excited to learn about all things content and vocabulary from you. Our three key takeaways for today's master class are gonna be number one, the right words, are the difference between making a connection with your audience and creating a walking advertiser. Number two, that it's important to meet your audience where they live by using words and language that makes sense to them. And, number three, is gonna be our being specific and precise with your words is one of the key things in order to avoid confusion for a product in a category like wine and like Italian wine, that's already quite difficult to understand. So let's dive right into it. So, you know, first things first, let's talk about some of the basics. And when we comes to storytelling and words, where do we even start? I mean, there's lots of words out there. Right? How do we even start understanding how to tackle this subjective storytelling and more choice. Sure. So I think the key is to start by looking at ourselves and our brands and where we're at and what vocabulary are we using naturally like, as a team for our brand. Because I think it's really easy when you're an expert. You speak to others you respect, like, our customers and trade partners as if they're also experts. And this disconnect starts to arise really naturally because we wanna assume that other people know what we know because, of course, we assume they're smart. So first, I think we look at where we are with our own story, and then we can think about who we're trying to reach. Are we trying to reach a consumer maybe a wine club member or someone who's a slightly elevated consumer, or is it a trade partner or a Sommelier? And we're gonna do that with each, say, newsletter or email that we're putting out is to ask that question. And then we'll go down the line to change our vocabulary for each of those groups. And I think I always like to mention that, you know, there's tons of research out there about how most of us buy products based on our emotions, not reason. So we wanna make sure that the language we're using makes our partners or customers feel good. And if we're using words that the consumer doesn't know, then we're not really making them feel welcome in our brand space and comfortable. So we don't really become ambassadors for products we're not comfortable with. So if we can do those little vocabulary pivots to make people feel comfortable and welcome with our brands, then that's what they're gonna go out and do and talk about it. Yeah. Absolutely. One of the concepts that I draw on a lot when thinking about communications and marketing is that we purchase products that we feel like are inherently reflective of our own values or the values that we aspire to be. You know, when someone purchases a Gucci bag or a bottle of crystal or any luxury good, it's because it exudes a lifestyle that they see for themselves. Right? So we wanna make them feel like they can attain that lifestyle in a luxury product like wine. So words are really, you know, where we start. Right? Exactly. And on that note, I think, you know, it's important to remember that when we talk about changing our vocabulary to better connect with people, we're not talking about changing our core story or our ethos or what we do. We're just talking about using some synonyms so people can better understand and align with what we're doing, you know, and find our values and their values in the product. Right. Exactly. Like, you know, Laura told me right before this podcast recording that I use the word fantastic a lot. And you know what? I think I'm just gonna lean into it and keep using that word because it comes naturally to me. Right? But it's something to be conscious. So I haven't think about switching up in your own language. So just example for podcast host too. So thanks for that, Laura. Yeah. Of course. And on that note too, right, we know fantastic is a really happy word, but it's a word everyone understands. You know, you're not saying the Italian equivalent. So it's great. Right? Exactly. So let's talk a little bit about how as wine marketers and wineries, we might think about changing our stories over vocabulary for different audiences. Say when we're talking to a consumer versus a family. Maybe let's let's talk about some specific examples in Italian wine since. I know you've traveled in Italy and Italian wine country quite Yes. I love Italian wine. I actually studied abroad in Italy too, so it's a subject near and dear to my heart. And so what I like to think about is we've got our core story, right, that we talked about and our goal for any project or campaign. And then I like to think of taking that story and either leveling it up or leveling it down. So either using more complex and wide specific language or leveling down to use more simple conversational everyday language for our basic consumers. And again, we're not changing the story. We're just changing a handful of the words. So for example, we know that wine directors and Sommeliers have a deep understanding of winemaking processes. So we can tell them, okay. We're using sixty five percent new French Oak, twenty percent second use American Oak, and fifteen percent foodras. In this blended wine we have. And they're gonna walk away really grateful for that information and understanding what it does to the wine. If you say that to a consumer, they're gonna look at you like you just grew a second head most of the time. And they're not really sure why it matters. Right? So we've just made them feel like they don't belong in this conversation. But instead, we could say, we age our wine in a mix of different barrels that give the wine its distinct flavors, aroma, and texture. It's the same takeaway, really, but they can understand flavor aroma and texture. And now they can maybe tell their friends that, oh, a