Afternoon Brief: Trump's Promise of Mass Deportations Looms over California's Wine Industry

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to launch what he called "the largest deportation program in American history," targeting more than 11 million people...

Afternoon Brief, February 26th

Napa Wine Auction Prices Plummet: Tumbling prices at a Napa trade auction are a sobering sign for the US wine industry...

It's been quite a roller coaster ride over the past six months. The banking industry has undergone many changes; my bank was no exception. Given our specific challenges, I didn't think this day would come again. So, I'm happy to report that we are today launching the 23rd annual State of the Wine Industry Survey. It is open now through October 22. The survey this year has been streamlined and shortened. Given the current state of the business, I eliminated several less relevant questions and added a section on data management from which I hope to get a baseline of where we are in our data management and use practices. From the new questions, my goal is to compile a collection of helpful resources that survey participants can utilize to help navigate the current lull in consumption. Producing the annual SVB State of the Wine Industry Report requires that we receive at least 500 survey responses in just under three weeks to achieve statistical significance.  And this is

Brian BakerBrian Baker is managing partner at Cultivar, a wine sales and marketing company specializing in three-tier, direct-to-consumer, and export channels. We spoke with Brian last year on tasting rooms and the changes that came with the COVID-19 pandemic; now, we turned to him again to talk about imports and how foreign wine brands are now looking at direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels. You‌ ‌can‌ ‌listen‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌full‌ ‌interview‌ ‌here‌ ‌or‌ ‌read‌ ‌the‌ ‌abridged‌ ‌version‌ ‌below‌:‌ ‌ Milton Cornwell: Today, I have Brian Baker, who really needs no introduction. His background in the wine and hospitality space is extensive and includes senior leadership positions at Jackson Family Wines, Chateau Montelena, and Mayacamas Vineyards. We first caught up with him in 2020, right after the pandemic had hit, and got into many topics, mo

Steve Randazzo is the founder and president of Pro Motion Inc., an experiential marketing and event marketing agency located in Missouri. He has also been a leading expert helping Fortune 1000 companies that traditionally rely on trade shows and other events to adapt to the non-contact “COVID Economy.” We spoke with Steve recently about in-person and online experiences, and how wineries can approach them no matter what their budget. You can listen to the full interview here or read the abridged version below the key takeaways: Key takeaways from our interview: Experiences are better able to cut through the clutter and sustain our attention. Tasting rooms were the traditional way wineries built those experiences but with tasting rooms still limited in what they can do, wineries need to pivot to new types of outreach, events and experiences. Experiences can be virtual, too! New ways to reach customers were created during the pandemic, and the most successful brands will be th