Penny’s Hill of McLaren Vale Awarded the Prestigious ‘Best in Show’ at the Annual Decanter World Wine Awards

June 19th, 2024 – The 2023 Penny’s Hill ‘Yeenunga’ Single Vineyard McLaren Vale Grenache was awarded “Best in Show” at this year’s Decanter 21st World Wine Awards. The Decanter World […]

Upcoming integration will give 2,000+ wine brands access to flexible, modern ecommerce platform AUSTIN, Texas & AMERICAN CANYON, CA — BigCommerce, a leading Open SaaS ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with WineDirect, the leader in direct-to-consumer (DTC) services for wineries around the world. Through this partnership, the 2,000+ wine brands in the WineDirect ecosystem will be able to build a world-class online presence powered by BigCommerce, creating the ability to extend their market reach, engage with and sell effectively to consumers online. “Together, BigCommerce and WineDirect provide the modern platform wineries need to take their ecommerce capabilities to the next level,” said Russell Klein, chief commercial officer for BigCommerce. “As consumer buying behavior continues to evolve, particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19, wineries have the opportunity to significan

American Canyon, Calif., March 3, 2021 – WineDirect is excited to announce the launch of its new educational program, the WineDirect Academy. Free to WineDirect Ecommerce clients, The Academy was created to provide accessible, on-demand learning content to ensure that wineries understand how to utilize all of the tools available within the WineDirect platform to best grow their business. With this program, clients will be able to develop a deeper understanding of the features they may already be using, discover new features, expedite their new-hire onboarding processes, and learn new and effective ways to expand their ecommerce and Wine Club businesses. “We know how challenging the past 12 months have been for our winery partners,” Joe Waechter, CEO of WineDirect said, “It is important to us that we not only provide the ecommerce and fulfillment offerings that are necessary, but that we also share important learnings to ensure that they continue to thrive d

In this episode of Wine Industry Insiders, George Christie interviews Rebecca Hopkins, wine marketing expert and founder of A Balanced Glass and Rebecca Hopkins Wine. 🍷 Rebecca shares her journey from McLaren Vale, Australia, to becoming a leader in wine PR, sales, and storytelling. She discusses the importance of authenticity in marketing, the role of tasting room staff, and the evolving media landscape. Rebecca also dives into mindful drinking, the rise of non-alcoholic wines, and how wine professionals can maintain balance in an alcohol-centric industry. Tune in for a captivating conversation on navigating the wine business and fostering industry wellness!

The Australian ‘Black Summer’ of 2019/20, which saw bushfires destroy swathes of vineyard land across the country was a dramatic reminder of the growing challenges facing winemakers around the world. We spoke to leading Australian winemakers and lab technicians to find out how agile decision-making is helping to deal with the consequences of global warming. Offering alarming proof of the escalating effects of climate change, in November 2019 bushfires blazed through New South Wales, scorching more than five million hectares of land following Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. In December 2019, the fires swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 650 ha of vines in the region, and wiping out entire vineyards. Making matters worse, the smoke from the fires was far-reaching, rendering vineyard plots from Canberra to the Hunter Valley useless. Ravaging an estimated 24.3 million hectares of land in total and destroying over 3,000 buildings, the September 2019

Maxwell Wines Wins New Distribution Contract for US Market

November 22nd – South Australia’s Maxwell Wines, based in McLaren Vale, will soon be making its mark in the United  States under a new distribution agreement with one of the […]

October 3, 2023 — Text messaging is now an essential B2C communication channel and mainstream adoption continues to grow. To best serve the needs of wineries looking to use this important feature to grow their business, WineDirect — the industry’s leading platform for winery DTC sales — and RedChirp — the market-leading SMS platform for wineries — have partnered closely to develop deep integrations. Over the summer, the two companies worked to deepen their partnership, developing both a new integration with WineDirect’s Fulfillment Services and expanding the existing integration between RedChirp and the classic WineDirect platform to the All-New WineDirect. In fact, RedChirp was the first third-party platform to integrate with the All-New WineDirect. As a result of business texting’s exponential growth, the telecom industry is highly motivated to control spam and keep the channel pure and effective. That’s fundamentally good for

Paso Robles, CA – August 30, 2023 — WineDirect, the leader in direct-to-consumer (DTC) services for the wine industry, has officially broken ground on its highly anticipated fulfillment center in the heart of Paso Robles, California. This groundbreaking ceremony marks a significant milestone for the company, further cementing its commitment to providing exceptional service and innovation within the wine industry. The new, 200,000 square foot, state-of-the-art fulfillment center, strategically located in Paso Robles, a renowned wine region known for its rich viticultural heritage, will replace the existing, 30,000 square foot facility. This facility will allow WineDirect to bring their cutting-edge logistics technology and deep understanding of the wine industry’s unique needs to a much greater number of wineries as well as expand the company’s services to offer much-needed storage for wineries on the central coast.  “We are thrilled to announce the gr

March 1, 2023 – American Canyon, CA. WineDirect is pleased to announce that Jeff Carroll has joined as Vice President, Partners and Compliance. Jeff has nearly 20 years of senior leadership experience in beverage alcohol, including well-known companies like ShipCompliant and Compli, where he designed and brought to market tools for both industry members and state agencies. Most recently, Jeff was General Manager, Beverage Alcohol at Avalara, leading overall strategy and growth for the business unit. Jeff is also a member of the Board for Free the Grapes!, a national coalition focused on expanding consumers’ ability to purchase wine direct-to-consumer by removing bans and streamlining restrictions across the United States. Jeff’s responsibilities will include leading the development of our integrated partner network, ensuring those key relationships drive value for WineDirect clients and partners. He will also leverage his deep regulatory experience to ensure WineDirec