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	Titre	Date	Durée
	Living with purpose w/ Hayes & Susana Drumwright, Vida Valiente	29 sept. 2026	00:37:54
With the goal of living a purposeful life, Vida Valiente was founded in Napa as a combination luxury winery and charity. The foundation is focused on providing last dollar scholarships and mentorship to 1st generation college students. The winery is establishing a newly planted vineyard as the next “grand cru” site in Napa. Hayes and Susana Drumwright combine these two elements into a pathway to connect people who have succeeded with grit to the next generation through wine and impactful experiences. Detailed Show Notes: Susana’s background: career in tech, now full-time with the foundation and winery Hayes’ background: had cancer early, many early failures, then sold a tech company and founded Memento Mori Winery in 2010, Vida Valiente in 2019, and just bought Edge Hill Winery in 2026; just published The Empty Center Vida Valiente (“VV”) overview Planted vines to create a “grand cru” wine vs Memento Mori leveraged existing “grand cru” sites Has had 5 100 point wines in the last 3 years Produced ~3,000 cases in 2025, goal is ~4,500 cases Donates $100/btl of every bottle of “The Movement,” the signature blend sold Has a guaranteed allocation group “Los Padrinos” (“the godparents”) Foundation founded to uplift 1st generation college students at Stanford Board member, Memento Mori founder, and friend Adriel Lares went to Stanford 191 students in the program now, admit 50 students/year of ~100 applicants Give each student $5k/year for last dollar scholarships, provide mentorship, and leadership offsites Has raised ~$6.5M to date, ~$500k from “The Movement” (goal is $100k/year); goal is $3-4M/year Wants to raise ~$2M/year from corporate donors Costs ~$1.2M/year to run, could be $2.5M if all applicants accepted Many VV customers have done great things and feel alignment with students Susana and Hayes are foundation’s only employees Napa in Cabo charity event, held by Vida Valiente 3 days at the Montage in Los Cabos Features 10 Napa wineries, e.g. - Scarecrow, Lokoya, Eisele Raised $6M, $2.3M in 2025 1st night meet & greet, 2nd night charity gala, 3rd night to support other wineries (sold $760k of wine for other wineries) Exploring a “Napa in Napa” event VV marketing Not as much crossover from Memento Mori as originally thought Napa Valley referrals important Hospitality a big driver, including client dinners and impactful experiences Arc of 3 Napa projects Memento Mori - “remember to live” Vida Valiente - “live a purposeful life” Ultra Mortem (at Edge Hill site) - “beyond death, do something worth remembering” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The macroeconomics of shipping and wine w/ Basile Aloy, Avignonesi	15 sept. 2026	00:42:49
A 7th generation shipper and 2nd generation winegrower, Basile Aloy of Avignonesi in Tuscany, has a unique perspective on the geopolitical and macroeconomic events happening today and how they impact the cost of wine. Oil prices, war, tariffs, and climate change all come into play in this wide ranging conversation that showcases how much some of these macro events impact the world of wine. Detailed Show Notes: Basile’s background: Chairman of Avignonesi, wine distribution in Italy & US, 7th generation shipping family, CEO of shipping businesses EBE & Victrix, studied winemaking in Bordeaux Runs a fleet of dry bulk carriers in shipping, does not ship wine Iran war has increased the cost of cargo, a 40 ft container for wine went from $1,600 to $2,700 (~70% increase), however, per bottle (~18k bottles/container) that goes from $0.09 to $0.15/bottle (not a huge impact) Many ships have been re-routed around South Africa instead of crossing the Suez Canal, they don’t send ships through Hormuz, which has caused congestion for trucking in the Middle East There has been less fuel on the market, causing some wait times to re-fuel ships Tariffs have had a bigger impact on wine costs, earlier in 2026, Italy paid 15% tariffs on wine to the US, mid-2026 it is now down to 10%, which has outweighed the freight increase Food costs are rising, ~30% of global fertilizers come from the Middle East, diesel costs are up; food price increases are coming Domesticating production can be challenging, but it is happening in some places, both Canada and China are leaning in; Avignonesi saw China as a big growth market, but has fallen dramatically, partially due to high quality wines made in China Both shipping and wine are very capital intensive, but ships can be purchased on the secondary market, where prices swing dramatically (from $25M to $75M in 5 years); wine cycles are much longer, which can create longer downturns like we’re experiencing today Avignonesi overview 170 ha vineyards Focused on Sangiovese and some international varieties, as well as Vin Santo ~50-60% exported Italian market is semi-export, as tourists drive a decent amount of consumption (e.g. - during Covid, Italian sales were down ~20-30%) Basile’s family took over Avignonesi in 2009, have a vision to be more transparent with customers, healthy (move towards organic and biodynamic viticulture), and a desire to take care of the environment, broadly speaking (become a B Corp, provide English classes to the community) Avignonesi requested permission from regulators to put “Nobile” bigger than “Montepulciano” for their Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Wine is more brand driven vs shipping, need to be careful about discounting and its impact on the brand Shipping can be more sustainable than trucking wine; glass weight of wine has a huge impact on sustainability (~750g of wine in a bottle vs ~400-800g of glass; Avignonesi chose light weight bottles) Europe is like Disneyland, “growers of memories,” which builds a connection to their wines, particularly the premium wines The future of Avignonesi: starting a re-branding exercise, planted a “3rd millennium” vineyard to address viticulture issues with climate change (1st harvest 2027) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Tipping Point for the Wine Industry w/ Andrea Robinson MS, The Swirled Cup	01 sept. 2026	00:50:02
Though the seeds were already sown for quality wines in California, the famous Judgement of Paris Tasting in 1976 set the wine world ablaze and created new energy not just in America, but across the world for fine wine production and appreciation. Andrea Robinson MS has developed The Swirled Cup, a TV series that explores how the world changed with the Judgement of Paris as its “tipping point.” She covers areas such as winemaking, hospitality, and wine culture in the evolution of the wine market. Detailed Show Notes: Andrea’s background: investment banker turned Master Sommelier, Wine Director at Windows of the World in NYC, writing, TV Shows (Quench - Food Network, Pairings w/ Andrea & Simply Wine - Fine Living Network) The Swirled Cup, a location based, documentary series Came out of “Judgement of Napa” tasting that was supposed to happen in 2020 w/ Steven Spurrier Spurrier believed Judgement of Paris legacy is increased wine quality and collaboration globally, that is levelled the playing field for other wine regions Show focuses on the evolution of the wine business, catalyzed by the Judgement of Paris 3 episodes on Delta Airlines flights now (through end of Sept 2026) 3 more episodes in production Will be streaming in 2027 (streamer to be announced) Short film screening version submitted to film festivals Major themes coming out of The Swirled Cup include, Momentum for other wine regions outside of California Wine country travel and hospitality Collaboration between wineries Sustainability Prohibition kept reputation of CA wine in “suspended animation,” took away the economic incentive to invest in production Tim Mondavi noted there were ~100 wineries in Napa in the late 1800s Cresta Blanca Winery (Livermore, California) won the Grand Prize at the 1889 Paris Exhibition Georges de Latour brought in André Tchelistcheff post-prohibition to bring back winemaking expertise “Mount Crushmore” of American Wine: André Tchelistcheff, Robert Mondavi, Steven Spurrier, Patricia Gallagher Built a culture of quality for American wine “We’re only as good as our weakest link,” collaboration was key; Tchelistcheff had monthly technical lunches, Mondavi mentored a generation of vintners Patricia Gallagher was the major force behind the Judgement of Paris, was really excited about post-Prohibition quality of CA wines, wanted to do a July 4th tasting Spurrier had the guts to do the tasting, do it blind, and threw in French wines to ensure a fair comparison Mondavi accelerated wine tourism (used to be for trade only), showcased the wine lifestyle with food w/ his wife Margrit; would travel and order his wines and other benchmarks at restaurants to compare → good strategy still today for secondary markets; did partnerships globally (France, Italy, Chile) which opened the world’s eyes to America as a great wine market Wine culture has evolved with more competition (e.g. - cannabis, alternatives) Entry points for learning high as on-premise very expensive as costs to run restaurants high Covid upended social experiences, but provides a potential to overlay wine on top of new experiences (e.g. - book clubs, crochet get togethers) Hospitality has become very luxury and bespoke experience driven, need more accessible options as entry points for wine drinkers Replicating Judgement of Paris today still viable as comparing wines to benchmarks has value, with democratized media, expanding to collectors are well as trade could be useful; trade and media tend to like more restrained styles vs collectors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Reconnecting with ancient terroir w/ Irakli Gilauri, Gilauri Wine	18 août 2026	00:49:21
As the birthplace of wine and the vinifera grape species, Georgia (the country), has wine deeply embedded in its culture. Yet, having survived conquest by three empires, fine wines are not the current norm in Georgia, where the Russian Communists focused on quantity over quality. Irakli Gilauri is launching Gilauri Wines to change that and to give wine collectors all over the world a chance to taste and connect with the best of the Ancient Terroir that is his home country of Georgia. Detailed Show Notes: Irakli’s background: public company CEO (Bank of Georgia, Georgia Capital), wine collector for 20 years, took UC Davis winemaking courses Mission: to make a fine wine from Georgia that showcases the original terroir of wine Georgia (the country) wine history The birthplace of wine, 8,000 years ago Where vitis vinifera originated (the broader South Caucasus region) Located between the Caucasus Mountains, Black Sea and Caspian Sea; between Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan One of the only biodiversity hotspots with a mid-temperate climate Main wine region Kakheti (Eastern Georgia), ~85% of grapes grown there, similar to Napa as it sits between 2 mountain ranges Main grape is Saperavi, closest to vitis silvestris, one of the original vinifera grape varieties Wine is embedded deep in Georgian culture, people believe grapes and wine allowed it to survive 3 empires (Persian, Ottoman, and Russian) and keep their language, script, and faith The “oldest wine cellar in the world” ~40k old bottles, from the early 1840s, including First Growth Bordeauxs Collection of the Russian Romanovs (originally housed in St Petersburg) During WWII, Stalin moved the cellar into three places, including one in Tbilisi Georgian government is authenticating the wines and will auction some off Gilauri Wines Started w/ 10 grape varieties (incl Saperavi, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot) in 5 locations, needed to conduct research on mapping terroir to deliver top quality because the Communists only cared about quantity Started in 2022, but first vintage will be 2024, 2022 and 2023 wines will not be released as the quality was not high enough Has the potential to produce 75k bottles, but 1st vintage will only be 1,800 bottles (1,200 Saperavi, 600 Chardonnay), with the rest bulked out Winegrowing is very different from the Georgian norm; focused on quality (e.g. - mixed Guyot pruning with only 1 cane, cover crops, green harvesting, 500L barrel fermentation, cold maceration for aromas (which cannot be done in traditional qvevri) Saperavi clonal material from Italy, Georgian nurseries have too much virus DTC focused brand; in order to share with fellow wine lovers, not enough for retail US, UK, EU, Switzerland available In US, also producing a Vine Hill Ranch Napa Cabernet with Nigel Kinsman at Wheeler Farms, and can use that license to import and sell Georgian wines DTC; Napa Cab as the sister wine to Georgian Saperavi Has conducted blind tastings of top New World and Old World wines to compare with Gilauri’s “Ancient World” wine Allocations of 1st Georgian wines Dec 2026, 1st Napa wines Spring 2027 Vanessa Conlin MW coming on to help promote the wines in the US Join the allocation list at Gilauri.com Wine, food, & travel go together SommTV producing a cooking show for Georgian cuisine, which is a mix of Asian, European, and Middle Eastern influences Will have a free private concierge to organize wine trips to Georgia Trying to get access to “Stalin Cellar” for list members Loyal clients will also have access to 4 bedroom house in Georgia Expected pricing: <$200 for the Saperavi, <$100 for the Chardonnay; want more people to taste the wines over time Wine and public companies have similar business models, both require roadshows to sell wine or the stock; have brokers or distributors to market to investors or accounts; and you have analysts or critics who rate the company/product Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Making history relevant for the modern consumer w/ Aly Wente, Wente Family Vineyards	04 août 2026	00:36:25
With 143 years of history, Wente Family Vineyards is the US’s longest continuously family owned and operated winery, even producing wine through Prohibition. Aly Wente, Chief Revenue Officer, discusses how Wente leverages its rich history to re-launch historic brands, connect with younger consumers, and embed the messaging in social media and hospitality to differentiate itself. Detailed Show Notes: Aly’s background covered in prior episodes, but she is now in charge of all revenue vs marketing and hospitality previously Wente Family Vineyards is the longest continuously family owned and operated winery in the US Based in Livermore, which competed w/ Napa in the late 1800s for quality wine, but benefited from a railroad that went into San Francisco Known for Chardonnay, originally planted in 1908, cultivated the “Wente Clone,” which underpins ~75% of California Chardonnay 1st to varietally label wine post Prohibition to use transparency to promote the quality and authenticity of the wine Sauvignon Blanc Clone 1 is also a “Wente Clone” and is what much of New Zealand SB is based on, originally from Chateau d’Yquem from cuttings brought back by Charles Wetmore, CA’s 1st Agricultural Commissioner Wente acts as a historian of CA wine, e.g. - its SB is named Louis Mel after one of the original farmers of SB in CA The re-launched Cresta Blanca brand has deep ties to history Was Charles Wetmore’s original winery and ties to his vision for quality 1st CA wine to win on the global stage, winning the 1889 Grand Prix in Paris, 87 years before the Judgement of Paris and put CA wine on the map (pre-Prohibition) The wine label was inspired by an original late 1800s barrel wood carving of a wine goddess Changed branding from Wente Vineyards to Wente Family Vineyards to highlight the family element, with 5 generations of knowledge passed down from one generation to the next Younger consumers don’t always start with history, but they are eager to learn They look for value, authenticity (Wente uses the family to do that), transparency (Wente is working on a new project to highlight this more), and sustainability (may be table stakes vs a purchase driver) Anything but Chardonnay (“ABC”) movement has been picking up steam, especially with younger consumers. Wente working on counter positioning to make it cool again, led by Aly and her sister Niki including a social video spoofing a Hilary Duff quote that “only old men drink Chardonnay” Organic social media is the #1 priority, Wente has undergone a big evolution with social Aly and Niki use @wine_sisterss to test social content and themes outside of the core @wente account Hired 2 social media interns - did a contest for the internship, social growing significantly Using history in hospitality - always testing and learning Launched “5 Generations of Wente” tasting to tell the story with each glass Redid wines in the tasting room to tie back to history of Wente and Livermore Cresta Blanca cave tours start with a museum of old winery items through historic caves Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Creating Information from Data through Enolytics w/ Jesse Lange & Mark Evans	21 juil. 2026	00:48:00
Sometimes data can be overwhelming. Being able to transform that data into actionable information can deliver high ROI. Jesse Lange, Managing Director of Lange Estate Winery, and Mark Evans, President of Triumph Advisors, discuss how Enolytics helps them make strategic decisions through actionable information in every part of their businesses, from DTC and wholesale into operational planning. Thanks to Enolytics for sponsoring this episode. Detailed Show Notes: Jesse’s background: 2nd generation winegrower in Willamette Valley, focus on winemaking and grape growing Mark’s background: helped build Jackson Family’s fine wine division, ran wineries for ~20 years, now fractional CEO for 2 wineries (higher end, DTC focus) Often there’s too much data (facts) and not enough information (which is actionable) Gut instinct not always the best tool, having data is critical Enolytics having both DTC and wholesale data can be used for production planning, revenue projections, planning market trips, seeing which varietals/SKUs doing well in each region The data enables building 10 year revenue projections by channel at the driver level (e-commerce, hospitality, membership, wholesale) Key metrics to look at: membership retention rate, customer lifetime value by acquisition source, purchase velocity Drilling down on wholesale data allows targeting the right markets Mark requires clients to use Enolytics (or another data platform) to partner with them Enolytics helps move from reactive to proactive, e.g. - Mark often converts tasting room staff from part-time to full-time and has them implement outreach programs to at-risk members determined by Enolytics in their downtime Can be used like a CRM tool, even where Salesforce was unsuccessful Can see some impact of critic scores through the data, but influence has been waning since ~2005, younger generations not really looking at scores One key insight is understanding member referral, correlating customer acquisition data to new club members Enolytics is high ROI: can often do 2-3 programs that deliver $5-10k/each that micro-targets people and doesn’t overwhelm the customer base Advice for other wineries: looking at peer wineries is critical, need to train people on the data tools, and ensuring the data mapping from e-commerce to Enolytics is accurate is essential Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Economics of Old Vines w/ Andy Robinson, Seghesio	07 juil. 2026	00:40:30
