Most importantly, it is, frankly, irresponsible to send out unsolicited samples (and yes, this does happen) – I don't believe the recipient has any responsibility at all if they haven't shown they welcome your samples. If you do want to send out a sample, then don't just send to a list of bloggers/writers etc, email (not phone, please) each individual first to ask if they actually want a sample. Why waste your time/money otherwise?

Then, when you do send samples, make sure the fullest details possible are attached, not just the background of the wine, but where it can be purchased. To save the environment and this writer's messy office, this could very well be simply a link to a webpage where you can find all the info or perhaps a memory stick.

1. It depends who I'm sending it to. For example, if it's to an importer/distributor/wholesaler/etc I'm hoping s/he'll like the wine in question and buy from me! If it's to a blogger, then I'm hoping for an article/post (or inclusion in a wider article or even just a mention). Private feedback is great too though I'd prefer a public post

2. One tweet only would not be worth it. I'd hope for a tweet in addition to a post

i’m a wine blogger from poland = not really representional part of wine bloggers/journalist world:)

Due to the fact that sometimes I receive some free samples from wineries i decided to give you my feedback.
Bloggers/Writers/Video Peeps

What is your procedure when dealing with samples?
- first of all I decided to publish strict and clear policy which I send to someone who is interested in sending free samples (http://www.viniculture.pl/zasady/ - sorry it’s in Polish).
What do you do when the wine is in your opinion bad?
- than it’s really up to me whether do I decide to publish my opinior or not (regarding policy)
What do you do when you love a wine but do not have room currently to write about it?
- again regarding policy - never promise  to publish anything about free samples (it happens really rare).
What do wineries do most often that annoys you when it comes to sending samples?
- on our market we deal mainly with wine importers than wine producers. The most annoying situation is when company want to publish their own text…

Probably my experiences are not something special and won’t give you full picture, but let’s treat it as a small brick:) (comment from traffic jam on Warsaw’s streets).
Cheers!

Maciek

In my oppinion being the export manager of a Quinta de Gomariz, we have a very simple policy. Every year we have a budget for this kind of samples. We know from my personal experience, that the bloggers are more and more a very important speaker in terms of spreading the word about your wines. Also I and Quinta de Gomariz know, that we may have or not a positive tasting note, or even some kind of post on a determined blog! So what? The goal is to know efectively what people think about our wines!! The "common" blogger should be the one that taste the wine without any predisposition to say good or bad about our wines!
Eventually if you send some samples to any blogger, this could give the blogger the idea of a certain "VIP" treatment. Ok, this could be "normal" but in my oppinion as long as we know exactely what we are doing, there's no harm in giving the bloggers the chance to taste a more wider range of wines. Being a good blogger depends also in the finantial status, as we all know! So, if wineries can give them that help, as long as they don't ask for anything in return, everything is cool!
This might be a "romantic" view of things, but that's my way of seing things, although I'm pretty sure that others don't see it this way, and more important, don't work this way… Well, but that's life!

Cheers!

Vítor

What I do find surprising is that instead of just polling the wine reviewers, wineries should be polling the marketers on the issue of how to attract customers with the right communications strategy, including the mix of package, place, price, promotion.

The reliance on a good review leading to an increase in demand for someone's wine is really just a manifestation of the limitations in marketing skills in the wine sector. Ask yourself- would a winery owner leave the winery and winemaking decisions to someone they don't know, just because that someone might do something good with your grapes? If you answer yes to this question- "Let me tell you what I can do with your grapes!"

The appeal of any wine before its ever been tasted comes down to the winery's promotional strategy, and the capacity to attract the consumer who is interested in your wine. As such, wineries should be asking the reviewer about their audience, the scope of their reviews and the reach into the market, which are far more important criteria to establish before even approaching said reviewer to taste the wine.

It would be great to see wineries start to take the running of their businesses as seriously as they take viticulture and oenology. Quite frankly, with the evidence of a global abundance of great wine being poorly communicated, and/or in poor packages, and/or in the wrong distribution channel; no amount of colourful prose on a random critic's blog is going to make up for such a laissez-faire approach to marketing. The sooner that we get a crop of wine marketers who take their responsibility more seriously than posting out samples and hoping for the best, the sooner that the wine sector can begin to cover the ground that it's lost in the global market.

Wine for thought!