WINE INDUSTRY CPE PRESENTS: AUGUST WINE BUSINESS CPE CLASS What: Wine Business: Vineyard, Winery, Sales & Marketing When: Tuesday, August 19, 2025 | 8 AM - 1 PM PST Where: AWG Santa Rosa Office or Online Speaker: Timothy Allen, CPA, MS Taxation, & Principal of AWG Wine Advisors Credits Earnable: 5 Hours of AICPA CPE We invite you to deepen and expand your knowledge of wine industry finance, accounting, and best practices by attending one of our educational courses. Explore our current and upcoming offerings to make new industry connections, learn about the latest value-added processes and procedures, and acquire the tools and knowledge necessary for success. This education series is designed for professionals at ALL LEVELS, from newcomers to the wine industry to seasoned executives. Whether you’re a winery accountant aiming for your next promotion, an experienced CFO looking to benchmark your expertise, or a banker, attorney, or CPA seeking deeper industry insi

As the dust settles from recent shifts in California distribution—particularly for suppliers who were formerly working with RNDC—it’s decision time. Your next move is critical, especially in a market as complex and competitive as California. Before signing with a new distributor, it’s important to take a step back and strategically evaluate your options. While some opportunities may look promising on the surface, the details matter. Here's what every small to mid-sized supplier should be thinking about: 1. The Big Distributors Are Focused Elsewhere The top three distributors recently took on dozens of $50M+ brands, marking a seismic shift in portfolio priorities. Here’s what that means for you: Attention is limited. Smaller suppliers (think sub-$5M in revenue) are unlikely to get airtime with portfolio managers or sales reps. Placements may be at risk. If your product isn’t a top-tier revenue driver, it could be deprioritized or even replac

Having an accurate case goods inventory count at all times is critical to successful winery management, yet many still rely on manual, outdated spreadsheets that only get periodically updated. This makes inventory reconciliation frustrating, compliance reporting difficult, and doesn’t provide a clear view of what’s available to sell to inform demand and the sales team. At InnoVint, we believe wineries need a smarter, more connected way to manage inventory. One that integrates seamlessly with production, sales, and financial operations. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce SUPPLY, InnoVint’s case goods inventory management solution and the newest cornerstone of our vision for a fully integrated winery operating system. The InnoVint Vision: An End-to-End Winery Operating System For years, wineries have been forced to manage different parts of their business using disconnected tools. Vineyard data, winemaking data, inventory tracking, and associated costs

HotSpot AG founder James Nichols lived the daily challenges of farming when he returned home to Hanford after his UC Davis graduation. His family tasked him with implementing a water budget for irrigating their 4,600 acres of almonds and pistachios. After researching and testing automated irrigation systems that didn’t meet his needs, Nichols designed his own and then spent five years perfecting it in the family orchards.  At that point, the family encouraged him to focus on sharing his invention with others, convinced it would help many people. And so, in 2018, HotSpot AG was born.  The HotSpot AG solution streamlines a grower’s workflow by making it easier to manage, track and schedule sensor data and automate irrigation pumps and valves from anywhere. HotSpot can also monitor groundwater levels and automate fertigation and chemigation. Another timely solution for North Coast growers as the frost season approaches is HotSpot’s ability to automate wind mach

August 19, 2024 — To combat the costly and persistent issue of returned shipments in the direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping industry, RedChirp and Sovos ShipCompliant are proud to announce an innovative integration that enables wineries to automatically text customers notifications that their shipments are on the way. This will significantly reduce returns and boost customer satisfaction. With the high cost and strict adult signature requirements for shipping wine, spirits, and beer directly to consumers, timely and effective communication is essential. Unlike emails, which are often overlooked, text messages are more likely to be immediately noticed, making them a valuable tool for keeping customers informed and engaged. Through the Sovos ShipCompliant integration, wineries can automatically trigger text message notifications as soon as a tracking number appears in ShipCompliant. These messages can include tracking links, allowing customers to easily monitor their sh

