Afternoon Brief
Afternoon Brief, September 13
Making the Most of Dwindling Customer Engagement Opportunities: The biggest difference between tasting rooms and wine clubs that perform beyond expectation and those that don’t, is an organizational commitment to employee training, according to the 2017 VinQuest direct to consumer benchmark report…
Afternoon Brief, September 12
Beloved California Vintner Ulises Valdez Dies at 49: Ulises Valdez, who emigrated from Mexico to work as a vineyard laborer in Sonoma County, then rose to become one of California’s most renowned vineyard managers and founder of his own family winery, died early this morning of a heart attack. He was 49…
Afternoon Brief, September 11
Smart Branding Key to Future Wine Sales: The wine industry has often been among the slowest to react to economic change. As the United States pulls into a decade of recession and recovery, wine executives are still reluctant to innovate on many fronts…
Afternoon Brief, September 10
Smoky Summers May Taint Washington Wine, but This WSU Researcher Is Shedding Light on the Problem: Tom Collins opens the flap to the black canvas tent and the smoke starts seeping out. He steps inside and pulls a mask over his mouth and nose. Two rows of grapevines stretch beyond him…
Afternoon Brief, September 7
Why the Tasting Room Is Dead: Californias traditional tasting rooms are pivoting to more maker spaces, nature immersions and places for all-day casual hangs …
Afternoon Brief, September 6
Your Wine Brand Could Be Lost in One Single Trademark Infringement: The landscape of the alcoholic beverage industry in the new millennium looks dramatically different than the drinks business of the 20th century.
Afternoon Brief, September 5
Great Oregon Wine Company Acquires Willamette Valley’s Duck Pond Cellars – The Great Oregon Wine Company (GOWC) announced today it has acquired iconic Willamette Valley winery Duck Pond Cellars…
Afternoon Brief, September 4
California’s Edgiest, Riskiest Wine Region Is About to Get a New Name: The remote coastline of Sonoma never fails to impress. Chilly fog and wind roll in from the Pacific, covering ridges of towering redwoods and tiny patches of vineyards…
Afternoon Brief, August 31
Is Sonoma Reaching ‘Peak Wine’? : Wine industry growth has been a rocket for 20 years, its trend line drawn like a mountain incline on U.S. industry graphs. Since 1993, when 370 million gallons of wine were consumed in America, consumption has…
Afternoon Brief, August 30
Package Redesign Flipped Double Digit Decline to Growth: To say Cline Cellars Marketing Director Christine Lilienthal is thrilled about the new label design and packaging for the winerys core Lodi Zinfandel would be an understatement. Her collaboration with Affinity Creative Group in repackaging this nationally distributed wine has meant…
Afternoon Brief, August 29
Grape Shortage Exacerbated as Growing Demand Collides with Bad Weather and Pests in the Mid-Atlantic: Kevin Atticks, the longtime executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association, has seen a rapid growth of wineries in his state and others around it the last 10 years. It’s a business model that continues to outpace vineyards, which cover 800 acres across Maryland with another 100 new acres not yet producing…
Afternoon Brief, August 28
Chicago Runs Wine Across the Indiana Border: Chicago has never been a very clean town when it comes to politics or crime. However, given how high state and city booze taxes are here, its residents may feel somewhat justified in turning to illegal activity to access wine at lower prices…
Afternoon Brief, August 27
Expanded 2018 WIN Expo Conference Stacked with Wine Business Experts: The 7th annual North Coast Wine Industry Expo (WIN Expo), the second largest wine industry trade show in North America, has bolstered the conference portion of its program this year to address the increasing complexity of issues facing the wine industry…
Afternoon Brief, August 24
Local Winemaker Patrick Foley Dies at 31 – William Patrick Foley III, the winemaker at Foley Johnson Winery in Rutherford and the son of vintner and businessman Bill Foley, died on Aug. 12. He was 31.
Afternoon Brief, August 23
Sonoma Brands Invests in Vintage Wine Estates: Vintage Wine Estates, a fast-growing Santa Rosa based vertically integrated wine company with a portfolio inclusive of iconic national and international brands, announced today a new investment partner in Sonoma Brands …
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