Are your wines distributed?  Should they be?  Many small wineries ask themselves these questions.   The answers are not always easy to come by.   Let’s shed some light on the subject. First, how did we get here? Why do we even have mandated distribution in most states? The 3-tier system, born out of the →

Wine commercials can be silly, funny, ridiculous, true…and not so true. This list was created by Paul Wagner of Balzac Communications. Enjoy! Zinfandel Festival ad Gallo Pink Chablis story USB Wine 1950’s Melody Hill Wine Commercial Rigos wine ad Dixie wine. Really. Gallo Cartoon 1930’s Riunite lifestyle ad Rosemount—wine for women Wine opener Indian Wine →

Your customer purchased your 2009 Viognier and raved about it to their family and friends.  Great!  But will you be able to produce one similar next year when they come back for more?  From grape growing to customer visit cycles, creating stability is one of the biggest agricultural challenges and in turn, marketing challenges facing →

The Fingers Lake International Wine Competition, held this past weekend in Rochester, NY, is the largest charitable wine competition in North America.  The 11th annual competition set a record for entries with 3,259 wines from 788 wineries.  The wines came in from 19 nations, 6 Canadia provinces and all 50 states! Congratulations to the Southwest →

Fire destroys truckload of wine on I-80. How would you like to get that news from the truck drivers transporting your wine?   The fire broke out in the trailer’s refrigeration unit while being delivered. Perhaps you’re saying “Man that sucks. Glad it wasn’t me.”  The big question here is what if this had been →

Recently I attended the annual Texas Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium conducted by Texas A & M’s Texas AgriLife Extension. Pierce’s Disease, also known as PD, is such a big problem for grape growers that many states have annual conferences and research projects devoted exclusively to it such as this one. There are several culprits for →