Wine Industry Report

With their recent release of their inaugural video Podcast, Don Sebastiani & Sons became the first American winery to employ the use of mobile video technology in wine marketing.

The company, twice named American Winery of the Year for 2005, has been no stranger to Apple’s iPod® portable media technology and its web-based counterpart, the iTunes Music Store®. Earlier this year they released a series of audio Podcasts to coincide with the launch of their redesigned website. Like the previously released audio Podcasts, the new DS&S films will be available through the iTunes Music Store® as well as on the winery’s website, www.donandsons.com/films.

“We’re excited to explore this new avenue of communicating with our customers,” explained Donny Sebastiani, Marketing Director of Don & Sons. “Podcasts give us the ability to closely connect with the consumer, and to speak in a concise, matter-of-fact manner.”

Designed as an introduction to what will be a series of informative films, the three minute Podcast finds Don, Donny, and August Sebastiani discussing alternative closures, their brands, and thoughts on marketing. Future films will take viewers inside the company’s Napa winery with winemaker Richard Bruno to talk about Old and New World winemaking techniques, as well as into the appellations and vineyards that supply the winery’s fruit. Upcoming episodes will also explore the inspiration for Don & Son’s sometimes “quirky” sense of branding.

“It’s entertainment, but it’s also sharing our message with our customers,” continues Sebastiani. “That’s a dichotomy more and more consumers seem to be embracing.”
The films are produced and directed by Napa Valley native Bret Lyman, aka B. Napa, who is slated to release his self-titled wine documentary in early 2007. “I love being on the edge of what’s relevant and innovative in the wine industry,” says Lyman. “The bottle is really only the end of the story. Capturing what goes in to the creation of the brand, the label, the vintage is what intrigues me the most.”

Don Sebastiani & Sons is a family-owned wine negociant firm specializing in the
marketing of upscale, but moderately priced varietal wines. Principals Don Sebastiani and sons, Donny and August, are third and fourth generation California vintners and merchants. The company is headquartered in Sonoma Valley and has a winery in the Napa Valley. Don Sebastiani & Sons markets two separate portfolios, the Three Loose Screws Wine Company and The Other Guys.

Don & Sons was recently named American Winery of the Year for 2005 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine, as well as Winery of the Year for 2005 by Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a leading wine industry consulting firm. Its Pepperwood Grove and Smoking Loon brands were both named Impact Hot Brands of 2005 by M. Shanken Communications, publisher of The Wine Spectator and Impact Newsletter.