The word “brand” is notoriously difficult to define in marketing. If we were talking about a ranch brand—the kind seared onto livestock to signify ownership—that’s easy to understand. But in marketing, a brand is not a physical thing. It’s a symbolic construct. It’s not the label on the bottle or...
Read More
Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir Takes Top Prize November 18, 2025 — Winners have been announced in the 2025 Harvest Challenge Wine Competition. After two spirited days of judging, Domaine Della 2023 Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir took the...
Read More
Afternoon Brief, February 14th
Beckstoffer Vineyards Sues Last Bottle for Trademark Infringement: The Complaint, filed on February 11, 2023, alleges that Blicker Pierce Wagner Wine Merchants, LLC and its affiliated companies, Sleeper Cellars and Last Bottle, willfully committed trademark infringement by placing the Beckstoffer trademark on the front label of a wine without authorization...
Afternoon Brief: California Grapegrowers Race to Beat the Heat
Trucks full of wine grapes clogged roads all over northern California wine country this week as wineries raced to get their precious cargo into tanks before a brutal heatwave shriveled them to raisins...
Afternoon Brief: Court OKs $140 Million in Vintage Wine Estates Assets Sales
Nearly two dozen wineries, brands and other assets of the defunct Santa Rosa-anchored Vintage Wine Estates portfolio got the green light to change hands in a Delaware bankruptcy court Tuesday...
Afternoon Brief, September 29th
Ohio Launches Appeal Over Wine Shipping: The state of Ohio has requested the Supreme Court to take on another wine shipping case....