Ep. 1483 Joe Lange | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

Since twenty seventeen, the Italian One podcast has exploded and expects to hit six million listens by the end of July twenty twenty three. We're celebrating this success by recognizing those who have shared the journey with us and giving them the opportunity to contribute to the on success of the shows. By buying a paper copy of the Italian wine unplugged two point o or making a donation to help the ongoing running costs, members of the international Italian wine community will be given the chance to nominate future guests and even enter a price draw to have lunch with Stevie Kim and Professor Atigioshenza. To find out more, visit us at Italian wine podcast 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 Joe Wang to the Italian wine podcast. Two thousand seven, Joe Jo joined the fifth generation in establishing Link twins family winery and vineyards. First serving as a consumer direct manager and later in twenty fifteen, shifting his role to become the director of international sales. Langtwins is distributed internationally in fifteen countries from South Korea Denmark, and Joe is key to directing those export markets for Langtwins. Welcome to the show, Joe. It's great to have you here. Hey. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. So before we dive in today's discussion, focus on international trade shows, Joe, tell us a little bit more about Langtwins and your family's history in in low diet in California wine. Yeah. For sure. So, I mean, as you might have been able to decipher for my last name, this is a family business. So, Langtwins is named after my dad and his identical twin brother. And they started a vineyard management company about forty plus years ago and continuing on in that tradition of farming, from their father and kind of lineage from back from there. So it it won't be lost on any, you know, Italian wine grape growers or or vendors that, you know, this is a family owned and operated multi generational company. Although not twenty generations like some European old world, more in the California vein. So short history on us as we, immigrating from Germany straight to Lodi. And that's where our family's been farming, you know, something for the last more or less hundred and fifty years. And, things really didn't start getting kind of ramped up in a serious way, on the farming side, and now the winemaking side, until the twins. My dad and my uncle. And just after building up the pretty good vineyard holding, we decided to get kinda crazy and start our own winery as well. So there are actual twins. It's not just the name. Right? It's quite shocking. We get that question a lot. Even when we've had in the past both twins, you know, and at seventy three years old, you know, they don't look quite the same as they did when they were ten, but we'll have them both behind the table at a festival and somebody will be walk up and see Lang twins and say, Are you guys related? You'd look a lot alike. That's amazing. So, yeah, very much, very much a family company, and they're they're still active in the business, but it's it's really our generation, me being the youngest right now at, at forty I'll be forty one years old. My sister, my brother, my two cousins are all very much involved, involved with running the winery and the vineyard operation. As we kind of push it forward for the for the next generation. I mean, it all for us boils down to cultivating the lasting impact together. And what are we doing with the vineyards, with the winery, with all the families that are connected to us through the product that we grow out there in the vineyards? How do we how do we cultivate, an impact for the future generations? And that's what we're trying to do. Yeah. Absolutely. And talk to us a little bit about working with family because, you know, in Italy, we have so many family and wineries as well as you alluded to. And you work with, multiple sides of the family, cousins, multiple family members, different generations. So just talk to us a little bit about the dynamics of your family's business, and also how you eventually came to be in the position you hold with international sales. Yeah. So we all grew up together on the farm on the vineyard. And so it was everything was kinda one and the same. I mean, the two families grew up, you know, no more no more than five hundred yards from each other or meters for the Italian audience. And so, you know, our cousins, while they're, you know, they're they're pretty much half siblings because identical twins are genetically the same. Combined with that and just acximity and how close, the two families were and are still today. It it was I mean, you only know the childhood you had, but looking back on it, I mean, that is really the glue that has has kept us together through you know, tough times through big decisions as we, you know, you know, progress this business from just a farm family to now winemaking family and now, you know, international business family. And so, you know, we we definitely those relationships were were built and glued together, you know, all all back on the on the original river ranch is where we grew up. And that's, I think, gonna be really key as we talk about gener multigenerational businesses for the following generation, which, my I have one daughter, and she is one of of ten in the next generation. So, you know, started with five. I'm I'm one of five in this generation. The next is ten, and the business is very different. The one that they will have the opportunity to choose to get involved with or not. Very