The Hidden Mistake Many Business Owners Make When it comes to running a business, most owners are focused on day-to-day operations and long-term growth. However, one critical aspect often gets overlooked: succession planning. Whether you're in the vineyard, tech, or any other industry, succession planning ensures that your business remains successful after you transition out of the leadership role. One of the most common mistakes business owners make is waiting too long to plan their succession, often only thinking about it when it’s already too late. Reality is, preparing for your business’s future doesn't have to be stressful. In fact, it can be one of the most rewarding steps you take for the health and longevity of your company. Here are 8 tips to set your business — and successor — up for long-term success. Tip #1: Start Planning Early  It's essential to think about succession planning well in advance. Often, business owners underestim

The ninth annual Rich Smith Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the American grape and wine industry was presented today to Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas Vineyards and Winery, a co-owner of Flying Fox Vineyards and Winery, and an active leader in the Virginia wine industry. Members of the Smith family and sponsoring organizations present the Rich Smith award to Emily Hodson (third from left). The prestigious award annually reflects the spirit and accomplishments of the late Richard (Rich) Smith, founder of Valley Farm Management and Smith Family Wines in California’s Santa Lucia Highlands wine region in Monterey County. Rich was first and foremost a family man, but also a successful grape grower and winery owner, and a highly respected colleague known for the combination of passion, commitment and collaboration which helped advance the American grape and wine industry. Ever since Rich passed away in December 2015, three organizations—WineAmerica, N

Wine filtration addresses unappealing murkiness or deposits, a process that goes back to the origin of wine. Over the centuries, the means of filtration have evolved from fabrics to industrial filters to sedimentation, filtration plates, and membranes. Conventional filtration moves the juice or wine perpendicularly through the filter. This transversal filtration leads to the accumulation or caking of microorganisms and particles that result in cloudiness on the filter, which increases hydraulic resistance and reduces output volume. Bucher Vaslin, a producer of high-end winery processing equipment sold worldwide, recently introduced the latest iteration of its cross-flow filtration machinery, the Flavy X-Treme 3-in-1. This innovative and unique machine allows winemakers to filter wine, juice lees, and wine lees in a single machine. Additionally, it recovers a significant portion of previously wasted lees, increasing the quantity of saleable wine. Utilizing these recovered lees, cross-

Afternoon Brief: Seaport Strike Could Spike NYC Wine Prices, Leave Produce Rotting Offshore, Experts Warn

A looming longshoremen's strike at seaports across the East Coast is slated to hammer New York City's supply chains -- and experts said the labor action could lead to a spike in wine prices, in addition to hundreds of tons of fruit going bad on ships stuck outside the harbor with no place to dock...

RFMCO represents Hexonic heat exchangers in CA and Northern NV, including shell & tube, brazed plate and frame heat exchangers for commercial applications Hexonic is a family-owned company in Poland founded in 1988, manufacturing heat exchangers and pressure vessels. As of 2024, Hexonic assembles all its heat exchangers in South Carolina, allowing for shorter lead times to California and Nevada. And all heat exchangers are assembled in accordance with ASME codes. Download Product Catalog Model HAD Shell & Coil Heat Exchangers  Easy installation Saving space Low operating costs High efficiency Made according to PED and ASME codes Applications   HVAC systems Steam applications Heating and cooling systems Heat exchange in industrial processes Oil coolers Working Parameters   Max. temperature: 482 ° F Min. temperature: -4°F Max. pressure: 363 PSI Model H Shell & Coil Heat Exchangers  Saving space - compact size and vertical installation redu

Adding biochar as a soil amendment creates an ideal habitat for beneficial microorganisms.  Sitos Group CEO and Co-founder Mayo Ryan and PR, Marketing, and Communications Manager Jessica Bronner explain how biochar amendments improve disease resistance, plant health, pest resistance, water retention, and drought mitigation.  The team explains three different ways to make biochar and why they have chosen to use the slow pyrolysis method to ultimately produce biochar for different soil types. LISTEN IN Resources: REGISTER: February 16, 2024 Biochar in the Vineyard 56: Conservation Burning and Biochar 106: What? Bury Charcoal in the Vineyard? 167: Use Biochar to Combat Climate Change Burn: Igniting a New Carbon Drawdown Economy to End the Climate Crisis Carbon Removal FAQ Monterey Pacific Inc. New Science Says Biochar is Very Permanent Regeneration Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation Sitos Group Sitos Group Biochar Page Sitos Group Blog Sitos Group Social

"GROUNDWATER . You can't see it, but millions of Californians depend upon it as a vital source of water for their homes and businesses." Those are not my words but the introductory words for the promotional video that appears on the SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) website1 . The statement is a rather simply worded way to convey the obvious: that groundwater is vital to our livelihood here in California, and especially important to honoring and sustaining our agricultural heritage. While groundwater provides needed sustenance for numerous rural, as well as urban communities, it is agriculture that demands the lion's share of the resource. Central Valley agriculture turns to groundwater pumping whenever drought or poor rainfall years reduce the availability of surface water deliveries. Cries for construction of more reservoirs to capture and store more stormwater and snowmelt so that canals can be filled with more water are always being heard. Yet, apart f

Selecting the optimal filtration solution for your wine is critical to its final quality as well as to your bottom line. In addition to filtration equipment, ATPGroup offers Eaton’s BECO® range of filter sheets, pads, stacked disks, cartridge pre-filters and membranes as the exclusive U.S. distributor of Eaton’s innovative filtration systems. For plate and frame filters, BECO is available in either a standard or a mineral-free pad: The BECO® Standard Range offers high chemical and mechanical resistance along with high clarification performance, resulting in long filter life and efficient particle retention. The BECOPAD® Range is an evolution of the standard sheet produced in 100% high-purity cellulose. These mineral-free filter pads also offer high chemical and mechanical resistance with low extractables and no “filter pad taste.” Their construction makes them 99% drip-free and offers up to 20% greater through-puts compared to conventional filter she

The Coastal Viticultural Consultants booth will display grape powdery mildew spore traps, soil mapping using soil resistivity, and irrigation / vine water use monitoring using real-time (vine) leaf temperature and vapor deficit data and / or soil moisture. For more specifics about these technologies and how they can help improve use of resources, sustainability,  and / or production goals, stop by booth 1344. The principals of Coastal Viticultural Consultants will staff the booth to personally greet any parties interested in viticultural technologies and to answer any questions about the technologies on display, or field general viticultural questions.   Coastal Viticultural Consultants Unified Symposium Booth: 1344 Coastal Viticultural Consultants (CVC) is a company of experienced, professional, certified Soils Scientists and Viticulturists that has served the viticulture industry for 30+ years.  Coastal Viticultural Consultants has a proven track record that places CVC

According to an old saying, “a promise is only as good as the person who makes it.” When it came to Trinchero Family Estates and its environmentally focused Trinity Oaks brand, that saying could be paraphrased to state “a promise is only as good as the label!” Andrew Rice, Creative Director for Trinchero Family Estates, reached out to G3 Enterprises in search of a paper stock that had both positive environmental attributes and could perform well in an ice bucket. The Trinity Oaks brand is built on a strong environmental commitment going beyond their One Bottle Purchased, One Tree Planted program by ensuring responsible practices in the vineyard, in the winery, in their offices and even in packaging. After reviewing the desired outcomes, the team at G3 Label immediately directed him to GTREE™ wine label stock. GTREE™ is a high-performance, wet-strength wine label stock made entirely from recycled office waste. Given its specifications, GTREE™