Assembly Bill 720 created a new Estate Tasting Event Permit (Type 93) that allows Type 02 wineries to exercise their tasting room privileges at properties they own or control, whether adjacent to the licensed premises or at non-adjacent vineyard sites. While this new privilege offers wineries greater flexibility to host immersive vineyard experiences, it does not override local land use controls. Sonoma County recently issued guidance clarifying how the Type 93 permit may be used on agriculturally zoned vineyard parcels and when additional land use approvals are required. Sonoma County’s Approach to Vineyard Tastings Sonoma County has clarified how Type 93 permits may be used on vineyard parcels located within the County’s primary agricultural zoning districts: LIA – Land Intensive Agriculture LEA – Land Extensive Agriculture DA – Diverse Agriculture The County distinguishes between recreational uses of a vineyard, which may occur without land use approval

This blog post summarizes the process by which licensed wineries can obtain local government approval for events in Napa County held pursuant to their California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”) Type 93 Estate Tasting Permit. As discussed in our prior post, last year Governor Newsom signed into law AB720, granting California wineries that hold an ABC Type 02 winery license the ability to host events, up to 36 times per year, where they exercise tasting room privileges for wine manufactured by or for the winery on either: (1) property adjacent to the licensed premises or (2) a nonadjacent vineyard provided that such property or vineyard is owned by or under the control of the winery. (Cal. Bus. Prof. Code 23399.03.) Neither ABC nor Napa County have provided guidance as to what degree or proof of “control” is required. Under AB 720, these new Type 93 estate tasting events are also subject to local land use controls that can “restrict, but no

vinSUITE Launches vinSIGHT: Analytics Platform That Predicts Wine Club Churn with Up to 94% Confidence  New intelligence layer helps wineries see revenue risk before it's too late and gain clear visibility into what's working across all sales channels    NAPA, CA | January 21, 2026 — vinSUITE, a winery direct-to-consumer software platform, today announced the launch of vinSIGHT, a comprehensive analytics solution that transforms winery sales data into actionable insights. The platform analyzes historical customer behavior patterns to predict wine club churn with up to 94% confidence, enabling wineries to protect revenue before members cancel.  Wine club churn traditionally appears in reports only after the revenue is already lost. vinSIGHT changes that by bringing hidden patterns into view, identifying subtle behavioral shifts (declining engagement, changing purchase patterns, and reduced interaction) that signal di

The California legislature recently amended the California recycling labeling requirements for wine and spirits containers, making it significantly easier for wineries and distilleries to comply. The new law, AB 720, extended the deadlines for complying with the labeling requirements and authorized the use of QR codes for CRV compliance. Here are the specifics: The deadline by when all wine and spirits containers in the marketplace must have CRV labeling has been extended a year, from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2026. The cut-off date for the permanent exemption of already labeled containers from CRV requirements has been extended 18 months, from January 1, 2024 to July 1, 2025. Now, any containers filled and labeled without CRV markings before July 1, 2025 will not need any additional labeling to be compliant, even if sold after July 1, 2026. Wineries and distilleries may now use half-inch high QR codes for CRV compliance. This creates an important precedent for other states to follow. W

An international agricultural event at the Parc des Expositions in Angers The year 2025 got off to a flying start with a trip to Angers to participate for the first time in the SIVAL trade fair, which took place from January 14 to 16. An international agricultural event where professionals come to meet companies from across the plant sector and discover their innovations. A trade fair that represents the entire plant industry In a few figures, the SIVAL show is: 710 exhibitors 55 countries represented 25,000 professional visitors  But all facets of the plant sector are also represented: Viticulture Viniculture Arboriculture Horticulture and nurseries Seeds and plants Cider production PPAM (Aromatic and Medicinal Perfume Plants) etc  A successful participation for our team Indeed, this show allowed us to take the time to interact with our French partners and clients in the Loire Valley. The discussions piqued the curiosity of some of the region's winegrow

If this was easy, everyone would do it. Setting expectations is difficult. After all, we all want perfection and success, so isn’t it just positive thinking to predict that your campaigns will be victorious? That’s what “The Secret” tells us, anyway. But while it can’t hurt to take a stab at manifesting abundance and contemplating gratitude, you are likely using more concrete values, such as benchmarks and previous performance, to project the results of your marketing campaigns to your management. We submit additional data points to anticipate reasonable responses to your marketing campaigns. These data points are: What environment exists around this campaign? What workload can I reasonably handle successfully? What does my management consider, including the cost of goods sold? Let’s break each of these down and include some real-life winery examples.* CONTEXT – WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY? Many marketing decisions are best made with

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Six new PET bottle offerings help customers explore and maximize profits through ability to modify and customize Jul 18, 2022 - Ann Arbor, Michigan – Amcor Rigid Packaging (ARP) is now offering samples of spirits bottles made of recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) that meet the newly-approved U.S. Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) sizes. Amcor’s new offering was developed to provide customers with the freedom and flexibility to explore new markets while gauging consumer interest.   The six new ARP bottles were developed to maximize ease-of-use in customer production and shipping. Each newly designed bottle subscribes to an axiom of similarity, maintaining a common set of dimensions - including height, depth, width, diameters, and shared geometry- with existing ARP stock options. This development initiative by APR’s world-class engineering team is the first product line family in the marketplace to align sizing across bottles with different capacity.  

Amorim Cork Nominated for The Golden Vines Innovation Award The inaugural Golden Vines Awards Ceremony, hosted by Liquid Icons, seeks to raise funds for diversity-related wine education programs. NAPA, CA, March 15, 2021 – Amorim Cork has been nominated for The Golden Vines Innovation Award, one of seven honors that will be announced during The Golden Vines Awards Ceremony at Annabel’s Private Members Club in London on the night of October 7, 2021. The inaugural not-for-profit event is organized by Liquid Icons, the wine research and content company founded by the late Gerard Basset OBE MW MS and Lewis Chester DipWSET. Predicted to be the year’s most important gathering of world leaders and collectors in the wine industry, The Golden Vines Awards Ceremony is designed to raise funds for The Gerard Basset Wine Education Charitable Foundation – a foundation committed to creating educational programs and career opportunities for young professionals led by Nina