Feb 22, 2021Clubhouse, The New Hustle, and Less is MoreAnother new social platform is taking the industry by storm: Clubhouse, a voice-first platform, is the talk of the town for a large swathe of wine pros. It’s like the First Rule of CrossFit all over again: Make sure everyone knows you Clubhouse. My good friend Andre Ribeirinho asked me…Clubhouse3 min readClubhouse3 min read
Jan 27, 20212021 DTC Vendor FlywheelFour years ago, Rob McMillan asked me to build a chart with all the DTC vendors, to coincide with the annual SVB Report. The first report was an interesting challenge and became a labor of love. …Wine17 min readWine17 min read
May 6, 2020Sauvignon Blanc Time MachineI don’t write about wine. Not in the traditional sense. I write about the business of wine. My observations. The evolution of the market and the shortcomings of the system. It’s not that I don’t enjoy wine. I do. And it’s not that I don’t appreciate the nuances and beauty…Wine4 min readWine4 min read
Mar 27, 2020It’s Go Time — How to Choose A Winery E-Commerce VendorWith the world upside down and all traffic to winery tasting rooms on pause, many wineries are quickly moving towards e-commerce. However, with so many vendors in the industry, it can make finding the right one daunting. Here are a few tips when choosing a wine industry e-com partner. References…Ecommerce5 min readEcommerce5 min read
Jan 15, 20202020 Winery DTC Vendor FlywheelWelcome to our third year of building this Winery DTC Vendor Update releasing the same day, and in support of, the Annual SVB State of the Union report. This project is a tremendous amount of work, and only possible thanks to Erica Gomez who has been a fantastic partner to…Wine9 min readWine9 min read
Nov 18, 2019Reconciling Wine’s Eternal SinThe world is coming to terms with our impact on climate change. Our industry acutely recognizes this and, due to our tight connection with land and weather, are at the forefront of trying to reconcile our impact. Whether with Dan Petroski in Napa, Miguel Torres in Spain, Antonio Graca in…Wine2 min readWine2 min read
Jan 18, 2019(re) Introducing The Wine DTC Vendor MatrixIt’s that time of year again and in conjunction with the SVB Annual Report I’m releasing the updated landscape of DTC vendors. So first, it got a whole new name thanks to the marketing & design help from Erica Gomez. …Wine3 min readWine3 min read
Sep 11, 2018The Secret Wine Industry Impediment — ResourcesIt seems like everyone wants to work in the wine industry. It’s elegant. It’s the epitome of luxury. It’s sophisticated. Just like in Hollywood, we have lines of people trying to break into the wine industry — either because of their passion for wine or their passion for the lifestyle. …Wine5 min readWine5 min read
Sep 8, 2018Tough Challenges in the Wine IndustryThrough my lengthy, rewarding, and challenging wine career, I’ve not only seen some of the hardest trials of my life, I’ve been tasked with them, too. When I sat down to write a recent article for The Buyer, I began considering these challenges, reliving all of them in their own…Wine5 min readWine5 min read
Jul 17, 2018How Do Wineries Beat the Amazon Effect — Customer Centric ShippingQuick interlude blog — after participating in the most recent SVB DTC Webinar (the “After Dark” session) I gained a new clarity about the future of online winery sales. For the first time, I could see the market dynamics catalyzing change like never before, and simultaneously the wine industry awakening…Wine9 min readWine9 min read