different mix of barrels, maybe gives the wine something unique. And They wanna be able to relay the stories about the wines they're opening, say at a dinner party or something. And now they understand it. So, like, sort of also on this topic, I think it's so easy. We wanna compare Italian wines or this happens with every country. To other foreign wines. Right? Like comparing French or Cortish to Champagne or comparing single vineyards on Mount Aetna to the Burgonian Cruise. And this might make sense in some very limited circles, you know, in a b to b environment. But most of the time, you're comparing one foreign thing that people don't understand to another foreign thing people don't understand. And so it's like we're not really winning. And I think there's so many simpler ways. So my favorite example is Mount Aetna. I am a diehard fan of sicilian wines, and I love the wines of Mount Aetna. And they have done such a great job telling the story in recent years, in my opinion, of the wines from the volcano and what the terroir really does, and they've developed the contrada system, which often they draw parallels to the Burgundian crews, and there's all these different vineyards, which are very unique and create incredible wines, but the names are really hard to remember. And it's just such a challenge. They're totally hard to pronounce. And again, it's a foreign word on a wine label. We know how hard that is for average drinkers. And the next thing, which I think is great, is identifying the Versanti, which is just the sides of the mountain, right, northeast and south, I believe, not positive. So what we could do really, here's a perfect example of how we would level up or down. If we are, you know, representing this region, internally, we might talk Versanti. It's the Italian word. We know what we're all talking about. If we're gonna deal with a group of sommeliers that's high level experts, then we can maybe go into the contrade and tell them all these details. But for consumers, we could say, if you like wine a, that means you should look for wines from the northern slope of Mount Aetna. We could just use the compass directions, which they'll understand. They're familiar with this, and they're probably familiar with the idea that things facing a different direction on the compass will result in something different in the glass. Right. I like that example a lot. And I think even for some ways too, I mean, especially the next generation, younger some ways, there's so much information they're trying to keep cramming their head when they're on the floor and talking to their gas and even sometimes I think simplifying the language for trade that might be selling a list that has wides from around the world might make sense, you know, depending on the situation and the market, right, thinking about maybe a market that has less experience with Italian wine or an account that's maybe bringing in Italian wines for the first time. I think there's even ways to really be thinking about how do we adapt our language when we trade settings too. Oh, absolutely. And I think what happens too is when we arm our partners and our consumers with the words that make sense, they can sell more wine that way because we've just given them the toolkit to, you know, connect with people on these different levels. And make it easy. I mean, why would we make it complicated when we could make it easy and efficient? Absolutely. And I think also, you know, beyond the words, it's the stories. Right? Like you said, that helped us remember a specific line or specific region and and better solve those wines. So, you know, thinking about storytelling too, you're looking at one of your key points that we just talked about is avoid using foreign language and words when we don't have to or when it's not for the right audience. But how do you suggest, you know, Italian regions tell you why is there's gonna be some level of translation, right, just by the nature of what we're talking about. So how do you suggest brands combat that for the US audience? Yeah. That's a great question. What it comes down to for me at its core is We really wanna respect the vocabulary for unique processes and things that are one of a kind to Italian wine. Right? So for me, that's regional names great varieties that are indigenous and don't translate and processes that are pretty much unique to Italian wine. So for me, the example that springs to mind first is a passamento. So the dried wines, you know, from verona and Emeronique, that's not really a process we hear about in a lot of other wine regions. And it's very it's very crucial to the wines that are made. So in that case, I'd say, you know, this is a really special word. Let's be sure to explain it to our audience. But outside of those instances, say grape varieties, regions, and really unique processes, I think we should avoid foreign words. You know, things like elavage or Batonnage. Let's just say aging or stirring. You know? We don't need to be that fancy. And again, it's really just about making people feel welcome and comfortable with the brand and the product so that they can love it even more. Right. So I think that's that's a those are some really clear examples of how we can be more specific with our language and just translate the words directly for the consumers so that they understand what we're talking about. And again, it comes about feeling included in the brands, feeling like the brand understands you, and you can understand it vice versa. So that's very clear when we think about word choice and and how we choose our words. But, you know, I wanna talk a little more with you, especially with your journalism background and the work you're doing today with copywriting and working with wineries and brand marketers. About storytelling. Do you think that Italian