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orn and raised in Chi-cago, 27-year-old Wine

Channel TV Network founder and CEO Jessica

Altieri had a lot to prove at a young age. As a high school bas-ketball star, she received an NCAA scholarship to attend the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Follow-ing her dream to become a sports-writer, she transferred to New York University and graduated with hon-ors with a degree in broadcast jour-nalism.

While living in New York, Altieri interned with ABC and freelanced at MSNBC in Syracuse. In the years

cable and through our exciting new project focused on working with the hospitality industry.

[V&WM] What does the hospi-tality project involve?

[JA] The Wine Channel TV Hotel Channel launched this past Decem-ber, with a focus on original wine lifestyle programming. It’s current-

ly in selected Hyatt, Marriott and Sheraton hotels, as well as Napa and Sonoma area resorts such as the Silverado (Resort and Spa). Affluent business travelers are the target wine consumers. Having a wine brand promoted during their stay in the hotel or resort is a great way to engage business travelers

that followed, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy, where she took part in an upscale culinary program; lived in Madrid; and eventually went to Africa, where she filmed a documentary on the Master Drum-mers of Ghana.

After returning to New York City, Altieri’s passion for food and wine bloomed. Aspiring to be the Rachael Ray for the younger gener-ation, she and a resourceful friend with a video camera started docu-menting visits to her favorite res-taurants and interviews with chefs, restaurateurs and sommeliers. At that critical point, she realized that

there was a serious void to fill: There was a Food Network, there was a Travel Network, but there was no wine network equivalent.

Inspired to change that, Altieri moved to California, enrolled in the Court of Master Sommeliers and earned her certificate. She began filming visits to restaurants and wineries in California with the aim of spreading the word about wine in a non-pretentious way, especially to younger adults.

After establ ishing the two branches of the Wine Channel TV Network in 2009 – Wine Channel TV and Wine Channel TV Media

– Altieri launched “Wine Channel TV with Just Jess,” a fun, creative series of online videos focused on wine lifestyle.

In 2010, Altieri added to her plat-form a series of consumer-targeted wine events sponsored by winery clients, trade associations and gov-ernment agencies.

Now she’s adding a wine com-petition to her outreach efforts. In September, Altieri and Vineyard & Winery Management will team up to host the Wine Channel TV Wine Competition (formerly the Next Gen Wine Competition), which will be judged by sommeliers, wine educators and retail wine buyers from around the nation.

Through the power of social media, the popularity of Wine Chan-nel TV has continued to grow. As a result, the website’s videos and content have been viewed by more than 15 million people and, at last count, the channel’s Facebook page had 32,000 fans.

But with success comes work. During her short stay in Sonoma County in early January, Altieri was busy filming new shows with wine-maker Daryl Groom and proprietor Jean-Charles Boisset of Boisset Family Estates, as well as judging the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Then it was off to New Zealand to film one of her lat-est episodes of “Just Jess.”

We caught up with Altieri dur-ing her visit to Sonoma to discuss her passion for wine and wine life-styles, and her new projects for 2013.

[V&WM] I’ve got to ask you if there’s a story behind the title of your show, “Just Jess.”

Jessica Altieri [JA] Actually, my grandmother came up with that name. She always envisioned one day seeing my name somewhere as Just Jess. When I started my company, I always remembered her saying that.

[V&WM] What was the busi-ness concept behind the TV chan-nel?

[JA] The No. 1 goal is to create a worldwide wine channel TV net-work to connect consumers around the world to wine both online, on StaVın Inc, P.O.Box 1693, Sausalito,CA 94966 (415) 331-7849 f (415) 331-0516 stavin.com

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JessicaWine Channel TV CEO connects with consumers through video and social media

Altieri

100 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 www.vwmmedia.com www.vwmmedia.com May - June 2013 | VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 101

and introduce wine tastings in the area, as well as new wines.

[V&WM] Each of your Wine Channel TV shows has a different theme. Do you always try to include food?

[JA] It’s more than just about wine and food, it’s really about the wine lifestyle that I’m trying to cap-ture through the medium I refer to as “edutainment.” In some cases it’s about wine and music; in other cases it’s about wine and art, etc.

At Walgreens in Chicago, I did a wine event with a top fash-ion celebrity stylist. I did another event with Jean-Charles Boisset at Mariano’s Fresh Market in Chi-cago, and the focus was on pair-ing wines with the words of the Count of Buena Vista (as portrayed by character actor George Webber) with food prepared by Zed451 chef Patrick Justice, and drawings by sketch artist David Penna. It’s more than just sharing wine and food, but

creating an ambience and sharing the experience with others.

