Imagine your VP of Sales announcing they’ve ditched CRM for a Rolodex. Or your finance director saying Excel is too modern, so they’re switching to chalkboard.  And yet, here we are — 2025 — squinting at billbacks for hours on end and sending reps to visit every retail account like the entire industry is running for sheriff. Automation isn’t new, but for the wine & spirits world, it might as well be black magic. We love to talk about efficiency, scaling, and modernizing — right up until someone proposes replacing busywork with bots. Suddenly, it’s “But our rep relationships!” or “This is how we’ve always done it.” As if nostalgia for manual labor is part of our brand identity. Let’s get one thing straight: no one’s asking you to hand your label design to Midjourney or let ChatGPT pick your clones. We’re talking about automating the parts of your business that drain time, w

I spend an embarrassing amount of time every January reading year-end recaps, trend reports, and “culture in review” pieces. It’s part professional habit, part curiosity, part doomscrolling with a notebook. But as I started flipping through 2025 retrospectives, something felt… off. Not alarming. Not exciting. Just oddly muted. Nothing was shouting. Nothing felt particularly sharp. Even the topics that usually come with big opinions seemed softened, neutralized, turned down a few notches. So I pulled the thread. And the more I looked, the more I began noticing the same quiet signals emerging in places that had no connection to each other: design trends, language, social behavior, media content, fashion, and even travel preferences. Different industries. Different audiences. Same emotional temperature. Meh. Which led me to a question I couldn’t shake: Is this increasing indecisiveness a new form of rebellion? A sign of boredom? Or are we just culturall

The Wine Industry Financial Symposium 2025 and its speakers made one thing abundantly clear: the wineries that will succeed in this current market and into the future will look fundamentally different from the wineries that dominated in the past. The industry is undergoing a structural reset. Shaped by shifting consumer behavior, oversupply, rising costs, evolving demographics, and a fiercely competitive landscape. Yet within this challenging environment lies an enormous opportunity. The sessions throughout the conference consistently revealed the same profile of a successful, future-ready winery. It is not the winery with the most acreage or the flashiest tasting room. It is the winery that is disciplined, adaptable, and deeply tuned into the consumer. Across all sessions, the profile of the successful winery became clear: Create a lean operation Efficiency is not cost-cutting; it’s clarity. Lean wineries eliminate waste, streamline processes, leverage automa

The global wine industry is facing its most significant disruption in decades. Consumption has declined since 2018, vineyard yields are down, and consumer habits have shifted toward spirits, seltzers, and cannabis-based alternatives. (Source: Eric Asimov, New York Times, Oct 14 2025) Meanwhile, costs continue to rise. Labor, glass, freight, and compliance add expense at every stage of the value chain, while tariffs and climate volatility erode margins. For small producers — the cultural backbone of the industry — survival now depends on efficiency, transparency, and direct engagement with consumers. Market Overview Global wine sales peaked near $360 billion in 2018. Since then, total volume has fallen roughly 10%, with the steepest drop in entry-level wines. Premium segments have fared better, reflecting a long-term 'drink-less-but-better' trend. Within the U.S., per-capita wine consumption has retreated to pre-2015 levels even as total beverage-alcohol spending gr

Amcor’s annual reveal highlights how consumer insights drive new concepts in package design. Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, announced its 2025 Bottles of the Year, in celebration of National Packaging Design Day. Annually, Amcor Rigid Packaging Bottles of the Year recognizes the best in innovative and responsible conceptual packaging designs that meet the latest trends in consumer preferences in the beverage, spirits & wine, food & dairy, home & personal care and healthcare segments. “The Bottles of the Year program celebrates the best in packaging design,” said Terry Patcheak, Vice President of R&D, Sustainability and Project Management at Amcor Rigid Packaging. “Our designers are constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible with packaging, and we are proud to highlight that thinking through this program. With Bottles of the Year, our goal is to illustrate how evolving consumer tre

A well-told story can transform casual buyers into lifelong fans. Your winery’s brand isn’t just about the wine—it’s about the moments it becomes a part of. The way your customers experience your brand, whether visiting your tasting room, joining your wine club, or opening a bottle at home, determines whether they come back for more.  Your Winery’s Story: More Than Just a Bottle of Wine What do you want people to feel when they experience your wine? Not just when they taste it—but when they visit your winery, when they join your club, when they open a bottle at home with friends. Do you want them to feel like they’re part of something special—a family tradition passed down for generations? Do you want them to feel like an insider—someone who discovered a bold, independent winery rewriting the rules? Do you want them to feel inspired—that every sip connects them to the land, the craft, and the passion behind it? Find Your

When you think of a tractor, do you picture the sturdy, hardworking machine of the past or today’s powerful, modern marvel? For wineries, cideries, and fruit farmers, tractors symbolize the bridge between nature and craft. But how does this relate to marketing? Tractor symbolism can be marketing gold. Let’s explore this through two brands our team has worked on, illustrating how the old and new of the tractor world can inspire marketing. Built to Last: The Legacy of Road 13 In 2008, Pam & Mick Luckhurst sought to rebrand their winery, originally named Golden Mile Cellars. Our team discovered that “It’s All About The Dirt” was a core value, which became the foundation for a new brand. The heart of this brand was the tractor Mick drove through the vineyard, accompanied by his dogs. This rebrand transformed the winery into a standout on shelves and a household name for wine lovers in BC. The enduring presence of the tractor reflects its timeless appeal.

Every year, Pinterest Predicts drops its trend report, and this year’s insights are bigger than just what’s trending on the platform—they reflect broader cultural shifts that wineries can tap into across their marketing, experiences, and product development. With Pinterest’s track record of predicting trends with 80% accuracy, these insights are worth paying attention to, not just on Pinterest but across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and even in your tasting room. Here’s how wineries can creatively use these 2025 trends to attract attention, engage audiences, and stay ahead of the curve. Why Pinterest Trends Matter for Wineries Trends aren’t just fleeting moments—they shape what your customers are looking for and how they connect with your brand. Pinterest isn’t just a visual discovery platform; it’s where people go to dream, plan, and shop. With over 500 million monthly users, it’s a massive pool of inspiration.

It's Not Too Late To Make Your Brand Stand Out This Season The holiday season is upon us, and with over 40% of holiday shopping still up for grabs, there’s plenty of opportunity to make this year a success. Here’s how to create marketing that captures attention, boosts sales, and makes your brand memorable during the busiest shopping months of the year. 1. Know Your Audience's Shopping Patterns Holiday shopping is a marathon, not a sprint! While some shoppers start in August, most still buy in November and December. By timing your campaigns and maintaining consistent engagement, you’ll be top of mind for those last-minute shoppers. 2. Offer The Perfect Balance Of Choice And Convenience People crave personalized options but want a hassle-free shopping experience. Offering curated, easy-to-buy gift sets or customizable options can appeal to both the buyer’s convenience and the gift recipient’s unique tastes. 3. Tap Into Emotional Connections Holida

Gnarly Head Wines and the Grateful Dead Release Limited Edition Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel with Glow-Under-Blacklight Labels

Second Vintage of Collaboration Features the Deads Iconic Dancing Bear and Lightning Bolt-Skull Motifs in Collectible Bottles that Come to Life