Small but mighty. That's the phrase that kept coming back to me throughout last week's webinar. The three panelists who joined us are running lean DTC teams — Chelsea Leniart, Wine Club Manager at Scheid Family Wines, Hilary Berkey, Director of Sales, Marketing and Operations at Emeritus Vineyards, and Kristy Quigley, Operations Manager at Alma Rosa Winery. "Lean teams" meaning two or three people deep. At the most. The outsized results they're seeing, in a market that everyone agrees is hard, are genuinely remarkable. Here's some highlights and takeaways from  what they shared in last week's webinar. On Wine Club Customization The fear is that if you give members flexibility, they'll race to the bottom and swap out for your cheapest wines.  What Chelsea actually found was the opposite.  By studying what members customized in the previous year's March run, she reshaped this year's offering mor

Generous. That's the very best word I can think of, to describe last week's Outbound Sales webinar. The panelists were generous with their time and content, and all participants were generous with their conversation. Here is the link to the webinar, in case you missed it or if you'd like to revisit. And here were some top takeaways: An Outbound Sales team is like a "Swiss army knife" of a winery. They field calls and questions from all directions, from phone sales to tracking orders to relationship building. The Average Order Value (AOV) of Outbound Sales is almost always higher than the AOV of a Tasting Room sale. Key skills needed in an Outbound Salesperson include persistence, objection handling, methodical note taking, long-term commitment, and an ability to trust the process. Chris created this highlight reel of Enolytics' Outbound Sales toolkit, including the Sell More Now! module and AI summary feature. Looking ahead, we'd like to share our

A few years ago at the DTC Wine Symposium, a panelist joked about the modern winery website formula: the guy, the dog, the truck, and the vineyard. Beautiful backdrop, strong lifestyle photography, a thoughtful founder story. Polished, absolutely. Strategically distinct, rarely. The critique wasn’t about branding. It was about structure. Most winery websites aren’t broken, but they aren’t built as decision environments either. Calls to action are unclear, revenue pathways are buried, shipping surprises appear late, and wine club often lives in isolation instead of throughout the buying journey. After auditing winery sites across regions and production sizes, the pattern is consistent: performance is constrained by friction, not effort. Most wineries don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion architecture problem. Before increasing ad spend or launching another promotion, run a winery website audit — on your phone. Start at the homepage and move t

Traditional demand for wine has softened, buyers are pickier, and “default growth” is basically gone. Meanwhile, the consumer mindset has changed dramatically—wellness, moderation, and “I want to drink less but still drink well” is becoming the new normal. That combo is tough on the old playbook. But it’s also a huge opening for brands that are willing to pivot with intention (not panic). At BevZero, we see this moment as a reset: a chance to meet people where they are now—and build a portfolio that survives the slump and comes out stronger on the other side with non-alcoholic products. What’s Driving the Slump A few things are happening at once: Wellness is influencing purchase decisions more than ever. People aren’t necessarily “anti-wine”, they’re just more mindful about alcohol consumption. Curiosity has matured into expectation. Today’s no/low-alc shopper isn’t experimenting anymore, they ex

Keynote by Felicity Carter, Founder of Drinks Insider A global tasting and marketing forum where winemakers, sommeliers, and buyers share their insights and hone their tasting skills. Get ready for an unforgettable experience at our most popular wine conversations event! We've just completed the 2026 wine selection process with MS Evan Goldstein, and the 2026 blind wine tasting panel promises to offer a delightful mix of wine discovery and enjoyment. Last year, our event was overbooked, so secure your spot now for the Thirteenth Anniversary of the Annual Wine Conversations: A Global Tasting and Marketing Forum, hosted by DIAM Bouchage and G3 Enterprises. St Helena, CA The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone 2555 Main St, St Helena, CA 94574 March 5, 2026 • 9:30 am - 12:00 pm Optional Lunch 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Reserve Your Spot Alternate event on March 3, 2026 in Buellton, CA.