[V&WM] You really have a focus on the Millennial generation. Why is this demographic so important right now?

[JA] Well, they are the future. Millennials make up one of the big-gest groups of consumers and they are very willing to experiment and try new things.

[V&WM] What’s the best way for wineries to communicate with them?

[JA] When I started Wine Channel TV the goal was to part-ner with other companies to help them engage with consumers. I have a team of the top journalism

students from around the country who are Millennials, and they know how to engage with other Millen-nials. Facebook is the “currency” that works best with our team and our audience. Our staff has the vibe of a graduate college town from around the world.

[V&WM] Along with the Millen-nial generation, why is Generation X an important demographic for wine?

[JA] Cash and more cash. Gen X has it and Millennials want it.

[V&WM] What do you see Mil-lennials buying right now?

[JA] Many of them like to think outside the box and often have a keen eye for price and value. They

are interested in wines from South Africa and New Zealand. They are unique wines that catch their atten-tion, especially if the product has a good story behind it.

[V&WM] Why is a wine com-petition a good way to reach out to Millennial consumers?

[JA] Wine competitions, done right, give consumers a sampling of what’s new, exciting and fresh without having to do all of the grunt work. It’s like having a “wine GPS.” You can “drive around” on your own or find a list of pre-tast-ed, award-winning wines to try and experience.

[V&WM] Will the wines be judged by Millennials?

[JA] Yes, Millennial wine pro-fessionals will be among the judg-es, along with top judges from other demographics.

[V&WM] How has new technol-ogy helped your brand?

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Jean-Charles Boisset of Boisset Family Estates and Altieri engage the audience at a Chicago wine event.

+ Birthplace: Chicago

+ Education: Bachelor’sdegreefromNewYorkUniversityinbroadcastjournalism

+ Business Background: CertifiedSommelier,winejudgeandmediamarketingprofessional

+ Current Position: CEOofWineChannelTVNetworkandstarof“JustJess”

+ Hobbies: Kickboxing,mountainbikingandplayingbasketball.“Icantakeanyoneinathree-pointcontestanytime,anyplace,anywhere,eveninheels,”shesaid.

JESSICA ALTIERI’S RESUME

Altieri shoots a video segment with Alastair Maling MW, winemaker for Villa Maria Estate in New Zealand.

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102 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 www.vwmmedia.com

[JA] It’s been huge. When I was first starting the company, I decided to make an investment of my time and choose which vehicle would be the best to help spread the word and help my clients engage with consumers through social media, including our shows, special events, Facebook and Twitter. It’s hard work, but it’s definitely paid off. We’ve reached out to more than 14 million friends and fans who are talking about our show, talking about our company and talking about the wines our clients produce. On average, more people are talking about us daily than Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast combined.

[V&WM] Why is video content and programming becoming so important in the wine industry?

[JA] I’m of the opinion that see-ing is better than reading. As much as I love articles, it’s better to see something to understand the story of a particular wine or the win-

ery that makes it. For example, at Raymond Vineyards in Napa Val-ley, Jean-Charles Boisset has his Red Room and Crystal Cellar. Jean-Charles had Lady Gaga playing on the TV and the sparkling wine was served in Baccarat stemware. When I was there, all I needed was a pair of slippers and a robe and I would have been done. Words don’t do this winery justice. But when you see the images on “Just Jess,” you understand that it’s a great destination to visit. That’s where the show and this channel are going.

[V&WM] How do these tools help your clients?

[JA] Consumers watch Wine Channel TV Network, while Wine Channel TV Media is the back end where we help clients through media campaigns that help them target the right audience.

People say, “It’s just a video,” but it’s really so much more than that. It’s really a whole campaign

to get your message to consumers. It’s not just a little one-day video shoot at a winery. No, it’s so much more than that. It’s about creating layers. Layers that help our clients get their message and their brand-ing out to consumers. So it’s the whole experience. People remem-ber it.

[V&WM] How can wineries get involved?

[JA] Pick up the phone and give me a call. I love talking to every-body, I’m a people person. Ask me over for a glass of wine. My motto is that wine is a conversation wait-ing to happen.

Christopher Sawyer is a somme-lier, wine educator and critic who travels around the globe following wine trends and judging wine in international competitions.

Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com.

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