It appears on some wine labels, winemakers speak lovingly about them, and there are organizations focused on them. “Old Vines” is a loosely defined term that is often associated with quality in the wine industry. Seghesio, a historic Californian winery, has a strong focus on old vines with its focus on Zinfandel and Italian varietals. Andy Robinson, Seghesio’s winemaker, lays out the economics of growing and selling old vine wines. Detailed Show Notes: Andy’s background: grew up in the Finger Lakes (NY), studied Chemistry, worked at Charles Krug Seghesio overview Founded 1895 by Piedmont immigrant Eduardo Seghesio Alexander Valley & Russian River (Sonoma) ~120k cases / year; 160 acres planted Mostly Zinfandel (oldest 1895 at Home Ranch) and Italian varieties (Sangiovese, oldest from 1910) Defines old vines as 50+ years vs Old Vine Conference defines as 35+ years, conventional vineyards normally have 20-25 year lifespan Must be an excellent vine (both in yield and quality) to become an old vine Benefits of old vines Often head trained, umbrella shape gives natural shading, don’t need trellis supports, requires less maintenance late in the season; overall about the same cost as trellised (head trained harder to mechanize) More flavor compounds (a Spanish company researched this) More textural and complex flavors Costs of old vines Expect lower yields (sets less fruit) Big cuts from pruning can have bigger impact on vines Need to have a focus for old vines to be successful, which is why there are many single vineyard old vines; consistent ownership important for this People are often willing to pay more for old vine wines, wine needs to be good For deciding when to replant old vines: wines not fantastic anymore, yields drop <1 ton/acre, people not willing to pay enough to keep it More diversity of varietals coming with old vines as late ‘70s plantings hit 50 years, historically mostly Zinfandel Old vine organizations Old Vine Conference (started ~2020, Sarah Abbott in London): very international Historic Vineyard Society (started ~2010, Morgan Twain Peterson, Mike Officer, others): non-profit to catalogue old vine sites Core benefit of organizations is engaging wine writers and getting more publicity for old vines Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Bringing Indian food to wine w/ Shekar Sathyanarayana, Nalla	23 juin 2026	00:46:14
When Shekar Sathyanarayana, founder of Nalla, began visiting wineries in Santa Barbara and talked about Indian food, winemakers loved the food, but had never paired it with wine. Now, Nalla has brought Indian food and wine pairing to over 100 events hosted at wineries and other venues and Shekar shares what he has learned about match Indian food and wine. Detailed Show Notes: Shekar’s background: 1st generation South Indian, grew up in Kansas, was a talent agent and lawyer Nalla founding Started as Indian food gatherings (2016) to explore different Indian cuisines Shekar knew nothing about wine, started driving to Santa Barbara wine country and learning Wineries said they’d never paired wine and Indian cuisine before Nalla experiences, officially launched 2023 Where South Asian cuisines and wine industry meet, includes culture (live music, dance, decor - e.g. - Thali plates, plates with small bowls in them) Done 100+ events at wineries and 3rd party venues 1st winery partner was Brecon Estate in Paso Robles, learned Albarino and samosas work well together Does 4 entrees, each from a different region, coursed w/ 2 wine glasses side by side, and data captured on preferences ~25-50 guests at each event Large market opportunity: 2.1B South Asians globally, ~6M in the US; highest household disposable income (~$100k for South Asian, ~$150k for Indians); very food forward and know little about wine Indian wine ~200 wineries in India Grow varieties to sell (e.g. - rose), haven’t figured out what grows best yet 2 harvests / year Focus is educating people about wine, not yet integrated w/ food 4 components to “spicy” food Capsaicin - the heat in chilis, gives a burning sensation; can be offset by milk/dairy which has casein, a protein that binds to capsaicin Aromatics (e.g. - coriander, cumin, cinnamon, clove, cardamon) - no heat, but lots of smell and taste Sichuan pepper - gives a tingle, drying, numbing sensation (not common in Indian food) Piperine - key compound in black pepper, common in South Indian cuisine; can often flatten wines Indian food & wine pairing - match aromatics w/ wine, heat comes second Capsaicin and alcohol make the heat worse, try to stay <14% abv with spicy Younger, tannic reds often fight Indian cuisine White wines pair well w/ aromatics When pairing with multiple dishes simultaneously, go back to aromatics, stick w/ whites (e.g. - Pinot Gris, Riesling, Viognier, maybe Chardonnay) When there’s more weight, dairy, can pair with some reds, particularly lighter (Grenache, GSM, Pinots) Creamy tomato based sauce, which alleviates some heat, can go w/ higher alcohol reds Aged reds can pair well, as tannins are more resolved Regional Indian cuisine - 28 states in India, each region has its own cuisine North Indian known for meats (goat, lamb, chicken), dishes have more weight South Indian mostly vegetarian (lentils, daal, dosa, sambar), heavier on spices, more heat; sparkling wines work well Coastal (Kerala, Goa) more fish and seafood ~50% of India is vegetarian Bengali has heavy mustard paste, Sauv Blanc and Riesling work well Andhra uses both red and green chilis, makes it hard to pair w/ wine Top 5 Indian dish pairings Chicken Tikka Masala, created by British, not traditional Indian; pairs w/ off dry Riesling, light Pinot, oaked Chards Butter Chicken, chicken cooked in tandoor, more diary and cream, milder spices; Viognier pairs well Samosas, breaded fried potatoes often w/ chutney (mint-cilantro, tamarind), sparkling pairs well (Cava, Prosecco) Biryani, a very emotional dish for Indians, saffron rice, chunks of meat or vegetarian, highest degree of aromatic complexity; Rose pairs well Saag Paneer, spinach and cheese, cream, ginger, and garlic; Sauvignon Blanc, herbaceousness pairs well, acid helps Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The relationship business w/ Chris Baker, Brassfield Estate	09 juin 2026	00:44:38
After retiring twice, Chris Baker, President of Brassfield Estate, was lured back in by a unique opportunity to build one of the world’s largest monopoles in the High Valley AVA of Lake County, California. Its unique volcanic terroir is now being scaled nationally with a 10 year contract and national alignment with Southern Glazers. Chris describes the best practices in working with distributors and partnering together to create a successful brand, built on trusted relationships. Detailed Show Notes: Chris’ background: hospitality, distribution, ran wineries, has tried to retire twice and come back due to his love of wine Brassfield overview High Valley AVA, in Lake County CA 100% estate grown and produced 5,000 acre property, 500 acres planted, up to 2,000 plantable 65k sf cave, only 15% utilized Grows 17 varietals (10 in distribution), best known from Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir Retail price points - $16-17 whites, $25-30 reds National partnership with Southern Glazers Was in 14 states, now in 45 Perks to being nationally aligned - a little more attention, assigned trade development manager Have a 10 year contract (normal is 2-3 years) w/ automatic renewal Southern chose Brassfield because of its scalability (potential to be biggest monopole in the world) and they didn’t have a national product for Lake County Sales team being built out 9 division managers, 1 national accounts on-premise Picked up experienced people (e.g. - from Vintage, others) who know a lot of accounts and not afraid to put a bag on their shoulders Team needs to know distributors feet on the street all the way to state leaders KPIs to drive velocity (getting several products in the right accounts, volume goal, rate of sales, accounts sold goal, 50/50 on- and off-premise split) Small, medium wineries need to do more DTC, social media in new distribution environment Need to identify brand’s uniqueness Distributors and accounts want to know what brand will do to create pull Focus on top moving accounts: top 250 restaurants, top retailers, share accounts b/w distributor and winery, need to understand what brands are important for the distributors (to not cannibalize sales) “We’re in the relationship business” National account restaurants - often have 3rd party agencies (e.g. - Patrick Henry, IMI) to work through, hard to get direct contact, can meet some people at Vibe conference, trade conferences, Aspen Food & Wine Need to learn about customers and get to know each other Best practice: being present, everyone is trying to get mindshare of distributors, can’t only go once every 6 months, need frequent communications, involvement, and call on accounts direct w/ or w/o distributor Distributors have big notebooks of incentives (some suppliers have big ones), they cherry pick what they think will be easiest to accomplish The top down approach can work, if distributor leads push down priorities to team Creating consumer awareness (marketing, social, PR) can get attention w/o incentive programs, Brassfield hired a PR agency in NY and a marketing company in Napa Biggest success stories: Lazy Dog - national account w/ Eruption Red Blend, participates in their annual summit Sugarfish Sushi - Sauvignon Blanc is in all 17-18 locations Annual Volcano Camp (started 2025) Brassfield responsible for High Valley AVA Partnered w/ SommJournal to bring somms from around the country Dug soil pits Investment in education builds brand ambassadors, believes it is high ROI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Implementing a luxury strategy w/ Matt Crafton, Chateau Montelena	26 mai 2026	00:34:40
As one of the winners of the infamous 1976 Judgement of Paris, Chateau Montelena has a rich history to be proud of. To optimize that legacy, Montelena’s President and Winemaker Matt Crafton has been embarking on more of a luxury strategy for the brand, reducing grocery and chain presence and working towards pricing growth over volume. With the 50th anniversary of the Judgement in Paris and the wine market in extreme flux, Montelena is doubling down on the values that made it victorious. Detailed Show Notes: Matt’s background: wine production for 23 years, Economics degree, started at Montelena in 2008 Chateau Montelena overview Founded 1882 in Calistoga, Napa Shut down during Prohibition, resurrected in 1972 by Barrett family Famous for 1973 Chardonnay which won the 1976 Judgement of Paris tasting (50th anniversary in 2026) Mostly produces Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay Produces ~35k cases/year Majority of $ DTC, volume is wholesale Export not big, focus of growth last 2-3 years A full-time sales team not viable, so moved to partnership with Wilson Daniels as national sales agent beginning Jan 2026 Has a Director of National Sales Distributes to all 50 states Traditionally skewed off-premise, moving more to on-premise; old agency went a lot of chain retail KPIs from 30-40% on-premise to 60-70% on-premise; get out of grocery and be allocated in chain retail Wants to use wholesale to build status, get in the right accounts (not necessarily 3 Michelin star restaurants - they don’t move many bottles) Found retail accounts not holding price which would make restaurants and DTC members not buy the wines Judgement of Paris story usage Use social media to get the story to end consumers David over Goliath story resonates with people Need to discuss how Montelena still upkeeps the principles and values that led to the win Keeping the story fresh requires mapping today’s actions (e.g. - large replant underway) to the original values (e.g. - curiosity, taking risk) Wine critic influence has waned over last 15-20 years, but scores still have a big impact to certain types of buyers Important to understand the ripple effects of wholesale decisions Tools to navigate wholesale - pricing, mapping market allocations to market potential Managing distributors - need to build direct relationships, get people out to the winery to see and feel the brand Relationships critical to navigating a challenging wine market Goal is to grow through price, not volume Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Navigating the choppy media waters w/ Jason Wise, SOMM TV	12 mai 2026	01:14:48
Nearly two decades after filming Somm, Jason Wise, Chief Creative Officer of Somm TV and Director of the Somm movies, has a deep view of wine in the media. Jason shares his perspective on what types of media moves the needle, how to get involved as a brand, the ever changing landscape of media itself. Detailed Show Notes: Update from the last 4 years: filming tons of food & wine content around the world, a couple theatrical releases Somm TV: video streaming services, partners w/ wineries and wine regions, Jason founded it to not have to ask permission to film stories A lot of people find Somm TV from YouTube Wine industry evolution (2010-2026): a lot more grapes and too much wine; beginner wine content no longer needed; market needs to sort a few things out; tariffs had huge impact on American wineries (some wineries were 20% Canada) Wine helps create more connection and conversation Media filming rights have changed a lot, used to have a pay a place to film, now they are happy to be a part of it Sideways worked because it was unexpected and was done on its own terms Streaming wars haven’t helped media gain influence, only a few shows that have had an impact (e.g. - Game of Thrones, White Lotus); there’s so much content, it’s hard to break through, now niche is king Niche segments sometimes just talk to their niche, don’t bring in new audiences Documentaries tell stores people didn’t know existed Netflix used to license shows, now they want to own everything, leads to less originality, just make what’s worked before YouTube feeds media, creators build a following, then produce more standard media Wine industry’s role in the media Nobody wants to watch commercials Hard to push media to do what you want it to do Wine should be the drink to push in PR (e.g. - Chateau Angelus in James Bond films has had an impact) Wine cameos in movies can build awareness Winery engagement with media Influencers are like “maintenance,” believes their influence is waning Get the product in TV shows / movies Need the “magic” in the bottle, be known for something (e.g. - Taylor Swift and Sancerre, fans figured it out) Celebrity helps bring a platform if the product had good product-market fit (e.g. - Aveline and Cameron Diaz) Media effectiveness goes in cycle, what works changes over time and circles back; need to try 10 things for 1 to work Believes regional marketing is critical Podcasts are part of people’s everyday routine and movies stick with you, TV is like the “bulk wine” of media Wineries should put budget towards media, spread the money around Many wineries have exited sponsorships and are losing consumer awareness Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	A discourse in the communications of wine w/ Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible & Come Over October	28 avr. 2026	00:48:12
As the wine world stumbles through difficult times (in early 2026), Karen MacNeil, author of The Wine Bible and co-founder of Come Over October, believes part of the disconnect stems from time. The fastness of the modern, social media fueled world and the slowness of wine. Her solution is to focus the narrative of wine with well-being and wine’s long-standing role as a beverage that brings people together. Detailed Show Notes: Karen’s background: author of The Wine Bible, writer, speaker, teacher Worried that a change in culture, to a faster one with social media (took off in 2012 when Facebook hit 1B active users and >50% of the population had smart phones), has left wine, a slower product, behind White wine’s appeal may be partly that it implies fastness Wine is slower to create (can take 3-5 years) and to consume (high acid, tannins for reds) Larger selection of beverages may also be competing for wine’s share, including functional beverages that are marketed as “mindful” Wrote an article, “Is wine really in the alcohol business?” on how wine is more than alcohol, but threaded in the culture of food, history, religion, and art Believes wine should promote the notion of wellbeing vs health, which includes better relationships from sharing wine with people Started Come Over October w/ Gino Colangelo and Kimberly Charles, PR professionals 2025: reached 2.9B media impressions, had 1,400 retail store promotions, raised $250k Sister campaign is Share and Pair Sundays - to go beyond October, involve food, and help engage more restaurants All campaigns need a time, a reason, and a behavior Seneca Lake Wine Trail doing Share and Pair Sundays Texas Wine Country doing “Come Over October Y’all” Most impactful event was an interview with Pink and sports figures, showing wine connects people across industries The wine industry will need to invest to get more people involved, the “Got Milk” campaign spent $23M in the first year Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Getting more sales analytics manpower with AI w/ Jeremy Hart, Somm.ai	14 avr. 2026	00:38:21
The on-premise side of wine analytics has traditionally been a black hole, not covered by other data services. Somm.ai changed that when they launched in 2021, now covering ~100k on-premise accounts in the US alone. The richness of data allows Somm.ai to help their clients benchmark, prospect for new accounts, and so much more. Jeremy Hart, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Somm.ai, explains how it is more manpower vs a platform to accelerate on-premise sales. Detailed Show Notes: Jeremy’s background: restaurants, wholesale, importing TX became a major wine market during ‘08 Global Financial Crisis; it took the allocations from NY and CA Somm.ai founding: end of 2019 was originally an app for people to find restaurants with wines they wanted to drink; during the pandemic (2020) pivoted to turning restaurant wine lists into retail shops (sold ~$700k of wine); did some smart menus; 2021 launched current iteration of on-premise sales analytics Categorizes restaurants, bars, & hotels in US (100k accounts), Canada, Europe (6 countries, Germany largest w/ 3k accounts), Singapore; data updated every 2 weeks Jackson Family is longest client - w/ NBA partnership, Somm.ai developed target lists around NBA stadiums to sell into ~70 clients of all sizes (many large suppliers, e.g. - Terlato, Vintus, Concha y Toro, wholesalers, importers) General use cases include: Benchmarking vs peers (accounts, placements) Prospecting and lead generation (can see accounts that other distributors cover) Identify brand extensions Help with pricing Identifying sales pitches for national accounts ROI Some clients have moved up a lot in benchmarking ranks Save money on travel, focused on the right markets Can save manpower Pricing ~$30-70k/year avg, includes unlimited training and unlimited seats, US and Canada (other geographies are an upcharge) Product roadmap - expanding to more geographies, which can be temporary exclusivity for early partners Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	How Young Consumers Embrace Fine Wine w/ Pauline Vicard, ARENI	31 mars 2026	01:15:35
