JUNE 28, 2024 – Winners have been announced in the 17th annual Women’s International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWWSC). The competition, which took place June 10-12 in Santa Rosa, Calif., was founded on the premise that the majority of wine purchased for home consumption is bought by women. The IWWSC judging panels consist entirely of professional women in the wine and spirits industries — winemakers, distillers, marketers, buyers, sommeliers, educators and journalists.  “As always, the International Women’s Wine & Spirits Competition shined a spotlight on hundreds of deserving wines,” says Debra Del Fiorentino, owner of Wine Competitions Management & Production, which organizes and presents IWWSC. “And even though entry is open to all winemakers regardless of gender, I found it gratifying that six of this year’s sweepstakes wines were created by women. And our overall wine winner also was named Best Woman Winemaker

Afternoon Brief, July 20th

Vintage Wine Estate President, Terry Wheatley, Keynote Speaker for Wine & Weed Symposium 2021: In her keynote address, Wheatley promises, “There will definitely be some 100% not politically correct storytelling.”...

We Can Do Better. Here's How. John F Kennedy said once: "It is not enough to pin the blame on others, to say this is a problem of one section of the country or another, or deplore the fact that we face. A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation, is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all." I am blessed to be surrounded each day by a team rich with diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, ages, and experiences, with many perspectives and voices to contribute. I have needed to do very little to create a relationship of respect among them except try to foster a forum where hard and serious conversations can occur (albeit over Zoom) and promote understanding, and not always force agreement. My team is doing the rest. Many are angry, most are sad, all are concerned and everyone is affected. Allyship is hard and a lifelong process but we're trying. We all need to try harder. As stewards of our client's marketi