Afternoon Brief: Alecia Moore, Winemaker and Two Wolves Wine Founder, Announced as Keynote Speaker for 2025 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium

The Unified Wine and Grape Symposium is proud to welcome Alecia Moore, winemaker and founder of Two Wolves Wine, as the keynote luncheon speaker to kick off the 2025 show on Tuesday, January 28...

While the start of the serious rainfall here in California (hopefully) marks the end of fire season and smoke-taint risk, there is still a significant amount of fruit that has not yet been harvested, particularly in the cooler coastal regions like Monterey. Unpicked fruit now faces an increased risk of Botrytis and other rots, especially if the rains continue and it becomes difficult to get harvest equipment into the vineyards. The ATPGroup team has some suggestions on best ways to handle grapes infected with Botrytis Cinerea: Assess the Damage Check the infection rate of your fruit and have the laccase levels of your wine tested if you are concerned with residual levels. Dose recommendation ranges given below are for low to moderate rates of infection (5%–10%). Lots with greater than 20% infection may require additional measures. Please contact our technical team with questions on handling these extreme conditions. Pick it Cold The lower the temperature of the must, th

by Mark Steranka, Partner, Advisory Services; Jay Silverstein, Partner, Private Clients Practice; and Bill Vyenielo, Senior Business Consultant, Wine, Beer & Spirits Practice A version of this article was previously published in the December 2019 edition of  Wine Business Monthly. No matter where you are within the life cycle of your business, there are questions, decisions, and solutions that need to be determined. Whether your business is in the start-up, growth, or maturity phase, or if it’s preparing for an exit or transition, entering a new stage is often exciting as well as challenging. Critical activities like strategic planning need to take place during each of these phases to meet future goals—and to prepare for an eventual exit. This article identifies key activities that should be focused on in each phase of your business. Start-Up Phase The start-up phase begins when you decide to turn your idea into a business. Start by breaking down this phase into conc