It was long assumed that a love of wine runs in the family. Not so, according to new research conducted by ARENI Global on how young consumers get into fine wine. Pauline Vicard, Executive Director of ARENI, gets into the findings of their new study titled “The New Fine Wine Consumer - How People Under 40 Embrace Fine Wine.” From the shrinking middle class to the motivations of wine collectors to what drives women to embrace fine wine, the research and this conversation are chalk full of insights into how wine can attract the next generation of wine lovers. Detailed Show Notes: Fine wine trends (March 2026) A trend towards more collaboration and consolidation Entering the age of precision distribution, after precision winemaking and viticulture Shrinking middle class is shrinking the middle sector of wine Some retailers in the UK doing well by changing delivery policy (e.g. - free next day delivery at 1 bottle, new events relevant for new consumers) New ARENI Study: The New Fine Wine Consumer - How People Under 40 Embrace Fine Wine Studied several major markets: Paris, London, NYC, Singapore, Shanghai, & Hong Kong Research process: expert led roundtables, questionnaires, & interviews / focus groups with consumers and trade Did focus groups in Paris & London of wine student groups (e.g. - LSE, Kings College); LSE’s group is 600 members and do 50 events/year with a £400 budget and 50 students attending each one Study key insights Pool of fine wine drinkers is shrinking; demographics driven (less young people, wealth concentrating) Routes that create fine wine consumers (e.g. - tech and banking) are replacing internships w/ AI Results very similar across markets (a surprise) It’s friends, not family that drive wine interest Complexity of what’s not understood and the pursuit of knowledge being worthy and fun drives wine interest Visibility and ease of access to wine are important Restaurants are still important, but the high cost is an issue Collectors are different from buyers Collectors have a reward system (e.g. - dopamine) from the chase Everyone has a genetic disposition to collect, but activated in 30-35% of the US population Collecting makes people overbuy, which requires a secondary market Reducing prices after en primeur can erode the trust in the reason to collect The French have a negative association with being a collector Young people often spend ~10-15 hrs/week searching and researching wine when they are collectors Differences are bigger between genders than nationality; wine collectors defined when 26-35, when women often start a family or build their career and don’t have the time to collect Only men reported a benefit from wine knowledge at work Events are a good way to test if people can be engaged with the brand Collectors learn about producers not regions (Asia different because certifications are important); want to know which producers, why they are important, and where they can be purchased To trade up in wine, their community needs to trade up with them Need to sell a community to drink with, not just the wines Women historically have less propensity to become collectors Often have less access to money and drink 3-4x less than men Similar at the beginning (44% of <25 year olds engaged in wine, goes down to 7% around 40); it’s not an interest problem, it’s a conversion problem Women overindex in education, events, and the importance of community They never ask for a female only space, they don’t mind age or gender, but need to share interests (e.g. - similar spending power and interests) Successful events have thoughtful placement to create connections b/w people, including to be seen by interesting people; requires knowing all the people who come Next for ARENI: restaurants business models and consumer expectations for fine wine and an update on US distribution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Exporting Brand Israel w/ Josh Greenstein, IWPA	17 mars 2026	00:33:45
Even though it has been making wine for nearly 5 millenia, Israel is a wine region still finding its way in modern times. Josh Greenstein, Director of the Israeli Wine Producers Association (“IWPA”), is on a mission to promote “Brand Israel,” which is all about new discoveries. From winemaker stories to creating new grape varieties to mimic the descriptions in The Bible, Israel is making its mark on the global wine scene. Detailed Show Notes: Josh’s background: 5th generation in the wine business, including NY liquor stores and distribution Israeli Wine Producers Association overview ~40 wineries (of 450 total) are members Mission is to promote “Brand Israel” Founded by the Herzog family, of importer Royal Wine Corp Funded by the wineries and Royal Wine Corp Israeli wine overview Making wine for ~5,000 years Wines were exported to the Romans Growing Israeli food scene has helped Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, many others including ancient grapes and new grapes, e.g. - Argaman, a genetically engineered crossing of Carignan and Souzao, designed to have a “crimson” color as referenced in The Bible Climate: lots of micro-climates, Mediterranean climate, lots of farming Soil types: varied, including volcanic, terra rosa, limestone Tends to be tech forward in farming and winemaking practices Wine consumption in Israel Growing, consume most of domestically produced wine Big use for religious purposes Created wine tourism industry to grow wine knowledge in the country US is #1 export market by far, majority in the NE (top markets - NY, NJ, Miami (fastest growing), LA, Chicago, TX); followed by Canada, Europe, South America Total Wine has an Israeli wine section different from Kosher section “Brand Israel” About discovery, stories of the wineries and something different Good QPR Connects to multiple religions (e.g. - Easter is a large wine consumption event and Easter is about Israel) People often respond saying “Israel makes wine?” (e.g. - at South Beach Food & Wine) All wines in the group are kosher, but kosher is not the focus, just a beneficial attribute Judaism has lots of holiday and events with wine integrated (e.g. - Shabbat) Majority of Israeli wine sales in the US are off-premise, trying to push more on-premise Israeli politics can go both ways, some people don’t buy and others want to support Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Finding shared vision & passion w/ Erni Loosen, Loosen Bros	03 mars 2026	01:02:43
Driven by passion, Erni Loosen, Managing Director of Loosen Bros, has spun up countless joint ventures in his career. All with no business plan or goal of making money, but a greater purpose of driving a Renaissance for Riesling and out of passion for Riesling and Pinot Noir. Erni goes into the qualities that make for good partnerships and some pitfalls to avoid. Detailed Show Notes: Erni’s background: Managing Director Loosen Bros, Dr Loosen Estate in Mosel; took over in 1987 Loosen Bros overview & history ~200 years in the family Only Riesling in the Mosel (Dr Loosen) 1996 bought Villa Wolf in Pfalz 1999 JV w/ Chateau Ste Michelle (Eroica), largest Riesling producer in US 2003 founded Loosen Bros USA in Portland OR as an import company for Loosen wines, then imported other people’s wines; desired to have more flexibility (e.g. - deciding on lower margins due to tariffs) 2005 Appassionata (OR Pinot Noir) 2009 purchased 40 acres in Willamette Valley, planted vineyards, and built winery 2015 JV w/ Telmo Rodriguez (a big Riesling fan) in Rioja w/ Lanzaga 2017 1st vintage of JV w/ Peter Barry in Clare Valley Australia to see if Oz Rieslings were always limey; tried 3,000L barrels - Wolta Wolta 2019 took full ownership of J Christopher in OR Burgundy purchased part of Vieux Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet to start Perron de Mypont and started a negoce 2023 founded Dr Loosen Int’l China A great wine starts w/ an idea in your head For successful JVs, need the right partners with real passion and the same vision Need to see the spirit from the beginning Has never had a business plan JVs are not one way, but learnings on both sides (e.g. - Erni learned how to delay ripening in WA) Erni’s goal for JV’s was not making money, but trying to create a Renaissance for Riesling, which used to be the most expensive wine in the world ~1900, but got a low quality image w/ Blue Nun and Liebfraumilch Most partnerships structured as 50/50 and handshake deals (except Eroica is 40% Loosen, 60% Chateau Ste Michelle, which is also the only contract) Key challenge of JVs are when two visions don’t fit, had one that went bankrupt Would love to do an Alsatian Riesling at some point Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Texture and Complexity for Asian Food & Wine w/ Sunny Liao & Philippe Venghiattis, Vinus Club	17 févr. 2026	00:44:40
If as many Asians drank wine as the average American, we’d have ~100,000 more wine drinkers. And if Asian restaurants had wine lists at the average rate, we’d have ~5,000 more restaurants with wine lists. This is one of the foundations of the Asian Wine Association of America (“AWAA”), whose mission includes bringing wine to Asian cultures, of which food is central. Part of bridging this divide is exploring Asian food and wine pairing. One of AWAA’s board members, Sunny Liao, Co-founder and CEO, and Philippe Venghiattis, Cellar Master of Vinus Club, delve into their extensive experience pairing wine with Asian foods. Detailed Show Notes: Sunny’s background: exposed to wine from 6, wine educator with Lady Penguin in China, Wine MBA, wine consultant for restaurants, board member of AWAA Philippe’s background: exposed to wine from 3, worked in wine auctions, then went to UC Davis and is a vineyard manager and winemaker as well as operations for Vinus Club Vinus Club is a wine club focused on introducing wine to Asian consumers, including a wine dinner series Asian food: texture is a big focus, meals often have a diverse assortment of food at once, often need more than 1 wine to pair Wine w/ at least 5-6 years of age are more accessible to a wider array of flavors and spice vs the pure fruit of young wines, more complexity helps for pairing Spicy foods work well w/ wines w/ a denser mid-palate that buffer the alcohol Philippe’s first challenge with Asian food and wine was at UC Davis with spicy hot pot Eastern palates tend to be more sensitive to acid and more into texture (e.g. - the texture of Petite Sirah attractive to Eastern palates) Pairing suggestions Aged Alsatian whites (15-20 years old) work well, they have texture, complexity, and mid-palate to buffer the spice Smargad Riesling w/ a few years of age pairs well w/ Singaporean food Braised duck and Barolo Flor de Muga Blanco’s aging process adds texture Orange and volcanic wines work for younger wines Champagne w/ a large amount of reserve wine Jura wines a natural fit for a lot of categories Nicolas Joly’s Coulee de Serrant w/ ~15 years of age often pairs well, but also shows a lot of variation Hardest pairings: Korean food; often has a hint of sweetness, hard to balance w/ wine Indian cuisine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Modernizing Wine Collecting Productivity w/ Eric LeVine, CellarTracker	03 févr. 2026	00:38:36
With ~1M registered users, CellarTracker (“CT”) is one of the core consumer apps for wine lovers. When Eric LeVine, Founder & CEO of CT, was last on XChateau in late 2021, they had just taken on investment to expand the business. Eric gives us a rundown of what has happened since, like launching a new mobile app and adding AI features, as well as what is coming down the pipe. Detailed Show Notes: CT now at 1M registered users, with monthly active users +40-50% since 2021 Team has grown from ~10 employees during Covid to ~25 Launched new mobile app 1.5 years ago (2023) ~10k reviews in Apple App Store / Google Play with a 4.9* rating More modern, visual For subscribers: enhanced drinking windows, tasting notes, AI features (chatbot for wines you like, pairings, etc…) 3x users registering on monthly basis vs 2021 Continue to support old app to be more customer centric and work out bugs in the new app Improved data analytics; overhauled drinking windows, valuation of wines, “what’s poppin” identifying when people are opening wines Winery analytics: trialed with a couple wineries No obvious product market fit Wineries interested in what other wineries were in cellars with theirs One CA winery had 40% of their mailing list on CT Historically did no marketing Doing more social media, email engagement Some paid search, App Store optimization is the biggest driver Get feedback on what improve with Frill, users can vote on improvements needed and pair it with product usage and usage flows New features on the horizon Starting in-app notifications Developing research tool to identify what wines to buy and how much to pay (aggregates price data from reports and ~50% of users report price paid) Making AI embedded natively in the application Add via receipt feature automatically adds (using AI) wines to cellar if you email add@cellartracker.com Product pricing Was early adopter of “freemium” model People were confused by historic “voluntary payment,” only 1/1000 users could say what features are paid Added more value to paying users (e.g. - drinking windows, AI features; including some things that used to be free), doubled user pay rate Suggesting what to pay is more hidden now Can get an annual subscription on website, monthly on Apple App Store w/ 2 week free trial (Apple takes a cut and must cancel through Apple) Consumer trends People looking for values (e.g. - they ask “what’s a cheaper version of x?”) and diversity of wines Not seeing a lot of changes in user patterns (e.g. - consumption) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Leading with Vision w/ Arnaud Weyrich & Xavier Barlier, Roederer Estate	20 janv. 2026	00:54:39
After 40 years, Roederer Estate, the Californian arm of Champagne Louis Roederer has really started to hit its stride. Arnaud Weyrich, SVP and Winemaker of Roederer Estate and Xavier Barlier, CMO of MMD USA, discuss its history, trajectory, and how Roederer Estate continues to create more reasons to believe in the brand and the wines. This belief is grounded in a vision to make wines that look and taste like Champagne, but with Californian roots. Detailed Show Notes: Arnaud’s background: interned at Roederer Estate (“RE”) in 1993, returned to winemaking team in 2000 Xavier’s background: Moet Hennessy, Renault, Disney, then Roederer Marketing & Communications Roederer Estate in context Louis Roederer founded in 1776, began exporting to US in 1860-70’s 1980s - acquired Anderson Valley vineyards and built Roederer Estate winery Maison Marques & Domaines (“MMD”) founded 1987 for launch of 1st vintage of RE and distribution of Louis Roederer RE founded because during 1980s, not enough Champagne made to supply growing US market and land was cheaper than France; could also do the estate model, which was difficult in Champagne Anderson Valley had the right weather, track record of other quality, local wines (Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer), and inexpensive land (was known for apple orchards) RE production 1st harvest 1985 (80s challenged by legal problems for wine w/ sulfite content) Late 80s-early 90s - 40-45k cases Mid-90’s-2000 - ~80k cases (bolstered by French paradox, internet boom, young chefs, and “sommelier” becoming an English word) 2025 - ~100k cases Limited by estate model, remote part of CA (tries to attract talent by providing subsidized housing for 90% of staff, invested $3M over last 10 years) CA sparkling history Pioneers supported each other (e.g. - Schramsberg, Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse) Downturn in market (1987 stock market crash, 1989 phylloxera hit vineyards) Market reaction positive, particularly after Schramberg wine served by President Nixon in China at the 1972 “Toast to Peace” RE launch pricing Champagne was priced <$10/bottle in 1980’s, created glass ceiling for CA sparkling RE priced $2-5 below Champagne RE always wanted to look and taste like Champagne (used same varieties, techniques, including reserve wine) Accolades helped establish a “reason to believe” for consumers RE awarded Wine Spectator Top 100 12x since 1998 (#5 in 2019, #20 in 2024) Roederer philosophy to do “as little marketing as possible” 2 types of marketing: 1) consumer focused, doing focus groups and market studies; 2) invisible marketing (e.g. - Steve Jobs), start w/ vision and dream (i.e. - be storytellers) RE is more product driven, not market driven; winemaking makes the wine, marketing tells the story Keeping the brand fresh after 40 years Continue adding reasons to believe for RE As more is learnt about estate, launching new wines - Rose, L’ermitage (vintage, 1989), L’ermitage Rose (1999), Single Vineyards (2020) Single vineyards stem from 600 acres / 100 lots of wine every year; like grower wines in Champagne; wine geeks and sommeliers love it; intimate launch (mostly DTC, some on-premise to create buzz and interest) Create a community (e.g. - Arnaud often in market for tastings), turn consumers into clients and then into fans that tell the brand story to others Price of NV Brut has increased from ~$23 to $30 from 2016-2025 Be honest, transparent w/ wholesalers (e.g. - labor cost, cost of farming, materials), and give time for changes to work through 3-tier system Need accolades and marketing to support the idea that the wine is worth the price (“price fluctuates, value endures”) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Managing Allocated Offerings w/ Peter Yeung & Byron Hoffman / Tyson Caly, Offset	06 janv. 2026	00:54:02
Guest hosts and a host as the guest in this episode. Byron Hoffman and Tyson Caly, co-CEOs of Offset, a leading e-commerce platform for allocated offerings, interview host Peter Yeung about his new course, Allocated Wine Offerings: Best Practices. They get into the content of the course and also a wide range of topics related to allocated offerings. Detailed Show Notes: Co-hosts: Byron Hoffman, Tyson Caly, Co-CEOs of Offset, a wine e-commerce platform and brand studio Peter’s background: helped managed wineries (Realm Cellars, Kosta Browne, CIRQ Estate) which used Offset’s e-commerce platform, including managing the allocation systems and then consulting for other wineries; McKinsey; co-author of Luxury Wine Marketing, which has high-level strategy around allocations Allocated Wine Offering course More operational strategy for allocations Goes through the entire offering process Includes some benchmarks of key metrics Are allocations still relevant? Yes, for 1) scarcity or desired perceived scarcity and 2) large number of SKUs (hard to do a wine club) Allocated Offering definition: allocation (limit to purchase) + offering (distinct time frame to buy) One of the oldest allocated offerings - Vega Sicilia Other industries that use allocations: watches, cars, sneakers Uniqueness of wine allocations: price per bottle relatively low, number of bottles relatively high compared to other luxury goods, regulation of alcohol → has made wine allocation systems more advanced Timing of offerings clustered at key times (“spring” and “fall”), alternatives tend not to work as well Best practice examples: timing of offerings, wish setting strategy Supply-demand balance makes a difference in what strategies to use Allocation methods: Offering types: first come, first serve; guaranteed allocation; order request; wine clubs; hybrids Allocation types: group based or individual Napa winery started first come, first serve and group based; winery got several 100 point scores, e-commerce system crashed, created buzz and scarcity, and customer service issues amongst old customers; system evolved to guaranteed allocation with individual allocations; led to 40% more customers buying Most important factor in allocations: creating value in allocations (waitlist, secondary market premium, loss of value if they don’t buy) Hybrid models: e.g. - Shafer sold high production wines in online store/club, Hillside Select was allocated; adding multiple models increases operational complexity AI automation for allocations: could do targeted marketing, might be able to create allocations, likely won’t create allocation rules Setting allocations is quick for first come first serve / group based allocations, more complex individual / guaranteed allocations take longer, but can be accelerated with templates and formulas Predicting and identifying potential good customers challenging because wine interest is not easy to determine and not correlated with wealth RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) a way to prioritize customers Leveraging unique experiences to wine buying and building community can drive performance Managing waitlists (e.g. - Sine Qua Non sent a postcard / letter / email every offering to let people know they couldn’t buy wine; intro offerings can engage people right away; drip campaigns also work) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	US Wholesale Masterclass w/ Pete Przybylinski, The Duckhorn Portfolio (Part 2)	23 déc. 2025	00:35:18
