How Packaging Suppliers Are Supporting the Future of Wine As wineries continue to adapt to shifting consumer preferences and production demands, packaging innovation remains a key area of focus. Closure manufacturers are responding with solutions that support not only product protection, but also convenience, branding, and production efficiency. Herti, with more than 30 years of experience in closure solutions, continues to serve the wine and beverage sectors with a broad portfolio designed for modern bottling needs. For wineries evaluating packaging upgrades, closure selection is increasingly seen as part of the larger strategy around quality assurance and consumer trust.

In this episode of the WIN Insider Series, George Christie sits down with Alison Crowe, Vice President of Winemaking and Partner at Plata Wine Partners, to explore her remarkable journey through the wine industry. From her early days growing up in California’s Central Coast to studying viticulture and enology at UC Davis, Alison shares how curiosity, hands-on experience, and a willingness to take risks shaped her career across roles at Chalone Vineyard, Curtis Winery, and Bonny Doon Vineyard. She also reflects on authoring The Winemaker’s Answer Book and how translating complex winemaking concepts into practical insights has been a common thread in her work. Alison offers a candid look at today’s wine landscape, from the collaborative, client-focused model at Plata Wine Partners to the broader challenges facing the industry, including shifting consumer preferences and increased competition. She discusses the importance of making wine more approachable, the need for

While we’ve covered myRanch in the past, we’ve decided it needs its own dedicated tutorial series. This is the first official video in that series, starting from the ground up. This video covers: Access myRanch: Log in via Android, iOS, or web.  Profile Management: Verify and update your contact info.  Security: Reset your temporary password.  App Preferences: Set your language and landing page.  Graph Tooltips: Customize how you view sensor data.  Alert Settings: Configure notifications for property health and frost.  

Insights from a bottling manager and how Clevertech’s team backed him at every step When wineries invest in automation - whether to reduce manual labor, boost performance, or keep production running smoothly - another question becomes just as important: Will the supplier be there to support us when we need them? At Oak Ridge Winery, Bottling Manager Steven Uline recently oversaw the installation of a Clevertech bulk depalletizer, case erector, and partition inserter into their existing bottling line. For him, the decision wasn’t only about the capabilities of the machinery. It was also about having confidence that the level of after-sales service and support would remain dependable over the long term. “Clevertech’s quality of support is great,” Uline says. “They were very responsive to our specific challenges and committed to finding solutions that worked for us. During installation, we kept a punch list of open items and worked through it together.&

Five years ago, running a winery on Shopify meant duct-taping a lot of things together. Great for e-commerce. Okay for DTC. Difficult for wine clubs. Not really designed for tasting rooms. That's changed. The combination of Shopify's platform investments and a handful of wine-specific apps has created something genuinely new: a single operational stack that connects your tasting room, your wine club, your online store, and your loyalty program under one customer record. That convergence has real operational consequences — and it's why an increasing number of wineries are consolidating everything onto Shopify. Here's what's actually different. Your Card on File, Finally Done Right One very frustrating limitation of running a winery business on Shopify used to be simple: Shopify didn't let you vault a customer's payment card and charge it later for anything other than a subscription — not from your POS or your back office or sales team for one-tim

Looking for innovative ways to keep your wine club members engaged? Awtomic Moments lets you visualize and gamify retention—helping wineries build long-term loyalty, increase average order value, and create personalized rewards program When it comes to wine club retention, wineries often focus on the basics: great wine, exclusive perks, and occasional discounts. But what if you could gamify retention, making every shipment feel like a milestone and every year of membership feel like an achievement? That’s exactly what Awtomic Moments is designed to do. 🍷✨ What Makes Awtomic Moments So Unique? Awtomic Moments is an industry-first tool that visualizes a customer’s membership journey, making it easy to see: ✅ What rewards they’ve earned ✅ What’s coming next ✅ Why it’s worth staying in the club By gamifying retention, wineries can create excitement, anticipation, and long-term loyalty—turning passive subscribers into engaged advocates who s

A tumultuous 2025 economy likely depressed wine sales. In 2026, the higher-end segments should continue to outperform, and the grape market should be less oversupplied when harvest begins. REPORT SNAPSHOT Situation: Wine sales softened across the board in 2025, and prices stagnated as a result of consumer price sensitivity and heightened competition among producers trying to move excess inventory. Although the wine market slump continues, relative bright spots include premium and luxury wines, nonalcoholic and ready-to-drink wines, and white and sparkling wines. Outlook: I’m not expecting a material change in the trajectory of U.S. wine sales in the near term, though I see the most potential for progress in the second half of the year. There should be less excess supply burdening the grape market when the 2026 harvest begins than there was in 2025. Impact: For wineries that are fairly certain about their grape needs, it may be prudent to act sooner rather than later. Download the

Fruitful Innovation Can Lead to Tax Benefits Napa has never had the luxury of standing still. This valley adapts. When the weather shifts, growers adjust. When consumer preferences change, winemakers experiment. New rootstock. New clones. Different planting locations. New production techniques. Reinvention here is not a trend. It is how we survive. That is innovation. And in many cases, it is also research. We are not talking about changing a label design or launching a new club tier. We're talking about the real technical questions you wrestle with in the vineyard and the cellar: Can this new grape clone handle higher temperatures? Will adjusting canopy management reduce sunburn without sacrificing ripeness? Can we modify fermentation to improve stability or manage alcohol levels? Is there a way to produce a non-alcohol option that still feels like wine? When you do not know the answer and you run trials to find it, you are eliminating uncertainty. You are experimenting. You are

The art of crafting the perfect bottle can elevate a brand to new heights. In the competitive world of wine and spirits, packaging plays a pivotal role in capturing consumer attention and conveying brand identity. This is where the expertise and innovation of Global Package and the leading-edge designs of Estal converge. Global Package is the preferred distributor for Estal in the US, working together since 2007. Our partnership brings together a wealth of experience in sourcing, supplying, and designing exceptional glass packaging. Together, we offer a comprehensive solution that empowers wine and spirit brands to stand out on the shelves and connect with their audience. Estal: A Leader in Glass Packaging Innovation Estal is a global leader in crafting exceptional glass packaging renowned for its commitment to innovation, quality, and sustainability.  Boasting over 25 years of industry expertise, Estal has honed its craft of design, understanding the unique packaging needs of th

myWineClubApp™ - Agency Partner Plan Wine Marketing Agencies Are Quietly Claiming a New DTC Communication Channel Something unusual is happening in wine marketing. While much of the industry continues to wrestle with declining response rates, unreliable email deliverability, and growing SMS fatigue, a new pattern is emerging behind the scenes: wine marketing agencies are beginning to secure strategic positions around an entirely new DTC communication channel. The channel is myWineClubApp™ — a patent-pending, preference-based messaging platform designed specifically for modern wine clubs. Why myWineClubApp? Originally developed as a direct solution for wineries struggling with fragmented customer communications, myWineClubApp has quickly drawn attention from agencies who recognize a larger opportunity: helping their winery clients establish a persistent, brand-owned presence on consumers’ phones while reducing dependence on traditional channels. Unlike conven