From a software perspective, Bottled inventory lives in no man’s land. It’s the place where operations software ends and point-of-sale and accounting systems begin. For many wineries, this mirrors the silos within functional teams as well. The winemaking team manages up to a point before it gets turned over to the tasting room staff and finance teams. Handoffs between people and systems are typical points of inefficiency. Put simply, they are areas where it's easy to drop the ball.  For wineries, that inefficiency takes the form of wasted time, inability to plan ahead, and lost revenue. Over the last few weeks, two conversations I had with the winery staff stand out in my mind. The first, with a winemaker, discussed how easy it was to lose track of inventory during busy seasons. Staff would move a few cases from the cellar to a tasting room and forget to record it. Inventories would get off from the official count quickly and they’d be forced to spend ex

“Tasting Room Traffic is Down” or “Ecommerce Lowest Since 2019” or “Wine Club Attrition at All Time High” – these are not subject lines we’re unfamiliar with lately. There is a lot of doom and gloom being reported highlighting downward trends. However, as an industry, we’re prevailing and seeing a lot of positives within and collectively with the individual DTC channels. Now, more than ever, is the time to break down silos in winery DTC channels. If we are going to survive, let alone thrive, we need to work together. The adage “when the tide rises, all boats rise” has never been truer. This applies to inter-winery, intra-winery, and within the larger communities to which we belong. Often, there are deep-seated territory fights within a single winery, otherwise known as ‘The Channel Wars’. It may be from competing priorities, a fight for resources or attention of senior leadership, or from a personality con

Join Vineyard Team and the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance for an educational event that brings together wine industry professionals and energy partners for a half-day of sessions and networking focused on sustainable energy. THURSDAY, MARCH 14 8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. SPRINGHILL SUITES BY MARRIOTT 900 EL CAMINO REAL, ATASCADERO REGISTER Itinerary: 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. …………….. Check-in, Coffee & Networking 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. …………….. Program Begins & Introductions 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. ……….….. Session 1: Energy Shift for the Wine Industry 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. …………. Session 2: Building Resiliency 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m......… Session 3: Leveraging Energy Sustainability 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. …………… Networking Lunch REGISTER SPEAKERS & TOPICS INCLUDE: Energy Shift for the Wine In

Join Vineyard Team and the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance for an educational event that brings together wine industry professionals and energy partners for a half-day of sessions and networking focused on sustainable energy. THURSDAY, MARCH 14 8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. SPRINGHILL SUITES BY MARRIOTT 900 EL CAMINO REAL, ATASCADERO  REGISTER   Itinerary: 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. …………….. Check-in, Coffee & Networking 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. …………….. Program Begins & Introductions 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. ……….….. Session 1: Energy Shift for the Wine Industry 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. …………. Session 2: Building Resiliency 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m......… Session 3: Leveraging Energy Sustainability 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. …………… Networking Lunch  REGISTER      SPEAKERS &

Join us on July 11 for a Lunch Roundtable with experts from Moss Adams and Silicon Valley Bank for a Wine Industry Update and Tools for Success. During this in-person program we’ll discuss the following topics: The recent Silicon Valley Bank direct-to-consumer wine industry survey results The top three things to consider as you navigate state and local taxes that impact business profitability and tax liabilities How Barrel ERP for wine can create greater efficiencies in your winery operations July 11, 2023 - Agenda: 11 AM: Welcome and registration 11:30 AM–1 PM: Presentation 1 PM–1:30 PM: Networking Register Now Speakers Bill Vyenielo, Senior Wine, Beer & Spirits Business Consultant, Moss Adams Michael Parker, Partner in Charge, Moss Adams Benjamin Alderton, Senior Manager, Moss Adams Adam DeZego, CPA, Senior Manager, Moss Adams Rob McMillan, Executive Vice President & Wine Division Founder, Silicon Valley Bank Rob Walker, Central Coast Market Manager, Silicon