Having helped grow Duckhorn from $5M to $500M in revenue and the sales team from 1 to >100 people, Pete Przbylinksi, former Chief Sales Officer of The Duckhorn Portfolio for nearly 30 years, has a deep understanding of managing US wholesale markets. In part two, Pete discusses selling into on- and off-premise chains, pricing, marketing, and more. Detailed Show Notes: Selling on-premise takes more time, need to present the wine, sell 1 case at a time, but more marketing value ROI skews towards off-premise if you ignore brand equity Calera / Kosta Browne targeted 65-70% on-premise, but hard to enforce Can’t tell distributor where to sell since they own the product If retailer asks for it, some states legally require it be offered Selling off-premise chains Rely very little on distributor, need to build relationship on your own If brand is small, can use agents/brokers or distributors to get initial discussions Takes patience and perseverance, and need a compelling story Big retailers don’t care about the winemaking process, they care that customers will buy the wine In-store displays Retail product managers fight with each other for displays If displays don’t deliver value, they will lose floor space to others Constellation research: most product pulled from shelf, not displays; displays act as powerful billboard for shoppers Shelf placement Cold box similar to displays - limited real estate, hard to get in and get the desirable locations Need to communicate to wholesaler merchandising teams where you’d like to be (e.g. - x shelf next to y competitor); need to keep message simple Stick w/ message for ~2 years, takes a long time to see impact, needs patience Large on-premise accounts Look at ACV (volume) to identify top targets Similar to off-premise with limited real estate (wine list slots) and they need the wine to sell Can take fewer wines vs off-premise (2-4 max) Longer lead times, programs can be 1-2 years, need to be ready when windows open BTG great, but creates some pricing complications Need to show up where buyers are, e.g. - major events like Pebble Beach or Aspen Food & Wine Decoy’s success driven by off-premise Safeway in CA launched brand, then went to other regions and retailers and grew from there Duckhorn brand equity gave Decoy a springboard to launch, but was able to stand alone and now most Decoy drinkers don’t know the tie to Duckhorn Price increases Get all the data you can (competitor, consumer behavior, demand elasticity) The nuances of consumers and differences in brand equity are impactful Any decisions take time, may not affect retailers for ~120 days, could take 6-12 months before you see an impact Discounting Key for the grocery channel Discounting should be done after all other options exhausted The more it happens, customers think that’s the price of the product, erodes brand equity Impact of marketing on sales Duckhorn did very little traditional marketing, mostly sales support (spent ~1.5-2% of revenue) LVMH spends ~30% on marketing, CPG average is ~10% of revenue Did some testing of advertising in 1 market for 1 year and measured impact to determine if it should be expanded Partnerships w/ other products good for grocery channel, can often secure displays Advice for a tough wine market Set up production to align w/ honest and believable sales plan Long-term impacts of cutting opex will hurt growing the top-line Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	US Wholesale Masterclass w/ Pete Przybylinski, The Duckhorn Portfolio (Part 1)	10 déc. 2025	00:42:49
Having helped grow Duckhorn from $5M to $500M in revenue and the sales team from 1 to >100 people, Pete Przbylinksi, former Chief Sales Officer of The Duckhorn Portfolio for nearly 30 years, has a deep understanding of managing US wholesale markets. In this two-part episode, Pete dives into every aspect of managing a wholesale sales team, including incentive structures and collaborating with distributors. Detailed Show Notes: Duckhorn went from 50k cases / ~$5M in revenue / 14-15 employees (1995) to ~$500M revenue (2024) The Duckhorn Portfolio Duck themed: Duckhorn Vineyards (1978), Decoy (2nd label originally), Paraduxx (1994), Goldeneye, Migration, Canvasback Acquisitions: Calera (2017), Kosta Browne (2018), Sonoma Cutrer (2024) Keys to Duckhorn’s success Brand equity - focused on Merlot, which was hot in 1980s-1990s and catapulted winery Key assets - #1 people, #2 brand equity The French Paradox (1991) created big demand for red wine Table stakes are good scores, showing up in the market, hosting guests Sales team grew from 1 person to >100 (~85 in the field) No perfect way to calculate ROI for sales people 1st method: too many cases & distributors to manage, needed more people 2nd method: quantified expected incremental sales from more people (data was full of holes) Final method: managed to target of 8-10% sales opex / revenue, because a KPI for SLT and Board Sales team roles Regional Managers, over a series of states (50-60% of time working w/ distributors, the rest out in the market or internal analysis and reporting) District Managers, geographically concentrated, go into accounts you want to be in National Accounts, on and off-premise; a challenge to determine which accounts are national vs regional, ended up doing it case by case and assigning accounts Distributor consolidation led to wineries needed to do the work they cannot do E.g. - identifying underrepresented accounts and coming up with action plan by region Identifying top salespeople Look at overall contribution margin for the region Share of business in market (using IRI, distributor reports, account base) Gross Profit%, identifies amount of trade spend used How responsive they are, their handle on the market, their decision making #1 method: do they bring new ideas to the table Incentivizing salespeople Bonuses must be meaningful (25-35% is meaningful), higher for higher levels Look at contribution margin relative to budget Used a curve (<90% budget - no bonus, above budget - scale increased, which helps end of year motivation) District Managers may have market specific goals (e.g. - increasing depletions, PODs for particular products) that are short term (3-6 months) Overall, incentives are difficult to manage, data can lag; make it objective Recognition is helpful, e.g. - unexpected gifts like a signed 3L from the CEO Distributor collaboration best practices Show them a plan and explain why it makes sense (e.g. - buyers are lined up) and get mutual agreement Keep it simple, the info needs to be passed on to others Identify what you’re prepared to do in the marketplace (e.g. - market visits, funding BTG programs, incentives, etc…) Do monthly check-ins and more formal quarterly reviews to see progress against plan and to adjust tactics and strategies Optimal size of sales territories Depends on # of distributors in region (e.g. - TN had 8 distributors = 8 days/mo of meetings) Try to align with target sales opex / revenue ratios (~8-12%) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Believing in your wine w/ Luisa Amorim, Mirabilis	25 nov. 2025	00:42:35
Building a new wine category is not something that is easy to plan. It often is more like a startup, where belief in the product and market is just as critical as a defined strategy. That's how Luisa Amorim, CEO of Amorim Family Estates, launched Mirabilis into being an iconic still white wine of the Douro Valley. She outlines priority markets, views on scores and social media, and her belief in word of mouth marketing. Detailed Show Notes: Luisa’s background: hospitality, marketing; started in the family business at 23; spent 3 years in a global rotation program Amorim Family Estates 3 regions in Portugal (Douro, Dao, Alentejo) Each property has its own winery and team and does hospitality with a culture and food component Division of bigger Amorim cork company and family Mirabilis (part of Quinta Nova) Produced white wine from the beginning (2000) First an unoaked white, then a reserve, then Mirabilis (Latin for “marvelous”) White was not popular in Portugal at the time, production processes were not set up for whites Took 2 years of experimentation, 1st vintage 2011 (2,000 bottles) Whites still have pricing barriers vs reds Douro white differentiation: close to Atlantic, schist soils, native grapes, and blending Introducing Douro whites: older people were harder to get on board, younger were more open to exploration Need to have belief in product and its viability over having a detailed marketing plan Marketing focus has been on teaching Portuguese wines (including culture and traditions) Geographic focus for Mirabilis Portugal 1st - need to be well respected in the home country Switzerland, Benelux (lots of Michelin Star restaurants) Not Scandinavia (targeting higher end of the market) Brazil (speak Portuguese) USA, Canada 5 people, based in Portugal, work internationally; travel 3-5x/year to each market While design and packaging, price positioning are important, the sales team and their relationships are critical in the wine industry Having a good wine is more important than press or reviews, people are paying less attention to reviews Consumers now look at peers and friends for recommendations and they need to trust the wine producer Social media - “should be doing more” - hiring younger people into marketing Wine marketing needs to capture the “soul” of the wine Make things simpler, less technical talk More provocative, “sexy” vs saying the same thing all wineries say Has not done any paid advertising Relies on word of mouth (people taste, buy, and talk) and partnerships Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Long View to a Global Icon w/ Lamberto Frescobaldi, Ornellaia	12 nov. 2025	00:53:20
With 30 generations in the wine business, the Frescobaldis have a long-term view of the wine business. This mindset has enabled Ornellaia to become a global icon. Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of Frescobaldi, discusses how Ornellaia established and maintained its status as a global icon. Detailed Show Notes: Background: grew up in the Italian countryside, studied at UC Davis, learned the wines of the world working at Corti Bros in Sacramento Frescobaldi family 30 generations in wine Now in Tuscany, Northern Italy, Oregon, & Sicily Focused only on wine Ornellaia overview Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot based Bolgheri not historically known as a wine region, not good for Sangiovese Sassicaia, Orenellaia, & Masseto put Bolgheri on the map From year 1, quality was consistently good Founded by Antinoris, Mondavis invited Frescobaldis to partner (Feb 2002), when Mondavi sold to Constellation (2004), Frescobaldi bought out Ornellaia (April 1, 2005) Frescolbaldis have long-term view, have owned Castiglioni since 1052 Distribution is mostly allocated due to limited quantities Consistent in giving allocations to people who bought the year before Grew distribution globally to maintain scarcity Focused on top restaurants first, get in the right accounts 3rd party validation (wine critics, famous artists, top restaurants) key to building reputation Vendemmia d’Artista Great artists interpret the wine Each vintage given a name (e.g. - power, elegance) Partnership w/ the Guggenheim globally introduces wine to art collectors Artist label on large formats and 1 bottle of each 6 bottle case Ornellaia Blanco 1st planting by Antinori was Sauvignon Blanc Cooler, north facing site, small amount produced Aged same amount of time as red, not aromatic, but complex Monitors secondary market to help learn about wine’s age ability, if prices dropping, implies inability to age Not sure if people buy Ornellaia from seeing it on social media, but allows winery to connect directly to customers Negative macro market conditions and trade wars not impacting Ornellaia much, 3rd wine (Le Volte) more susceptible, but haven’t seen impact yet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Blocking & Tackling of Building a Global Icon w/ David Pearson, Joseph Phelps	05 nov. 2025	00:52:01
With over 40 years of managing some of the top names in wine (Opus One, Mondavi, Baron Philippe de Rothschild), David Pearson, President of Joseph Phelps, has developed a distinct point of view on how to build a globally iconic brand. Ultimately, it comes down to relationships and the effort required to maintain them. From focus and prioritization to spending upwards of 65% of time on the road, David hopes more wineries will follow in his footsteps to build the category of Napa and American wines globally. Detailed Show Notes: David’s background: started as a winemaker (Europe, SoCal), sensory evaluation for Hublein (now Diageo), post-MBA marketing job with Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mondavi in France (see Mondovino movie), managed Byron, then CEO of Opus One, now President of Joseph Phelps The goal is to create personal relationships and care about mutual success and partnership with accounts “Focus is the hard part” - at Opus, initially London, Hong Kong, Japan; then emerging markets, Mainland China, Dubai; Phelps also prioritized Korea Singapore distributor told him, “We’ll see you in 5 years, the French come every year.” Track people who buy wine and meet w/ them - 80/20 rule, focus on the top 20% of trade accounts After the top 20%, do second tier of accounts, then collectors Travelled ~65% at Opus One Budgets ~20-30% of marketing expenses for building relationships Opus One 1st 10 years - went to Asia, Canada, Europe every year, then put someone in Tokyo and Hong Kong Sends ~400-500 handwritten holiday cards to partners with specifics about their last visit Travel team includes a winemaker if they like it and are good at communicating, and a marketing team to better understand the market Please don’t make it feel anonymous, but give the meetings and message personality At Phelps, focused on Insignia and current vintage, show older wines to show aging potential The goal is to expand export to ~30-40% in 10 years vs. 12-13% of Insignia today Brands need to think deeper about what’s unique and also where they are going Get alignment between the story, the wine in the market, and where you’re going The winery owner had three objections to export: sell all the wine to US customers, don’t want to take any away from them don’t know who to sell to don’t want to spend the time and money to go there Larger volume wines have different commercial relationships, same elements (knowing your partners, need to build), but margins tend to get squeezed Believes that if the category is successful (e.g., Napa), everyone will be more successful Negociants (La Place) respond to existing market demand well and are efficient distributors, but it is not in their DNA to build brands Phelps uses the LVMH distribution network to build the brand and deliver directly to the core accounts Measures quality of relationships w/ initial feeling, but then seeing the wines go to the market, need to see forward momentum Tracks Liv-ex pricing a lot, seen upticks in Insignia Other marketing elements: relationships happen over multiple channels now, need to do more social media, and be part of the discussion The pricing goal is to have trade and consumer connect the innate value of the wine to the price The current neo-prohibitionist environment recalls the 80s and the “Mondavi defense” of wine as a potential solution Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Flexibility, not Sobriety w/ Maggie & Rodolphe Frerejean-Taittinger, French Bloom	18 oct. 2025	00:47:23
Pairing their need for a complex substitute for wine, for both pregnancy and professional network, Maggie Frerejean-Taittinger and friend Constance Jablonski enlisted Maggie’s husband, Champagne and Cognac winemaker Rodolphe to found French Bloom. With four years of R&D prior to launch and constant refinement since, French Bloom aims to redefine the alcohol free premium sparkling wine space. Maggie & Rodolphe delve into the creation of French Bloom, exploring its core markets, target customers, and the factors that have drawn them in. Detailed Show Notes: French Bloom overview 500k bottles (2024) Created a premium NA sparkling category Focused on sparkling to create complexity, can play with layers LVMH minority investor 4 years of R&D to get the desired quality De-alc process loses 60% aroma (was 90% in 2021), removes the backbone of the wine Built NA wine like Cognac, needs an undrinkable base wine Focused on the South of France (warmer, higher alcohol and body) for stronger wines, more body, Languedoc (more organic 40% vs 3-4% in Champagne) Limoux is the best place for NA sparkling, 300m high, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, a temple of natural wine Base wine is a bit oxidative, very acidified (used to add lemon juice, now naturally from wine), oaky (new oak, foudre), no sulfites, more tannin Create blends of different reserve wines Extra Brut (0% abv, 0 sugar) has a base of 30% reserve wine from 2 years, aged in new oak barrels to give more structure Better to make adjustments before de-alc vs after Use voile to protect wine from oxidation (like Jura) Flash pasteurization is used b/c no abv, sulfites to protect the wine NA market Wine, beer, spirits - $10B (2020), $20B (2025), believes $30B (2030) Premium NA sparkling - $0.5B (2025), could double next 5 years Holy grail is quality NA still wine, not there yet Best distributors are wine / Champagne distributors, Thailand/Belgium have NA-focused distributors French Bloom customers Biggest markets are Champagne markets (France, US #2, UK, Japan, Australia, Belgium, Germany) Younger (25-45), skew female, appreciates both alc and NA sparkling wine Sells 20% DTC globally 2024 NielsenIQ study on NA purchase behavior - #1 driver - for conscious hosting (aligns w/ French Bloom’s ethos of not excluding anybody); #2 health & wellness; #3 driving Marketing is digital first, leveraging Constance as a tastemaker and key opinion leader More partnerships - Coachella, French Open, just signed F1 (10-year partnership, 1st ever official NA sparkling wine, Moet Chandon on podium; F1 new fans are 75% female, 50% Gen Z from Netflix series) Most effective marketing has been the founding story and authentic storytelling (i.e., Maggie’s pregnancy, Constance’s need for moderation while networking) Marketing through top-tier restaurants, hotels, and shops (e.g., Michelin-starred; became the #1 wine sold at Erewhon in 1 week) Michelin-starred restaurants have 50% non-drinkers at lunch, 20% at dinner No sugar, no additives, organic messaging plays well in California, less on the East Coast Uses the term “alcohol free” vs. “non-alcoholic” NA trends around NA wine & food pairing, including “moderate pairing” (wine & NA wine/drinks as part of pairing); mirrored cocktails (3 versions ofthe same cocktail - NA, low, full) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Tip of the Spear, Global Wine Auctions w/ Adam Bilbey, Christie’s	03 oct. 2025	00:35:27
