All this effort was for very good reason. It was so that our viewers could trust that what they were seeing was honestly made and that the products that ARE featured aren’t because someone was paid to put them there. It was a set of rules I was very proud to live by.

When we started making The Wine Show I was determined to stick to the same rules. I knew that we had to grow a strong degree of trust with our audience that the wines we were featuring were there because they helped us tell a story and were great examples of a style or region. That the wines we featured, were ones we were genuinely excited to share. Accordingly, we never operated on “pay for play” basis - a fact that often surprised people.

We did accept some hospitality - lunch at a vineyard for the crew, some thank you gifts of wine for the team and the like. (Winemakers are the most generous of hosts.) We also worked with tourism bodies like Visit Portugal, Visit California and Tourism Australia who provided some funding on occasion or ground support in the form of hotels and car hire. Those things helped our budget go further and allowed us to tell more stories. But to be honest, we didn’t really have the time or the resources to chase as many of those opportunities as we might have liked. Similarly, you probably think we were swimming in wine that people sent us to induce us to feature them. Sadly not the case. I can honestly say that in the seven years or so I’ve been associated with the show, we’ve received unsolicited bottles of wine maybe three times. Even the wine we needed for the tasting element of the show was often-as-not, bought from whoever sold it in the UK or wherever we were shooting. On location the winemakers of course provided samples when we needed them. I’m not saying we went thirsty.

Now, with 3 seasons and 27 episodes of The Wine Show available on literally 100s of broadcast and streaming platforms around the world, we’ve decided to try something new. For the first time we have worked with a winery to make a film. It’s important that you know that we only decided to do this after we were sure these were winemakers that had the kind of quality wines and values that we at The Wine Show have always espoused…as well as having a great story to tell.

That winery is I Greppi and is based in Bolgheri, Tuscany. You can read much more about the winery, their people and the wines here.

At the same time another opportunity arose. One that we have long wanted to have. And that is to bring people a way to buy the wines we feature. It’s the question we are asked most often - where can I buy the wines I’ve seen on the show? I often receive emails or DMs online asking where certain wines people have seen on the show can be bought. After I ask where in the world people are, I do the research sometimes with wine suppliers on the other side of the world so I can send a link to a viewer. (We now have amazing guides to the wines of all three series by the way, with links to every wine we feature.)

But little old me Googling wines and sending links isn’t really a ‘content to commerce’ strategy that’s sustainable! We had long looked for a solution. The wine business is notoriously fragmented and difficult to navigate. Winemakers have agencies and exclusive deals with wholesalers and retailers that vary from place to place. There was no single partner we could find that had a solution. Until that is, a fabulous new wine platform called PIX waltzed into our lives and stole our heart.

Pix is a Wine Discovery platform that connects you with the wine you want, no matter where you are. Sadly it’s only in the USA at the moment, but we’re hopeful!

The great thing about Pix is that not only can you find a great selection of the wines we feature (including all the wines we taste in the Tuscany special) , you can choose where to buy them. Some you can buy direct from the winemaker, others from a retailer you choose. The transactions take place on the sellers platform. Pix don’t take a commission and neither do we. It’s free for winemakers and retailers to list their wines and it costs you nothing to browse and buy your wine via the site. And, there’s a tonne of useful collections and content unique to Pix. (As someone who loves wine, but to be honest finds a lot of wine media a bit hard to get into, I love this site. The sooner we get it here in the UK the better. In the meantime, lucky USA! )

If you’re a winemaker (or even a viewer) you’re now wondering, what’s in it for you, TWS? Well, we are TV producers and we distribute our content and receive revenues from licensing it to various broadcasters around the world. For the Tuscany Special we are working with our new partner Love Wine on XUMO. We will be paid a proportion of the advertising revenue generated around the show. We are also in discussions to distribute via a number of other broadcasters and airlines - seatback is incredibly powerful as a showcase. We will also be making a version available on YouTube, where we aim to reach up to 1 million viewers via careful promotion and amplification. In addition, we will be promoting the show with burnt in QR Codes linking directly to sales on 2,500 screens in 95 airports across the USA. We are also grateful to I Greppi for making a contribution to the costs of production.

We would dearly love to bring people more Wine Show. Our fans are the best. The feedback we get is so wonderful and it’s honestly the show I’m most proud of making across the many years I’ve been in TV. I truly do feel we excite millions of people about wine who otherwise would never engage with the subject. We are a powerful driver for in-bound travel as well as wine sales across the world.

If you’re a winemaker or a wine region that think you’d like to explore how you can work with us, please do email me directly on melanie@twscreative.uk. I’d be happy to tell you more and explain how we could bring your wine or wine region to our millions of devoted fans.

Your story is the best way to sell your wine.

Let The Wine Show help you do it.