For most wineries, marketing still follows a familiar path: email campaigns, wine clubs, tasting room experiences, and social media. These channels continue to drive direct-to-consumer sales, but they are also becoming increasingly saturated. Reaching new customers often requires more content, more...

Your next customer will see your winery before they ever taste your wine. They'll see it on Instagram while planning a weekend trip. They'll see it on your website while deciding whether to book a reservation. They'll see it in an email while considering whether your wine club is worth joining. And...

After 30 years of moving up and to the right, the American wine industry hit a wall. Not a temporary slowdown or a soft patch. A structural shift that requires a fundamentally different marketing playbook. 2025 was the reality check. 2026 is the year wineries either adapt or watch their customer...

This blog post summarizes the process by which licensed wineries can obtain local government approval for events in Napa County held pursuant to their California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”) Type 93 Estate Tasting Permit. As discussed in our prior post, last year Governor Newsom...

“Peer to peer.” What are my neighbors doing? How are my neighbors doing, in relation to my winery? I’m all for running your own race, and doing what’s right for your own brand and your own business. I also understand that we live in a tight, relational ecosystem of wine. What’s happening with your...

For years, discounting has been the default lever wineries pull to spark sales and reward loyal customers. But in today’s crowded marketplace, deep discounts can erode brand value and condition customers to buy only when the price drops. There’s a better way: loyalty points programs. Retention,...

Bottle360: Redefining DTC Wine Sales Proven Bottom-Line Results The trend toward wine subscriptions and modernized membership formats relies on personalization. That means wineries need to tailor their messaging, pricing and communications to individual wine consumers. Making personalization...

One standard marketing principle is “Don’t market to yourself.” In other words, just because a message or strategy makes sense to you, it does not mean it will resonate with your audience. We are human, and it is easy to fall into the trap of viewing the category, consumer, or competitive set in a...

Summer winery marketing strategies are essential for staying competitive during travel season and warmer weather. As customer habits shift and traditional foot traffic slows, wineries must find new ways to stand out. The good news? With the right mix of creativity, personalization, and tech-driven...

Let's Never have Another Year like 2020 I opened the 2021 SVB State of the Industry Report with this line: "2020 will go down as the year in which we answered the heretofore rhetorical question, what else can go wrong? We are all glad 2020 is over. We are all grateful vaccinations are signaling an...