NC Wine Month Promotions

Restaurant “Pairing” Partnerships

• Choose a restaurant near your winery to partner with for NC Wine Month.
• Reach out to the owner or manager asking if they would like to offer 1 or 2 of your wines during a week or the whole month of May for NC wine month. Or, if there is a particular night/date they may be offering a special set menu, you could offer a wine pairing for each course. **Winery either must work with a distributor for the restaurant to purchase from or have a self-distribution license. All participating wineries must have appropriate permits and licenses.**
• Invite the owner or manager out to the winery for a private tour and tasting to make your pitch!
• If the restaurant agrees, you or a member of your staff should go to the restaurant, pour the selected wine(s) for their staff, and talk about the wine(s). Give them tips on how to sell your wine(s) at the restaurant and with the foods they serve.
• Please choose wine(s) that are your flagship wines, or those that speak your winery’s story. Choose wines with good stock. Please do not choose wines you’re looking to get rid of or are low in stock.

What NC Wines will provide the restaurant:

• • • The restaurant/winery pairing will be listed on NCwine.org as a participant and supporter of NC Wine Month.
    • @NCWines will do spotlights on the individual restaurants/wineries for supporting NC Wine Month.
    • #NCWineMonth #NCwine #NCWineSupporter – These hashtags should be used for NC Wine Month to easily find all the posts of restaurants participating, and all will be listed on our website as well.
    • We will provide posters for restaurants to show their participation

Picnic Parties

The picnic food can come in many ways – it’s up to what works best for you.

• Do you have a restaurant where you could discount a small spread of items to pair with wines?
• Do you serve pre-packaged charcuterie/cheese plates or snacks that could be bundled for a deal on your Picnic Party Day with pre-selected wines for the pairing?
• You can find a local picnic provider to provide for guests to set up their own Picnic Parties, all wine comes from your winery.
• You can have guests pre-order their picnics and work with a local chef or caterer to make and deliver the picnics.
• If you allow picnics, tell guests to bring their own picnic to pair with your wines!

Date, time, package format, and price are up to you.

Make sure you tell guests if and what they need to bring if anything – Blanket? Water? Chairs?

What NC Wines will provide wineries:

• • • All pre-determined Picnic Parties will be listed on the NCWine.org Events page.
    • @NCWines will do multiple posts directing consumers to the events page so customers can find participating wineries.
    • #NCWineMonth #NCwine #NCPicnicParties – These hashtags should be used for NC Wine Month to easily find all the posts from @NCWines and other wineries about their Picnic Parties. Make sure to tag @NCWines on every post for maximum reach. And encourage all your guests to post and tag too!
    • We will provide table tents for participating wineries to get people excited about hosting an NC Wine Month Picnic Party.
    • Participating wineries will be listed on the NCWine.org website for NC Wine Month.

“Open That Bottle of NC Wine Night

The NC Wine Guys are kicking NC Wine Month off with an Open that Bottle of NC Wine Night on May 6 at 6:00 pm. We want to make sure we get even more patrons popping corks and crackin’ screwcaps this year. The NC Wine Guys have created a Facebook Live event to showcase all the outstanding NC wine everyone is drinking. Patrons will have the opportunity to share what they are drinking, and Matt and Joe are inviting wine industry makers, growers, and bloggers.

We hope you’ll join us in spreading the word!

Ways you can attract participation for Open that Bottle of NC Wine Night:

• • Encourage visitors throughout April to purchase a bottle to sip and share on May 6.
  • Run a promotion on a particular style or type of wine at your tasting room through April.
  • Run a giveaway on t-shirts or swag on your social media for everyone who joins the party! If you need help with giveaway structure, logistics, and rules let us know and we are happy to give tips.