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

CLUBS VS SUBS LET’S DISCUSS IF IT IS TIME TO MOVE YOUR WINE CLUB TO A SUBSCRIPTION. Unless you’ve lived in your cellar for the past five years, you’ve noticed we live in a subscription economy. We have subscriptions for food, clothing, pets, razors, socks, movies, sports, makeup, and almost anything. You name it, and there is a box that can be delivered with options on your schedule. How sustainable is this trend? Will we forever be ordering small packages in bright boxes with sample sizes, or is this just a fad? And is the decrease in wine clubs part of it? WHAT IS A WINE CLUB? Let’s start by defining a wine club. This recurring sales model provides wineries with a direct channel to reach high-value consumers and bypass traditional distribution channels. They are structured to offer repeat customers a winery-curated selection of wines at a small discount delivered to their homes monthly or quarterly. Key prospects for club membership are customers who have pu

Afternoon Brief, December 9th

Napa Vineyard Sales Are Usually Secret. So Why Was This $34 Million Deal So Public?: When a prestigious Napa Valley vineyard is up for sale, it almost never gets listed publicly...

Afternoon Brief, December 2nd

‘Really a Cause for Alarm’: Wineries Urged to Go Digital as Tasting Room Traffic Declines: Optimism that post-pandemic consumers would return to winery tasting rooms after they reopened has turned to concern as visit numbers decline, according to experts at the tenth annual WIN Expo on Thursday...