They're not wearing capes.

They're wearing vests and carrying iPads and managing wine clubs and running tasting rooms and trying to figure out why last month's numbers don't match.

They're superheroes all the same.

In the wine industry, when are data superpowers unlocked?

Usually it starts with one moment.

A report that used to take an hour and a half is just there.

A heat map that used to be built manually in Excel now takes two clicks.

A segment gets run, an email goes out, and the winery sells more wine.

It happens every day. Not once a quarter when the board report is due. Every day.

That's what a superhero looks like.

It’s not about being a “tech person.” It's about being willing to look at what your data is actually telling you — about your customers, your club, your tasting room, your next email.

We're going to be putting the spotlight on the superheroes themselves at two upcoming events. If you're curious about what your data could actually be doing for you, these are worth your time.

NBBJ Wine Industry Conference Keynote

Wednesday, April 29 at 8 am PST

We'll be on the keynote stage sharing stories from winery teams that are turning data into decisions — and making the case for why that matters more right now than ever.

Spoiler alert: We’ll be sharing stories about the villains too, and how they’re being defeated

More details are here.

Enolytics Webinar: Grow Tasting Room Visitation with Smarter Customer Data

Friday, May 1 at 11 am PST

This is where the real superheroes show up. Real wineries, real results, real talk about what's working and what it took to get there. Register here.

Wine data superheroes are all around us. We'd love to help you become one of them.

I'm here, as always, for any questions or ideas. Thank you, also as always, for reading.

Cathy

Your tasting room is one of your most powerful sales channels — but are you using your customer data to its full potential? From identifying your most loyal visitors to timing your outreach just right, you'll walk away from this webinar with practical, actionable ideas to drive more visits, more sales, and stronger customer relationships.

Register Now

Small but mighty.

That's the phrase that kept coming back to me throughout last week's webinar. The three panelists who joined us are running lean DTC teams — Chelsea Leniart, Wine Club Manager at Scheid Family Wines, Hilary Berkey, Director of Sales, Marketing and Operations at Emeritus Vineyards, and Kristy Quigley, Operations Manager at Alma Rosa Winery.

"Lean teams" meaning two or three people deep. At the most.

The outsized results they're seeing, in a market that everyone agrees is hard, are genuinely remarkable.

Here's some highlights and takeaways from  what they shared in last week's webinar.

On Wine Club Customization

The fear is that if you give members flexibility, they'll race to the bottom and swap out for your cheapest wines. 

What Chelsea actually found was the opposite. 

By studying what members customized in the previous year's March run, she reshaped this year's offering more intentionally. 

The results? 

A 167% increase in sales of a higher-tier estate Pinot, and edited club shipments with a 14% higher AOV than default shipments.

Customization, done right, grows revenue.

On Hyper-Segmentation

Hilary’s team makes goal every month.

Every single month. 

She runs coordinated campaigns across every DTC channel — Club, outbound, email, text — with no customer touched more than twice with a sales message per month. 

The key advantage? 

Cross-platform data integration. 

Enolytics aggregates across Commerce7, Tock, RedChirp, and more, producing segments more precise than any single system could.

In February, one team member was $3,000 short with four days to go. They went into Sell More Now, identified the right customers, made the calls, and closed the month.

That's not luck. That's data, used right.

On Automating the Customer Journey

Kristy’s team at Alma Rosa joined Enolytics in February. Two months in, they've already built a fully automated re-engagement campaign for lapsed high-value customers — running daily, with no ongoing manual work. 

Enolytics identifies which customers have slipped, updates the list, and the emails go out automatically.

Kristy is now building a differentiated welcome journey based on where a customer made their very first purchase. 

Tasting Room versus Website. Two different customers. Two different conversations. Much better personalization, automated.

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the full recording here. 

And if you're ready to try this with your own data, we'd love to talk.

Thank you, as always, for reading —

Cathy

“What can I do right now to help my winery sell more wine and, frankly, stay in business?”

We know how many of our colleagues and friends are asking this question. We see and to hear it as an urgent problem that needs immediate attention.

Which is exactly why we put together tomorrow’s FREE webinar, on better tools and strategies for navigating a tough market.

There’s still time to sign up here.

