Generic phrases like “tradition,” “innovation,” and “quality” dominate winery communications, making every brand sound identical. Authentic storytelling requires courage to share specific experiences, challenges, and vulnerabilities. Real stories about your vineyard’s history, difficulties overcome, and unique journey create emotional connections that transform visitors into loyal brand ambassadors.
There’s a significant risk in the wine world that too often goes unnoticed: that of appearing all the same.
“Tradition,” “Innovation,” “Quality,” “Generations.”
If I had to create a bingo card of the most commonly used words on Italian winery websites, these four would guarantee a jackpot.
These are words that have real value, certainly, but they end up flattening and standardizing a narrative that should instead be unique, distinctive, unrepeatable. “Our winery combines tradition and innovation to offer quality wines passed down through generations.” How many times have you said this phrase? But what does it really tell about you? Nothing. It’s white noise in wine communication.
What makes a winery’s story truly moving?
Storytelling means knowing how to choose words that genuinely represent you, that tell your story, your vision, your relationship with the territory and with people. It means having the courage to break away from standardized language that no longer moves anyone.
A concrete example: saying “we make wine with passion for generations” tells nothing original. Instead, saying “for three generations our family has cultivated this hillside vineyard, planted by our grandfather during post-war reconstruction, and we’ve never left since” brings readers into a specific, real, recognizable, and above all unique world.
Every winery has a heritage of uniqueness that often remains hidden behind clichés. It’s time to bring it to light, to dare to tell anecdotes, details, turning points, but also the difficulties faced along the way. Because a story made only of successes isn’t credible: what makes a narrative authentic is precisely the ability to share challenges, mistakes, and crises overcome.
Telling, for example, about a harvest ruined by hail that led the family to rethink cultivation methods, or a difficult vintage when you chose to reduce production to safeguard quality, creates a deep connection with listeners. It’s more convenient to say “family tradition” than to tell how your father saved those vineyards from phylloxera in the ’80s, certainly, but it’s important to show that behind every bottle there aren’t just glossy labels, but real people, capable of getting back up and reinventing themselves.
Vulnerability, when sincere, generates empathy. And it’s precisely this empathy that transforms a consumer into a loyal enthusiast, an occasional visitor into a brand ambassador.
In an increasingly competitive market, where wine tourists and consumers have thousands of alternatives available, what truly makes the difference isn’t just the technical quality of wines – which we take for granted – but the ability to feel part of a story. Those who choose to visit us, to buy our wines, ultimately also choose us: our identity, our values, our voice.
So the question for every winery becomes: which words truly represent us? Not those everyone uses, but those that belong to us, that nobody could copy because they’re the result of our experience. Finding these words is work of research and awareness, but it’s also the greatest investment a wine company can make today.
Key points
- Wine industry communications overuse generic phrases that make all wineries sound identical
- Authentic storytelling requires sharing specific details and vulnerable moments, not just successes
- Real stories about challenges and unique experiences create emotional connections with consumers
- Consumers choose wineries based on authentic identity and values, not just wine quality
- Finding your unique narrative voice is the greatest investment for wine brands
