These wineries and leaders are setting the standard for innovation, engagement, and operational excellence across our community. Active Participant 🔹 Galen Becker Drace — Arkenstone Estate Winery Continuous Learner 🔹 Angela Walker — Corison Winery Community Champion 🔹 Truman Prewitt — Sculpterra Winery & Vineyards  The Unity Award 🔹 Karen Darling — Bella Vineyards Feedback MVPs 🔹 Adam C. — Somerston Estate 🔹 Marian Kildahl — Imagery Estate Winery  Super Users 🔹 Harry Bagnaschi — Treasury Wine Estates 🔹 Doug M. — The Duckhorn Portfolio 🔹 Jessica Hartin — JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery Early Adopter Excellence 🔹 Far Niente Wine Estates 🔹 Hess Persson Estates  🔹 Laurel Glen Vineyard 🔹 Sangiacomo Family Wines Transformation Champions 🔹 Alyssa Kosan 🔹 Eric Mueller — Antica Terra 🔹 Kevin Jessen — Firstleaf User of the Year 🔹 Rebbecca Ingalls — Crimson Wine Group Congratulations to our 2026 honorees! Lea

“Peer to peer.” What are my neighbors doing? How are my neighbors doing, in relation to my winery? I’m all for running your own race, and doing what’s right for your own brand and your own business. I also understand that we live in a tight, relational ecosystem of wine. What’s happening with your peers matters and it can provide important perspective and context for what’s happening with you. This week I’d like to hover over two peer-to-peer perspectives. First up, our latest “snapshot” from January, highlighting key metrics across our entire dataset. For the first time we’re also including the WISE Triple Score, thanks to our newest partnership with the WISE team. Important takeaways from this community snapshot: Wineries gathered more customer data this January than last January, successfully building their databases for future marketing efforts. Winning wineries convert improved data capture and club conversion

One of the joys of winemaking is mastering the process itself — gaining enough knowledge to tweak it to create signature wines. It takes years to reach this level of expertise, and those years are filled with experimentation. Many winemakers prefer to use precise measurements to guide their decision-making process. Winemakers monitor sulfite levels following fermentation, typically every 4‒8 weeks, to ensure sulfite levels remain constant until the wine is bottled. Unfortunately, taking measurements like these can be tedious when done manually, often taking 12‒15 minutes per sample. For a winery with 50‒70 lots, these checks could require an entire week of dedicated lab work each month. Visual assessment of the meniscus in a burette means that the resulting data can lean toward subjectivity. Most winemakers wouldn't dream of skipping these important measurements. Yet, the time needed to do them manually and the risk of inaccurate results are impediments to a streamlined pro

Blended Technologies is excited to announce the appointment of Heather Crawford as its new Vice President of Growth.  Heather, a seasoned leader at the intersection of the wine industry and technology, most recently served as an operations, sales and marketing leader at Vintrace. Her career has been defined by integrating cutting-edge technological solutions within some of the world’s leading wineries, including Treasury Wine Estates, Far Niente and Wente Vineyards.  With her proven commercial track record, Heather will focus on scaling Blended’s market presence and commercial operations. She will work alongside the Blended team and report directly to CEO, Matt Witte.  "Heather’s deep expertise in business development will be pivotal as we accelerate our growth," said Matt Witte, founder of Blended. "She has been a leader in winery operations software for many years, and her insights have helped drive innovation across the industry. We&r

Sales Trends and Predictions, Consumer Motivation, Wine Club Retention, Navigating Wholesale Distribution, Wine Marketing Winners, and MORE! Join us Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Santa Rosa, CA, for this one-day event focused on delivering insights, advice, and predictions from industry leaders and winery executives from thriving brands sharing their strategies for succeeding in this competitive landscape. The Symposium program will open with a keynote address by Ben Dollard, President of Treasury Americas, and continue with topics that cover insights into customer demographics, industry sales trends and predictions, luxury wine consumer motivations & behaviors, converting website traffic into revenue, wholesale channels success, wine club retention, and more! Session panels will host speakers from notable brands that include Clif Family Winery & Farm, Customer Vineyard, DaVero Farms & Winery, Distinguished Vineyards, Far Niente Family of Wines, Knights Bridge Winery, L

2023 Wine Industry Sales Symposium Next Week ! The conference will take an in-depth look at how the wine category is performing, what the key indicators could mean for sales in the future, and will touch on every aspect of sales and marketing efforts. In addition, the event will discuss 3-Tier and Direct channel strategies, packaging innovations, pricing and public relations. Topics will cover:  • Data-Driven Insights: Sales Trends and Predictions  • Adapting Your PR Strategy for an Evolving Media Landscape  • Leveraging DTC Sales Insights to Grow Sales Nationally  • Strategies & Tactics for Engaging New Wine Enthusiasts  • The Process of Designing Next-Gen Packaging  • What Artificial Intelligence Can Do for Your Wine Brand  • Growing Your DTC Sales Without the Traffic  • Keys Growth in a Flat Wine Market: Balancing Retention & Acquisition Session panels will feature industry professionals

The wine marketplace continues its post-pandemic shifts.  By Laurie Wachter The August 24 Wine Industry Sales Symposium consisted of four sessions covering the value of DTC and sales data in boosting sales, planning for the holidays, corporate gifting and luxury marketing strategy. Here’s a quick look back. Using Data Analytics to Optimize DTC Pricing and Inventory Depletion Costs have risen exponentially since the onset of the pandemic, making it even more critical to use data analytics to guide wine pricing to maximize profits.  “Wineries have an amazing amount of data from their POS systems and wine clubs that can be used to build a depletion curve, price elasticity estimates and predictive models,” says Bob Terzotis of Mather Economics.  Jim Moroney reached out to Mather after opening Sixmilebridge Vineyards (Paso Robles, Calif.) during the pandemic. “We were running out of Cabernet Sauvignon partway into our first vintage. I needed to raise t

Afternoon Brief, May 9th

Casella in Huge Vineyard Sell-Off: Casella Family Brands is selling 35 vineyards covering 7,258 hectares in South Australia and Victoria...

Far Niente Winery Sponsors UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s 25th Annual “Taste for a Cure” 

May 9th – The UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s (JCCF) signature event, Taste for a Cure, celebrated its 25th anniversary on Friday, April 29th at The Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel. […]

Napa Valley Benchmark Far Niente Acquires Significant Vineyard Acreage in Carneros

Oakville, CA, July 21, 2021 – Renowned Napa Valley winery Far Niente today announces its acquisition of a 133-acre vineyard in the Carneros AVA of Napa Valley. Formerly known as the Gran Val vineyard, 60 acres are currently under vine and preparations are underway to plant an additional 73 acres in spring 2022. The vineyard […]