I’m pleased to introduce VINTAGE², a new education system created specifically for wineries that want to better understand how AI is reshaping marketing, communications, and brand visibility. VINTAGE² is not a tool or a software platform. It’s a practical, 101-level learning framework designed to help wineries evaluate how consumers now discover wine and wine experiences, what’s working in their current digital presence, and where AI can play a useful role without overwhelming teams or replacing what makes wine brands human. Why now? Because search behavior is changing quickly. Consumers are increasingly asking AI systems to recommend wineries, experiences, and bottles, and those systems can only surface brands they clearly understand. VINTAGE² is for winery owners, marketers, tasting room leaders, and communications teams who want a clear starting point to explore AI thoughtfully, at their own pace. Learn more here: https://weinheimergroup.com/vintage2

Our thoughts continue to be with all those affected by the ongoing wildfires in California and the West Coast in general. Some of the fires first sparked in August are still burning and others – such as the Glass Fire in Napa/Sonoma, which started September 27th – have since ignited. Some four million acres have so far burned in California this fire season, more than double the previous state record for the most land burned in a single year.  The weather towards the end of the winegrape picking season has actually been good, but some growing areas have had to cope with low air quality due to smoke from the fires. In addition, the presence of layers of smoke has reportedly reduced sunlight radiation levels in some growing areas some of the time, potentially stalling grape readiness in certain instances.  Harvest is drawing to a close earlier than in the past few years, and would have finished even earlier were it not for complicating factors related to smoke. On