Selling the very rare, collectible wines of the world, Adam Bilbey, SVP, Global Head of Wine & Spirits for Christie’s, has a unique view into the state of the wine collector. Adam maps the thought processes and changes in attitude of buyers and sellers of rare wine globally, and he is seeing “green shoots” in the market by mid-2025. Detailed Show Notes: Adam’s background - started w/ Berry Bros out of high school (2000) at Heathrow Airport shop, moved to Hong Kong in 2010 w/ Berry Bros, Sotheby’s in 2015, Christie’s in 2021 Christie’s is known for fine art, and wine is part of the luxury group (jewelry, handbags, cars), which is 20% of sales, and wine is 10-20% of luxury sales 2025 wine auction market Christie’s up 2x YOY Aug YTD, big single-owner sales (e.g., Bill Koch) Challenging market mid 2022-2024, newer vintage prices dropping more, more supply available In a downturn, buyers’ price expectations fall faster than sellers’ “Green shoots” in 2025, pricing bottoming out Burgundy has taken share from Bordeaux last 5-6 years, Champagne came up and leveled off, Italy is strong in the US but not in Asia, Burgundy is strong in Asia, but leveled off Interest in more mature vintages, particularly Bordeaux, is still valued there Focus on provenance, people won’t bid on poor provenance anymore 2-tier pricing, people paying for a premium for a great collection, single-owner sales, they like the story of who owned the wines With a more global market than ever, people buy from anywhere The US has a broader selection Everyone buys from the UK Asia tends to need more focus (e.g., Burgundy) Liv-ex shows -10% pricing last year, -20% last 2 years; auction prices move gradually, often lots don’t sell More Millennials and Gen Z customers (45% 2025 from 30% 2022) Female customers have been consistent last 4-5 years, a slight dip in the US, and growing in Asia Younger generations are drinking younger wines, they like the security of younger wines, have a fear of disappointment in older bottles Online auctions require ease of use Christie’s does 2x online auctions vs live Live auctions for key moments, key collections Various owner sales in online auctions Provenance is improving with more communication (e.g., purchase & storage records), people working together (merchants, auction houses), and technology (digital microscopes, UV light, carbon dating) Provenance is critical, as people remember the bad bottles sold to them over the good ones Believes China will make a comeback in the next 2-4 years Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Breaking down the cost of sparkling wine w/ Weston Eidson, Westborn	20 sept. 2025	00:38:07
Making wine is capital-intensive. Making traditional method sparkling wine is even more so. From less juice from the grapes to double fermentation to more expensive bottles and taxes, Weston Eidson of recently launched Westborn Wine describes the differences in sparkling production. Detailed Show Notes: Weston’s background: >10 years winemaking in Napa (Silver Ghost), family are wine collectors, interned w/ Jason Moore at Modus Operandi (2012), and acquired extra Chardonnay from Steve Matthiasson Westborn was founded in 2018, taking “Grand Cru” or single vineyard level fruit for sparkling wine (e.g., Heintz, Ritchie, Durell vineyards) Partnered w/ Russell Bevan (mentor) and Nathan Reeves (made sparkling in Margaret River) The goal is to start with high-quality wines and layer on complexity with traditional method aging Took 4-5 years to find a stride & hone the winemaking process Initially thought it would be 3 years aging vs 6 for 1st release (2019 1st release; 2018 1st vintage just disgorged mid 2025) SKUs: vintage, Blanc de Blanc, Rose, Non-vintage Luxury priced - $100+ Solera method perpetual reserve program, late disgorged release, lead to a lot of capital in inventory 2018: 500 cases; 2025 ~1,000 cases; target ~2,000 cases Sparkling production costs vs. still wine Fruit costs the same (growers love it: less shrivel, gets fruit off earlier - less pest/disease pressure; spreads out the work) Press cuts important, ~25% less gallons/ton vs still wine, as they don’t take taille Need to make the wine twice: initial fermentation (vin clair), secondary fermentation (bottled with yeast and sugar) Custom crush costs are slightly more expensive due to double fermentation Bottles are more costly and need to be bought earlier (~$0.15-20 for a standard bottle; ~$1 for sparkling) Taxes higher: $2.40/gallon for sparkling wine, $0.07/gallon for still wine <16% abv Storage and financing costs are higher Financing is combined with other brands, which may make it hard to start a sparkling brand as a stand-alone entity Look at the business plan over 20 20-year time horizon, projecting cash flow positive in 2027 (9 years from founding) Trends underpinning Westborn strategy: following Michael Cruse w/ grower CA sparkling wine, premiumization, sparkling doing relatively well, sparkling being used beyond celebrations Take inspiration from Bereche, De Souza (lees stirring in bottle to amp up umami), and Selosse People looking for experiences have a tasting at The Art Collective Napa Valley Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Plight of the US Farmworker w/ Elaine Chukan Brown	08 sept. 2025	00:54:30
It’s a cycle that has been happening since the late 1800s. The need for agricultural labor in California is a cycle of bringing in labor and then deporting them when they become too visible. Elaine Chukan Brown, wine writer and author of recently published The Wines of California, describes the history, current situation with new regulations and deportation, and the tension put on vineyard workers’ wages in California and their impacts on the labor market and vineyard workers. Detailed Show Notes: The Wines of California covers 3 sections: How we got here - the history and what context allowed things to happen Where we go - the growing regions and key producers What we’re facing - marketing challenges, climate change Interest in farmworkers started with Salud, a medical program for vineyard workers and their families Has mobile and physical clinics Successful because it provides care for workers and their families CA is the largest farm region in the US Exports 40% of ag production Became nationally relevant in the 1900s, which led to the need for farm labor Sources of farm labor (in chronological order) Indigenous people (until smallpox outbreak and reservations) China - exchanged labor for citizenship, after 10-15 years, expelled Chinese with the Chinese Exclusion Act Japan India Black sharecroppers from the South (small group) Mango (Philippines) Mexico (post WWII) - led to the current H2A program When labor populations grow and get too big, they are expelled, which has been in ~20-year cycles H2A Program - temporary work visa program Cannot be extended or transferred to another employer Employers must provide housing & transportation Biases towards big business to deal w/ compliance FDR (1930s/40s) - Labor Protections Act created worker protections, but excluded agriculture United Farmworkers (1975) - 1st farmworker protection legislation Association of Farmers - farm wonders banded together to have more leverage against workers Ever-growing CA labor regulations create large compliance requirements that end up favoring big business Current system sets up farm workers’ wages as the only lever for farm owners to maintain profit margins and be economically viable (w/w/o gov’t subsidies) New CA farmworker overtime pay law - 8 hours/day, 40 hours/week before overtime Derived from an office worker’s perspective Does not match the seasonal work of agriculture Employers have small margins, can’t afford overtime rates Workers make less money and need to get 2nd or 3rd jobs If workers get injured at 2nd job, workers’ comp does not cover wages of the main job Employers need to find more workers to do the same amount of work, and lose the experience and skills of the current workforce Many crops (e.g., strawberries, peaches) need manual labor and can’t be mechanized ICE raids & deportations: not a new thing, but what’s new is people with documentation (visas, amnesty recipients, citizens) are being detained and deported Creating fear, workers not showing up to work (some regions report a 70% drop in workers) Workers not going to farms on main roads (too visible) Families choose 1 member to go ot work, the other stays home to take care of the kids Historically, when the safety of workers is an issue, workers don’t respond to higher pay US tariffs increase prices to consumers, decreasing sales; it may take decades for consumers to substitute for domestic wines Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Giving California a Seat at the Global Table w/ Honore Comfort, Wine Institute	26 août 2025	00:56:20
With a large domestic market for wine, US producers often don’t focus a lot on exports. Honore Comfort, VP of International Marketing for Wine Institute, lays out the benefits and challenges of exporting wines globally. She covers the top markets for US wine globally, the role Wine Institute plays in helping US exports, and the potential impacts of the current trade war. Detailed Show Notes: Wine Institute overview Members are CA wineries (>1,000) Public policy organization focused on legislation (e.g., DTC shipping) Member dues are a sliding scale (based on prior year revenue & volume), baseline is a few hundred dollars CA is the 4th largest wine region in the world after France, Italy, and Spain Largest market in the US The US market is 75% domestic (80% from CA), 25% imports Export is 4% (by value), 95% is CA Traditionally lower-priced wines, now a barbell (both low and high, but not mid-priced wines) Other countries have high taxes, duties, and tariffs on imported wines (int’l pricing often 2-3x US retail, 10x for India) Cost to produce is high in CA (heavily regulated - environmental & labor force protections; land costs high) Goal to showcase the diversity of CA wine globally, but only a sliver is available Key int’l markets - Canada (#1 until Feb 2025; ~30% of US exports - premiers took all wine off shelves as part of trade war); Europe #2 (Germany is hard w/ strong domestic, low priced market; Scandinavia big); UK #3 (punches above its weight as oldest wine market, lots of wine writers, critics, traders; one of the broadest selections of CA wine); China, Japan, Korea, Mexico Wine Institute has active programs in >30 countries for CA wines Benefits of exporting wine: importers sell wine for you (no 3-tier system like the US), build brand visibility, position wines next to other great wines of the world Challenges of exporting wine - takes investment, needs face-to-face storytelling Small Napa producer (<5k cases) now exports 15% of sales working w/ Wine Institute IWSR creates an index ranking all wine markets globally on attractiveness (2024 - US #1, Canada #2, Switzerland #3 - a small country, but strong wine culture and high value wines) EU subsidies are pervasive (e.g., bottling line, materials subsidies, marketing support (Italy $150M/year), buying excess bulk wine), but hard to get complete info The US has less support for alcohol (USDA has $8M/year for CA wine); wine is the highest value US export, but low in total value Trade war impacts Market uncertainty has many importers not wanting shipments on the water Cost of input materials (e.g., steel, oak barrels) up Prior administration not interested in addressing trade disparities, potential to open up other markets (e.g., India - 150% tariff on alcohol, #1 whiskey market, #5 beer market; Vietnam; Thailand) Attitudes towards the US impact business (e.g., Denmark dislikes threats on Greenland, reducing US purchases; China is not a factor; Vietnam and Korea are positive on US products) Hong Kong’s move to 0% taxes on wine led it to be a hub of CA wine in Asia In 2019, China's tariffs on US wine plummeted business Wine Institute promotes “0 for 0 tariffs” - keeping wine out of trade disputes Major policy priorities: US dietary guidelines (on alcohol), getting wine back on the shelf in Canada, Ingredient & nutritional labeling, CA bottle bill on recycled glass, and environmental regulations “Share Wine” program - building understanding, community, and engaging with wine consumers, focusing on 25-45 year olds, centering on relationship w/ technology Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Bringing innovation back to value wine w/ Dom Engels, Bronco	12 août 2025	00:52:01
As one of the major players in value wine, owning Charles Shaw (aka “Two Buck Chuck”), Bronco Wine Co.’s new CEO, Dom Engels, believes that the wine industry needs more innovation and focus on creating new entry points for younger consumers. From packaging to labels, Dom discusses how he’s navigating Bronco through the turbulence of a shrinking market for value wine from both the cost and innovation side. Detailed Show Notes: Bronco - Top 15 winery, owner of Charles Shaw (aka “Two Buck Chuck”) Has its own CA distribution House of >200 brands Large winery in Modesto, bottling in Napa, a boutique winery in Santa Rosa Owns ~40k acres, ~30k acres vineyards, but farming <10k today Owns Bivio, a logistics company Charles Shaw No created by Bronco, acquired by Fred Franzia (co-founder of Bronco) Was a successful, premium, luxury Napa brand, 1st vintage 1978 Went bankrupt in the 90s, Bronco bought the trademark in 1999 1st product in 2022 - $1.99 for good quality wine Low pricing enabled by low margins and Fred Franzia’s “genius” in bulk wine trading Partnership w/ Trader Joe’s through shared belief in creating accessibility and substantial cultural overlap Believes the industry needs more good entry-level wines to get younger generations a start in wine The ethnic makeup of younger people is not the same as that of older generations “Not your father’s Cadillac” - young tend to rebel against what their parents did 11,400 wineries in the US create a diffuse set of interests, a lack of clear messaging (e.g., craftsmanship, agriculture) to separate wine from alcohol Accessibility could be driven by the right packages (including formats) and labels; good labels drive trial, good liquid drives repeat sales Significant marketing spend is difficult due to low margins Industry covers the right price points (e.g., Charles Shaw $3.49 in CA), but needs other elements, not a lot of great innovation or marketing at low price points (some pockets of innovation, e.g., XXL focus on high ABV) Need more transparency - ingredients, nutrition, ownership, provenance - Bronco is adding more back stories to brands Enhancing social interactions is important; e.g., Jack Daniels’ ad that getting together with other people is healthy too New Bronco company motto, “better times at every table,” similar to Pernod Ricard’s “conviviality” Believes dislocation of restaurant price vs retail is a core driver of wine industry decline, $14 IPA and $25 cocktails make people drink less Navigating lower volumes requires being more efficient, sees opportunity in winemaking (most capacity utilization at wineries now <50%), distribution (reduce inventory), and retail Likely too many brands in the US and too much shelf space in retail Mothballing a lot of vineyards due to oversupply Can’t bring back in 1 year, but can in 2-3 Cut buds down so vines don’t produce fruit Still requires some maintenance costs Vineyards in less optimal areas are to be pulled first, and he does not believe there will be an overcorrection Competing in value vs international Can’t compete on labor Need to compete on quality, provenance, and taste Even tariffs won’t solve the cost gap EU subsidies help democratize wine Tariff impacts Some input cost increases (e.g., China for glass) A good thing overall for the US industry, which will lead to more US wine being consumed Likely no structural change Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Unpacking the cost of growing grapes w/ Natalie Collins, CAWG	23 juil. 2025	01:00:31
In an oversupplied market with rising costs, being a winegrape grower is probably the hardest it has ever been. Natalie Collins, President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, breaks down the cost of winegrape growing in CA, the challenges in the marketplace, and the policy dynamics in the US, CA, and EU that continue to exacerbate the challenges for CA’s winegrape growers. Detailed Show Notes: CA Winegrape Growers - based in Sacramento, lobbies at the state and federal level CA has ~5,900 winegrape growers and 550k planted acres Key cost drivers of winegrape growing #1 labor, ~45-50% of budget (30-45% CA interior, 45-65% CA coast); doubled in the last 10 years, driven by: High min wage ($16.50; most pay $18-30/hr) → increases take entire pay curve up, not just bottom 2016 labor law change reducing hours before overtime pay → reduced farmworker take-home pay (OR provides an overtime tax credit to employers) #2 regulatory compliance (water, air, worker health, safety), ~10% budget Cal State SLO study on lettuce growers - compliance costs ~$1,600/acre (1,366% increase since 2006, 637% since 2022) #3 land - CA has some of the highest land prices in the US #4 crop protection/fertility tools Farming costs ~$4k/acre Central Valley, $6-8k/acre Paso Robles, $8-10k/acre Sonoma, ~$10-17k/acre Napa Grape pricing not rising w/ input costs - Central Valley ~$500-600/ton, Central Coast ~$1-2k/ton Bulk wine from Chile is cheap, and the US can’t compete on price The annual CA Winegrape Crush Report shows pricing for all varieties by district No US federal support vs EU EU subsidizes at every level (growing, marketing, production) >e2B/year in direct and local support, enabling cheap wine production Crisis distillation - buy surplus wine to convert to alcohol (e.g., hand sanitizer) Vineyard removal and vineyard planting subsidies Aggressive marketing support (France investing $5B to support wine exports to the US w/ new tariffs) US wines can have up to 25% foreign wine blended in and be labeled as US wine 2023-2024 - CA left ~300k tons/year on the vines; 2025 ~50% of vineyards don’t have a contract for the 2025 harvest; industry calling for another 50k acres to be removed (60k removed since 2022); all regions pulling out or mothballing/minimally farming vines Tariff impacts (May 2025)- input costs increase, but can be positive for CA winegrape growers 2019 tariffs saw domestic wine increase its share by 10% vs EU wines Canada is actively removing US wines from shelves in retaliation; the US exports 10% of its wines, 40% to Canada Deportations - creating fear, people are afraid to leave their homes for fear of their families getting separated Seasonal labor is not big, 90% vineyards are mechanically harvested; H2A temporary workers (mostly from Mexico, all-in cost ~$30/hr, often more productive, cannot be paid more than domestic workers) Economic impact of CA wine - 422k CA employees / 1.1M across US, $73B CA economic impact / $175B/year US All agriculture is struggling in CA, replacement crops for grapes not easy (some almonds, pistachios, cherries); costs ~$30-70k/acre to plant a vineyard Duty Drawback - a federal tax refund program meant to encourage exports If a winery exports wines, then imports them back, it gets 99% of import fees (including the Federal Excise Tax of $1.07/gallon) refunded If importing ~$3/gallon bulk wine, can save ~30% Mostly used by the top 5 wine companies 2024 - 38M gallons bulk imported (70M in 2022) vs ~70M gallons left on the vine in 2023 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Replicating the Farmer’s Eye w/ Kia Behnia & Mason Earles, Scout	11 juil. 2025	00:54:21