wineries have a lot to gain by maybe changing their stories? Is it more about changing their language versus their story? Let's talk a little bit about the differences between the vocabulary and then the story itself. Yes. This is a great question, Julian. Because I think it can be tempting to look at the market and look at what's landing or popular at the moment and change your story. And my approach is that we're not changing our actual stories, pretty much ever. Instead, what we're doing is fine tuning so that our audience receives the story as clearly as we want them to and acknowledging where those disconnects might be. So I always think first, like, let's return to our own story. How did we get here? Why are we here? What do we love about it? And I like to keep those stories true and honest. And I think all of us sort of You know, like we said, you use the word fantastic a lot. Right? There are definite words and sentence instructors. I use a lot. And maybe when I say one thing, someone else doesn't hear the word I'm saying. They hear their connotation of that word or their personal experience with it. And I think what we can all gain by working together with storytellers is getting vocabulary into our stories that lands with our audience ninety five percent of the time instead of seventy five percent of the time. Does that make sense? Yeah. I think that makes a lot of sense. Choosing stories, phrases that may vary more relatable for the audience. So for wineries here in Italy, I mean, that's gonna come down to relying on partners and experts in their target markets, right, who can really help them translate their stories for that audience? Absolutely. And I think, you know, a lot of Italian wineries have fantastic stories. There's a lot of multi generational estates, that have incredible vineyard access or stories about how they've adapted over time, sort of the timeless nature of the wines. So those are all wonderful things. It's just can we tweak the language so that the person who's reading it becomes as inspired and passionate about the region as the people whose story it is. Right. And then also how do you translate a story to someone who might not be visiting your winery or not have ever visited Italy. Right? Like, when you've been to the place and seen the vineyards and met the family and and heard those stories firsthand, how memorable is it, right, and amazing to connect. But we have to learn as marketers how to form those connections without the physical presence, right, of someone visiting our winery? Yes. Absolutely. And the same thing of how do we make that story appealing to the trade who might be really excited to hear about the veins of limestone running through the vineyard versus the consumers who might be more inspired to hear about the olive groves that are also there in this incredible natural landscape that's maybe a little less terroir driven. And so I have a cheat for this that anyone can take away. Oh, we love a cheat. Yes. This is like a hack, and it sounds really dorky, but I do it with my clients all the time, and for my own projects, and I make a synonyms list. And so I take the words that I am using naturally in any story, and then I create, like, level one, level two, level three, a synonym. Okay. And so I'll use the word terroir as an example. So Tar Wars, something we use all the time in the wine business, but it doesn't really exist for most consumers. Right? As they're learning about wine, they might pick up on it, but it's not really in their everyday wheelhouse. And Right. A lot of professionals are gonna go more specific than terroir. So my level leveling down of terroir might be landscape or natural environment. And my leveling up of terroir might be really specific to that winery. So or the place. So let's say the volcanic soils of Mount Aetna, that would be, like, my leveling up or maybe talking about some specific minerals there. That would be my synonym. Or microclimate could be another one. Right? And then when I have this whole big list, of things at each level, it becomes really easy to say tweak something that maybe I need to make it a little more consumer facing for this consumer walk around tasting, you know, and I can use the higher level for maybe the trade portion or a trade focus, email newsletter. Italian wine podcast, part of the momo jumbo shrimp family. Yeah. I like that example a lot because obviously, Ter Wars award that we use throughout the wine industry Italian wine and elsewhere. So just thinking about how we level up first level down. I think that's a really strategic and also systematic way to think about it because I think when we think about copywriting sometimes, it might be a daunting task, but if we break it down into these systems and these these lists, then I think we create more process out of it as well. Yeah. We can really simplify a lot of these processes. I know that writing and storytelling can feel really daunting sometimes, and it doesn't have to with these kinds of little tweaks, and I just really believe that we have so much to gain when we meet our audience where they're already at. And then if we tell a story that connects while we're sharing a wine or even without, they're gonna walk away and tell it again. Right? That's what we all do when we find our favorite new vitamin or, you know, headphones or whatever it is. And that's really the goal, right, is to create a little army of foot soldiers that are out there telling the story for you at the end of the day? Definitely. I know. I mean, for me, it's it we were talking about Peloton before we started recording, but I'm definitely a walking advertisement for Peloton because it's influenced me. It's made an impact in my life. And I share it and talk about it with anyone who wants to hear about it. So, you know, we think about