Your Input = Better WIN Expo Sessions As we begin shaping this year’s conference program, we want to build an experience that feels truly valuable, relevant, and worth your time. We’d love your input on the topics, challenges, and conversations you most want to see featured this year. We’ve put together a short list of potential topics—from winemaking and vineyard innovation to sales, marketing, and leadership—and would love your input on what you’re most interested in learning. It only takes a minute, and your feedback will directly shape the sessions at this year’s event. We look forward to hearing from you. Please click the button below to get started. Take Topic Interest Survey here.

The Vineyard to Market Workshop Series launches this spring as a three-part program designed to support Lake County growers in navigating today’s market landscape. Each session will focus on a critical piece of the grower-to-buyer relationship, from understanding winery expectations to refining how vineyards are positioned and communicated, to gaining clarity around contracts and negotiations. Workshop 1 | April 29, 2026, 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM Buyer Perspectives: What Wineries Are Looking for From Growers An inside look at how wineries evaluate vineyard partners, including current market conditions, quality expectations, and key factors influencing purchasing decisions. Speakers:  Ben Byczynski, Director of Vineyard Operations, Draxton Wines Ryan Decker, Owner, DeckerVIT Workshop 2 | May 20, 2026, 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Vineyard Branding & Messaging: Communicating the Value of Your Vineyard A practical session focused on how to clearly position and communicate vineyard value. To

A Full House at Emeritus Wine business professionals gather to network, sip, and hear from Jeff Clark  Last week at Emeritus Vineyards, wine business professionals gathered for a sold-out event to discuss one of the most pressing topics in today’s market: access to capital and financing strategies.   The conversation?  Candid.  Insightful.  Practical. The networking?  Focused.  Engaged.  Productive. This wasn’t surface-level discussion - it was real dialogue about the decisions shaping wineries and wine businesses right now.  The Wine Business Group  This is the Wine Business Group, run by AWG Wine Advisors and Women for WineSense. We are a collaborative network for anyone interested in wine business. Each quarter, we get together to discuss the latest industry trends, tackle emerging business topics, and build valuable connections.  AWG Wine Advisors’ Next Event  Welcome to AWG Wine Advisors' firs

February 10, 2026 (Napa / Sonoma, CA) — On Wednesday, March 4, 2026, from 3:00 – 5:30 p.m., the Winemaking & Viticulture Roundtable of the Napa-Sonoma chapter of Women for WineSense (WWS) will host a timely proprietary technical presentation, “Vintage 2025 ETS Insights and New Tech Updates for Red Blotch and Smoke Taint.“ The event opens with a networking wine mingle at Crocker & Starr followed by a behind-the-scenes production tour and an engaging technical viticulture and winemaking research presentation and discussion with guest experts from ETS Labs research scientists Dr. Rich DeScenzo and Dr. Eric Hervé. This presentation will focus on actionable information to help winemaking and viticulture attendees get a strategic first look at vintage 2025 overall, plus the latest technological updates related to Red Blotch disease and smoke taint.  Attendees will hear this first synthesis of proprietary 2025 data and the additional research,

YOU'RE INVITED! Wine Business Group Roundtable This month, join AWG Wine Advisors and Women for WineSense at Emeritus Vineyards to enjoy complimentary wine, snack on hors d'oeuvres, discuss trending industry topics, network, and hear from this meeting's guest speaker, Jeff Clark! WHEN: February 19th 4 - 6pm WHERE: Emeritus Vineyards Sebastopol, CA MEET THE SPEAKER Jeff Clark is a commercial and private banking veteran with extensive lending experience to the wine/beer/spirits industry nationwide, ranging from small, family operations to publicly traded companies.  His company, Bear Republic Capital, provides debt and equity sources from a broad network of providers.  As a speaker, Jeff has presented at various organizations, including CalCPA, the American Craft Spirits Association, and the Craft Beverage Expo. 

