Ep. 2149 Kimberly Noelle Charles | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

It is, I think, important that people understand it doesn't only have to be that you come together in a, you know, in a restaurant. There's other ways to to enjoy and appreciate. Absolutely. And, you know, my rule of thumb is if I I usually order things I can't make easily at home when I'm out. And like you, you know, not only during the pandemic, but after that, you know, I make a point of at least dining out once a week and then ordering him once a week. And then the rest of the time I cook, And I always say when you bring people over, it turns your house into a home. You know, that's really the equation there. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wine market with me. Your host, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews with experts in sales and distribution, social media, communications, and so much more. We will quiz each of our esteemed guests in every episode to solidify the lessons that we've learned from the episode. So sharpen your pencils, get out your notebooks, and join us this week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wine market. Today, I am thrilled to welcome Kimberly Charles to the Italian wine podcast. Kimberly Charles celebrates forty years this year as a leader in global wine marketing. After careers in management at Cobber Incorporation and E and Jake, l weinery and Havis, She started her own agency twenty one years ago. She holds the w set diploma and was in the first US cohort to obtain it. She also serves on many boards, including the Society of Wine Educators, Laidane Scuffier dressed for success, the Glancy Wine Foundation and others. And fun fact, she actually lived with her family in Sardinia and Rome in the nineteen eighties. Hey, really, it's great to have you here. Oh, Juliana Grazier for having me. It's great to be a part of this today. Thank you so much. Of course. Do you still have some Italian in you from, living in Sardinia and Rome in the eighties? Well, as you well know, it never leaves you. And somehow the fluency and the ease of speaking come right back when you're in situ. So, yeah, I make a point of getting back at least once a year, and it really does come back flowing back. So it's it's a beautiful culture and country. I I just love it. Absolutely, especially after one or two glasses of wine. Right? Oh, charcoal. Alright. Well, Kimberly, we're so excited to have you here today as we come to the final weeks of October, and we're very excited to speak with you about the come over October movement. But before that, tell us a little bit more about your background in wine communications and how you came to start Charles communications. Absolutely. Thank you so much for that opportunity. You know, it was a bit of an accidental, serendipitous moment getting into the wine business. I was in Washington, VC in the eighties, and the wine world was just kinda waking up, in terms of critics, and, importers. DC was a great place to be because there were so many small and very focused importers. And so I I worked at a wine bar while in college. And I got a chance to meet these folks from all over the world and I thought their careers were fascinating. Concurrently, I worked for a lobbying PR firm. So I was full time student working part time, and then I had two in, an internship. And, so having that sort of communications exposure, but then meeting these fascinating people from the world of wine kind of ignited the fire. And I started looking around for wine jobs after I graduated. And I landed in New York in nineteen eighty five and, worked for Cobrand Corporation, which many called the Tiffany of the wine industry at the time with its educational, focus. And, you know, education, which I know you yourself are really devoted to is is the keystone for me within the wine industry. I just never stopped learning, and I love being able to use that as a pillar in my marketing agency, for sure. Yeah. I mean, there's just endless learning, you know, in the world of wine, and you think about the world of Italian wine, alone, it it seems just vast and even overwhelming at times, but at the same time such an interesting lens for which not just to learn about the wine itself, but history culture, geography, science, it's you know, it's it's endless in that way. Absolutely. And I'm sure you've probably read Shelley Langren's latest book, but I am so glad that she and Kate Lehi came out with that comprehensive book, which kinda touches on everything having to do with just the things you said, you know, the history, both past and how history applies to our current times. And as a student in lever of history, you know, that's another key, I would say, motivator slash reference point for me and all my work. I always like context you know, it's kinda wild to think that we'll never really know all have tasted all the great varieties within Italy in our lifetime, but I kinda like that notion. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. Well, you've had quite a career since, you know, nineteen eighty five. Co brand, Ian J Gallo, and then, you know, your own agency, which has allowed you to work with so many different types of wine and spirits, brands, and regions. Is there anything in particular that, you know, over the decades, you're so experience in this space that you've seen really evolve in the blind communication space? Yeah. It's a it's a very good question. You know, number one, I think that the way to reach people with messages around wine has exponentially increased through social media. You know, in the past, there used to be a lot of formality, a lot of structure, and frankly access issues. You know, you would go to private tastings, you would have to get an invitation for those. There weren't these larger public events that now, you know, events like what James Suckling conducts with four thousand consumers coming are just mind bogglingly successful. So I love the fact that, you know, those who've just really decided that it's important to get the message out there and incorporate not just your message of great wines, but maybe there's music involved or really current food. You know, so there's, I'd say, many more layers to the way one one can encounter wine. I also feel like the access points have kind of dissolved. And now you don't have to follow a formal critic. If you have a wrapper that you love listening to and they happen to love wine, you can learn a lot about wine through that portal And so my biggest desire and what keeps me most motivated in my career is how are there new avenues that we can explore to bring new people to wine or bring people who love wine, but have them understand it in a different way. And maybe that's a music portal. Maybe that's a travel portal. You know, we don't know what it could be, but the possibilities are pretty endless. Yeah. And I think that leads us really well into today's conversation in which we're gonna talk about the movement and initiative that you co founded called come over October. So our three key takeaways for today's master class and really what we're interested to learn from you, Kimberly, are number one, what was the impetus for come over October? Number two, what is the come over October initiative and its significance and how can wineries and Italian wineries particular partake. And finally, what is the future of the come together organization which, founded and created come over October? So for starters, Kimberly, let's talk a little bit about where we sit today's October twenty fifth two thousand twenty four in the wine industry as it relates to consumption, habits, and patterns? Well, you know, we are at an interesting time, and having been in the industry for the four decades as you set up when we started talking, you know, I have seeing the sort of ebbs and flows, whether it's the ebbs and flows of production, the ebbs and flows of consumption. Today, we are at a point where I think we're having a huge generational shift. And there's a whole new group of younger drinkers coming online, but you know what? They are doing what they want to do. They are, free agents. And so they're trying all sorts of other alcoholic beverages. And, frankly, you know, they're experimenting with the cannabis industry. And, you know, there's a cohort that I think in about five to ten years will be more interested in the world of wine and more, you know, let's say focused around food pairing. But for now, you know, we're having a contraction. Let's all be honest, but more than just the consumption patterns and sort of generational habit. There's a neo prohibitionist cloud hanging over this country, and the dietary guidelines are being revisited next year twenty twenty five. And so what's happening is there's been a sort of what I would call a a shift in reducing consumption, less wine enjoyment. So as a result of that, and as Karen McNeil, who truly is the founder of come over October, and then Gina Colangelo, and myself were partners that joined in with her. She felt that there was a binary choice being offered to people in all the the headlines, which was you're either sober or you're drunk. What you're nothing in between. And she felt that this was oversimplified. She also felt like people were sort of getting the finger wagged in their face about you shouldn't really be drinking wine. You should be more moderate. Anyway, she in February of this year came up with the concept of why don't we just get people back to what wines origins are over the last nine thousand years, which are bringing people together over a bottle of wine, sharing good company, good conversation, and good food. And that's what come over October is all about. Right. Very, very interesting. And I think, you know, as you said, creating a response to what's become this very binary position around wine and alcohol at large around sobriety verse conception, but coming to positioning and and messaging that really enforces the characteristics of togetherness, connection, community, that wine can create. And I think that's what's really so special and so important about the come over October initiative. For sure. And Juliana, you know this. I follow your travels, and you are one well traveled young person. And, you know, you grew up in an Italian family. I, myself, lived in Italy. I was sixteen when we moved there. And, you know, both of us are well versed in, you know, the art of the table. Right. The finishing of the day on an early side. We are not the go go go tyranny of now culture that we are in the US, when you when you when you're exposed to European lifestyle. And so I think our DNA has been altered whereby we we actually have those cues, and we wanna entertain. I know you do a lot of entertaining. I do too. And it's like a no brainer, and it's also it's just the way I like to be. And I find myself sometimes not making enough time for these gatherings. And I have to sort of force myself to put it in my calendar. And I I want to do that. You know, I wanna live that lifestyle as much as possible, and I also more importantly wanna share it with other people. I think we have so many to go food, so many you know, things that are rapid fire, whether it's fast food in this country, and and I think the queue would be even if it's two days a week, slow down