international, which is what we're gonna talk about today. So on that note, you know, in this episode, Joe, we're talking to you about how Ken wineries and wine companies maximize their presence at international trade shows. Like, Van Italy, ProWine, Vinex phone more. There are so many events happening right now. I was just in New York, and I think I had six or seven events in the span of four days. It was kind of insane. So, you know, we know we're back in the full swing of events. After COVID. So we wanna talk to you about how do we maximize as wineries and wine companies are present at these events. We know they're expensive to travel to and activate that. So how do we really make the most of these international trade shows? So our three key takeaways for today's master class and what we're really excited to learn from you about are, you know, number one, the best ways to prepare for an international trade show. Number two, how do we make the most of the show during the event itself? And then number three, what are the most effective ways to follow-up post event. So, let's dive in and and to start, Joe, tell us a little bit about some of the international markets that you manage, in your role, Lang twins. So, yeah, and going back to your early question about how I got involved, you know, I I started out as consumer direct, you know, sales and marketing, then that led into some distributor. You know, marketing activities in different states in the US and then had the opportunity to jump into international. And that has led me to doing these big, these big shows by, ProMindusidore for the VIN exposed of the world. So where we're at today for, you know, exporting for the last seven, eight, nine years, it it kinda blurs with with COVID. I get that. Right. We're we're selling in about fifteen different, countries. Of course, not every country needs, you know, to see you every every few months, thankfully. But these international trade shows are just obviously, for efficiency's sake, they're they're the place to be to do as much business as possible. And I think everybody that's listening I mean, they they understand that. So we have Asian markets, we have European markets, you know, Canada's a big market for us as well, but it's really centered for us, because Canada's so close, really thinking about it in in kind of two different sections. How do I how do I cover my my Asia buyers? Know I cover my my European buyers. So in terms of those those two key markets, what are some of the events that you're looking at in order to reach as many buyers as possible in most effective way? So Promind for us, I'm speaking of Dusseidorf. That is that is a key probably our top event. If we only had to only could do one, that would be it. Just because it's it's got such a critical mass of of, of suppliers and and and in presenting wineries that, you know, I I do see a handful of our Asian importers come to that. The other side, you know, I was just in Benexpo Asia, which was held in Singapore this year just a few weeks back. Maybe a month now. It's still getting over my jet lag from fifteen hour time difference. You saw a lot more of that of that region, buyers, but it it's just the the size of it is just a fraction of provine Dusidore. I always remark to the other wineries here, the great kroger's here. I mean, if if ever you think you are a unique brand or a unique farm, you have a unique story, go to Provine because you will you will just be amazed about how many different wineries are out there, how many family stories are out there, and just what the competitive landscape looks like for you. Right. Yeah. I imagine it gives you a really valuable perspective, being at those international shows, right, to see the landscape and what else is out there and how your own family's company can can truly stand out and and be unique. But you're speaking of jet lag for a second. Tell us a little bit about more about some of your your travel tips. You travel quite a bit. So and so do with so many of our listeners? I know we're all trying to be better, more healthy travelers. So what are what are some hacks you've picked up over the years? Yeah. For me, it's it's all about how do I be as as efficient as I can, with time? And that sometimes goes completely against, healthy traveling. But the the change for me just personally, and I think any expert director, it can can, can relate to this. I have a three year old daughter. And and so now it's it's all about how do I how do I plan my flight where I can also I can miss traffic to the airport, because flying in and in and out of San Francisco for me here in California is You gotta be pretty strategic in traffic times, like New York as well. I know. And but then how do I how do I not miss, you know, her her wake up time or nap time or, you know, putting her to bed, you know, so I kinda maximize that too. But it's efficiency. It's efficiency for me. So I one of my little obsessions is I I carry on only, shout out to tortuga backpacks because I I can do, you know, three weeks business, trip and and not look like, you know, a a slob, out of a backpack, and and be as efficient as I can. I absolutely despise checking, checking bags, and waiting at the barrett baggage carousel, or having the risk of, of losing bags. And then, I mean, other not I wouldn't call them hacks, but for me, it's just I do all my travel planning. I've found that working with the, you know, travel agent or working with, you know, someone within the office to do that actually just creates more work. That might be a little character flaw on me, but I I really do like the travel planning