How Can You Make Your Wine Copy More Accessible?

If you’ve ever tried explaining your favorite wine to a novice drinker, you know how tricky and frustrating it can be.

Their eyes glaze over. You try different phrases and words. You get more and more eloquent. But it seems like you’re just digging a deeper hole. 

And then there’s the response: “Oh, yeah, ok, I get it!” When actually, they don’t. 

And it’s not your fault. Wine speak is hard. 

For many of us in the industry, the more we learn about wine the more we slip into insider language and shorthand. It just makes sense. There’s work to be done and a shared language helps it go faster. 

But it’s easy to forget that the world of wine is pretty foreign to the average drinker. And that’s a problem because when we alienate our readers, we lose them to other brands and industries. 

So to make wine marketing copy easier for more consumers to appreciate and enjoy, here are five tips to get your creative wine juices flowing. 

1. Make your copy skimmer-friendly.

This is how you meet your reader where they are, no matter their reading style and wine expertise. 

Some people will always love to dig deep into content and spend hours pouring over it. And other people will brush right through it looking for nuggets that stand out to them. Good copy is written for both of them. 

Try to avoid long, in-depth paragraphs. These can scare off skimmers and wine novices (or even those who aren’t familiar with the industry’s long-format approach).

Instead, break up your copy into shorter sentences and paragraphs, using subheads, bullet points, italics, and bolded words to guide the reader and provide emphasis. 

I’m not saying to reduce the copy. This is about taking your message and presenting it in the most accessible way for everyone to digest. 

2. Cut down the wine industry jargon.

Let’s face it, the more we learn about wine and become “insiders,” the more we subconsciously use high-level language to communicate with our colleagues and peers. This is great for industry shorthand. Not so great for communicating with everyday wine customers. 

It’s important to consciously review your writing for terminology, phrases, shorthand, etc — things you assume everyone knows.

One favorite example of mine is the word “tannins.” Yep, seems like an entry-level word to us wine nerds. But the average drinker? They may have heard of it, but you’d be surprised how many people don't actually know what it means and just nod along when someone throws it into a conversation. 

One alternate approach can be to let your copy focus on explaining some of the jargon. This helps you bridge the gap for your audience, demonstrating your expertise and guiding them towards your brand. 

3. Use familiar anchor points.

Some consumers may be familiar with and excited about high-level wine talk. Maybe they’ve been to a tasting room and heard a winemaker’s speech about vineyards and wine styles. But what about people who have only ever seen wine at a grocery store? How do you bridge this gap? 

While these two consumers have different wine backgrounds, they do have shared experiences — the universal moments of enjoying wine. And those are the key points you can lean into for speaking to both of them at once. 

So instead of jumping off into unfamiliar (for some) territory, start in a place that your ideal audience does know, and make sure to explain what’s in it for them. Maybe it’s a dinner party where they’re in charge of bringing wine. Maybe it’s spontaneously opening a random bottle on a Tuesday night. Maybe it’s a memory of a wine they discovered in Italy. 

Find the familiar reference points where you can connect your wine with human experiences so that your customers can ease into who you are and what you offer. 

4. Focus on the experience of the wine.

Now that we’ve covered working in those familiar experiences, here’s where you dive into them. The experiences and emotions around the product/service are the things that sell it for a customer. 

It might be the prestige of owning an exclusive bottle, or the joy of leveling up their take-out dinner, or the excitement of a new region’s wine to discover. 

Wine is not enjoyed in a vacuum — so paint the whole scene to help your customer truly see it. 

5. Educate, with intention.

People love a good story. This is especially true when you can use storytelling to break down the complexities of wine. But writing a 5,000-word e-book about your unique soil composition — while potentially a wonderful idea — is not the time or the place for making a direct sale. 

Instead, try cherry-picking your educational moments so they serve your marketing purpose. You can select interesting nuggets of information that will appeal to your reader’s curiosity — while also showing them your brand’s uniqueness and tying into your messaging goals. It’s a win-wine for all!

Does your marketing copy hit off on these points? 

If you’re looking to generate more traffic and sales with your marketing, stronger copywriting is a perfect place to start. It’s a low-cost, easily implemented strategy to deeply connect with the right audience and convey why your brand is the right choice for them. When we tap into the right messaging, it’s crazy how it transforms your numbers. 

Shoot me an email if you’d like to talk copy strategy and create a custom plan: chloe@chloecreativeagency.com