Catavino: Wake Up Spanish Wineries! Wine Pleasures is Here!
Julie
· 1 year ago
I have to say I was quite surprised by your comment that Spanish wineries need foreigners to develop themselves on the web.
As a matter of fact, I think that Spain has a huge potential in wine tourism, but there seems to lack some effort (from wineries or officials or whoever it may be) to develop it. Some organize tours, tastings, etc., but information is hard to find, when you do not know where you want to go and what you want to do yet.
Beside that, maybe should there be some more information given to tourists about the necessity of the "siesta", like a leaflet distributed in airport, or more focus on it in travel guides... After all, going to Spain is not only to buy and visit, but also get to know and experiment more about Spanish lifestyle, isn't it ? ;-)
Ryan Opaz
· 1 year ago
It does have a HUGE potential, that seems to be getting ignored. There are a ton of talks at wine shows about it, discussions at conferences, and banter about it's value, but little substance.
The "wine routes" here are a joke, basically most of which are badly drawn maps that show all the wineries in a region without actually telling you if you can visit any of them.
As to the siesta, here's the problem. Tourist offices(not just wine) are closed often at "siesta" time. Now I've gotten off a bus/train/plane many times within Spain only to have to wait for 1,2,3 hrs for it to open so I could get a map. Either provide maps in someway that I can get them, when as a tourist I need them. Or try your best to realize that the tourists you are not on a timetable.
As to the foreigner comment, well it partially true and partially to get some people riled up. There is a huge misunderstanding of the webs potential here in Spain's wine industry.
thanks for the comment
Justin Roberts
· 1 year ago
I know it's quite strong, but I kind of agree with Ryan. The spanish don't seem to "get" the web.
There are very few spanish websites which are useful and userfriendly. Just about all of them are Flash, have annoying guitar music playing, are out of date and struggle to provide relevant and useful information.
I often get the feeling that in spain having a website is just another thing you have to tick off. Not much research is done, the developers get a poorly thought out brief and consequently produce something which suits them - flashy, expensive and sans CMS.
Justin Roberts
· 1 year ago
And don't get me started on translations... Some of the stuff you see is shocking. Why spend all that money on a website and then use google translate for the content? WHY?
Ryan Opaz
· 1 year ago
Great point on translation, it is a nightmare, and in a country with so many expats who speak english!
DeBlancoaTinto
· 1 year ago
I agree with you Justin that there are not many nice or easy to use websites in Spain, but i can say as well, this is changing and now we can find very good sites around wine. I think you would like this one... deblancoatinto
Justin Roberts
· 1 year ago
Hi DeBlancoaTinto. I have to agree with you, it's a great site except when it comes to the English translations. For example under Andalucia:
"For many years, and due to the existing quality from the past, the range of elaborations of the Andalusian region suffered virtually no change. However, the loss of market generous and the emergence of a surplus obligo winemakers to seek new strategies to market their wines."
This looks like it came straight out of Google Translate. No English person would have written this and it's not just english-speaking people you will confuse but anyone with english as a second or even third language. That's pretty much the Dutch, the Germans and all the Scandinavians.
You really should get a professional or at the very least an native english speaker to do your translations...
gabriellaopaz
· 1 year ago
I think the major issue comes down to focus. Other countries have realized that the customer is your bread and butter. If they are not happy, you don't succeed. But here in Spain, I have always felt as if the business comes before their clientele. This is exemplified in Ryan's point of illogical tourism office hours, not to mention the poor customer service as seen in restaurants, hotels, and yes, even wineries. Until Spain realizes that their consumers need to be catered to, things will not change.
Justin Roberts
· 1 year ago
It's not just the "siesta", but also Saturdays and Sundays. Here in Jerez, there is only one sherry bodega regularly open to the public at weekends. Gonzalez Byass.
Arch Bell
· 1 year ago
This is an excellent topic.
Part of my honeymoon last Fall was based on doing tours and visits of Spanish wineries. I found the information online to be very sparse. I really had to do alot of the work as far as contacting wineries and such. However, there is one major thing that stands out to me when it comes to Spanish wineries and tourism. They are not open on the weekend. This was something I did not even take into account. I was in Galicia on a weekend and merrily made my way down to the 'Ruta Do Vino' in the O Rosal region of the Rias Baixas only to find out all the wineries were closed on Saturday. I was crushed. Never did I even imagine that they would be closed. Of course my Spanish friend said, "Of course they would be closed. It's Saturday. No one is working."