Keynote by Felicity Carter, Founder of Drinks Insider A global tasting and marketing forum where winemakers, sommeliers, and buyers share their insights and hone their tasting skills. Get ready for an unforgettable experience at our most popular wine conversations event! We've just completed the 2026 wine selection process with MS Evan Goldstein, and the 2026 blind wine tasting panel promises to offer a delightful mix of wine discovery and enjoyment. Last year, our event was overbooked, so secure your spot now for the Thirteenth Anniversary of the Annual Wine Conversations: A Global Tasting and Marketing Forum, hosted by DIAM Bouchage and G3 Enterprises. Buellton, CA Santa Ynez Valley Marriott 555 McMurray Road|Buellton, CA 93427 March 3, 2026 • 9:30 am - 12:00 pm Optional Lunch 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Reserve Your Spot Alternate event on March 5, 2026 in Helena, CA.

On April 7-8, 2026, a collection of esteemed wine professionals will gather in Santa Rosa, Calif., to evaluate entries in the 2026 Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge. Competition managers are now accepting entries for the 14th annual NCWC, considered among the most prestigious wine challenges in the United States. This regional competition rates wines exclusively produced and bottled in Northern California’s premier winegrowing region to determine which wines are considered the Best of the Best. Eligible wines must be made from fruit sourced in the North Coast AVAs of Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Marin and parts of Solano counties. This includes any bottled wine labeled with these AVAs as their main source of grapes and whose winery is in California. “The Press Democrat North Coast Wine Challenge is unique in that only wines made from grapes grown in the six North Coast counties are allowed to enter,” says Daryl Groom, chief judge of NCWC. “With that, t

Demand decline improving with stabilization on the horizon Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a division of First Citizens Bank, today released its 2026 State of the US Wine Industry Report. Widely regarded as the leading source of market trends in the premium wine sector, SVB’s 25th annual report provides an analysis of current market conditions, success strategies, and forecasts for the year ahead. The 2026 report estimates the following industry sales totals for 2025: Total volume of ~329 million cases (down from 335.9 million in 2024) Total value of ~$74.3 billion (down from $75.5 billion in 2024). The wine industry is moving through a multi-year demand correction, largely driven by value wines at the under $12 price point. Industry sales in 2025 declined 2.0% (by cases) and 1.6% (by dollars), yet both represent improvements compared to 2024. The industry ended the year with both profit margin compression and higher levels of inventory. The premium industry will likely experience its

Maintaining wine balance in a changing climate Climate change is reshaping the wine industry. In many wine regions, each year seems to set new records for the hottest or driest growing season, followed by the earliest harvest dates yet. Such accelerated ripening is disrupting grape physiology; phenolic and aromatic development fall out of sync, sugar levels soar, and acidity drops away (1). So how can we adapt and build a more resilient wine sector? The answer to this question is multifaceted. In the vineyards, grape growers are rethinking their management practices, adjusting canopy architecture, introducing shading or optimising irrigation (1,2). Some are reaching for higher altitudes or moving further from the equator in search of cooler conditions (1). Others are trialling alternative heat- and drought-tolerant varieties, from long-forgotten cultivars to newly bred plant material. In the cellars, winemakers may turn to pragmatic solutions such as dilution or blending strategi

Wine Industry Network (WIN) hosted the 13th Annual North Coast Wine Industry Trade Show & Conference (WIN Expo) at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and Event Center on Thursday, December 4. The WIN Expo, the largest trade show and conference focused on the North Coast Wine Industry, featured 12 conference sessions focused on Strategy & Leadership, Winemaking, Sales & Marketing and Vineyard & Growers. All four tracks presented interactive sessions to facilitate greater subject immersion, insights and value for the attendees, as expert panels of industry thought leaders and innovators shared their ideas, information and predictions to help attendees better prepare for the coming year. The event featured a trade show that hosted nearly 250 exhibitors showcasing cutting-edge products and services available including 20+ new innovative companies. In addition, the event features educational conference sessions, as well as additional attendee attractions such as an outdoor equi