How to Build a Wine Brand on Social Media
People often ask us what wine brands are doing “a good job” on social media. When I think about the answer, it’s never about who has the best quality photography or most likes.
The brands performing the best on social media aren’t thinking about their work as building a content calendar, but a relationship. A slow, consistent way of letting the right people into their world, building trust, and creating the kind of connection that turns a follower into a loyal customer, a club member, a repeat visitor.
Strategy before content, always
Every client comes to us with something a little different. Some are starting from scratch and don't know where to begin. Some have been posting consistently for years and can't figure out why they’re still only getting 12 likes. Some have full content libraries sitting in dropbox with no strategy for how to use them.
We’ve found that most wine and hospitality brands have big ambitions for social media without a clear picture of how to get there. Or they've been working with the same person or agency for years and the platform has changed completely underneath them. The algorithm that worked in 2020 doesn't work today. The content style that built an audience two years ago is irrelavent now.
Before we write a single caption or design a single graphic, we ask the questions to get to the core of our objectives. Who is this brand actually talking to? What is the content that reflects our real identity, not a generic wine brand? What does consistency look like without being repetitive? And what does success mean for this brand at this stage?
That foundation changes everything that comes after it.
Content that earns attention, not just impressions
When we launched Table Wine by Clos du Val this summer, we built the entire social media framework around a single insight: this wine exists for the table, not the tasting room. The people it was made for are hosts, chefs, people who love to cook and gather, who think about wine the way they think about a good olive oil. Always present, never the point.
That insight shaped every piece of content we created. The voice. The imagery. The Substack. The launch event, a sold-out long table supper in the Clos du Val Olive Grove. The influencer strategy targeting food creators and chefs rather than traditional wine accounts.
Collaboration makes or breaks it
We work with a team of creative collaborators, including our designer Kassi Aronson, who bring visual identity, graphics, and content execution to life alongside the strategy. For most of our clients, this means you get senior strategic thinking and polished creative output without having to manage multiple vendors or build an internal team.
For Bouchaine Vineyards, our integrated approach has help drive a 20% follower growth, 93% growth in organic views, 46% more accounts reached, and 344% more interactions. Those numbers matter. But what matters more is that dozens of new people are discovering Bouchaine for the first time, adding them to their consideration set for their next Napa Valley visit.
What we've learned working with wine brands
A few things that consistently separate the brands building real momentum on social from the ones that stay stuck:
Brands that grow have a clear point of view. Not just a mission statement, but a genuine perspective that shows up in everything they post. That consistency is what makes people feel like they know a brand, which is what makes them convert.
Strategy without creative investment doesn't compound. You can have the world’s prettiest strategy doc, or post consistently for years and never build an audience if the work isn't good. Great photography, a distinctive visual identity, a voice that feels human are necessary, and these things require real investment (in time, money, or both).
The best social media tells people how to feel before it tells them what to buy. The River Club grew its followers to triple digits in three months without a single promotional post. Every piece of content was about the experience, the community, the feeling of belonging to something.
Strong Strategy. Real Execution. Better Results.
If you're a winery or hospitality brand posting consistently but not seeing the growth, engagement, or community you were hoping for, it could be a strategy problem. It could be an execution problem. Honestly, it's usually both, and one without the other doesn't get you very far.
What sets Gabriel & Co. apart is that we do both.
We build the strategy, and then we translate it into execution. Content calendars, on-site content capture, and professional photography and videography sourcing and management. We're based in Napa, which means we can parachute in for harvest events, winemaker dinners, tasting room launches, and any moment that needs to be captured properly. But our experience extends well outside the wine industry, which gives us a broader perspective on what's working in culture, in hospitality, in food and beverage, and how to bring those ideas into the wine world before they become obvious.
We work with a focused portfolio of clients, which means the brands we take on get our full attention, not a junior team running a templated playbook.
If you're ready to build something that actually moves the business forward, we'd love to talk.