We remember times—not so long ago—when wine was an unquestioned subject of public discussion. Newspapers had wine pages, magazines covered winegrowers, regions, vintages and new developments. They debated Parker points, natural wine, barrique, the right way to handle Chardonnay and whether a Malbec could ever become as good as a great Bordeaux. Sometimes nonsense was written. But at least something was written. Today, the wine industry prefers to occupy itself with its crisis. Consumption is declining, cellars are full, young people are supposedly interested only in cocktails and alcohol-free drinks—and the media report on wine chiefly when yet another statistic announces its imminent demise. Or when a health organisation explains that even the first sip is a step towards the graveyard. The industry responds with position papers and demands for better communication—or not at all. This is rather like convening a working group to improve the firefighting-water strategy when a residential building is on fire.
Here at WINEPARTY, we have thought of something else. We are bringing wine back to the table. Literally. From now on, every restaurateur, winegrower, wine shop, wine association and wine merchant can create their own placemats from our articles. Free of charge. With their own name and logo. As a print-ready PDF that can be printed on an ordinary printer or professionally produced in larger quantities. To do this, we have developed our own generator. You can choose any number of WINEPARTY stories, select one of three layouts, add your logo if you wish and choose the paper size. A4 works. However, we recommend A3. Because wine needs space. And so does a good text. The result is a table covering that lies where people ought to be engaging with wine anyway: in the restaurant, the inn, the wine bar, the wine shop, at a tasting or at the winegrower’s own premises.
The crucial difference from the usual promotional materials: our placemats actually contain something to read. No hazy claims about unique moments of enjoyment. No glossy photograph of a winegrower gazing meaningfully into the distance. No three paragraphs about wine being a passion. We know that by now. We provide stories—real journalism. About people who make wine. About famous and unknown wine regions. About grape varieties nobody knows any more. About the history of wine, its present, its problems and its occasional absurdities. About large bottles and small businesses. About everything that makes wine interesting once you stop viewing it solely as a commodity.
And now let us imagine a perfectly ordinary situation. Four people are sitting in a restaurant. The menus have already been collected, the wine has been ordered, and the food is still a little way off. One reads a story on their placemat about a winegrower they have never heard of. Their neighbour reads something about the crisis in viticulture. The third person discovers a text about an exceptional vintage. Suddenly, they are talking about wine. Not about alcohol limits, residual alcohol or whether a second glass is still medically acceptable. But about wine!
It may sound banal. But that is precisely the idea. It becomes particularly interesting when a restaurateur prints different placemats and distributes them across the tables. Then different stories lie alongside one another. People can compare them, talk about them, disagree, and read something aloud to each other. This does not turn a restaurant into a seminar room. It remains a restaurant. But guests are given an additional, very relaxed and never preachy reason to engage with what is in their glasses.
The tool is also intended for winegrowers. Anyone hosting a tasting can add their own logo to the placemats and lay them out. Those who run a Buschenschank, a Straußwirtschaft or their own restaurant can use them there. Wine associations can make their region of origin visible at events. Large wine merchants and wineries can finance the production of such table coverings for restaurants and appear as sponsors with their logo. It is advertising, certainly. But advertising from which the guest gets something. The restaurateur receives free editorial content for their tables. The winegrower or wine merchant gains an additional opportunity to be visible. WINEPARTY reaches people who may never have visited our website. And the guest gets reading material that, at best, is more interesting than the conversation at the next table. Everyone wins. A rare constellation in the wine trade today. It is difficult to get more win-win than this.
There is, however, a larger idea behind it. Wine has a public-relations problem. And it is one that cannot be solved through better press work alone. Traditional media devote less and less attention to the subject. The few wine pages that remain often reach people who are already interested. The rest of the population mainly hears about wine’s problems. Anyone wishing to reach new readers, new prospects and eventually new wine drinkers must find other ways. We believe that the hospitality sector is one of the most important places for this. Here, wine is not discussed in the abstract. It is on the table. Here, you can smell it, taste it, compare it with the food and talk about it with other people. Here, no complicated explanation is needed as to why someone should take an interest in wine. The glass is already in front of them. And that is precisely where we want our stories to go.
We have long since stopped thinking exclusively of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. For the past two weeks, WINEPARTY has had more international readers than readers from the German-speaking world. For a wine magazine that originally published in German, this is a remarkable development. And it changes the way we view our own work. After all, wine is an international cultural asset. The problems surrounding its public perception do not end at the Austrian border. They concern winegrowers in France just as they do those in Italy, Spain, Greece, the USA or South Africa. There are restaurants, wine shops and tastings everywhere. People sit at tables everywhere. And everywhere, a good story can awaken interest in a wine that someone would otherwise never have ordered. That is why our placemat generator is also designed for international use. Its interface can be adapted linguistically. The principle works regardless of whether a host is in Vienna, Bordeaux, New York or Cape Town. Select three or four articles. Choose the layout. Add your own logo. Select A3. Download the PDF. Print. Done. Anyone who wishes to—we recommend it—can change the placemats regularly. The stories on WINEPARTY are not going to run out. And a restaurant that repeatedly surprises its guests with new texts has created an additional reason for people to return.
Of course, a printed piece of paper will not solve the crisis facing the international wine industry. We are journalists, not miracle workers. And we know that people will not automatically drink more wine simply because they have read something about it. But they must first rediscover the idea of taking an interest in wine. That is the point. An industry that complains that nobody talks about it any more should seize every opportunity to start a conversation itself. The hospitality sector has something that the media are increasingly lacking: direct contact with people who are in the mood to enjoy themselves. We provide the stories. Free of charge. The restaurateurs, winegrowers, associations and merchants provide the tables. And the guests decide for themselves whether to read, discuss or simply put their plate on them. That is allowed too. We would, however, prefer it if they ordered another glass of wine after reading.
Because when wine disappears from the newspapers, it must return to where it belongs: right among the people. And on the table.
Here you can find the free WINEPARTY placemat generator: https://wineparty.wine/tischauflage/