Having met at the UC Davis Wine Executive Program, Kia Behnia, CEO, and Mason Earles, CTO, founded Scout to replicate the best sensor in the vineyard, “the farmer’s eye.” Leveraging off-the-shelf hardware, Scout uses AI to process images taken from a tractor to automate vineyard mapping, vine counting, yield forecasting, virus identification, and more. From managing vineyard assets to implementing precision agriculture to improve quality, Scout is harnessing the power of AI to optimize vineyard management. Detailed Show Notes: Mason’s background - UC Davis Professor, Apple, AI & agriculture Kia’s background for Scout - owns the Neotempo wine brand, worked at Splunk, the “data for everything” company The official company name is Agricultural Scout, dba Scout, the website is agscout.ai, so it can be called any of those names Founded in 2022, initially more hardware-based, but pivoted to an intelligence company using off-the-shelf hardware The goal is to “replicate the farmer’s eye” with an AI-based solution using cameras, tractors, and Scout cloud and mobile app (which can be used offline); the brain is centered around a phone US only today (~50-100 clients, 300 blocks, 2M vines, processed 56M photos), going international in 2026 4 main use cases currently: Automate vine count, inventory, and mapping of vines - 4x faster than people could do Estimate crop performance - both vigor and fruit Yield forecasting - can use every step in the growing season to forecast yield with historical performance and weather forecasts Health performance and vine mapping - leveraging AI for virus detection 3 types of clients Estate wineries Vineyard management companies (“VMC”) Real estate investors or owners to track vineyards Benefits include: $400-1,200 savings/acre Productivity gains through managing more acres with fewer people, identifying low-performing vines, and the program tells farmers where to sample Remote monitoring of faraway vineyards Early season yield forecasting Disease management - virus can cause $170k/acre damage over 3-5 years, costs $40/PCR test, the goal is to keep virus <15% not to lose the whole block, has a 7,000 photo database on vine disease Bench Vineyards discovered 1 acre of missing vines out of 24 acres and filled them in Pricing is a subscription model, $150-180/acre per scan Volume discounts >50 acres Neighborhood and AVA discounts Starter - 2 scan package (for inventory and virus) Professional - 6 scan package Typical customer starts w/ 2 and upgrades to 6 Monarch promotion, customers get 1 free scan Up front hardware costs ~$3,000 New product in beta in July 2025 - ChatGPT Scout for vineyards Marketing mostly through word of mouth, industry trade shows, and webinars have been effective, as has partnership with Monarch (already tech enthusiasts) Barriers to purchase are often due to farming budgets built around labor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Efficiency, then Sustainability with Praveen Penmetsa, Monarch Tractor	27 juin 2025	00:45:25
From 200 mph electric cars to 20 mph electric tractors, Praveen Penmetsa, CEO of Monarch Tractor, leveraged his passion and expertise in vehicles, robotics, and batteries to develop the first smart, electric tractor. Making farmers more profitable and efficient first, and then sustainable, are the core tenets that drive Monarch’s business. Praveen discusses the core benefits of using an electric tractor and how it works with farmers to take advantage of government incentives, making farming more efficient and cost-effective. Detailed Show Notes: Praveen’s background: mechanical engineering, loves fast cars, worked on electric vehicles, robots, and battery systems Founded Monarch in 2018, the company is currently the only company selling smart, electric tractors Now on four continents, with most sales in the US, pilots internationally Solution is a smart electric tractor with an app and piloting autonomous driving Fits in 5’ rows Runtime 10-14 hrs for pushing, 8-11 hrs for mowing, 4-6 hrs for heavy operations; takes ~6 hours to charge Core markets - vineyards #1, dairy #2, orchards, horse ranches Core benefits Save $7-12/hr on diesel savings Remote service and support, day and night - can submit a service ticket on the machine and get help remotely Product gets better over time with SW updates (e.g., released the ‘row follow’ feature) Can power other things, be used like a generator (e.g., night lights for harvest) Easier to train operators (smart screen vs 20 manual controls) Environmental impacts - reduces carbon emissions With increasing automation (mowing is 1st operation), more labor savings Autonomous driving has guidelines by CA OSHA (need signs that the autonomous tractor is running and no people in the block), but there are no legal guidelines in other places Pricing $90k baseline price + options + subscriptions Gov’t incentives can make it cheaper than a diesel tractor, 20-70% savings Monarch helps apply for subsidies, including charging infrastructure and solar installation Subscription charge for connectivity and SW has various levels; some charges can be offset by incentives with carbon offset reporting (e.g., Dannon gives dairy farmers incentive payments for the carbon offsets) ROI driven by tractor usage, payback ~2 years; has an ROI calculator on the website; needs to be cheaper and more efficient before sustainability elements come into play Most farmers want autonomy to reduce labor costs Sells through a direct sales team and dealers Marketing driven by non-electric tractors today, podcasts are helpful, social media, and demos have been very effective Social media, primarily Facebook and LinkedIn for owners, Google SEO, and local dealer support Demos are essential; most farmers want to try before they buy Partnering with other companies to use their technology inside, also partnered with AgScout to leverage AI for vineyards Barriers to purchase primarily worry about service and support, and wanting more autonomy for labor savings Continuously update both HW and SW on machines, some tractors now close to 4,000 hours of operation (vs. standard tractors need to be replaced after 4-6k hours) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Helping wineries run better businesses w/ Ashley Leonard, InnoVint	12 juin 2025	00:49:41
Drawing on her background in winemaking and Silicon Valley, Ashley Leonard, Founder and CEO of InnoVint, has developed a modern platform that tracks everything from the vineyard to the bottle. From getting granular with COGS to automating TTB compliance, InnoVint gets the winery out of spreadsheets and into a modern, cloud-based, mobile-centric system. This system is designed to accomplish InnoVint’s mission: Helping wineries run better businesses. Detailed Show Notes: InnoVint overview - mobile-driven winemaking platform, tracks and manages all winemaking options, and automates compliance >600 winery clients (~80% of wineries still using Excel) 92% of clients in North America, 8% International Mission: helping wineries run better businesses TTB requires reporting for producers >500 cases 4 products Grow - vineyard tracking platform from the winemaker’s lens; phenology dates, yield estimates, applications, harvest scheduling, historical trends Make - winemaking from fruit reception to bottling; work enablement platform with digital work orders Finance - tracks all costs associated with making wine, final COGS; the finance team applies overheads Supply (2025 launch) - case goods management, inventory tracking, integrates with DTC platforms & distributors, has allocations as a planning tool Has open APIs; integrates with TankNet and VinWizard for winery automation, receives data back for actions taken; integrates with quality control labs (e.g., ETS) and can take action more quickly Core benefits Key differentiator: profitability per SKU and true COGS/product (w/o InnoVint, calculated once per year) Efficiency, working smarter, better decision making, and more transparency Reporting to be able to manage quality Some wineries use data to track carbon footprint (e.g., water use, weight of glass) Reduces the risk of an audit Compliance reporting (e.g., TTB 5120, export reports) - Gloria Ferrer went from 3 people over 2 days to 15 minutes for 1 person Larger wineries tend to have more tangible benefits Domaine Chandon saved $75k annually by making the workflow paperless Patz & Hall saving 40 hours/month Onboarding 5-step self-serve process (vineyard sources, lots, volume, vessels, current inventory) takes a couple of days for small wineries Premium package for larger wineries includes team training, and full data migration takes 2-8 weeks Pricing - SaaS model Scales based on size (production) and complexity (# of locations) of the winery Not user or usage-based Implementation ~$1-2k Subscription starts at $2,400/year for a boutique winery for Make Marketing - “has tried it all”, tries to add value to the end user Does a lot of speaking engagements/webinars on being a healthy winery Manages The Punchdown, a free digital community that is a peer-to-peer exchange Referrals from clients are the most effective marketing Launched the State of the Wine Business Health Report (2024) - surveyed with >500 participants To reach wineries that don’t go to conferences - LinkedIn/social, co-marketing, financial webinars Paid advertising sometimes works, but it's not a top lead generator Barrier to purchase - resistance to change, case studies help overcome (e.g., Domaine Carneros saw what Chandon was doing and bought the product) The product roadmap includes Supply module, AI applications, and embedded tools Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Exploring Wine Tech w/ Julien Fayard, Fayard Winemaking	02 juin 2025	00:46:53
Making wine in California, France, and even Serbia, consulting winemaker Julien Fayard has a broad view of the winemaking world. His constant monitoring, evaluation, and investment in winemaking technology benefit both his own and his clients’ wineries. Julien offers insight into winemaking technology on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as some of the specific technologies he utilizes. Detailed Show Notes: Julien’s background: French, came to the US in 2006 and worked for Phillipe Melka, started his consulting practice in 2013, built two wineries and manages three others; mostly Napa (~85%), but also makes wine from Sonoma, Sierra Foothills, Provence, Bordeaux, and Serbia Uses trial & error to evaluate new winemaking technology Usually, a trigger that causes each tech adoption Hears about new tech from travel and conversations with other wineries and tech companies French tech is mostly involved with wine contact (e.g., yeast, oak treatment), the US is mostly logistics, mechanization, automation of labor, and CA is slow to mechanize vineyard work Monitors the slowly evolving knowledge base in winemaking - most tech innovations are slight derivatives of existing knowledge (e.g., sulfur automation) To buy into a new tech: other people using it, company viability (and ability to scale), practicality of solution (e.g., barrel door for fermentation did not take into consideration time and the challenge to move between barrels) ROI calculation includes cost savings, risk assessments, and quantity or quality improvements Generally does not implement things that could move costs more than 10-20% The most significant variable cost driver is when volume drops (e.g., waste, accidents, filtering, bulking out wine) - each tank is ~$100k of wine Fruition Sciences did a lot of sap flow analysis, but never got mass adoption Well monitoring technology is happening, and may be required soon Communications modules for sensors are getting much cheaper, enabling more tech Vinwizard (NZ) - wall winery automation Started with pumpover automation (temp, speed) Can control to avoid peak energy hours Can set times for tanks to make temp-sensitive additions easier Alarms for glycol system outages Arkenstone was 1st Napa winery to adopt, learned from them, a solution more complete than TankNet Min ~$50k cost Innovint - winery SW management system Creates all work orders, does costing, compliance, and traceability Clients, CPAs, and compliance can see everything A communication tool, very user-friendly Sentia - hand wine analyzer (VA, malic, alcohol, SO2) $2k/machine <$1/use for strips Uses a solid chemical reaction “Fragile” tech, 1 in 30 results is way off, researching this with a Phd Tried bungs with sensors, but requires a tech breakthrough to work Oenofrance - a system for faster oak extraction Put oak blocks (closest to staves) under pressure to extract oak flavors faster $40k in oak to $4k (renting tech) Costs ~$80-90k to buy machine Excited about new destemmers, probes for monitoring wines (for “modern natural wine,” in-ground amphora aging) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	5 Years of XChateau w/ Amanda McCrossin & Charlie Fu	20 mai 2025	01:12:30
Exactly five years ago, Robert and Peter published the first episode of XChateau! To help us reflect on how the wine market has changed in the last five years, XChateau’s most frequent guests, Amanda McCrossin and Charlie Fu, return to discuss the changes in wine influencing and social media, the wine market upheaval occurring now, wine marketing done right, and wine drinking trends. Detailed Show Notes: Changes to being an influencer AM: did not think TikTok would be big for wine in 2020, built it up in 2021, and created more “snackable content” (<90 sec videos), reaches wider audience (late 20s to boomers, more female) on TikTok Influencers are changing, and many get burnt out (including Robert) Influencer growth today - e.g., Olivia Tiedemann (@oliviatied) went from 0→4M followers on IG in 2 years, raw, skilled, edgy style caught people’s attention, used collabs to keep growing Social media evolution Things are more video-heavy today vs. the static content of 5 years ago Not a lot of male creators (tend to be older, more “academic”), female creators are much better at wine education YouTube skews more male, TikTok more female Males tend to consume more long-form content, while females tend to consume more short-form content IG likes higher production quality, TikTok more “authentic” videos, IG upped video content length to 3 mins Rednote (Little Red Book) - a popular Chinese app for local food & beverage recs, particularly in Asian dominated communities Wine market upheaval PY: Anti-health messaging is hitting wine more than other alcohol, reversing the trend of the last 30 years, fueled by the “French Paradox” research on positive heart benefits of the Mediterranean diet Premiumization is somewhat continuing - the top 1% are maintaining the high-end market, while others are trading down AM: “Wine isn’t cool,” wine is not great at being in pop culture today PY: Taylor Swift helping things like Sauv Blanc, but she’s not out talking about wine (AM) AM: Wine needs an Alix Earle (@alix_earle) w/ a glass of wine or maybe more medium-sized influencers (100-500k followers) CF: Health kick is a major trend impacting alcohol consumption, fewer people at restaurants ordering wine (at least in LA), people pushing NA options AM: people not interested in the <$10/bottle category (except things like Kirkland wines), want $30+ bottles but need to sell the wine as there is so much choice AM: Wine needs to revamp its merchandising to reach more people (e.g., more by style than varietal) CF: High-end wines getting cheaper and more available; when top wine prices fall, alternatives also crash AM: No such thing as brand loyalty anymore, NDA wines big for Wine Access (private label w/o being about to say the source) Wine marketing done well CF: Winemakers from Burgundy (e.g., Dujac) are out there a lot more, increasing the popularity of the entire region PY: Doing more experiences both at the winery and on the road AM: Clean wine movement (e.g., Avaline) has some negatives, but is positive in terms of giving more transparency (what many consumers want these days) RV: ingredient and nutritional labeling on the bottle is better than just available on the website; PY: NA wines have full nutritional panels, which could help promote wine’s good sides Wine drinking trends AM: Sauv Blanc is America’s grape right now, theory: women think it’s a healthier option due to its lighter, crisp style CF: people not drinking as broadly, but more hyper-focused due to so much available information (e.g., William Kelley and Burgundy); fewer people drinking natural wine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	More Data, Less Sprays w/ Sarah Placella, Root Applied Sciences	02 mai 2025	00:43:36
Spraying for powdery mildew can be ~25% of the cost of farming a vineyard and be one of the key elements of a grower’s carbon footprint. Sarah Placella, Founder and CEO of Root Applied Sciences, has taken her deep research in microbes and created a data-driven solution to monitor the air for mildew and spray only when needed. Root can cut ~5 sprays per season, and growers have an average 5x ROI using the system. Detailed Show Notes: Root Applied Sciences (“Root”) - airborne pathogen monitoring for farmers, like an “early warning system” Founded in 2018, 1st work with/ growers in 2021 Powdery mildew (“PM”) is a big problem for vineyards in CA (March - August) Currently only markets to vineyards, done work with/ strawberries, leafy greens, can do anything with/ DNA and small insects Napa, Sonoma, Central Coast today HW enabled SaaS model - Root owns and maintains devices Device in the field, just above the canopy Send data (battery status, device status, temp, humidity) to the cloud over LTEM connection SW to see the data The grower collects samples from devices 2x/week and sends them to the lab Growers can share data with/ each other Has an automated prototype in process Will not need a grower to collect and send samples Fundraising “seed” round for an automated system ~25% of operational costs are spent managing PM 6-16 pesticide applications/season Conventional growers have fewer applications, but spend more for each one Organic may be spraying every week PM takes 7-10 days to enter plants. See 2 peaks of PM before growers can see it, once PM exists, it's hard to control Root can cut 20-80% of sprays (~5 sprays/season), lengthens spray intervals when low risk ~$100/acre spray cost per application, ~$300/acre if need to spray by hand (e.g., steep slopes) 2024 - saw PM on Mar 29 in Carneros, growers planned 1st spray 4/16, moved up 1st spray to 4/2; cut sprays and more clean fruit Root data enables more biological sprays (have shorter efficacy windows, are more environmentally friendly, and data gives more confidence to try them) Other benefits of Root Clean fruit - faster fermentation (5 days faster), higher quality, possible increase in yields Environmental (less sprays, tractor use) - less diesel use, lower soil compaction; for 1 grower, 1 spray is a 13% reduction in carbon footprint Farmworker health - fewer chemicals in the air Pricing $3,000/season/monitoring station all-in Avg grower has 4 stations, 1 every ~30-50 acres Precision growers or rolling hills, 1 station every ~10 acres ~5x ROI Barriers to adoption Risk aversion No access to a carrier to send samples Grape prices down (budgets) More adaptive sprays can make operational scheduling harder for vineyard management companies Other PM solutions “Spray and pray” (~90% of growers) - calendar-based system Weather-based tools don’t work well and may be impacted by climate change Spore trapping tools (e.g., spinning rods, roto rods) have sticky material that reduces sample size and efficacy, UV light exposure degrades PM Image-based analysis (new) - lots of data to send, samples ~2L air/min vs 400L air/min Root, does not specify type of PM present (~40 types) Product roadmap - more power efficiency, integrating a solar panel Has done work with/ downy mildew, botrytis, vine mealybug, and can detect them, but does not add a lot of value Excited about growth in microbial mildewcides (biologicals) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The Deep Well of Kosher Wines w/ Gabe Geller, Royal Wine	17 avr. 2025	00:33:23