aspect, but Okay. And and use that to my advantage. And so I don't have to study where I'm going and and what I'm doing that day because I've got it in my head. Because you booked it yourself. That makes a lot of sense. Exactly. So you're you're it's really just about how do I how do I be self sufficient and and and really be able to move about the world in a super efficient, and for us, we're not selling, you know, two hundred and fifty dollar bubbles of wine. Have to be really mindful of the budget too. So and being a family member, not an export director that's got, you know, a cushy, expense report and fine, you know, first class. Yeah. That's that's not the jammer on here. You know, any money I spend out of my out of my pocket comes out of my other pocket. So as an owner in the company, it is you gotta be really mindful of of of that as well. But, you know, the the other thing is, I I can't imagine know, and I'm like I mentioned, I'm forty one years old. I can't imagine doing this job without the just absolute proliferation of apps and how useful they are, whether it's, you know, of course, communication apps like WhatsApp online and WeChat and all that, but also, you know, the ability to land somewhere and and and grab an Uber pretty much in or a lift, right, or a grab in Vietnam and and Asia and stuff. And navigate by Google Maps or, you know, Naver in in Korea. I mean, that amount of information you have in your hand is is just absolutely insane. And that really facilitates doing this job, or really anybody can do this can do this job. Yeah. No. That that makes a huge difference. I think about that a lot and back to the days of printing out mapquest directions, right, and how hard that would make, or anyone's job who travels like you in today's day and age. So very, very good reminder. We're grateful for those apps for sure. And actually, one more to add to that is, Google Translate. I mean, I have I have used Google Translate in so many interesting ways, including just recently, at Mexican Customs trying to get wine into that into that market to use for samples I'll I'll tell you the the result of that offline, but, yeah, it was, it was a lot of Google translate even though, I do know some Spanish. It got pretty got pretty complicated pretty quickly. Yeah. When you get into import laws and and why shipping. I'd imagine that it's hard to to come up with the translations for those things in basic Spanish. So I'll look forward to hearing the outcome at another time. Italian wine podcast. Part of the mama jumbo shrimp family? So tell us a little bit more about, you know, you mentioned pro wine. You mentioned a bit expo. How do you prepare for these trade shows? What do you do before you go? How far in advance are you planning? How many contacts are you reaching out to? Talk to us a little bit about your process for preparing for these shows. Yeah. So I'll I'll just let's just take Pro bind. I mean, that that comes in March. I mean, I'm, right now, I'm probably a little bit behind the ball because I haven't booked, you know, hotels and and things like that. Many times in years past, I'll actually book my hotel as I'm flying home from Proline for the following year, just because it's it's that big of a show. I mean, somewhere around, you know, fifty thousand people plus each day come into that into that city. So that's one thing. You definitely don't wanna be paying the premium for finding that hotel room, last minute. No last minute reservations. Yeah. You better have some good friends that you can kinda crash in the room, which is not, not recommended. But really, for me, that where I've had the most successful pro line is, is is doing all the groundwork, all the all the foundational work of of meeting or setting meetings up with with importers. And so that is it's a lot of matchmaking, and that is facilitated by the California wine export program that we're a part of. So I encourage any, you know, winemakers from any region if they have that export program, or or trade director, in their in their region to use them as much as they can, because that is that's where I've had my my best, shows is where I can really cram a lot of meetings in with already warmed up and interested in importers. And so we can taste the wines, and that's where the rubber meets the road. It's not my slick sales pitch. I kinda have the anti slick sales pitch is let's taste and then let's chat because it's that's the foundation. The wine's gotta be good. Right? The the story can't sell, the second bottle of wine. The wine's gotta be great. And so How do I get as many, you know, glasses filled as I can during that during that show and groups like the expo program who can really facilitate, okay, I have two importers in Poland that are interested in adding California wines between these price points. Bam, I I know I can have that meeting because I know what my exceller price point is. I know it by the bottle because not everybody works in twelves. Right? Like they do in the States. So many of them work in sixes. You know, convert all, you know, convert all your units. Right? So have all that work done so that you're not going out there only quoting a a twelve pack case price talking about acres, or gallons, or, you know, all these things that present challenges to your your foreign buyers. So put things in their language as much as you can. Do your translations ahead of time so you're not scrambling. You know, to do those conversions during a conversation. Exactly. So that's the pre work is is really makes and, you know, being prepared, I guess, is what it comes down to. It's really what makes a