Channeling the Classics to Promote Wine

Few wineries have been as clever as the Healdsburg-based Jordan Vineyard and Winery in promoting their products. The winery, founded in 1972, has long only made one Chardonnay and one Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend a year. Without the buzz about new varietals and winemaking techniques, the Old School marketing folks here have made the winery a legend through interesting food and wine pairings, seasonal parties and iconic music videos.

While the estate only releases approximately one video a year, they generally hit the high points, and involve the entire winery staff. You can literally see how much fun everyone, from the winemaker to the accounts payable department. is having. So, I recently sat down with Lisa Mattson, the winery’s previous public relations and marketing executive; and Kendall Busby the current one, to get the skinny about putting together these blasts to the past. All responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.

Liza B. Zimmerman (L.B.Z.): How do you choose which music videos to create?

Lisa Mattson (L.M.): Our creative process is quite organic. Sometimes we are inspired by a catchy song that is trending on the charts. Other times, we know we want to do a music video around a certain theme (like the winery remodel) and we go to the charts and start searching. I listen to the lyrics and the cadence and when it’s the right song, I already see the video coming together—and the lyrics forming in my head—within a few minutes.

L.B.Z.: How many do you make a year?

Kendall Busby (K.B.): We try to release one music video per year. Our first music video was released over 10 years ago. All of our music videos are here.

L.B.Z.: Why do you think they express the soul of the winery?

K.B.: The highly anticipated parody music videos are an energizing way to bring the Jordan family together and to spotlight our dedicated staff members. They are also a way to shed light into Jordan’s winemaking process and current estate happenings in a playful way.

L.M.: Jordan is a place where we take our winemaking and culinary hospitality very seriously, but that doesn’t mean the staff can’t have a little fun now and then. The music videos are a lively way for our staff to come together and have fun—and let our customers see the people behind the day-to-day business. John Jordan likes to say Jordan is an artists’ colony. It’s a place where many types of artisans practice their crafts—and one where he gives each of us creative freedom to explore our respective crafts, whether that be winemaking, grape growing, singing, videography or cooking. Video is just one of our art forms.

L.B.Z.: How much do you change the lyrics and music from the original?

K.B.: Depends on the year!

For our last video, Renovating, Lisa Mattson rewrote the lyrics in less than 24 hours and it was truly a team effort!

L.B.Z.: How do clear them into the public domain given that they are such popular songs?

L.M.: We follow the rules of parody art forms and its legal protections. The last time I dug into the rules, I believe every three to four words should be different from the original.

L.B.Z.: How long do they take to film?

K.B.: This varies year by year. For Despacito, it took Lisa and me less than 24 hours to conceptualize and shoot the video and it took me less than 12 hours to edit and to post it on YouTube and Facebook. The song had just broken the world record for most streamed video of all time in July 2017 and we jumped on the parody idea right before. Our version of Despacito even made it onto ABC News the night after we released it!

L.B.Z.: What has reaction been?

K.B.: We’ve felt such a positive reaction from the hospitality community, winery guests, social media followers, Sonoma County locals and beyond.

L.M.: You know you’re doing something right when your customers start contacting you asking when the next music video is coming out. This happens every year, especially when we skip a year or two.

L.B.Z.: How does each video express where the winery is year after year?

K.B.: Each video’s theme highlights noteworthy happenings, milestones or general themes from the corresponding year or foreshadows what’s to come.

L.M.: When we can align events happening at the winery—such as a big renovation and the 50^th anniversary—with a music video, that is pure magic. Many times, the music video choice is driven more by a song that is popular than where we are. But, I will say that we always try to highlight an interesting part of the winemaking process (such as night harvest or bottling), or we try to poke fun at the stuffiness of the wine industry and winemaking trends (such as high-alcohol Cabernets). Those are important messages we enjoy sharing in entertaining ways year after year.