Afternoon Brief, February 23rd

How a Napa Farming Nonprofit Became a Political Power Broker—And Got Caught Up in a Federal Investigation: A mysterious federal investigation unfolding in Napa Valley has ensnared one of the wine industry’s most powerful entities...

Symposium Tracks Will Focus on Wholesale and Direct to Consumer Channels  Healdsburg, Calif.—April 14, 2021—Wine Industry Network (WIN) announced today that registration is now open for the Wine Industry Sales Symposium, a two-day educational conference focused on both wholesale and the direct-to-consumer sales channels. The virtual event is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, May 25th and 26th, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. PST. Registration is free for wine industry professionals. “Pivot” was the over-used phrase for the wine industry in 2020. Between the global pandemic, lockdowns, and fires that raged across the U.S. western coast, professionals in all sectors of the industry had to shift gears in order to navigate the uncertainty that ensued—particularly when it came to sales and marketing. Now, in 2021 WIN invites you to put “pivot” aside and look ahead at the industry’s new trajectory.  “As is often the case, challe

Everyone associated with the wine industry knows that labor has become more expensive, and it seems that wages are accelerating upward. The pool of largely unskilled or untrained labor is drying up, while those who remain available want more money for their work—and are getting it. Hence, there is absolutely no doubt that vineyards will increasingly adopt mechanical means to replace operations traditionally done by hand. Fortunately, necessity drives invention and innovation, and there are better versions of vineyard machines available all the time. Buying this equipment requires a significant cash investment, so growers will be willing to do so only when the return on the investment makes good business sense. But it is a little more complicated than simply substituting a machine for a human, especially in the fine-wine production sector. We have convinced ourselves that hand-farming is better than machine-farming, and wineries and winemakers are often reluctant to yield to the g