The most successful social media post of my first year in business: a photo of our dog treat canister. Which- for a wine shop-is a little strange. But consistent. I’ve learned that people mostly don’t notice pictures of bottles or wineries. Put a dog-or dog treats- in the picture, and it’s a different story.
Clearly, I was not intended for the social media age.
Truly. I’m a terrible photographer, but I love language. I’m always tempted to explain something via words, and (most) people no longer have the patience to read more than a sentence. Meanwhile, I post photos that horrify my more aesthetically inclined daughter: ‘Mom, that photo was blurry’. ‘When you cropped that, you left a little bit of white in the corner’. ‘You had too many things in that photo; I couldn’t focus.’
I sometimes reply, ‘Thank you so much for your opinion’, but then worry that she’s right. Will customers fail to see the beauty of a 12 year old single vineyard Rioja because I didn’t have the label facing perfectly straight?
This- the Instagram obsession with very pretty pictures and not much else- is the antithesis of my experience in the wine world. When I started in this business, I devoured books, drove to wine tastings near and far, and cultivated relationships with mentors who knew more than I did (i.e. almost everybody) and were willing to share their knowledge. Fascinated with wine, I was eager to learn as much as I could.
Now I occasionally wonder if my generation will be able to pass our knowledge on to the next. You can’t put a lifetime of experience into a few attractive photos. And while it’s true that most information can be found online, you need to know what you’re looking for. You need the basic framework to even ask the right questions.
But while Instagram is just not my native land, customer service is. If you come into the store and give me even the tiniest hint of what you’re looking for, I’ll move heaven and earth to find it. Then I’ll remember what you liked and recommend other things I think you’d also like. Because I enjoy both wine and people, and particularly love putting them together. Especially if there’s no photography involved.
Or I could just add dogs to every photo.