We’re particularly excited to shine the spotlight on three smart industry pros as they share their own strategies and toolkits. Here are some highlights to start:

• Chelsea Leniart, Wine Club Manager at Scheid Family Wines, will talk about inventory management and boosting Club revenue through projected customizations.
• Hilary Berkey, Director of Sales, Marketing and Operations at Emeritus Vineyards, will talk about hyper-segmentation in outbound sales, and the "side effects" of ideation for different teams.
• Kristy Quigley, Operations Manager at Alma Rosa Winery, will talk about automating customer journeys through actions that are triggered by key behaviors.

The through-line of each of these applications?

AI, and leveraging the power of smart technology, especially for "small and mighty" teams — to generate revenue, to solve problems, to streamline processes, and to help wineries grow.

Ready to punch above your weight class, too?

Register now. Join us tomorrow. Schedule a conversation.

It’s time to act.

I look forward —

Cathy

Wineries that are finding traction aren't just grinding harder. They're leaning on better tools.

Tools, that is, that do the heavy lifting so that the wineries can focus on what they do best: making great wine and building real relationships with their customers.

That's what this free webinar is all about, on Thursday, April 9 at 11 am PST / 2 pm EST.

We'll walk you through the specific tools and strategies that are helping wineries grow — even in a down market.

Here's a preview of what we'll cover:

• AI-driven sales suggestions. Our machine learning algorithms look at your customer data and tell you exactly who to call, what wine to pitch them, and when. These are smart, predictive tools for both sales and customer retention that lead directly to increased revenue.
• Marketing automation that actually works. Set up a highly targeted campaign in about five minutes (minus writing the actual message), with built-in safeguards so you don't overserve your contacts.
• Reservations + sales data, together. We combine your sales behavior data with your reservations data so that your sales associates start their day, fully prepared. They'll know who's coming in, what those customers have bought before, and what to recommend — giving every guest a first-class experience and skyrocketing your conversion rates.
• Club shipment analysis. Know who to reach out to for customizations before the shipment goes out. Increase your customization rate. Increase revenue per shipment. And get a full breakdown of what wine sold well and what didn't, so you can make smarter decisions next time.
• Communications tracking. Enolytics gives you the tools to prepare for any outbound or inbound communication, document it in a way that can easily be mined for insights, and write the information back to the notes in your CRM. No more lost context.

The best part? You'll hear from guest speakers who are actively using these tools at their wineries. They'll share what's working, what they've learned, and they'll be there to answer your questions live.

Enolytics serves up actionable insights – they’re ready to act on – so that you can grow your business without adding more work hours to your day.

You don't need to be an Enolytics customer to attend.

If you run or operate a DTC winery, this webinar is for you.

Register here and come ready with questions. We'll see you there.

Thank you, as always, for reading and for your ongoing interest —
Cathy

Generous.

That's the very best word I can think of, to describe last week's Outbound Sales webinar.

The panelists were generous with their time and content, and all participants were generous with their conversation.

Here is the link to the webinar, in case you missed it or if you'd like to revisit. And here were some top takeaways:

• An Outbound Sales team is like a "Swiss army knife" of a winery. They field calls and questions from all directions, from phone sales to tracking orders to relationship building.
• The Average Order Value (AOV) of Outbound Sales is almost always higher than the AOV of a Tasting Room sale.
• Key skills needed in an Outbound Salesperson include persistence, objection handling, methodical note taking, long-term commitment, and an ability to trust the process.
• Chris created this highlight reel of Enolytics' Outbound Sales toolkit, including the Sell More Now! module and AI summary feature.

Looking ahead, we'd like to share our upcoming schedule of webinars in our ongoing series. Click through, and you'll be able to RSVP for the ones that interest you.

Thursday, April 9 @ 11 am PST: How to Navigate a Tough Wine Market: Better Tools, Better Sales
Tough market? You're not alone. Wineries across the country are navigating the same headwinds — and the ones finding traction are leaning on better data to do it. Join Enolytics for a candid conversation about what's working right now: the tools, the metrics, and the mindset shifts that are helping wineries turn market challenges into real sales opportunities. Come ready to learn, ask questions, and leave with a clearer path forward.

Friday, May 1 @ 11 am PST: Turn your Data into Dollars: Grow Tasting Room Visitation with Smarter Customer Data
Your tasting room is one of your most powerful sales channels — but are you using your customer data to its full potential? From identifying your most loyal visitors to timing your outreach just right, you'll walk away from this webinar with practical, actionable ideas to drive more visits, more sales, and stronger customer relationships.

