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

Sonoma County Winegrowers Focus on Creating Experiences to Engage New and Existing Wine Lovers SANTA ROSA, Calif. (January 17, 2025) – For over a decade, Sonoma County Winegrowers has been at the forefront of innovation, forging powerful partnerships with iconic brands like John Deere, Ford Pro, Wilbur Ellis, Landry’s, and the San Francisco Giants. As unveiled at this week’s annual Dollars & $ense meeting, held virtually, 2025 marks a year dedicated to “Renewing, Building, and Growing” these renowned programs, expanding their reach, amplifying the Sonoma County story, and setting new benchmarks in excellence. As Karissa Kruse, president and chief executive officer of Sonoma County Winegrowers, started her presentation with a review of the past twelve years since she joined the organization, it was clear that the results in building the brand’s visibility over the years has been successful. From being world leaders in sustainability, to sports ma

The Marketing Behind Come Over October Hopefully, by now, you’ve seen some wineries participate in Come Over October, a new program launched to benefit the wine industry. Our industry is facing a critical shift where the cultural narrative around wine is being scrutinized. At the same time, loneliness and isolation are now at epidemic levels, and the simple act of sharing wine, which has always been a catalyst for connection, seems to be losing its place. The goal of Come Over October, launched by wine journalist Karen MacNeil and PR veterans Gino Colangelo and Kimberly Noelle Charles, is to counter these trends. The idea is simple: encourage friends, family, and colleagues to “come over” in October to share a bottle and reconnect. It’s not about fancy wine pairings or breaking the bank—just using wine as a focus to celebrate being together in an increasingly disconnected world. The wine industry, as always, adapts to challenges, and this campaign is a re

Ensuring your brand’s story is well-executed and stands out on the shelf is what label design is all about. We spoke with two designers from different corners of the world to get their take on what makes a successful label project. Boldrini & Ficcardi I Mendoza, Argentina  If Argentine Malbec had to choose a quality label designer, B&F would probably be the first choice. They founded their design studio 30 years ago in the heart of the Mendoza wine region. Since then, they have been instrumental in the growth of the Argentine wine landscape with innovative, elegant and sophisticated designs, influencing the next generation of wine and spirits designers around the world.  For this project, Victor Boldrini and Leonardo Ficcardi worked in collaboration with MCC Mendoza to develop a stunning label for the Make a Mark wine catalog, for the Delacasa label of Terroir Wine winery.  What was your inspiration for the design of this label?The inspiration for the crea

Local Growers Gather to Celebrate Ten Years of Sustainable Winegrowing  SANTA ROSA, Calif.  (January 31, 2024) – Each year, when many of Sonoma County’s 1,800 certified sustainable winegrape growers gather for the Sonoma County Winegrowers’ (SCW) annual meeting, they want to know what is next for one of the world’s most sustainable winegrowing regions. Today, they learned the answer to their question: Sonoma County Winegrowers will embark on a major collaboration with one of the world’s most iconic brands, John Deere Company. The collaboration with John Deere will be an addition to SCW’s innovative Farm of the Future, a living lab for the future of agriculture and an innovation accelerator. Through this living lab, Sonoma County winegrowers and innovative companies can pilot concepts that may eventually result in game-changing solutions that can be shared with farmers across the country and around the world. John Deere is the latest co

Celebrity-owned Cottonwood winery receives funding from California-based financial company

Maynard James Keenan, renowned as the frontman of the iconic rock band Tool, has embarked on an ambitious expansion of his Verde Valley winery and vineyard located in Arizona. To...

UNRAVELING THREADS In the ever-evolving digital landscape, wineries continuously explore innovative avenues to promote their brand and connect with wine enthusiasts. The emergence of cutting-edge technologies has opened up exciting possibilities for wineries to enhance their marketing strategies, but choosing the right platform can make all the difference. The big news this past month is the launch of Meta’s new platform, Threads. Threads is a new app built by Meta’s Instagram team for sharing text updates and joining public conversations. But should you consider it for yourself, and what opportunities does it hold for your winery’s business purposes? Several Twitter competitors, aside from Threads, have recently made headlines. Notable apps like Bluesky, Mastodon, Spill, Post, and even Donald Trump’s Truth Social have gained attention for various reasons. While many of these platforms experienced a brief surge in users due to policies introduced by Musk that le

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

Gnarly Head Wines and the Grateful Dead Announce Partnership to Launch Two Limited-Edition Gnarly Wines 

LODI, Calif., Jun. 16, 2022—Gnarly Head®, a producer of bold California wines from gnarly old vines, announced today a partnership with iconic American rock band, the Grateful Dead, to release […]