Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize  November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best of Show Red Wine and Best of Monterey County AVA. Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “warm and spicy” with “fig and nutmeg.” Other descriptors included “meaty,” “prosciutto,” and “dried rose petal.”  With 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, this terroir is ignored. At the Harvest Challen

Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir Takes Top Honors November 17, 2023 — Winners have been announced in the 2023 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Lula Cellars 2020 Rescue Block Pinot Noir took the top prize. It was also awarded Best Red Wine and Best of Anderson Valley AVA (Mendocino County, Calif.). Coming in at 98 points, judges praised the wine as “rich, ripe” and for its “Bing cherry,” and “hint of orange peel.”  Lula Cellars is a boutique winery located in California’s Anderson Valley. Its focus is on world-class Pinot Noirs both from its estate and across Anderson Valley, as well as other single-vineyard offerings from the greater Mendocino County. When preparing to plant their own vines, Lula owners discovered some-1,000 old vines “literally lying down, as if waiting to be rescued.” Lots of TLC later, these mystery Pinot Noir grapes have thrived. There’s no in

Afternoon Brief, June 22nd

Vintage Wine Estates, Inc. Completes Acquisition of the Sommelier Company: Vintage Wine Estates, Inc., one of the fastest growing U.S. wine producers with an industry leading direct-to-customer platform, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of The Sommelier Company. Founded by Principal Jörn (“Joey”) Kleinhans PhD, CFA, in 2013, The Sommelier Company is a global provider of independent wine and spirits expertise, private tasting events and education...

Brian Baker is well known in the wine industry as a Sales and Profitability specialist and has given many talks and workshops on the subject. He is also a managing partner of Cultivar Marketing, which provides wine sales and marketing consulting. We recently reached out to Brian to discuss the future of the tasting room, especially in the face of COVID-19 quarantine.   Milton Cornwell: Thank you for agreeing to the interview, Brian! There is a lot I want to discuss with you, especially with all the changes we’re seeing with coronavirus [COVID-19] and how wineries are embracing technology. I can’t help but compare this to Y2K—that event fundamentally changed how companies embraced technology. Are we in a similar kind of moment now?   Brian Baker: It is a pivotal moment, if that’s what you mean. Disruptive events like these have disruptive consequences. They also create opportunities. Coming out of this crisis, winery-owned tasting rooms have a c