WineDirect to Commerce7: 19% Growth in Club Customization, 50% Less Support, and the End of "Batch Day" TL;DR: Faced with manual bottlenecks on WineDirect, Hill Family Estate migrated to Commerce7 to empower their members. The results were immediate: a 19% increase in customized club shipments and a 50% reduction in support volume. Most importantly, the team reclaimed 4-5 hours of manual labour per club run by allowing their customers to customize their orders online and move to fully automated background processing.  Founded by third-generation farmer Doug Hill, Hill Family Estate is a family-run operation in Napa Valley that blends deep vineyard expertise with approachable hospitality. Their winery and tasting room experiences are known for being family-friendly, intimate, and deeply rooted in the land they have farmed for decades. For Allison Negrón, DTC Manager at Hill Family Estate, the goal is always to provide a seamless, personali

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

The fog along the California coast is alive — it flows from the Pacific Ocean up through passes in the protective coastal ranges and into the valleys like a tide. It rises into the hills and breathes before slowly receding to the valley floors and retreating through the mountains, across the sands and into the ocean waters. Toward the north, these fogs nurture the redwoods, and all along the coast, they provide relief from hot daytime temperatures for many wine country vineyards. The Niner Estate vineyards are near Paso Robles, about 20 miles from the Pacific Ocean. They are protected from the cold maritime winds by the Santa Lucia mountain range that parallels the coastline. One of the valleys the fog creeps through is the nearby Templeton Gap. For over a decade, Niner Wine Estates’ winemaker Patrick Muran has been crafting the Fog Catcher Bordeaux blend that he says is “named after the cool banks of fog we often see drifting over our vineyards on early mornings in

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

One of the larger industry trends reflected here at LibDib is the proliferation of craft tequila and mezcal brands. These brands have amazing stories behind them and we love supporting small importers and distilleries. So do our retail, bar and restaurant customers throughout our 15 states.   Here’s a sample of a few of the most amazing craft tequila and mezcal brands: Black Sheep Tequila: For spirits connoisseurs craving a taste for something new, yet extraordinarily steeped in tradition, Black Sheep Tequila provides a line of tequilas produced entirely from the labor-intensive, centuries-old, hands-on process. This tequila is sourced from only the highest-quality 100 percent Weber Blue Agave and is traditionally handcrafted to create the perfect balance of flavors. Additive free, Black Sheep shares clean unique styles of tequila, including the famous Still Strength Aged 15 Year Extra Añejo, Barrel Strength Extra Añejo, Extra Añejo, Añejo, Reposa

Across six generations, the Hill-Smith Family has evolved from pioneering grape growers and winemakers to a global wine company integrated through vine cultivation, wine growing, wine making, and international distribution, with a diverse portfolio of world-renowned wine brands and vineyard sites across esteemed wine regions, including Barossa, Limestone Coast, Riverland, Tasmania, and Marlborough. In an intentional shift, they've upscaled their production strategy by implementing InnoVint as their winery operating system. This transition was part of a pivotal change to embrace purpose-built, modern technology to advance operations across their wine business from dirt to shelf. The Challenge Legacy Systems and the Need for Modernization Facing the reality of their legacy wine production software nearing end of life, Hill-Smith Family Estates (HSFE) recognized they needed technology to meet their current and future needs. Brent Jones, COO and Executive Director of Operations at HSFE

The Australian ‘Black Summer’ of 2019/20, which saw bushfires destroy swathes of vineyard land across the country was a dramatic reminder of the growing challenges facing winemakers around the world. We spoke to leading Australian winemakers and lab technicians to find out how agile decision-making is helping to deal with the consequences of global warming. Offering alarming proof of the escalating effects of climate change, in November 2019 bushfires blazed through New South Wales, scorching more than five million hectares of land following Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. In December 2019, the fires swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 650 ha of vines in the region, and wiping out entire vineyards. Making matters worse, the smoke from the fires was far-reaching, rendering vineyard plots from Canberra to the Hunter Valley useless. Ravaging an estimated 24.3 million hectares of land in total and destroying over 3,000 buildings, the September 2019

Early morning fog from the Pacific Ocean flows into the Anderson Valley through the coastal redwoods and rises into the hills before dissipating as day warms the air. These maritime influences keep daytime temperatures low, making it the coolest wine-growing region in California and the perfect environment for the Pinot Noir grapes for which it has gained fame. “Over the past decade, Anderson Valley has entered the world stage,” says Kristen McMahan, Winemaker at Goldeneye. “As one of the largest producers in the Valley, we take that to heart. We want people to explore Anderson Valley, and we want to be a good representative and steward of the place where we grow grapes and make wine. We're really proud of it, and so we aim to deliver the best possible examples of the Valley’s wines.” When it was designated an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in 1982, two-thirds of the Anderson Valley’s 582 vineyard acres were planted to Chardonnay and Alsace Var

Sokol Blosser Adds Nutrition and Ingredient Information to Wine Labels

New Label Debuts on 2023 Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir, Launching Now Dundee Hills, Ore. – Jan. 17, 2024 – Sokol Blosser Winery, a pioneering family-owned and -operated winery, is […]