and share a meal. Yeah. No. Absolutely. I mean, I know for me, like you said, hosting and Having people over is just it's second nature and it's something, that really makes my life feel more full. But as you said, it's it's hard sometimes in this world where everyone feels to be over scheduled, overcommitted, over plans, to to maintain those habits, let's say, or or those practices. And I think that come over October initiative is a really nice reminder of just that. Come over. Let's let's enjoy a glass of wine together and let's enjoy a meal together, especially in this economy. It's it's expensive to go out to eat and especially living in New York City. And it's nice to reinforce, you know, that that notion of let's join together at at home and around the table. Not that we don't love our restaurants and we want, you know, want people going out and dining out too. It is, I think, important that people understand. It doesn't only have to be that you come together in a, you know, in a restaurant, there's other ways to to enjoy and appreciate. Absolutely. And, you know, my rule of thumb is if I I usually order things I can't make easily at home when I'm out and like you, you know, not only during the pandemic, but after that, you know, I make a point of at least dining out once a week and then ordering him once a week. And then the rest of the time I cook. And I always say when you bring people over, it turns your house into a home. You know, that's really the equation there. I'm sure you love that. Yeah. And I also love, by the way, the fact that places like DoorDash now deliver wine. I'm really looking forward to more and more ease of delivery on the wine front in in that space because it's so nice to be able to add a bottle of pervert's tremeer to your Thai food order, you know, instead of having to wonder if you have it or run off to a wine shop, as you're waiting for your food to come. So I'm looking forward to ease of that in the future. I hope that happens. Yeah. Absolutely. I think access and ease of purchase of wine is a is a key component of also increasing market share for the category. Right? So many other things in our world have become delivery based, you know, Amazon sells everything. And, you know, we've just gotten used to especially in the cities where we don't have cars to having things delivered and and obviously for many reasons that has been more challenging in the wine industry. So hopefully, you know, we can we can see that evolve. And as you say, we're starting to see that change, which is exciting. We talked a lot about the reasons why they come over October initiative exists, but can you tell us a little bit about how the initiative started in just the genesis of this initiative? Absolutely. So in February of twenty twenty four, it was a cold winter night. I got a phone call from my dear friend Karen McNeil, whom I've known my entire wine career. She's a groundbreaking author, as you know, of the wine Bible, going into its fourth edition. She's working on that as we speak. And, you know, she had said that she was just a bit distraught over the negative headlines, the sort of sense of, you know, you shouldn't incorporate wine into your life. The fact that wine was being equated with all alcohol And she said, listen, will you join me and help me to amplify a message concept that I've come up with come over October? And I put my hand up right away as did Gina Colangelo. And, you know, Since that time in the four months that ensued through the summer and spring, we raised a quarter million dollars from the industry. We received a lot of publisher support from the wine enthusiast, wine pair, Psalm Journal Tasting panel. And now the wine spectator more recently who said, let us give you some space to get your message out there, and these messages were going to both consumer and trade. So we were really thrilled with all of that. And I think one of the reasons why it's been so very successful, Juliana, is because the wine industry by nature is competitive. Everybody's always doing comparative tastings. And I think this was a concept that everybody could agree they could unify around. And I think people saw the simplicity of it and the magic of it, and they responded in kind to the point now where we have a hundred different partners. And those hundred partners amplify out to a lot of other groups. So we know I think our latest count was two billion eyeballs have seen this campaign. Yeah. It's incredible to see just the overwhelming outpouring of of industry support like you said around around the initiative. It's, I think, speaks to how necessary the initiative was for our industry and and how badly everyone wanted to come together to do so. Yes. Completely, I also think that, you know, tough new cells, right? Sensational new cells. And so despite what maybe outlets and news organizations would like to see, they can't help but know that, you know, putting something sensational is gonna get eyeballs. And I think the consumer and by that, I mean, us in the trade as well as, you know, normal wine drinkers. I think that they are smarter than that, and I think that they know that they are being fed often information that is misleading or incorrect, and they're tired of it. And they want to actually vote with their own feet, vote with their own dollars, and have somebody sort of at least be out front cheerleading for them. And that's what we are. Absolutely. So, Kimberly, let's talk next a little bit about how wineries can participate. You know, you mentioned all the fundraising and the support from the publications as well for media space, but how can wineries get involved? You know, obviously, we're coming to the end of October as this airs, but for, you know, next year and beyond. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And the level of creativity is just really stimulating. Here's a few ideas that are concrete. Number one, for anybody doing DTC shipments, you can include within that shipment, you know, either an informational card about how to throw a gathering, and a lot of times people just need those tips and tricks of what class word do I use? You know, what do I pair food wise with what I'm pouring? What other cues should I have in terms of sharing my information with people? So Ridge is one of our partners, and they were very early to the party and put together a whole DTC campaign that then in turn went to a blog post on their website with all these entertaining tips and recipes, just really straightforward, smart, block, and tackle. Another example would be Jackson Family wines, you know, with a fabulous network of different wineries. They this fall had gatherings at several properties, including, La Cramer, pre Mark Abby, and others where they did free tastings for two. If you came to the property with another person, They would allow you to have a comp tasting. And we all know that tastings are increasing in price, and to get something for free is really unusual. So doing something off your normal script is a really great idea. Another person or winery that did a clever program was eleven eleven. They came up with a special fall pack called the come over October pack, and it was, you know, three wines. And then I'm not sure what they're thinking was behind it in terms of whether they chose wines that were selling really well or whether they had perhaps some library releases that weren't available easily, but they put together a fall pack and then they email marketed it out to their mailing database, but also did social media for those who might wanna be new customers of theirs. Another winery came up with this idea of show us your come over October party and send us your photos, and we will post them up on our social channels. So something that is interactive involving your own your own customers is a great idea. There are so many more ideas, that I could share, but those are examples of some of the things that we've seen, and they just keep coming every day. Yeah. No. That's awesome. And I think You know, I it's great domestic wineries that can support with the tastings and the white club. You know, there's a lot more, let's say, direct channels to the consumer for wineries here in the US. But, you know, how about for imported wines specifically in Italian wineries. How did you see more international wineries getting involved? Yeah. Your questions are just so great. Thank you. Thank you for this. Let me just say at the get go that, you know, about a month into promoting this campaign, we had four press conferences since July. We started getting queries from abroad. So the wines of New Zealand, the wines of Australia, Cecilia Doc, Prosecco Doc, Chianti Clasico, the Champagne Bureau as well. People had heard about it and said we would love to be able to support you. So the way that some of those things were executed, for instance, in New Zealand, they sent a set of samples out to influencers of New Zealand wines. And those influencers did their own come over October gatherings. There are a number of other ways that those international wineries put their hands up or at least said we'll be advocates. And many of them said, you know, please for next year when you have more planning time because we really did this in a compressed window. Let us come up with some better ideas together. There's that The second thing I wanna say is there's an organization called Vite Vino, v I t a e d I n o dot org, which contacted us, and they have a parallel campaign going on in Europe. So I would definitely encourage your Italian wineries and other international wineries to check that site out as well. They are taking testimonials and they have a petition being signed because they too want to lobby within the European Union for this, you know, ease and accessibility of wine. And, you know, as far as Italian wines are concerned, yes. I mean, they I think Italian wineries could access the ViteVino site and do something regionally first. And then perhaps next year, we can come up with a program for Italian wineries that would be perhaps it could be October is sicilian wine month. And it could be at retail. You know, we're working with total wine and more. We're working with Kroger. Some wineries, let me give you an example, wines of Chile decided that they were gonna make their campaign for October for organic wines all about come over October. So they had a a gift set that could be sold through wine dot com, and they used they co branded with come over October. So now is the time now is the time to plan for next year, a third quarter. Right? Get that organized. And use the come over October co branding to help boost your sales and get extra visibility and, you know, ride the wave of enthusiasm. Yeah. I love that especially tying into the e commerce element and really building and that that call to action to drive sales. Because as we know, as an industry, we're we're down all around in the US in terms of of sales, except for perhaps for Sacramento or one bright spot. So when we use high fees and is these great initiatives directly into to e commerce. And, like, we talked about earlier, like, driving that channel. I think that's that's brilliant. So great to hear. That'd be a lot of fun. Yeah. Definitely. You know, another idea too just to throw it in there is you know, everybody is in love with Italian food