With over 1,000 kosher wines from across all major winegrowing regions, Royal Wine is the largest importer (and producer and distributor) of kosher wine in the world. Gabe Geller, Director of PR & Wine Education, discusses the market for kosher wine, how and where it is made, and how Orthodox Jews hear about them. Detailed Show Notes: Gabe’s background, at Royal Wine >9 years, wine industry for 16 years (retail, consulting, marketing) Royal Wine - world’s leading importer, producer, distributor of kosher wine In US, carries >1,000 kosher wines from every major wine producing region Owns Kedem, Herzog, and other brands Can’t taste kosher wine, similar to other wines Produced only by Sabbath observant Jews No non-kosher ingredients or processing agents (e.g. - fining agents) Has kosher certification on the bottle Mevushal (“boiled”) - for some kosher wines, uses flash pasteurization which is also used by some non-kosher wineries; tend to taste more approachable initially, but ages longer Israel #1 producer of kosher wine (~5M cases), USA (~350k cases; mostly Herzog), France (~350k cases across many wineries) Kosher wine market Observant Jews drink kosher wine year-round Jews use wine in almost every religious ceremony, considered the “holy beverage” Passover 1st night dinner (Seder), every adult is required to drink 4 cups of wine (can by any kosher wine or grape juice), each cup symbolizes 1 way God saved Jews from slavery Jews who don’t do kosher normally will for Seder 40% of kosher wine in the US is purchased for Passover (used to be 60%, declining as more quality kosher wines available, so more is being bought year-round) Top markets - Israel, US (NY/NJ #1, FL, CA - CA Jews drink less wine than East Coast Jews), France In top kosher markets, large retailers (e.g. - Total Wine) will have a kosher selection, some kosher wine stores, and online retailers (e.g. - Wine.com) also carry kosher Of the 15.7M Jewish people (2023), only a small portion keep kosher Some kosher wines sold to the general market (e.g. - Bartenura Moscato #1 imported Moscato the past 15 years, most don’t know it’s kosher; Jeunesse semi-dry wines have a distinct consumer appeal) Israeli politics / Gaza war have lead to people buying more to support Israel Marketing to the Orthodox community Identify sects with stricter mevushal rules (e.g. - 101F vs 105F) and promote specific brands that meet those Print advertising big (English, Yiddish), many do not use as much internet, none on Sabbath, take in news via print Whatsapp #1 social media for Orthodox Jews (or Telegram) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Spreading Israeli Wine Globally w/ Victor Schoenfeld & Walter Whyte, Golan Heights Winery	02 avr. 2025	00:48:50
Though one of the oldest wine-growing regions in the world, Israel is still exploring its potential after Muslim rule after World War I. Victor Schoenfeld, Head Winemaker, and Walter Whyte, VP of Sales for Yarden Imports, explain how Golan Heights Winery has set the bar for the quality of Israeli wine and spreads its wines globally, both within the Jewish community and beyond. Detailed Show Notes: Victor Schoenfeld - CA native, went to UC Davis, recruited to Golan Heights Winery in 1991 Walter Whyte - managed officers’ clubs in the military and learned about wine Golan Heights Winery (“GH”) background Founded 1983 to export wine of high quality 26% exported today (production to increase 30%, primarily for export) NE Israel, Syrian border, 33rd parallel (like San Diego) Volcanic plateau, Mediterranean climate, high elevation (1,200-4,000 ft) 19 varietals, known for traditional method sparkling, Yarden Cabernet Zelma Long, former consultant Price points range from $15 (Mt Hermon) - Yarden Cab ($50) - $80+ - $1,000 (Cru Elite) Manage 40% of vineyards (to increase), rest on long-term contracts 500 vineyard blocks, harvested & vinified separately Has two propagation vineyards and a nursery Israeli wine history Journal of Science (2023) - identified two winegrape domestication events 11,000 years ago - Caucasus (Georgia) and Western Asia (Israel) Discovered ~30 ancient wine artifacts Golan Heights is the coolest climate region in Israel Muslim rule 738 - WWI - old varieties died out Israeli war impacts Minimal grape growing impacts (1 missile fell on vineyard), but emotionally challenging Support in the US for Israeli wine, reduction in sales in Europe after Oct 7, 2023 events Israeli wine market GH demand > supply in Israel Per capita consumption is low; a large segment does not drink due to religion The food scene has exploded in the last 20 years, but many restaurants do not serve Israeli wine Top 5 markets - US, Canada, Europe, Far East (Japan) Top US markets - NY, NJ, CT, FL, TX, IL, CA Historically, wines went to religious markets, expanding into secular internationally marketed as high quality, not as kosher; Angelo Gaja distributes in Italy Differentiating GH “Oldest new world winery in existence” Marketing messages: World-class wine, kosher, then from Israel High elevation, volcanic soils on 33rd parallel (Etna is 37th) Marketing Grass roots, get people to taste the wine Active in Jewish organizations, ads in Jewish publications, tasting events sponsored by Jewish groups Strong presence in Kosher wine stores All GH wines are kosher 2 types - Mevushal (cooked/pasteurized) - required for some, esp Kosher restaurants (catering, weddings, bar mitzvahs); Non-mevushal Many wineries do both Everything used in winemaking needs to be certified kosher (e.g., yeast) Can’t use things like isinglass GH's whole facility is kosher “Could double business if made mevushal,” but will not to maintain quality Food and wine pairing is not typical. Traditional Middle Eastern cuisine, “mezze,” has a lot of different flavors at once Passover dinner is coursed, and every adult must drink four glasses of wine (or grape juice) Yarden Cru Elite - $2,000 per pair 265 pairs related, including NFT, sold directly from winery Celebrate the 40th anniversary with collectors Cabernet Sauvignon, single vineyard, single block, two single barrels Launched at an Israeli restaurant in Singapore Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Dialing in the Vineyard w/ Cody Ashurst & Lex Palmer, Phytech	20 mars 2025	00:47:32
Tracking vine trunk movements down to the 0.5-micron level, Phytech is leveraging technology to optimize vine irrigation. Cody Ashurst, Director of Vineyards, and Lex Palmer, Marketing Manager, discuss how their solution optimizes and automates irrigation today and how it can be extended to optimize fertilization, harvest dates, and much more. Detailed Show Notes: Phytech - a global SaaS company that optimizes agricultural irrigation Technology includes dendrometers, irrigation pressure switches, soil moisture probes, and frost & weather stations Crops include nuts (biggest), citrus, pears, getting into row crops Vineyard solution primarily West Coast / CA, pursuing Portugal, Spain, Italy, Chile, Mexico, Texas Dendrometer - digital devices mounted onto vine or tree, measures expansion and contraction of plant trunks at the 0.5-micron level (70 microns = 1 human hair) Vineyard solution includes a dendrometer, soil probe, website, and mobile app with wireless comms and data loggers connected via cellular, satellite, or wifi The solution can be adjusted based on the type of farming (e.g., quality or quantity), rootstocks, clones, soil types Tracks trunk size and soil moisture to signal irrigation needs Optional: pump/value control for irrigation Can schedule up to 2 weeks of irrigation Can monitor fertilizer inputs (cost of fertilizer up 600% last 5 years) Benefits: Don’t promise water savings, but see up to 60% less water use Improve quality by knowing when veraison happens and when vines stop growing or are stalling Optimize fertilizer, diesel, and electric pump costs Reduce labor for irrigation if automated The system logs data, enabling knowledge transfer when people leave Case study: High-end Napa vintner got WE94 points 1st vintage, then used Phytech in a heat wave year and got WE97 w/ tailored post-veraison irrigation; other growers had a 30% loss, the winery had a 3% loss Case study: one ranch was expecting a 50% loss, but down to 3% with irrigation changes Pricing - depends on # of sites in a block There is a small upfront fee for installation Monthly SaaS fee (~$50-80/acre/year), includes maintenance Weather station ~$700/year (vs ~$3,500 to buy) Case studies (videos on website) Ultra premium Napa winery Neotempo Larger Mendocino grower Bonterra Marketing most through word of mouth/referrals Digital media, video testimonials, trade shows & panels Video in digital media has been the most valuable Connecting 1:1 is very helpful Phytech is more holistic than other solutions The most significant barrier to adoption is technophobia The subscription-based model eliminates “tech graveyard” growers have Product roadmap Predictive brix/pH model (growers input brix, system tracks weather, vine response) to predict harvest date by block GDD (growing degree days) monitoring tracking temperature and humidity in the field at the block level AI Advisor to look at past data and current practices and enable recommendations Other exciting innovations - Autonomous spraying and tractors (Guss, Monarch), optical arrays for vine health (Scout), microalgae for soil health (MyLand) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	A Medical Record for Each Vine w/ Shawn DeMartino, Sentinel	05 mars 2025	01:02:04
After struggling with tracking vineyard data firsthand, Shawn DeMartino, CEO and Founder of Sentinel, decided to create a solution with his partner. Enabling vine by vine mapping and data collection that could stand the test of time enables vineyard managers to increase the lifespan of a vineyard, manage viruses, and effectively create a “medical record” for each individual vine. Detailed Show Notes: Shawn’s background - winemaking, viticulture, now general management Sentinel was a Covid project that became real, software that collects individual vine information over time “Patient medical system of record for vines” The solution includes a mobile app, desktop platform, and high-accuracy GPS (receivers that clip onto phones) Maps all the vines in the field Configurable data collection forms Available in 5 countries currently Mapping the vineyard Create a 3D model with lat/long and elevation Basics (variety, clone), images, comments, discrete statuses (e.g., life stage, virus status) The vineyard mgmt team populates data, can walk up the vines and record Work with/ Sentinel to put in bulk metadata (e.g., block info, varietal) A client mapped 100 acres in 1 week Work order function E.g., irrigation can be recorded Roguing, planting, and grafted statuses can auto-update when the work order is completed Core benefits Extend the life of the vineyards Virus/disease management, see the program more clearly, identify asymptomatic vines in hot spots (case study: ~10% of vines asymptomatic) Optimize pick areas (through mapping flavor profiles) Pricing Mostly software, hardware costs small Annual subscription based on acres, not users (<1% of farming cost) Biggest growers ~$2k/year ROI example: client roguing 1% of vines/year w/ growing virus problem, Sentinel enabled them to get ahead of the problem in 1 year Marketing mostly organic search Articles and podcasts helped Last 18 mo, mostly word of mouth Referral program: The referrer gets a bottle of Krug Barriers to adoption Worries about time requirements; the goal is to collect data when already in the field Worries about less flexibility to manage vineyard; full customization of data enables more flexibility Next on the product roadmap - continue to flesh out more work order functionality Other tech Shawn is interested in Winery management platforms (e.g., Innovint) Soil moisture probes for irrigation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	High Altitude Luxury w/ Anita Correas & Gustavo Hormann, Kaiken	19 févr. 2025	00:44:46
With the recent launch of a new $300 retail icon wine, Boulder, Kaiken continues to explore the potential for luxury wines from Argentina. Building on the last 15 years of Kaiken's other icon wine, Mai, Anita Correas, Commercial Director, and Gustavo Hormann, Director of Winemaking, discuss the global market for luxury Argentinian wines, how they approach launching them, and the brand-building impacts for the Kaiken brand. Detailed Show Notes: Kaiken background Founded in 2002 by Aurelio Montes (Chile) "Kaiken" is the name of a wild goose that crosses between Chile & Argentina Exports to 60 countries Winery in Vistalba, Mendoza (28ha), vineyards in Agrelo (60ha) & Los Chacayes, Uco Valley (150ha) 60% on-premise Frances Mallmann restaurant at the winery Recently launched new luxury tier/icon wine - "Boulder" $300 retail price, 3,700 bottles Developed over the last 10 years Unique 3ha block in Los Chacayes due to overflow of Arroyo Grande, full of big rocks/boulders Malbec (64%), Cabernet Franc (28%), Petit Verdot (8%) Boulder launch plan Launched in Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Korea, Brazil (São Paulo, Argentina's #2 export country), US Brazil's event had a more direct impact on sales Mostly press/trade events that are smaller, in-person Likely less on-premise than Kaiken overall, more hand-selling to collectors and Michelin Star restaurants VR w/ Google Glass to see the vineyard up close and go inside the soil has gotten positive feedback, but it is more expensive than a regular video (required 3 days of video shoots and a special camera) Mai - prior icon wine $100 retail price, 12,000 bottles Launched in 2009 from a 120-year-old vineyard Marketing more "maintenance" now 2021 - redesigned packaging, got 98 pts and Top 100 from Suckling Primarily sold in Argentina, then UK, US, Brazil, Japan 70% of Argentinean wine is consumed domestically, delaying the need for exports Average export ~40% higher price than Chile (export-focused market, ½ the population, 2x wine production vs Argentina) More high-end wineries in Argentina vs ~5 in Chile >$100 market for Argentine wine - "not a huge market" Big domestic market - much of Mai, Boulder sold domestically Consumers looking at super high-end often do not look at the country of origin but more at the concept of the wine Value Prop for Argentine luxury wine - not influenced by oceans, high altitude, dessert wines, driven by the Andes Return on Boulder is more than sales, but brand building for Kaiken Focused on relationships with importers Want long-term relationships as they represent the brand globally Reach collectors through import partners Has affiliated importer in Argentina Montes relationship Was helpful on launch to piggyback on Montes brand Now Kaiken is more independent and only shares importers in a few countries (it used to have the same ones) Kaiken Ultra ($26) awarded Wine Spectator Top 100 (#30, highest Argentine wine) Wine drinkers can graduate from Ultra to Mai and others Kaiken's focus for each range of wines is to over-deliver for the price point vs linking the wines Good press in 2024 for Kaiken - #1 New World Winery from Sommelier Awards, Boulder rated best Argentinian red blend by Patricio Tapai (wine critic), Estate Malbec was Wine Spectator's best value wine Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Creating a positive message for wine w/ Gino Colangelo, Come Over October	05 févr. 2025	00:29:37
With many macro headwinds for the wine world, Gino Colangelo, founder of Colangelo PR, felt the negative and often poorly fact-checked press around alcohol and health posed an existential threat. Teaming with Karen McNeil of The Wine Bible and fellow PR leader Kimberly Charles, they founded Come Over October, a campaign to create a positive narrative around wine. With freely available media assets and over 120 partners, the movement, in its first stretch, has shown the power of focusing on the positive elements of wine. Detailed Show Notes: Macro wine challenges include marijuana, Ozempic, and RTDs, but “no alcohol is healthy” messages from WHO and other gov’t organizations potentially pose an existential threat to the industry Come Over October (“COO”) founding Campaign to advocate for wine Commission research - 60%+ 21-39-year-olds would change consumption if alcohol health guidelines changed, 60%+ participate in Dry January or Sober October (which equates to 17% of the year) Karen McNeil, writer of The Wine Bible, got backlash over post against Dry January and ideated Come Over October Kimberly Charles, owner of an SF wine PR firm, joined as co-founder Started the company in spring 2024 (Come Together, a Community for Wine) as a mission-driven company to advocate for wine Fundamental principles Had to reach consumers No negativity towards other alcoholic beverages Involve everyone in the wine world The goal for success: turning the narrative around wine positive (e.g., more articles on the social benefits of wine) Measured by impressions of negative vs. positive articles about wine In a battle for hearts and minds vs just getting the facts right Asked for two things from partners Modest check - $1-10k to pay for campaign, website, social media, media asset creation Activation - use campaign assets (free to all) to run a COO campaign Example activations Total Wine - in-store signage, direct marketing, social media posts Constellation Brands - bought in-store radio ads for 800 Kroger stores under the COO banner (promoting Kim Crawford, Meiomi, & The Prisoner with Karen McNeil doing voiceover) and reversed negative sales trends in stores Jackson Family - free tasting, events, cash support for COO Campaign success metrics 120 companies participated >1,000 retail stores engaged (e.g., Kroger, Total Wine, Gary’s) ~$100k donated media (e.g., Wine Enthusiast, Vinepair, Wine Spectator) Next Campaign - Spring 2025 Focus on the food message Differentiate wine as food vs alcohol Continue togetherness message Bring in chefs, restaurants Then roll back into October Would like to hire a Director to run the company Health debate Loneliness epidemic - 30% of males don’t have close friends Wine has a unique ability for positive wellness in bringing people together Does the industry need a positive health message/research to turn things around truly? (e.g. - wine → better relationships / friendships → stress reduction → better health) 60 Minutes show on The French Paradox (1991) changed the wine world and led to 30+ years of growth Not yet seeing health impacts of marijuana usage as it has only been legal recently Contact info: info@comeoveroctober.com or gcolangelo@colangelopr.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	The 2024 US DTC Wine Market w/ Cathy & Chris Huyghe, Enolytics	22 janv. 2025	00:59:10
