WineDirect to Commerce7: 19% Growth in Club Customization, 50% Less Support, and the End of "Batch Day" TL;DR: Faced with manual bottlenecks on WineDirect, Hill Family Estate migrated to Commerce7 to empower their members. The results were immediate: a 19% increase in customized club shipments and a 50% reduction in support volume. Most importantly, the team reclaimed 4-5 hours of manual labour per club run by allowing their customers to customize their orders online and move to fully automated background processing.  Founded by third-generation farmer Doug Hill, Hill Family Estate is a family-run operation in Napa Valley that blends deep vineyard expertise with approachable hospitality. Their winery and tasting room experiences are known for being family-friendly, intimate, and deeply rooted in the land they have farmed for decades. For Allison Negrón, DTC Manager at Hill Family Estate, the goal is always to provide a seamless, personali

NAPA, Calif., (Nov. 26, 2025) – VA Filtration Services’ Scientific Approach, Innovative Solutions from Napa Valley At VA Filtration Services, our mission is to empower winemakers to produce wines of the highest sensory quality. One of the challenges in modern winemaking is managing undesirable levels of pyrazines, particularly methoxypyrazines, which can impart green, herbaceous aromas that mask fruit character and complexity. Winemakers are left with two options: cover up the pyrazine (and potentially other attributes) or remove it through advances in pyrazine remediation practices. The Problem: Pyrazines in Wine Methoxypyrazines are naturally occurring compounds in certain grape varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. While subtle concentrations can add a sought-after freshness, excessive amounts lead to pronounced bell pepper and grassy notes, often perceived as faults—especially in premium reds. Often pyrazines present in wine due to enviro

A draft Napa County Regional Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (RCAAP) has been released for public comment. The draft and related documents can be found at https://climateactionnapa.konveio.com/  Comments are due by September 30, 2025. This draft has been in development for many years, and covers the County of Napa, the Cities of American Canyon, Calistoga, Napa, and St. Helena, and the Town of Yountville. It includes Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction targets of up to 85 percent by 2045. At the same time, it aims to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2045, primarily by reforestation of burned areas of the County to promote natural carbon sequestration and removing GHGs from the atmosphere. The draft discusses 21 GHG reduction strategies with 46 GHG reduction measures across seven emissions sectors, (though the draft only quantifies the impact of 17 of those measures). The seven sectors, in declining order of their listed percentage of GHG Emissions, are: On-Road Tr

MicrOdue® Plus Dispensing system developed and patented by JU.CLA.S. is extremely accurate: oxygen is dispensed by means of delicate volumetric pumping. JU.CLA.S. was the first company in Italy that applied the micro-oxygenation technology using its own patent and now, after over 15 years, is proud to offer MicrOdue® Plus, the computer-based version of the most popular micro-oxygenation device used in wine cellars. Precise volumetric dispensing 6 independent dispensing points The dispensing scale can be set for each point in mL/L/hour, mL/L/day, mL/L/month The duration of dispensing can be preset independently for each single point Possibility to carry out micro and macro-oxygenation in small tanks  (Continue Reading) MasterMind Remove Plus The system is designed for the management of dissolved gases in wine and the removal of other masking compounds. The system can be installed downstream to the bottling line to control the concentration of gases in the finished product

What is a Brownout? According to Wikipedia, A brownout is an intentional or unintentional drop in voltage in an electrical power supply system. Intentional brownouts are used for load reduction in an emergency.  The reduction lasts for minutes or hours, as opposed to short-term voltage sag (or dip). The term brownout comes from the dimming experienced by lighting when the voltage sags. A voltage reduction may be an effect of disruption of an electrical grid, or may occasionally be imposed in an effort to reduce load and prevent a power outage known as a blackout.  Different types of electrical apparatus will react in different ways to a sag. Some devices will be severely affected, while others may not be affected at all. In most cases, brownouts are deliberately produced by energy providers as an emergency measure to prevent the system from failing completely (blacking out). Typically a utility will decrease system voltage by 10-25%, usually for a short period of t

Oakville, CA – August 25, 2021 –  American Winesecrets, LLC. (Winesecrets), North  America’s wine taint mitigation expert has once again partnered with Napa Wine Co., Napa’s leader in high quality, reserve  lot custom crush to provide an artisan-scale Flash Détente system at the Oakville crush facility. Flash Détente removes  pigments from grape skins instantaneously prior to fermentation. This technique has proven beneficial in reducing the  impact of smoke exposure once the wines have completed fermentation. It is has also proven to be effective at making solid  wines from low color, low Brix fruit from vintages where maturity is difficult.  Flash Détente streamlines red maceration by rapidly heating must and then cooling it instantaneously in a vacuum chamber.  The treatment results in the rupturing of cell walls initiating an efficient breakdown of the structure of the berry. The smoke  aromat

With California hoping to fully reopen this June, according to the Governor, “Everyday activities will be allowed to resume, and businesses can reopen with "common-sense risk reduction measures," such as wearing masks.” It’s definitely great news, and it can be tempting to say, ‘everything is back to normal’. But in reality, it’s a new normal, and adapting your protocols to protect your employees and the public will become even more important as the volume of people entering your business surges. The CDC recommends a layered approach to reduce exposures to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This approach includes using multiple mitigation strategies. Now is a good time to review your existing protocols. Here are 4 Key Checkpoints to assess the following areas so that you’re ready when it’s time to open your doors wide. Mask policies – how will you manage people who feel that with reopening, mas

Even a single exposure of grape vines to fire smoke can lead to the presence of detectable smoke taint in finished wine. Smoke taint is not an easy problem to fix, and depending on the level of contamination it might require the application of several different techniques on the same wine or juice. Smoke taint has also been shown to reappear in wines treated with selective filtration, so the earlier intervention occurs the better the results will be. The following techniques will minimize the potential impact and help protect your wine. Mitigation: 1. Treat with Flash Détente In addition to the more traditional techniques outlined below, treating red grapes with Flash Détente using the TMCI Padovan “Red Hunter” Thermovinification/Flash Détente system can significantly reduce the presence of smoke-related compounds. Studies have shown that reduction of smoke volatile phenols by flash détente can reach 50% or greater depending on the grapes and

Sebastopol, CA - August 25, 2020 - American Winesecrets, LLC. (Winesecrets), North America’s wine taint mitigation expert has partnered with Napa Wine Co. , Napa’s leader in high quality, reserve lot custom crush to provide an artisan-scale Flash Détente system at the Oakville crush facility. Flash Détente removes pigments from grape skins instantaneously prior to fermentation and has proven beneficial in reducing the impact of smoke exposure once the wines have completed fermentation. The smoke-taint causing volatile phenol compounds accumulate in grape skins during wildfire incidents. Flash Détente streamlines red maceration by rapidly heating must and then cooling it instantaneously in a vacuum chamber. The treatment results in the rupturing of cell walls initiating an efficient breakdown of the structure of the berry. The smoke aromatics are carried off with water vapor in the vacuum. “Flash Détente has a key advantage over