The Sustainable Ag Expo isn’t just about earning CE hours—it’s a gathering place for wine industry professionals to learn, network, and celebrate the future of sustainable farming. From morning burritos to student-led research and vintage tractor showcases, this year’s Expo is packed with unique opportunities to make your experience more meaningful and memorable. Here are six can't-miss events happening alongside the seminars: 1. Monday Kick Off: Farming for the Future 🗓️ Monday, Nov 10 | 5:00–7:00 PM 📍 Center of Effort Winery Sponsored by Inland Desert Nursery Start your week with an evening of connection, SIP Certified wines, and gourmet hors d’oeuvres. Expo headliner Dr. Chris Chen, will lead a forward-looking conversation on vineyard management in a changing climate. 🎟️ Free for ticket holders (while supplies last), requires separate reservation; additional tickets $50.  2. Breakfast Burritos & Coffee = Day 1 Fuel 🗓

This November, growers and agricultural professionals will gather in San Luis Obispo for the 2025 Sustainable Ag Expo, an event designed to foster innovation, provide high-impact education, and create meaningful connections across the wine and agricultural industries. When/Where: Kick-Off Event - Monday, November 10, 5:00-7:00 pm  |  at Center of Effort Winery Trade Show & Seminars - Tuesday, November 11 & Wednesday, November 12, 7:00 am-5:00 pm  |  at Madonna Expo Center What to Expect The 2025 program offers a robust lineup of content focused on critical topics like climate resilience, automation, and workforce development, with 17 in-person seminars offering 20+ hours of CE credit. Two-day ticket holders also receive access to 13 online courses with an additional 10+ CE hours available from October 13–November 28. Even More Opportunities to Connect and Learn Kick-Off Event: The event begins with a special Monday Night Kick-Off hosted at Cen

There are multiple paths to get started in wine sales. By Karen M. Wetzel As a wine industry career coach, I find that wine sales roles are highly desired. But given the differences between supplier and distributor sales positions, it can be hard to determine which might be best for you. Before we look at specifics, here’s a quick review of how alcoholic beverages are brought to market in the United States through the government’s three-tier system. Supplier Sales All wine sales originate with the supplier at the top of the three-tier system. A supplier may own or represent a single winery, such as Truchard or Fortunati Vineyards, or might be an expansive corporation with multiple brands, such as Gallo or Treasury Wine Estates. Regardless of scale, suppliers are responsible for selling their products to distributors across the country.   To achieve market success, suppliers employ sales directors or managers to oversee specific states or regions. Their primary responsi

Early Bird Pricing Starts Now Through End of September Wine Industry Network has opened registration for the 13th Annual North Coast Wine Industry Trade Show & Conference (WIN Expo), scheduled for Thursday, December 4th, 2025, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and Event Center in Santa Rosa, CA. WIN Expo is the largest trade show and conference focused exclusively on the Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake County wine regions. The Expo has become THE year-end business and networking event for North Coast wine industry professionals to celebrate the success and achievements of the past year, reconnect with colleagues, foster new connections, and prepare for a thriving 2026. The event is set to include nearly 300 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and services as well as outdoor exhibits, trial tastings on the trade show floor and a robust educational conference.  “The WIN Expo continues to be a cornerstone event for the North Coast wine industry,” said George Chr

Let me peel back the curtain a moment, and share with you the two topics that have interested this wine + data audience the most over the past month or so. How to make money by using your data (here and here), and the video about how to sell more wine in wholesale. So this week, we thought we'd combine those two particularly compelling topics, and share some ideas about how to make money in DTC by using your wholesale depletion data. Visualizing the heatmaps of your wholesale accounts is super easy. So, too, is overlapping the heatmaps of your DTC data. You'll be able to see the gaps or the "deserts" where your winery has a great wholesale presence but little or no DTC sales. That desert is exactly where to look for new DTC sales, perhaps through targeted ads using Google or Meta. That desert of DTC presence is also where you could prioritize pop-up tastings at retailers. When the wholesale presence is strong, customers have easy access to purchase your wine. Turn th