Building brand ambassadors through hospitality w/ Meaghan Frank, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery

As the pioneer of Vitis Vinifera in the Eastern US, Dr. Konstantin Frank is one of the key leaders of the Fingers Lakes region in New York. Meaghan Frank, a fourth-generation vintner, has been leading the charge to evolve its hospitality program to create brand ambassadors for the winery and the region. Its 1886 Wine Experience has won Best Wine Tour by USA Today in the last two years. Meaghan breaks down their hospitality program and its impact on their business. 

Detailed Show Notes: 

Finger Lakes region, NY - 150 wineries (of 400 in NY), NW NY State - 5 hrs from NYC

• Skinny, deep lakes that moderate weather
• Glaciers left diverse soils
• Tourism-driven, seasonal visitors (spring to fall) for lakes, hiking, close to Niagara Falls, Corning Museum of Glass

Dr. Konstantin Frank - PhD in Viticulture from Odesa, Ukraine; a grape scientist; fled to NY during WWII

• 35 years of cold climate grape growing experience when moved to NY
• 1st to plant vinifera in Eastern US
• Planted experiment station in the 1950s - 68 varieties, including Furmit, Pedro Ximenez, and Touriga Nacional) to research what would work best

Dr. K Frank Winery

• 17 vinifera varieties → 40 wines
• 60% wholesale, 40% DTC
• 40 states, 9 export markets (5%, incl Japan, Aruba (lots of NY visitors), UK)
• DTC 60% e-commerce (driven by wine club), 40% hospitality

Hospitality program

• The goal is to create brand ambassadors and loyalty, get the word out about the Finger Lakes
• Inspired by Australian hospitality programs - private, educational
• ~40k visitors/year (#1 PA - 1 hour away, NJ, OH, NY core markets) - all seated, paid
• Pre-pandemic - ~80k visitors/year for free bar tastings
• Moved to an experience-driven program with wine educators, take advantage of lake view

Three experiences:

• Eugenia’s Garden - modeled after great grandmother’s garden, most casual, can do a la carte glasses/bottles/flights; enables people to enjoy the day; targets a younger demographic
• Signature Seated ($15pp) - most popular, educational, 1 hr, 6 wines, 5 different themes that are part of the winery’s story (e.g., traditional sparkling, Riesling pioneer, groundbreaking grapes, red wines)
• The 1886 Wine Experience ($75pp) - only May-Oct, 2-2.5 hrs, led by wine educator, a tour of the vineyard, sparkling and still wine cellars, seated tasting of 4 wines with bites, followed by additional tastings; won best wine tour by USA Today last 2 years; lots of 1st-time visitors book 1886 due to unique nature
• Lessons learned - used to do 6 wine flight w/ bites, which was too many; did themed months (e.g., sparkling) - did not work with mostly tourists
• Differentiators - spend lots of time, has a separate private space for 1886

Wine club evolution

• Used to have people pay upfront for the year - bigger barrier to signing up, always feel like “playing catchup” to ensure value delivered, concentrated work during shipment periods
• Moved to more subscription model - quarterly, 3 wines w/ default package, fully customizable, no upfront fee, 20% discount on wines, and get free tastings (no limit)
• 8% club conversion - the only way to get free tastings now, used to waive w/ 4 bottle purchase
• Locals small portion of the club - pickup option only 10%, PA #1
• Avg tenure 1.5 years, seeing it extend with the new club model

Popular wines

• Hospitality - Rkatsiteli #1, traditional method sparkling
• Wholesale - #1 & #2 - dry & semi-dry Riesling
• Riesling 60% of production, traditional method growing

Increasing issues around climate change - 2023 had the largest spring frost in history, increasing water issues