With a second year of volume declines, 2024 has been challenging for the wine industry. Digging deeper into what trends are shaping the wine industry’s malaise, Cathy and Chris Huyghe, founders of sales analytics software platform Enolytics, have uncovered important insights into the US DTC wine market, including the decline of women and the divide between the affluent and middle class in wine purchasing. Enolytics has also developed a free service for the industry called EnoInsights, which is worth checking out. Detailed Show Notes: Enolytics launched b/c no one in wine knew what to do with their data Builds sales analytics software for the wine & spirits industry for both DTC and wholesale depletion data Customers primarily small (<$1M DTC revenue) & medium-sized, growing in larger wineries US, Canada, Australia - primarily US w/ 80% California Partnership with WineDirect Exchange anonymized data every quarter and analyze it to build reports for the industry ~2k wineries in database, ~1k wineries analyzed after removing outliers 2024 DTC trends Revenue flat-ish, volumes down significantly Women purchasing less (-4%) - overall (-3%), men (-2%); reverses a recent trend of women buying more wine, not generationally different, impacting white (-5%) and rose (-10%) more than red (-2%) Affluent areas are doing better (flat revenue, lower volume), middle-class & poorer areas are down more Wineries increasing pricing (+5% through Q3 2024), AOV up due to pricing VA is doing reasonably well, CA - particularly Napa and Sonoma, hardest hit - they largely depend on tourism (70% of purchases from people outside CA), Central Coast CA is not down as much (70% of purchasers from CA) Hospitality/visitation declined 7% (# of purchasers) in 2024 (also declined in 2023) Impacts wine club sign-ups, with hospitality the main club sign-up engine Wine club growth -3% (# of members) in last 12 months 2020 +7%, 2021 +11%, 2023 -1% (20% attrition through Q3, 28% total; 19% sign-ups), 2024 -2% (19% attrition, 17% sign-ups) Club doing best of all major DTC channels - revenue flat, volume down Less expensive wineries getting hit more (less affluent customers) Customizations up - 20% of shipments, higher revenue per shipment Avg club tenure falling Best practices - better training of tasting room staff, use data to manage attrition (Enolytics has an algorithm to determine attrition risk; wineries that use it see 20% less attrition than average), use data to target customers to join the wine club (high spenders that are not in the club) Website sales have the most significant room for growth, -42% since 2022, still up from pre-pandemic 2020 +250% in online sales Texting, “concierge” services, more targeted telemarketing (highest AOV channel, 6x tasting room; potential to leverage tasting room staff) Average winery emails the entire list, gets lots of unsubscribes, recommends hyper-segmentation, creates messages for 100-200 people Events - same levels as 2022 Opportunity to take tasting room on the road Recommends targeted events with a specific goal Go to places where there’s an existing customer base Cross-channel marketing can be effective, e.g., using DTC data to sell out a restaurant event Wholesale data partner - VIP - includes “can buy” and “lost” accounts Regional wine marketing boards (VA, Paso Robles) engaging Enolytics to do studies on DTC data - currently doing baseline analysis and onboarding more wineries, sending quarterly reports Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Accelerating Wine Sales w/ Chemistry & AI w/ Kat Axelsson & Charles Slocum, Tastry	05 janv. 2025	00:58:03
Having “taught a computer how to taste” and using that data to help winemakers improve their processes, Tastry has turned to leveraging AI and their consumer preferences and wine chemistry databases to help wineries sell wine. Katerina Axelsson, CEO, and Charles Slocum, Chief Business Officer, discuss Tastry’s Sales Accelerator Ecosystem, which includes the Wine & Consumer Insights Report, which gives wineries, distributors, and retailers tools to help them sell more wine. Tastry has provided an example report for listeners. Detailed Show Notes: Tastry overview - see Ep 157 for a deeper dive Tagline - “taught a computer how to taste” It has two unique data sets - wine chemistry, US consumer taste preferences Helps improve winemaking, predict and react to changing consumer preferences Works with wineries, retailers, and distributors Tastry commercialization history 1st 2 years - establish trust with winemakers Last year - focus on helping sell wines Sales Accelerator Ecosystem Takes data from 3 areas (winery input metadata, wine chemistry, Tasty validated wine market data) to feed accelerator (AI system) Consists of Wine & Consumer Insights (“WCI”) report, Sales Accelerator platform app, & integrations into other platforms (e.g., e-RNDC) Has AI search and chat functionality Salespeople use data to sell to on/off-premise accounts Sometimes, consumer-facing in-retailer displays WCI - 2-page report to help sell wines Used to train salespeople, it can be a leave-behind P1 - for the category buyer; P2 - for servers, staff to educate them WCI Components: Top left - bottle shot, label zoom in (helps for retention); name of wine; varietal; appellation; price (what it is actually sold for in the market); wine category (AI curates category to be highest scoring on Tastry score) Category Score - 200 point scale, 100 is average for the category Not a critic score >100 is better than the average, <100 less than average in terms of expected performance in its category against the Tastry consumer preference database (e.g., Cupcake Pinot Gris got a 181 score) Percentile rank - e.g., 129 = performs 29% above avg 10,000s wines in database out of ~160k wines in the US Never <15 wines in a category Creating a new WCI for more rare and unique wines Lower priced wines, terroir matters less; higher prices matter more Tastry Notes - AI-generated tasting notes, breaks into average and more experienced drinkers Segmented Consumer Appeal - insights into buyers of wine; if there’s at least an 85% match (roughly equates to Vivino’s 3.9-4.0 score or 88-90 critic score), consumers tend to notice they like the wine and will buy it again Flavor profile (p1) - e.g., fruitiness, oakiness, sweetness P2 - flavor profile (major flavors), retail talking points, food pairings - used as a training tool to help people sell wine Launching a new page for marketing teams to update data Retailer recommender - has shown +3-12% sales in 90 days Tastry Pricing - $1,580/year subscription, $370/wine analyzed How Tastry can help in the current macro environment Creating low / no alcohol wines Marketing tools (Sales Accelerator) - addressing younger audiences (e.g., pairings with kale salad and frozen pizza rolls) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Creating Memories through Experiences w/ Kim Busch & Kylie Enholm, Folded Hills	10 déc. 2024	00:39:51
With 600 acres, a polo field, a lake dock, and even a zebra and camel onsite, the Folded Hills Winery and Farmstead in Santa Barbara is able to create unique and memorable experiences. Kim Busch, Founder and Co-Owner, and Kylie Enholm, Director of Operations, discuss how they bring this vision to life through the platform of Rhone varietal wines. From hiring for the “hospitality gene” to having a full-time events manager, Folded Hills is creating memories they hope to get people to tell their friends and add to their wine club program. Detailed Show Notes Folded Hills founding - intended to grow and sell grapes, vineyard manager convinced the Busch’s to start a label, Folded Hills ties into family history Heritage labels - e.g., Lilly Rose after Lilly Anheuser (grandmother) Photo labels (reserves) - mostly from photos the Busch’s took themselves Folded Hills overview 600 total acres for Homestead, Farmstead, private ranch Southernmost winery in Central Coast, right off 101 The urban tasting room in Montecito, Homestead (winery tasting room), and Farmstead at the winery Rhone varietals (Grenache, Syrah, Clairette Blanche, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc) ~5k cases/year 98% DTC, would like to increase wholesale to 10% for more exposure Has its own polo field Visitation ~8-10k visitors/year total ~2.5k in Montecito (more club members, a “Cheers” vibe), rest at Homestead Mainly from Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Diego Creating memories through events differentiates Folded Hills Sparkling rose launch party in Montecito - brought in a mini horse with a unicorn horn Launch vinyl nights (Thurs, Sun) in Montecito Does 1 large event/month at estate Homestead - e.g., polo games, tailgate contest Oktoberfest - beer & wine Animal feeding (including zebra, camel) Prices events to primarily cover expenses (range from $15 - 195 winemaker dinners) The focus is on creating memories vs selling wine to create word-of-mouth buzz Andy’s dad said “making friends is our business.” - he created beer and baseball while owning the St Louis Cardinals Hospitality differentiation through events and experiences Has a full-time events manager Enabled by lots of land (600-acre ranch), private lake dock, ATV group tours in the vineyard, animals to feed Homestead appeals to families (w/ Farmstead - U-pick fields, animal feeding) Hires people w/ the “hospitality gene” Wine club benefits Wine is the biggest draw (“purity” of wines believes does not lead to “stuffy nose” or “headaches”) Word of mouth around Folded Hills taking care of club members (access to private lake, private ranch) ~10% of club members are local (live w/in 1 hour), next largest group from St Louis (does ~2 events/year, launched brand in St Louis) Get 15% off organic produce at Farmstead Plan to relaunch farmstays on a adjacent private ranch Farmstead - “heart of soul” of brand Best sellers - animal feed, ice cream, baked goods ~30% of visitors go to both Homestead and Farmstead, increasing as tasting room visitors now given free bag of animal feed Santa Barbara wine region differentiation - diversity, 75 varieties grown; unique climate (transverse mountain range) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Creating the Wine Experience w/ NA Wines w/ Duncan Shouler, Giesen 0%	22 nov. 2024	00:48:40
With the health and wellness and moderation trends booming, the non-alcoholic wine market has been growing quickly off a small base. Launched in 2019, the Giesen 0% range has solidified its position as one of the leaders in the NA wine market. Duncan Shouler, Director of Innovation, explains how the 0% range was developed, the critical elements of non-alcoholic wine, the current market conditions, and what it will take for the non-alcoholic wine market to succeed. Detailed Show Notes: Duncan’s background - was in marine biology and shifted to wine ~20 years ago Giesen - family owned, 40 years old, large winery (crushes ~20k tons/year), a broad range of wines from large scale to single vineyard Started non-alcoholic (“NA”) range 5 years ago (2019) ~17% of production today, growing Has a more significant reach and impact on the market vs. regular wines The creation of the NA range came from a fitness challenge in 2019, when he could not drink alcohol for 1 month and discovered there were no good choices in the NA space. Spinning cone technology (good for quality as it uses lower temps than other processes) also became available in NZ at that time NA winemaking process - create regular wine, then remove alcohol; for red wine, you need to balance the tannins (need ripe, soft tannins) More expensive to make - costs 15-20% more Need to replace ~25% of volume Need to go through spinning cone technology Lower cost from no alcohol excise taxes NA taste - loses some of alcohol’s texture, body, heat NA wines age similarly to regular wine (except in cans) NA wine markets - still in growth mode, needs higher quality wines to succeed The US is ahead of most markets, and the UK is slower with more traditional drinkers Mainland Europe is booming, and NZ is behind Most off-premise, some growing pains (e.g., Boisson closed its stores), mostly bought where people buy alcohol On-premise still embracing category (Giesen launching super premium range to target on-premise) Most large players (e.g., Constellation, Treasury) are looking at NA wine NA wine drinkers - originally abstainers driving growth, now people substituting wine driving growth from moderation trend; broad market from boomers to legal age Gen Z; 35-60 females largest cohort Price points aligned with regular wine ($9 low end, up to $18/bottle, some products ~$55/bottle) Removed alcohol of high quality can be used for other things (e.g., gin, biofuel) NA wines can have up to 0.5% abv, Giesen wines 0.4-0.5% abv You need to consume 5 bottles of NA wine to get 1 glass of 13.5% ABV wine .45% abv similar to ripe bananas, some fruit juices, bread NA wine should still be kept away from children as it is still a wine experience Marketing NA wines Low calorie is significant; Giesen is low in sugar (drives calories), which plays into the health and wellness trend Most effective - social media and influencers - play well with Millennial and older Gen Z’s, essential NA wine growth category Older consumers know Giesen from regular wine Nutritional and ingredient labeling - mandatory for regular wine in the EU; NA is a food product and requires it Giesen back labels specific for each wine, the main driver of differences are in sugar content Nutritional data has some positive elements (e.g., potassium) Large serving size (12 ounces, ~½ bottle) driven by US FDA, looking to change back to a 5-ounce glass Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Always have distribution w/ Cheryl Durzy, LibDib	13 nov. 2024	00:50:00
Having struggled to manage and maintain distribution for her family winery, Cheryl Durzy, CEO of LibDib, decided to start her own distributor. In comes LibDib, a tech-enabled distributor that lets any alcohol producer have distribution in most of the key US markets. Cheryl provides background on the US 3-tier system, the role of a distributor, and how LibDib is helping producers get distribution, enable wine sales, and become a tech platform for other distributors. Detailed Show Notes: US 3-Tier System Put in after prohibition to keep one tier from owning alcohol distribution Tiers - producer, distributor, retailer US distribution heavily consolidated into 3 large ones, lots of smaller specialty distributors vs. many distributors in the 70s/80s Distributor function Helps consolidate suppliers for trade accounts; accounts don’t have resources to manage each supplier separately (e.g., invoices, checks) Pay taxes, do compliance Logistics (heavy, fragile product) Customer service (mistakes, breakage, returns, samples) Sometimes act as a winery’s salesforce Getting a distributor 2024 - distributors are shedding brands vs. taking on new ones Typically - look for fit w/in a distributor’s portfolio, pick someone with a good reputation Distributors will ask - what will be your investment in the market? How often will you be here? Do you have feet on the street? LibDib - enables wineries to sell themselves, a tech-enabled distributor Started as a wholesaler in 2017 (CA, NY), enables distributor for any producer The platform enables rich content and e-commerce Has license in 9 states, enabled through RNDC in 6 states (e.g., Texas) ~1,500 suppliers w/ active accounts, ~700 wineries w/ ~450 actively selling Originally focused on spirits, wineries have increased by ~50% in the last few years Uses FedEx to send wine, integrated API to track status, negotiated good rates <50% of DTC rates; have cold chain, ice pack options for hot temperatures New markets launching late 2024 / early 2025 LibDib use cases Get wine to specific accounts in a market Enable wine brokers in other states Importers sell directly to accounts Ship special projects from large wineries that distributors don’t want to touch Pros/cons of LibDib Pro - always have distribution, good communications/customer service, good technology experience for producers and trade accounts Cons - no salesforce, need to be a little tech-savvy Business model Markup of 14-18% on sales (vs. 30-35% for most distributors) + producer pays for shipping Subscription service (Gold, Silver, Plus) - get lower markups and services (e.g., portfolio management, VIP chain assistance, advertising on platform) ~250 subscriptions (of 1,500), mainly on Gold for chain services RNDC partnership - OnDemand division Onboard w/ both RNDC and LibDib, no sales support 28% markup, inclusive of shipping 6 states, ~400 suppliers Most people want to get regular distribution, which can act as a trial for RNDC Trade account benefits ~30k accounts (~50% active), not including RNDC states No minimum shipments Enables direct contact w/ wineries Access to smaller items not available elsewhere LibTech (launched Jan 2024 in TN) RNDC invested in the last round, and LibDib built e-RNDC Selling e-commerce platform as SaaS to other distributors LibDib is developing AI tools for suppliers, early 2025 launch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
	Building brand ambassadors through hospitality w/ Meaghan Frank, Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery	18 oct. 2024	00:46:26
As the pioneer of Vitis Vinifera in the Eastern US, Dr. Konstantin Frank is one of the key leaders of the Fingers Lakes region in New York. Meaghan Frank, a fourth-generation vintner, has been leading the charge to evolve its hospitality program to create brand ambassadors for the winery and the region. Its 1886 Wine Experience has won Best Wine Tour by USA Today in the last two years. Meaghan breaks down their hospitality program and its impact on their business. Detailed Show Notes: Finger Lakes region, NY - 150 wineries (of 400 in NY), NW NY State - 5 hrs from NYC Skinny, deep lakes that moderate weather Glaciers left diverse soils Tourism-driven, seasonal visitors (spring to fall) for lakes, hiking, close to Niagara Falls, Corning Museum of Glass Dr. Konstantin Frank - PhD in Viticulture from Odesa, Ukraine; a grape scientist; fled to NY during WWII 35 years of cold climate grape growing experience when moved to NY 1st to plant vinifera in Eastern US Planted experiment station in the 1950s - 68 varieties, including Furmit, Pedro Ximenez, and Touriga Nacional) to research what would work best Dr. K Frank Winery 17 vinifera varieties → 40 wines 60% wholesale, 40% DTC 40 states, 9 export markets (5%, incl Japan, Aruba (lots of NY visitors), UK) DTC 60% e-commerce (driven by wine club), 40% hospitality Hospitality program The goal is to create brand ambassadors and loyalty, get the word out about the Finger Lakes Inspired by Australian hospitality programs - private, educational ~40k visitors/year (#1 PA - 1 hour away, NJ, OH, NY core markets) - all seated, paid Pre-pandemic - ~80k visitors/year for free bar tastings Moved to an experience-driven program with wine educators, take advantage of lake view Three experiences: Eugenia’s Garden - modeled after great grandmother’s garden, most casual, can do a la carte glasses/bottles/flights; enables people to enjoy the day; targets a younger demographic Signature Seated ($15pp) - most popular, educational, 1 hr, 6 wines, 5 different themes that are part of the winery’s story (e.g., traditional sparkling, Riesling pioneer, groundbreaking grapes, red wines) The 1886 Wine Experience ($75pp) - only May-Oct, 2-2.5 hrs, led by wine educator, a tour of the vineyard, sparkling and still wine cellars, seated tasting of 4 wines with bites, followed by additional tastings; won best wine tour by USA Today last 2 years; lots of 1st-time visitors book 1886 due to unique nature Lessons learned - used to do 6 wine flight w/ bites, which was too many; did themed months (e.g., sparkling) - did not work with mostly tourists Differentiators - spend lots of time, has a separate private space for 1886 Wine club evolution Used to have people pay upfront for the year - bigger barrier to signing up, always feel like “playing catchup” to ensure value delivered, concentrated work during shipment periods Moved to more subscription model - quarterly, 3 wines w/ default package, fully customizable, no upfront fee, 20% discount on wines, and get free tastings (no limit) 8% club conversion - the only way to get free tastings now, used to waive w/ 4 bottle purchase Locals small portion of the club - pickup option only 10%, PA #1 Avg tenure 1.5 years, seeing it extend with the new club model Popular wines Hospitality - Rkatsiteli #1, traditional method sparkling Wholesale - #1 & #2 - dry & semi-dry Riesling Riesling 60% of production, traditional method growing Increasing issues around climate change - 2023 had the largest spring frost in history, increasing water issues Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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