Making an enjoyable, fun, and engaging video about wine is not the most obvious of exercises.
Wine stimulates all senses, but there’s not a whole lot of visual appeal to it past the color.
As a result, many wine videos are quite boring, or all look and feel similar.
Rule #1: Don’t Film Yourself Tasting Wine
There is nothing more boring nowadays than watching somebody pour himself/herself a glass of wine and describe how it tastes like.
Except if you’re a showman like Gary Vaynechuck when he filmed his WineLibrary.TV series.
What’s interesting visually in a wine, is where it comes from, not the wine itself!
Watching somebody drink wine just gives viewers the frustrating feeling THEY should be sniffing and sipping the beverage. A good enough reason to move away from the video.
Rule #2: Show where the Wine Comes From
Every wine has a story.
Most wines come from a beautiful place. Vineyards are always beautiful places for the attentive eye.
Capture the visually appealing elements of the vineyards the wine comes from, and gather them in a video.
A sunset, a storm, a snowfall are attractive visual events that tell the story of a wine. It tells the story of what the vines and the grapes have been through, giving birth to our favorite beverage.
Rule #3: Tell a Story in a Short, Visual and Positive Manner
Rule Number 3 is actually a set of complementary simple rules to refine your video, getting into the details.
- Find an interesting (outstanding?!?) angle for your story
- Use decent-enough filming gear: the gear doesn’t matter, it’s the story that does. Yet a good-looking image is better than a crappy one!
- Please! Choose a positive-feel music for your video, with pace and rhythm.
- Use Slo-Motions & Time-Lapses: they’re easy to make these days, and give a fun Pro touch to any video
- Include people in the video. Viewers like to engage with real people. Wine is a people’s product, it’s not a machine, it’s alive.
- It’s best if you can teach something, without being pedant about it. Teach without saying your teaching, or giving the impression to viewers they are being taught.
With these simple concepts in mind, anyone can make a nice wine video.
Now it’s you turn, pick up your camera or smartphone, and give it a go.
There’s no losers in this game!!
A Few Good Wine Video Examples
Our friends at Chateau du Moulin-a-Vent, a winery in the Beaujolais region of France, have kindly shared with us a couple of videos that in many aspects respect the rules discussed above.
Their fun, their engaging, they tell the story of the wines with pace, energy, and authenticity.
Not saying you should do the same. Do your own, with your own sensibility!
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This First Video Follows the Trail of a Grape Bunch, from Vineyard to Winery
Producer’s Video description: “From Vines to Vats was filmed during 2015 harvest time, and follows the grape once it is picked up”
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This Second Video Takes Us through the Wine’s Elaboration Process
Producer’s Video description: “Le Pigeou, newly released, filmed the vinification process at the Château: with long extraction process, the video highlights the life in the cuvage during the month after harvest time”
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One of My Own Videos Showing off A Super-Long Cava Wine Bottle
One my spare time, I have fun shooting some videos. It’s all about sharing….
Please let me know your thoughts