Reimagining Vineyards. Revitalizing Revenue. Reconnecting with Community.  For over 40 years, Allen Land Design has helped shape the beauty and function of Northern California’s iconic wine country. We’ve built bocce courts, tasting patios, and elegant garden  landscapes. But today, every winery has these—and still, many are struggling.  It’s time for something new.  Introducing: “Beyond the Vines” – A New Vision for Wine Country  We are partnering with forward-thinking wineries ready to transform unused or underperforming vineyard blocks (5–25 acres) into innovative, revenue-generating, and community-driven destinations.  Instead of competing with 5–7 tastings in a day, offer your guests a 2–3 hour immersive experience that blends agriculture, art, technology, food, and connection.  What’s Growing Next? (Hint: It’s not just grapes)  Before the grape boom, Sonoma and Napa counties grew:  • Grains (wheat, barley) – Perfect for

The Secret Ingredient in Great Blends Now available: 2026 Cabernet Franc Grapes — a versatile red wine option for wineries looking to refine blends or craft distinctive, aromatic standalone offerings. Cabernet Franc plays a unique role in winemaking. It brings bright red fruit, herbal lift, and refined tannin structure , making it a powerful tool for adding balance and complexity to red blends. As wineries finalize blending decisions and prepare for upcoming bottlings, listings like this provide a valuable opportunity to incorporate a varietal known for finesse, freshness, and versatility . View Listing The WIN Marketplace is built to connect buyers and sellers across the wine industry, and listings like this Cabernet Franc highlight how the platform helps wineries efficiently source wines that enhance both blending and standalone programs. Known for its aromatic complexity, bright fruit, and balanced structure, Cabernet Franc offers winemakers a versatile option for refining style a

Enological enzymes have proven their value in wineries around the world to produce wine with enhanced varietal aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and color. Selective release of these flavor, color, and aromatic compounds from the epidermic and hypodermic cell layers of the grape skin serves to increase varietal intensity without introducing undesirable components. The right blend of enzymes can be used to enhance and support the winemaking process to achieve desired and reliable results. MACERATION & EXTRACTION   BioSelect ®  Noir           • Increase color extraction and improve color stability in premium red wines        • Release anthocyanins, tannins, and polysaccharides early in maceration “We did notice an increase in color. Stability of the color is done really well considering that’s kind of a fight here in Texas since we are dealing with higher pH wines. We’ve noticed even with those higher pHs, the color stability

Sonoma, CA – April 22, 2026 – Free Flow Wines announces the winners of the 13th Annual KEGGY Awards, honoring outstanding partners who are advancing sustainability, quality, and innovation across the wine and hospitality industries. Now aligned with Earth Month, the KEGGY Awards continue to spotlight the environmental and operational benefits of wine on tap, while celebrating the growing community of wineries, distributors, and on-premise operators leading the charge. FFW & Partners’ Cumulative Impact to Date: 45,448,130 bottles saved from landfill 80,827,751 lbs. of CO₂ emissions prevented from entering the atmosphere New in 2026, Free Flow Wines has expanded its award categories to recognize excellence across a broader set of hospitality leaders. These new honors celebrate accounts that demonstrate a strong commitment to reusable stainless steel kegs, investment in draft beverage quality, and a dedication to elevating the overall guest experience. New categories include Best Ho

In this episode of the WIN Insider Series, George Christie sits down with Alison Crowe, Vice President of Winemaking and Partner at Plata Wine Partners, to explore her remarkable journey through the wine industry. From her early days growing up in California’s Central Coast to studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis, Alison shares how curiosity, hands-on experience, and a willingness to take risks shaped her career across roles at Chalone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, and Bonny Doon Vineyard. She also reflects on authoring The Winemaker’s Answer Book and how translating complex winemaking concepts into practical insights has been a common thread in her work. Alison offers a candid look at today’s wine landscape, from the collaborative, client-focused model at Plata Wine Partners to the broader challenges facing the industry, including shifting consumer preferences and increased competition. She discusses the importance of making wine more approachable, the need for

Your next customer will see your winery before they ever taste your wine. They'll see it on Instagram while planning a weekend trip. They'll see it on your website while deciding whether to book a reservation. They'll see it in an email while considering whether your wine club is worth joining. And in every one of those moments, they're making a decision based on what your visuals tell them about who you are. This isn't a trend. It's how people buy now. According to a 2023 study by Cloudinary and Harris Poll, 75% of online shoppers say product photos are the most influential factor in their purchase decisions. That number holds across categories, and it holds in wine. The difference is that wineries aren't just selling a product. They're selling an experience, a place, a feeling. Which means your visual content has to do more work than a product shot on a white background. It has to make someone want to be there. Most wineries know this on some level. Fe

Papapietro Perry Winery and Four Roses Bourbon Take Top Honors (March 6, 2026) — Winners have been announced in the fifth annual Los Angeles Invitational Wine & Spirits Challenge. A pinot noir from Papapietro Perry (Sonoma County, Calif.) and a small batch bourbon from Four Roses Distillery (Lawrenceburg, Ky.) topped their fields to be named Best of the Best. The competition was established in 2022, in conjunction with Los Angeles-based beverage professionals (representing both the on- and off-premise channels), to highlight the best of the best wine and spirits producers in the world, and to introduce those producers to the largest market of consumers in the United States. Judging took place February 18-19, 2026. Competition this year was stellar, says event producer Debra Del Fiorentino of Wine Competitions Management & Production: “Year after year, our judges continue to be impressed with the depth in each category. The quality of product was fantastic!” Wh

Maintaining wine balance in a changing climate Climate change is reshaping the wine industry. In many wine regions, each year seems to set new records for the hottest or driest growing season, followed by the earliest harvest dates yet. Such accelerated ripening is disrupting grape physiology; phenolic and aromatic development fall out of sync, sugar levels soar, and acidity drops away (1). So how can we adapt and build a more resilient wine sector? The answer to this question is multifaceted. In the vineyards, grape growers are rethinking their management practices, adjusting canopy architecture, introducing shading or optimising irrigation (1,2). Some are reaching for higher altitudes or moving further from the equator in search of cooler conditions (1). Others are trialling alternative heat- and drought-tolerant varieties, from long-forgotten cultivars to newly bred plant material. In the cellars, winemakers may turn to pragmatic solutions such as dilution or blending strategi

Walk into almost any winery this week and you’ll see the same thing: equipment everywhere, barrels tucked into every open spot, and crews doing their best to move fruit through a cellar that already feels packed. Harvest always brings some level of chaos, but this year the space squeeze seems to be hitting harder than usual. And when the cellar is this tight, it quietly changes how winemakers make decisions. Not in big, obvious ways — but in the small, practical choices that add up over the course of a vintage. That’s where the hidden costs start to show themselves. 1. Lots Are Being Shifted Earlier Than Planned A full cellar forces movement. Not thoughtful, deliberately timed movement — just movement. When every open vessel is already promised to incoming fruit, winemakers end up: racking earlier transferring before a lot is truly settled finishing fermentations in whatever vessel is available consolidating lots sooner than planned None of these decisions a

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