Wakefield Taylors Wines and 1800 Milenio Take Top Honors July 14, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 18th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place recently in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  This year, Wakefield Taylor Wines 2024 Estate Riesling and 1800 Milenio Extra-Aged Añejo took top honors. Wakefield Taylor, a heritage winery in Australia’s Clare Valley (a region known for quality Reislings), wowed judges with its “mouthwatering citrus blooms” and “gentle salinity.”  A representative from 1800 Mileno remarked, “1800 Milenio is backed by 11 generations of tequila-making e

Afternoon Brief: New US Alcohol Report Tainted by Bias, Conflicts

Broad Group of National Agriculture, Beverage and Hospitality Associations Urges Secretaries of USDA and HHS to Reject Findings...

Two K Farms Cidery and Winery 2022 Bubbly Riesling Takes Top Honors November 15, 2024 — Winners have been announced in the 2024 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging,Two K Farms Cidery and Winery 2022 Bubbly Riesling took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Sparkling Wine. Coming in at 97 points, judges praised the wine for its “Mouth watering citrus and honeysuckle”; “Lingering tropical finish”; and “Perfect bubbles.” They also called it “Well balanced.” With a record number of entries from across the globe, the Harvest Challenge bases judging on a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions and grapes that combine to give personality to the wine. In other competitions, terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challenge, judges taste wines alongside other wines of the same appellation. W

JUNE 28, 2024 – Winners have been announced in the 17th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place June 10-12 in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  “As always, the International Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition shined a spotlight on hundreds of deserving wines,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, owner of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which organizes and presents IWWSC. “And even though entry is open to all winemakers regardless of gender, I found it gratifying that six of this year’s sweepstakes wines were created by women. And our overall wine winner also was named Best Woman Winemaker

JUNE 24, 2024 – Experience Rosé, a wine competition that focuses exclusively on expressions of pink wine — sweet, dry and sparkling — has announced results of the 2024 contest. Taking top prize this year is Breathless WInes’ NV Brut Rosé, which judges described as “Toasty, nutty”; “raspberry and exotic spice”; “elegant, balanced with a long finish.” In addition to Best of Show, the wine also took honors as Best Domestic Sparkling. “This wine is a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. This blending brings out the best of all three varieties and complexity to the finished wine,” says winemaker Penny Gadd-Coster. “Flavors of white cherry, lime and watermelon all wrapped up with an elegant style of Rosé. The fine mousse brings a creaminess that adds to the elegance in the mouthfeel of this beautifully crafted wine. I always want the grapes to be featured, but also give a nod to tradit

Afternoon Brief, October 20th

Sonoma’s Toad Hollow Vineyards Acquired by ‘Masters of Guerrilla Winefare’: Unoaked Chardonnay pioneer Toad Hollow has been sold to WarRoom Cellars for an undisclosed sum...

September 21, 2023 — The 2023 International Eastern Wine Competition and West Coast Wine Competition match-up has announced Eberle Winery’s 2021 Cotes-du-Robles Rouge, a Rhone-style blend, as the Best of the Best…of the Best. A blend of 54% Grenache; 38% Mourvedre and 8% Syrah, Eberle’s red blend wowed judges, who described the wine as “Very well balanced,” “Black currant,” “Shows Grenache really nicely,” with a “really nice mouthfeel.” Located in California’s Paso Robles AVA, Eberle Winery (www.eberlewinery.com) was established in 1979 and now produces up to 15 wines annually. In addition to this year’s top winner, five other Eberle entries earned gold awards or better. This two-pronged East vs. West contest first chooses winners in the separate International Eastern Wine Competition and West Coast Wine Competition (see parameters below), before the top wines from each are pitted against each other in

Seismic shifts are rocking wineries’ traditional methods of producing and selling wine. The industry has recognized the vital need to capture the interest of younger consumers to compensate for reduced spending by its older buyer base. Agriculture’s growing acceptance of climate change ― painfully reinforced by increasingly frequent wildfires and droughts ― has led to more sustainable vineyard and winery practices, requiring investments that have sometimes dug deep into budgets. According to Jarod Hernandez, Product Manager for Wine, Spirits, and Beverages at global label materials supplier UPM Raflatac, these shifts also impact wine packaging. “The biggest trends I’m seeing are an increasing commitment to sustainability and the market impact of Millennials and Gen Z,” Hernandez notes, “and these are converging since these consumers may not want to open a 750 ml bottle of wine and leave it open, instead preferring single-use cans or bottles.” A

FIVE SURPRISING MARKETING STRATEGIES TO INCREASE SALES BY DAN PENDERGAST It is a natural reaction – when you need cash, the gut reaction is to turn to marketing and demand more. More emails, more social media posts, more ads, and more offers. But the volume of marketing does not have an equal or parallel relationship to results. If you send twice as many emails, you may get less than twice as many sales, and a 20% discount will likely deliver less than double the sales of a 10% discount. Furthermore, marketing isn’t turnkey and often takes months (or years) of consistency to witness results. So why execute marketing if you can’t count on it to provide sales? Marketing provides your product (wine) with a brand. A brand is a reason to buy your wine and charge a specific price for your wine above other wines. Without marketing, there’d be no brands; without brands, all wines are the same. Marketing can even create value beyond the product. Take Barefoot, for examp

Afternoon Brief, November 30th

Sotheby’s and Napa Valley Vintners Announce First-of-Its-Kind Partnership: Napa Valley Vintners today announces the appointment of Sotheby’s as their new auction partner, marking the first time that Sotheby’s has partnered with a wine region to help connect wine consumers, collectors and connoisseurs to its wines...