All of my previous winery visits had been in either Napa, Sonoma or Texas and Saturday visits are the bread and butter and of their tourism. That is the opposite of Spain. I'm not saying that Spanish wineries should completely change their winery culture all together. But what I think would help is to make their wineries available on Saturday so people could visit. I could not imagine a more fun weekend then to bounce around different wineries in A Guarda right on the Mino River and sipping on Albarinos. The Spanish are some of the most welcoming and friendly people on the planet. Why can't their wineries be the same?
Dylan
· 1 year ago
Nice topic, although I don't know if I agree with changing cultural business hours (things like siestas) just to make more money. I'm one of those tourist's that would prefer a world view and different culture, not what I'm used to, although I know those types of tourists exist and they're willing to shell out for it. Ultimately, it's what people define as success for their wineries and if they are hitting that goal.
All Comments
As a matter of fact, I think that Spain has a huge potential in wine tourism, but there seems to lack some effort (from wineries or officials or whoever it may be) to develop it. Some organize tours, tastings, etc., but information is hard to find, when you do not know where you want to go and what you want to do yet.
Beside that, maybe should there be some more information given to tourists about the necessity of the "siesta", like a leaflet distributed in airport, or more focus on it in travel guides... After all, going to Spain is not only to buy and visit, but also get to know and experiment more about Spanish lifestyle, isn't it ? ;-)
The "wine routes" here are a joke, basically most of which are badly drawn maps that show all the wineries in a region without actually telling you if you can visit any of them.
As to the siesta, here's the problem. Tourist offices(not just wine) are closed often at "siesta" time. Now I've gotten off a bus/train/plane many times within Spain only to have to wait for 1,2,3 hrs for it to open so I could get a map. Either provide maps in someway that I can get them, when as a tourist I need them. Or try your best to realize that the tourists you are not on a timetable.
As to the foreigner comment, well it partially true and partially to get some people riled up. There is a huge misunderstanding of the webs potential here in Spain's wine industry.
thanks for the comment
There are very few spanish websites which are useful and userfriendly. Just about all of them are Flash, have annoying guitar music playing, are out of date and struggle to provide relevant and useful information.
I often get the feeling that in spain having a website is just another thing you have to tick off. Not much research is done, the developers get a poorly thought out brief and consequently produce something which suits them - flashy, expensive and sans CMS.
I think you would like this one... deblancoatinto
"For many years, and due to the existing quality from the past, the range of elaborations of the Andalusian region suffered virtually no change. However, the loss of market generous and the emergence of a surplus obligo winemakers to seek new strategies to market their wines."
This looks like it came straight out of Google Translate. No English person would have written this and it's not just english-speaking people you will confuse but anyone with english as a second or even third language. That's pretty much the Dutch, the Germans and all the Scandinavians.
You really should get a professional or at the very least an native english speaker to do your translations...
Part of my honeymoon last Fall was based on doing tours and visits of Spanish wineries. I found the information online to be very sparse. I really had to do alot of the work as far as contacting wineries and such. However, there is one major thing that stands out to me when it comes to Spanish wineries and tourism. They are not open on the weekend. This was something I did not even take into account. I was in Galicia on a weekend and merrily made my way down to the 'Ruta Do Vino' in the O Rosal region of the Rias Baixas only to find out all the wineries were closed on Saturday. I was crushed. Never did I even imagine that they would be closed. Of course my Spanish friend said, "Of course they would be closed. It's Saturday. No one is working."
All of my previous winery visits had been in either Napa, Sonoma or Texas and Saturday visits are the bread and butter and of their tourism. That is the opposite of Spain. I'm not saying that Spanish wineries should completely change their winery culture all together. But what I think would help is to make their wineries available on Saturday so people could visit. I could not imagine a more fun weekend then to bounce around different wineries in A Guarda right on the Mino River and sipping on Albarinos. The Spanish are some of the most welcoming and friendly people on the planet. Why can't their wineries be the same?
Buena Suerte,
Dylan