successful show. Yeah. And so engaging with your export groups, getting those meetings beforehand set up where possible knowing which companies have the right fit for your brand and and something that I think a lot of people might forget through your conversions as well for your quantities. I think that's a that's a really important one. So when you're at the show itself, I mean, you talked about getting as as much juice into glasses as possible, getting in front of as many and as many people that are applicable for your business as you can. But what are some other ways that you make the most of the trade show during the days itself? I mean, during the days itself, the I've done I've done a provine, which is a very busy show, just after COVID when they, in twenty twenty two, so last year, when they when they held it in May, I I actually went solo. Usually, I'll I would have had my wife with me, but we had a, you know, we had a daughter at home. And my wife also works in the business. So it was very useful to have two people there that when I was in meetings, she was she was up at the booth. Could pour wines for any customers walking by, but also it wasn't just hiring pouring staff that knew nothing about the wines, and actually had, you know, negative sales results. So she could facilitate that that short tasting, see if it's worth the having the the follow-up conversation and set a meeting for later that day or or the following day if possible. When I went solo, of the things I was like, okay. How am I gonna capture these these people walking by or getting sent over from the California wine team? I'm gonna be their solo and, you know, bad form to just get up from your meeting to go handle, you know, to go answer the phone, so to speak. Which happens so often, which always makes me really laugh. So what I did was I just created a little sign that I'd put out on my on my stand with the QR code on it that had it just went to my contact info And just a short note that said, you know, sorry. I'm in a meeting. Please shoot me a note on WhatsApp or pretty much your preferred method of communication, and let's set up a meeting. And and so at least you're giving them away not just shooing them away, but giving them away to to to reach out immediately. Yeah. That's a great idea. Simple, but definitely it seems seems like it was affected. Did that work for you this year? Yeah. It did. That was it was effective in that year because I was I was solo. I am and I did get a few people that, you know, saw I was in a meeting and and and shot me a note. We were able to able to hook up. Of course, that show was a bit smaller because it was just after COVID. And you had to, you know, test to get back into a certain country. So the tenants was down. Luckily this year, I had my sister who is the president of the winery, so she kinda knows she kinda knows the, the wines back and forth as well. So, well, so it was a really great tag team of when when I had meetings. She was kinda playing my support and and vice versa, when she had meetings. So that was that was great. You're not always gonna be able to get your, you know, your president and your export director to to man, you know, multiple three day shows around the world. But, you know, one thing I'd absolutely advise is if you're gonna invest in these big shows, don't don't just have someone there to to slosh your wine around, have somebody there that that has some story to tell. They don't they can be taught the export, sales sorry, the export price and and things like that. But even if it's a someone from the vineyard team, they can they can put their own twist on on that story. And so when they're talking about that Sabia Blanc, they may not talk about the winemaking, but may have a more impactful story to share about that vineyard, which could, you know, really put the the hook into a buyer. Absolutely. So make sure you're sending someone to these shows. That's really knowledgeable about the brand and the wines. And can add real real value to whoever they're pouring for. Yeah. Okay. Some really useful tips for for what to do during the show. And I also just in the travel front, I mean, how do you keep your energy up. I find that, you know, these events, especially after COVID, I think our social stamina's have all lowered slightly. How do you just keep your energy levels up to get through those long days? Yeah. I mean, definitely, if you're for Provine, you're you're there, you know, nine nine plus hours. I mean, we're you factor in trying to get to and from and and all that. I mean, they're they're very long days. And then, Not that you you have to go out and drink a bunch of German beers afterwards, but that's typically what everyone does. Even if you go out to have dinner, you're really not making it back to your your place until, you know, eleven o'clock or so, because of just how much time it takes to get out of the facility and so a lot of a lot of caffeine. I gotta say a lot of caffeine. I'm a big I'm a big coffee lover. So, yeah, that's that's something big for me. But also, I think it helps to at least for me to to sometimes if you know you're gonna be in that in that space and in that head space, really, of just being on for nine hours a day plus to have to not book the hotel that everyone else is staying at. So you're you're constantly running into people that you're you're having to have those conversations to give you your own space to go back and just have a quiet dinner. That's what you need, or quiet drink that's not wine. If that's what you need, and then starting your day, you know, in in that same, you know, kind of quiet