Simplifying a family-owned estate’s communications
Arista Winery
Arista Winery crafts elegant, critically renowned Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from their estate in Healdsburg and grower-partners in the Russian River Valley. Owned and operated by the McWilliams family for more than 20 years, their small-lot wines and hospitality are Sonoma benchmarks.
The Situation
Arista’s wines have always spoken for themselves, garnering critical praise and a loyal fan base. Because brothers Mark and Ben McWilliams are focused on their vines and wines, cultivating and sharing their unique brand story wasn’t a priority. Over time, connecting with Arista’s devoted followers became more crucial, and so did training the winery’s growing team on the Arista brand story, tone of voice, and winemaking style. With families at home and over 20 vineyards to monitor, doing it all felt impossible for Mark and Ben. This lead to rushed or sporadic communication internally and externally.
Overview
Email Marketing
Brand Messaging
Technical Sheets
Arista Winery
Approach & Strategy
We started by collaborating with Arista’s in-house team and consultants to create a 30-page brand book that tells Arista’s story in full — in a way the McWilliams are proud to share. Designed for staff training and distribution to sales partners, Arista’s brand book includes detailed staff bios and vineyard overviews so their history can be shared easily and consistently. We also created an evergreen email series for their mailing list, including introductory and sunset messages, making it easy for the team to communicate clearly with their fans.
Since then, we’ve continued writing their quarterly newsletters, tasting notes, wine teasers, and tech sheets, giving their team ready-to-go content well before their release dates. Now, nobody needs to scramble or worry about fine-tuning grammar at the eleventh hour. Instead, Arista’s team can focus on what they do best—crafting stellar wine.
We’ve loved helping Arista craft a story that’s as elegant and sophisticated as their wines, and we’re looking forward to future projects—and drinking more Pinot Noir—as we continue our partnership.