As official partners, Robert Mondavi Winery and Franciscan Estates are rewarding SCVNGR users of legal drinking age for challenge gameplay at their venues.
Rewards are perfectly suited for wine aficionados and novices alike, and include VIP and free winery tours, free tastings at affiliate wineries, discounts on bottles and reserve barrel tasting. Robert Mondavi Winery, for instance, is currently hosting six challenges. SCVNGR users who complete all six will have a shot at winning a "Fantasy Napa weekend" courtesy of the winery.
SCVNGR CEO Seth Priebatsch says that wineries have been especially responsive to the idea of using SCVNGR's game layer for the real world to better engage customers and bring in new business.
"Our partner businesses got pretty excited and have been bringing it to their colleagues ... This will help generate a ton of playership in the valley and will help in generating traffic to wineries who are building on SCVNGR," he says.
On Friday, SCVNGR released its rewards program in New York City. Today's launch in Napa Valley, coupled with the winery partnerships, signal the startup's aims to penetrate particular industries, as opposed to just regions. It's an interesting strategy that could help the relative newbie in the consumer location space stand its ground against the likes of Facebook and Foursquare.