quiet head space. Now I say that, but it's very it's it's very hard to do sometimes, especially when you're you know, you got a family back home that you're trying to connect with at different time zones. And and you may only have, you know, twenty minutes while your daughter's getting ready to go to school that you can see her face. So you know, I think it's you you try to plan, you know, plan for the the best case scenario and just be prepared for it not to call, you know, come together in the best way. So post event, you know, back home, have have beaten maybe the jet lag a little bit. What's your plan for follow-up? How do you follow-up with all those contacts that you made? How do you, gain traction with the connections that you meet at the show? It's it's a tough thing, to do after you've spent you know, a day traveling, three days out of show. You're exhausted, but I I do try to spend my flight home, no matter where it's from or not, whatever hour it is. That, I've got my either my stack of cards or I've got my notes, either notebook or putting notes into, you know, your your digital notebook on your phone and and and try to send really relevant specific emails so that you're reminding buyers or or anybody you have met there, where they met you, how to remember you and any really specific specific point. So I'm trying to make it as relevant as as I can to get a a response and and to keep that keep that conversation kind of bubbling. It it's really easy to just fly home, get back into family life, and four days later, you know, check your inbox and and then start sending, out the, you know, your email, follow-up, or, you know, on WhatsApp. Sometimes it's actually more common now, but it's, I find it. It's a lot more effective if you if you get on it right away. To follow-up as soon as possible. Don't wait to let giving people, you know, those those few extra days after the show, but do the follow-up while you and the conversation are top of mind. Yeah. Memories are really short nowadays and attention spans are really short. Right? So You definitely are. Being being able to to leverage that time you just spent, I think, is really important to do. And with a quick follow-up, it doesn't have to be long winded. Just quick follow-up, quick reminder, you know, particularly, you know, which wines they liked and some follow-up follow-up questions about, you know, keeping the thing going. The other thing I'll say and and maybe this is because, you know, it's my family business, but, I always go back to that, like, you know, people buy from people. It's that connection. It's that, you know, when everyone says, you know, relationships, relationships, relationships, relationships, But, you know, I I share I share a fair amount of our of our, you know, family story through the brand, but also just personal life because, you know, if you're connecting with somebody that's that's in, you know, a corporate buyer for a large retail chain in Germany You know, they don't have that same luxury. And I think sometimes, we we get away from that, sharing of just, you know, personal stories and what's going on. And really getting invested in each other's, yeah, in each other's lives, so to speak, it makes a professional relationship, but at the same time, like, we're all we're all humans. We're all people. And so to be able to inverse like that. And I think when it comes down to it, people like people like buying things from people they like. Yep. Definitely. That's that's a really, really good reminder for for all our listeners. Okay. So let's do our our rapid fire quiz wrapping up and, you know, you shared so many good tips, Joe, and I wanna make sure we recap them all for our listeners today. So if you can do your best to answer these questions, and one sentence or less. Question number one, what are some of the best ways to prepare for an international trade show? I'd say do your pre work, do your pre work, networking, meeting requests. Okay. Question number two, what are your tips for making the most of the show during the festival days itself. Having very knowledgeable people presenting your brands if you can't be there yourself. Okay. Fantastic. And finally, what are some of the most effective ways to follow-up post event? Do it quickly. And on a human level. Wonderful. Okay. Thank you so much, Joe, for joining us today on the Italian wine podcast. I learned a lot and definitely some tips that I'll be using. I know in future events, and I'm sure I listeners did as well. How can our listeners connect with you and Link twins? Well, scan that QR? You know, shoot me, you can find Link twins and all the all the social channels just add Lang twins. And then and then happy to connect with anybody around the world. Email is just joe j o e at langtwins dot com. One of the things, you know, I I've failed to mention is, you know, at these shows, you you're able to connect with so many different, you know, wine professionals from around the world and and, you know, much of our business is very collaborative and and friendly and social. And so that's that's really one of the joys of this business is being able to connect with people like me just in in Italy or in France or in Spain or Argentina and Chile. It really is. Really a thrill. Thank you for sharing that. I think it's a good reminder for all of us on a Monday morning as as we dive into our work week. So thank you again, Joe, for being here for having this conversation with me today. It was great to have you on the Italian Wine podcast. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. 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.