Secrets of a Successful Tasting Room – Highlights from SVB 2013 Survey
June 5, 2013 —
Secrets of a Successful Tasting Room – Highlights from SVB 2013 Survey Last week Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division founder, Rob McMillan, along with Cyril Penn of Wine Business Monthly, Brian Baker of Chateau Montelena and Ahin Thomas of the Vintners’ Alliance, conducted a live videocast: Secrets of a Successful Tasting Room- 2013 Survey Results. →
Wineries & Breweries: Work Together To Change Laws
May 6, 2013 —
Wineries and Breweries: Work Together To Change Laws As in many states, the 3-Tier System in Texas has always been a nightmare. It took wineries over a decade to persuade the legislature to allow for retail sales at their wineries. Finally, in 2001, after seeing the financial potential of the burgeoning wine market, the legislature →
Let Your Sales Forecast Be Your Guide
February 5, 2013 —
Let Your Sales Forecast Be Your Guide What is the difference between these two perspectives? 1. Winery owner produces a wine(s) and needs to sell it to fulfill the sales goal. 2. Winery owner has a sales goal and needs a wine(s) to fulfill that goal. At first glance, you may not think there is →
3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make Starting Your Winery
January 8, 2013 —
3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make Starting Your Winery I work with people who are interested in opening a winery and are doing their research. I also work with winery owners who have only been open a few years, as well as established wineries facing new challenges. After working and being involved in the →
Winery Winter Blues: 3 Ways to Boost Revenue
December 13, 2012 —
After the hustle & bustle of the holidays, the tasting room can seem a bit quiet. January and February are typically the slowest months of the year for a winery. The vineyard looks like a bunch of sticks. The days are short and cold. People are generally not out looking for things to do. Sales →
If You Try Sometime, You Might Find You Get What You Need
November 20, 2012 —
Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I blogged last. I’ve had a busy summer and a great harvest season doing what I love. I’ve been working with a winery in West Texas helping them expand and it’s been fun – even in the sweltering Texas heat. I’m putting together a series on the planning, →
Crush It!
June 18, 2012 —
The growing season in most states is in full swing now and you’ll soon need to be ready for harvest and crush. The problem is, it’s like getting prepared after you’ve received the hurricane warning – it IS happening, you just don’t when it will strike. The grapes are ripening, but the fruit won’t be →
Get Your Groove On At Local Wine Festivals
June 4, 2012 —
Festivals. Are you participating in local and regional wine festivals? If you’re not, you should be. Festivals are a great way to have your wine tasted by lots of people in a short period of time. Attendees of wine and food festivals actually enjoy wine and food – go figure! 😉 And they are excited →
Trailblazer Challenge: Manning Your Isolated Vineyard
May 18, 2012 —
A couple of weeks ago, I attended Grape Day at Newsom Vineyards, up west of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle – pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But it was worth the trip – several great speakers (Dr. Andy Walker from UC Davis, Dr. Richard Becker of Becker Vineyards, and many others), interesting people, →
You Don’t Need Robert Parker
April 25, 2012 —
Love or hate the 100 point system, Robert Parker’s rise to dominating the wine critics’ world has changed the way we think about wine, what we buy and the resources we use to make our wine-buying choices. His influence is so great that what he says about wines can actually shift markets around the world, →