Hard to believe, we are a quarter of the way through 2025! It seems like just yesterday we were starting 2025, but here we are, 90 days in to the "new" year. Here are a few things you may have missed, things that caught our eye (or ear), and a few actionable ideas for the next quarter. 2024 Annual Report Card - WISE Mystery Shopping Triple Score In early 2025, we released our Annual Triple Score Report Card. While Mystery Shopping covers over 75 criteria points, these three are perhaps the most important. How often are our Mystery Shoppers asked buy wine, how often are they warmly invited to join the wine club, and how often are they asked to keep in touch via joining the mailing list? In 2024, we saw a dramatic decline in Triple Score averages. In particular, data collection is critically low at just 18%—meaning we’re only asking fewer than one in five guests to keep the conversation going. Wine clubs work because people DO like to be part of them (did you know

Domestic Headquarters for Research and Development to be based in Sonoma County, California Rack & Riddle and Solos have announced an exclusive partnership that will revolutionize the production of no and low alcohol still and sparkling wines. The team will be the first in the United States to offer Solos’ patented Aroma Recovery System used in Europe to provide superior flavor and mouthfeel to low and no alcohol wines. Rack & Riddle’s facilities in Healdsburg, Alexander Valley, Geyserville and Lodi will serve as the national headquarters for service, research and development for both companies. Test and small lot production is expected to begin later this year with full commercial scale operations commencing in 2025. No alcohol, low alcohol and sparkling wine is exploding in popularity. One out of every seven bottles of wine sold now in the U.S. are sparkling wines. The sparkling category has grown two and one-half times over the past 15 years at a retail price pr

For the right wine and spirits brands, product placements in large chain stores are an exciting opportunity. That’s one of the reasons why LibDib has put a stellar team in place to specifically help Makers with their chain placements.  If you’re a Maker going after the big retail stores, there are some important things to keep in mind when presenting to chain stores. Let’s break it down for you. Presenting New Wine and Spirits Products to Chains Makers often ask how they can be presented to chains. Many chain accounts welcome engagement and will allow the Makers themselves to present new item offerings. Our most successful ChainDibbers actively engage with chain accounts to start the conversation around their alcohol products. The chains team at LibDib also presents products to chains twice a year (when the chain is open for product pitches/placements). When we look for the right Makers to present to a chain buyer, we start with those who have current chain distr