Is the Pendulum Swinging Back? Rethinking Wine Experiences in a Shifting Landscape Like any other industry, the wine industry is cyclical. What goes around tends to come back around. And what can we learn from those trends—besides the fact that leg warmers were never cool, even in the ’80s? Wine…
Reimagining the Water Cooler: Building Connection in Remote DTC Wine Teams The COVID-era shift to remote and hybrid work brought many benefits: flexibility, broader talent pools, and increased autonomy. But it also came with a major cost—especially for those in the DTC wine world: we lost the spontaneous learning and…
In the world of hospitality, there’s a misconception that offering service is just a job—something anyone can do with minimal training or effort. Yet, anyone who has truly excelled in this profession knows the truth: hospitality is a noble calling. It requires a combination of innate qualities and cultivated skills…
Take a look at any number of Tasting Room Associate job ads, and it becomes apparent we need to hire unicorns – rare, mystical, and never seen in the wild except by a chosen few. We are seeking that blend of hospitality heart, wine knowledge, and hopefully sales skills. Every…
Uncertain times can feel like a game of survival for many in the wine industry. With tighter budgets, shifting consumer spending, and market challenges, it’s tempting to cut back on non-essential expenses like staff training and development. Yet, those who invest in their teams during tough times often emerge stronger,…
Overdependence on Tasting Room traffic as the sole driver to grow our DTC business has become problematic for all wine regions. Between fires, the pandemic, changing travel patterns many wineries have focused new efforts on building DTC customer bases from programs that they can actually control – DTC road show…
US’ Shamier Little passes on the baton to Bryce Deadmon in the mixed 4x400m relay heat at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP It began years ago, and every day, we have the chance to cross the finish line strong. How we got here is not by accident;…
One of the most anticipated parts of several WISE courses is the opportunity for attendees to go out and Mystery Shop their direct competitors. It is a very structured approach to looking at the experience, with a formal debrief. It is always fascinating to see how industry professionals at all…
As consumers, our media consumption habits have evolved dramatically over the years. Some of us remember when we used to have to get up as kids and walk across the room to change the TV channel! That primitive exercise was soon made redundant when someone on the block got the…
The reports are in, and traffic is down year on year (to date) in many regions. While all are hopeful it will return to at least 2019 levels, several WISE wineries are focusing on driving revenue beyond the tasting room. Here are three ways to drive revenue even when traffic…