other brands and other industries too that have done great jobs of creating ambassadors of their product. Exactly. I wanna throw a little curve ball at you just because it's so topical right now. I think you know what I'm gonna ask, but how do we think about AI in this conversation? How do we think about AI helping us? How do you as a copywriter think about AI? We did a whole episode on this, but I love to hear another tape in your perspective. Oh, this is a great curve ball. So you know what? I am ready for all the writers to come after me after this. Generative AI is a fan tastic tool, and I think we should all be using it. I think that this is a really great way to get ideas for fine tuning. So I think it's important to acknowledge that AI is not perfect. And there are legal and ethical ramifications to publishing something created one hundred percent by AI. Right. So I certainly don't advocate writing your brand story on AI. However, you can take the story you have and say rewrite this using more simple language. And it will spit it back out to you having changed some of the words. So you can look at it and maybe start to find some of those synonyms or start to find a different way to say the same thing. And then you'll put that on the page, whatever you're working on, and continue your own fine tuning. But I think what happens when we go into this rabbit hole of which vocabulary should we use, like you said, it's so daunting. And sometimes we look at a blank page. And there's no need to do that anymore. And there's all these other tools in addition to chat GPT. Like, for example, one I really love is called Leica, l a I k a. And all Leica does is give you two sentences. So you start it and it will finish it in a very short way. And this one is designed to just keep you going to help you not get stuck. It's a lot tighter than Chad GPT in my opinion. And I like it for that because When I'm using generative AI, I'm like, I need ideas. And maybe I need a lot of them quickly. So for a winery, you know, maybe you're really trying to get some headlines together for newsletters or maybe topics for a panel discussion and the the proper title. And if you can get fifty just as a starting point, that's really gonna help you. So I think AI is an incredible brainstorming tool. I think it's fantastic when you're stuck. And I love using it as a jumping off point. I'm also just a huge advocate of a good old fashioned thesaurus. Merriam webster dot com is my favorite. Looking at the similar words, is just a great jumping off point often to getting unstuck or finding out, you know, more elevated and then the lower level ways of saying what we wanna say. Yeah. Exactly. So I I love that response and using it as a tool, right, to aid us not seeing it. Something that's gonna replace us, but more something that's gonna help us be stronger, better writers. I know myself, if I'm writing an email, sometimes I'll put it into chatty p t and say, can you put this in a more friendly tone? You know, can you soften the language here and to to tone down my East Coast, energy. And it's been helpful. I have to admit. It definitely has. It's so helpful. And, you know, I really think AI is such a hot button issue right now. And for me, I think we're always ready to proclaim that the next big tool is gonna erase our jobs. And I just I think that's a hyperbolic response. I think we can use this tool really respectfully and get the good parts out of it. And that's why also I always encourage people to look at the landscape and find these other AI tools because they're not all the same, and it's not one size fits all. And if you're using it responsibly and knowing that you're gonna create your original piece of work from it, then go for it. You know, definitely don't copy paste the whole story into something and try and publish it though. That will come back and bite you. Good, Chip. Absolutely. Awesome. I like the positive outlook on AI in general. It's fantastic. One of my favorite words. So, as we wind down, today's episode in our master class, we'll do our rapid fire quiz that we do each episode to review some of the key takeaways from today's episode. And we learned so much from you today, Laura. So please do your best to answer these questions in one sentence or less. Number one, why do words matter so much? Words matter because they're the difference between alienating our consumers and creating walking advertisers and brand partners. Number two, is it important to differentiate your language based on your audience? Absolutely. You should be tailoring your vocabulary to the specific audience you're trying to reach in every instance. Unless remember that's trade and consumer and also market. I think that's the key thing too. Yeah. Absolutely. Number three. Last question, how can Italian wineries start learning how to simplify their language? You can start by trying a tool like chat GPT and also thinking about leveling up and down and finding synonyms for the core parts of your story. Fantastic. I'm gonna end with my favorite word. I love it. Alright. But you mixed it up with wonderful earlier. So you're getting your synonym list. I'm gonna keep start my running list and have it on a little post it every time we do an episode. Well, Laura, thank you so much for joining us today on Master Class US wine market on the Italian wine podcast. How can our listeners connect with you and learn more from you? They can connect with me on Instagram. I'm Laura uncorked. Or you can shoot me an email anytime. Hello at word dash choice dot com. I would love to help tell anybody's story. And thank you so much for having me, Juliana. This was great. Yeah. Fantastic. Thanks again, Laura. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. And remember if you enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.