in this country. I'm I'm pretty sure it's the number one, you know, international cuisine that we eat here. And I think it would be fabulous to get, a chef come up with some very easy to cute recipes at home that then in turn you can order whatever Italian wines you might wanna pair and create that meal. Recreate that meal and bring people over. You know? And I I know you like this too, but I love potluck. So I love it when everybody brings their favorite Italian dish. And you do it at your home, and then you can bring a wine and talk through it. So there's there's lots of possibilities, and we're open to creativity, and we'd be happy to ideate with anybody who would like to talk with us. Fantastic. Those are all great ideas, Kimberly. Thanks for sharing. I love the recipe idea, especially. So come over October lives under the umbrella as I understand it of the come together and organization that created the come over October initiative. Can you just explain the relationship between come together and come over October. Absolutely. Come together's formal name is come together a community for wine, and we created that in order to receive funding and to manage that, which is very transparent. All the founders are working pro bono on this campaign, and that is our intent. However, we have fabulous hardworking creative people helping us and they need to get paid for their services as do some of the events we produce, etcetera, etcetera. So come together a community for wine is the mission driven purpose company under which will be nested future campaigns. We definitely wanna do come over October again next year. And as you requested or intimated. We are planning a campaign in April. We are having an advisory board meeting next week with some of our larger supporters because we want three sixty feedback. And we're gonna be coming out with another campaign that's more spring oriented. So we think a spring and a fall campaign is manageable for us for next year, and we look forward to announcing that when we have more more meat on the boats. Exciting. Fantastic. Yeah. Great. Well, it's it's great to hear those already. A spring campaign on the works, not on the horizon. Anything else Kimberly as we wind down that you wanna share about any future activities or visions or come together and come over over. I would simply like to, invite people to visit our website, which we put a lot of effort into, and it has a lot of creative ideas for entertaining or gathering people together. It's simply come over October dot com. So again, w w w dot come over October dot com, and also follow us on Instagram. In a very short period of time, we have two thousand followers and growing every day. We're come over October on Instagram, and we have a lot of interviews going on there. Instagram lives with celebrities with wine VIPs, with other people within the media world. And we would love to interview more, more folks that have stories to tell. So we expect that to be sort of a fermenting really great portal for people to learn more about creativity and campaigns and also just the world of wine. Fantastic. Thank you so much, Kimberly. And as we, from to the end, we'll do our rapid fire quiz where we ask our guests three questions that summarize the key points from our interview. So if you can do your best to answer each of these questions in one or two sentences, that would be great. So question number one, what is your number one tip Kimberly for mastering the US wine market? I would say, read material from outside the US. Don't just read what we have to report on, but like anything else where you gather your news, get your information from all sorts of sources internationally. Great advice. I love that. That's a new one. Question number two, what is something you might have told your younger professional self about, working in the wine industry in the US market? I wish that I had visited wine country sooner. I did go to Europe, which was great. But, I wish I'd come out also to California and explore more of the US because we have so many great wine regions here. Great advice. Travel. Get out there. Get in the church and the vineyards. Always. That's right. And that's why we're in this industry. Right? Completely. I love the smell of fermenting grape juice in the air. Thank you. You know, the sellers. It's so great this time of year. Okay. And finally, what is your favorite travel hack? You know, we're all traveling a lot as we know in this in this industry? What what's one of your tips? I you know, love to bring my own homemade healthy food on the road. So I pack up the night before a really healthy set of snacks, and I make sure that I'm not exposed to, like, processed food or fast food when I travel. So I bring my own healthy food with me, and it's kept me energetic in good shape. Great advice. Fantastic in addition to build and schedule in your exercise time. That's one of my Yes, ma'am. My tips. Oh, yes. I can't keep up with you, but I would try if I Oh, thanks for saying that. We'll see how long that lasts. Anyway, good morning. Thank you so much for joining us today on Master Class US Y market. On the Italian wine podcast. How can our listeners connect with you? Please reach out to me at k Charles, c h a r l e s, at charles com, c o m m, dot com. Or visit my website at w w w dot charlescom dot com. Finally, if you wanna just follow my musings personally, I'm at c brulee, c b r u l e e on Instagram. Fantastic. Alright. Thank you so much, Kimberly. Thanks again for being here. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. Or remember, if you've enjoyed today's show, hit the like and follow buttons wherever you get your podcasts.