Thursday, June 11 @ 1 pm PST: Wine Sales Multiplier: Top Tips from WISE x Enolytics
What happens when two of the wine industry's sharpest minds on sales and data get together? You get this webinar. Whether you're looking to grow your DTC sales, better understand your customers, or just find that extra edge in a competitive market, this conversation is for you. Don't miss the insights that could be the multiplier your wine sales have been waiting for.

Sign up today!

Any questions or ideas? I'd love to hear them.

Thank you for your ongoing interest —

Cathy

In this free, one-hour webinar, you’ll hear from industry experts and top-performing peers who are using data to grow their outbound sales. We will share growth tools for building high-performing, hyper-segmented lists without spending hours creating segments or exporting and importing spreadsheets. You’ll learn to use predictive analytics tools to anticipate when customers are likely to purchase again, and send them relevant offers they are interested in. And we will share key integrations that both speed the outreach process and drive greater campaign ROI.

You do not need to be an Enolytics client to sign up for this webinar, and any DTC winery leader or operator can benefit from the tools and tactics presented. If you’re ready to sell more wine through your outbound sales channel, sign up below. We can’t wait to see you there.

Thursday, March 19, 11:00am - 12:00pm (PDT)

RSVP

I'm gonna need everybody to stay calm.

But I might - might - have a sliver of good wine data news to share with you.

The latest Enolytics Snapshot came out this week, reporting on the month of February, and here's the big takeaway:

"February's performance reveals an industry adapting to new realities rather than spiraling downward."

Now. If you know us at all, you know that Enolytics is not prone to dramatics or exaggeration. "Cautious stability" is what we're calling it in this month's Snapshot analysis.

So, again, everybody stay calm.

But we think that not "spiraling downward" is a pretty big deal right now, so we're going to hover here for a moment.

Please visit our Snapshots page and see for yourself. It's free for everyone to access.

You'll see Q1 so far, and the month of February alone, and the last twelve months.

Scroll down, and you'll see Wine Club Metrics, and the WISE Triple Score (because yay WISE!) plus their BONUS content and tips.

Then there's our short analysis, with these keywords to note: consistent improvement, strong execution, and our current favorite, "cautious stability."

No one is saying we're out of the woods and we definitely have a lot of work in front of us. But maybe there's reason to take a tiny pause of hope.

We'd love to hear your thoughts too. What are you seeing for yourselves, and how can we help?

Here are a few ideas in that direction:

Sign up for our next webinar, Turn Your Data into Dollars: Grow Your Outbound Sales through Your Customer Data, on March 19.

Tune into the next AI & Wine group on March 13, featuring Tim Weinheimer, on the topic of search results in the AI era.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend. They are free, and you do not need to be a current Enolytics customer.

We're here to help. Please reach out with any questions or ideas.

Thank you, as always, for reading and for your interest --
Cathy

New Video Alert!

Watch this video to see exactly what your customers are looking for.

It's our most updated feature in Enolytics and it's called, simply, PITCH THESE WINES.

How do we know what your customers want?

Their previous buying behavior tells us. We study the patterns, and anticipate demand. Then we "serve up" lists to you of exactly what to pitch to your customers.

We've done the heavy lifting of identifying which wines to pitch to which customers.

Have a look at the video and see for yourself!

There's no guesswork. There's no "one size fits all" campaign. You can even see how much revenue you can expect to generate before you send any targeted campaign.

For anyone on your team making sales calls by phone, we've also added an "Outreach Info" button where they can log outreach, track conversations, and see quick details to support a smarter and more productive interaction.

All the "pitching" information is easy to find, and easy to see. It also helps you and your team stay coordinated, and avoid any overlap of outreach.

Take three minutes and watch the video. Then drop me a line or book a meeting with me if you, too, would like access to this information for your winery.

You'll be glad you did.

Thank you!
Michelle

"The barrier to entry with wine and AI is you."

That was my favorite takeaway from last Friday's inaugural AI and Wine group discussion, which Nadia Kinkade and I had initiated to explore how artificial intelligence is shaping the business of wine.

It was Stephen Mok, founder of New Vintage Labs, who said it. And it's stuck with me.

You know, and we all know, that there are plenty of barriers of entry when it comes to today's wine industry.

And never before have two such powerful (tsunami-scale?) forces crashed together as they have right now, namely the massive shift in technology and the wine sales downturn globally.

Which is why it's never before been so important to have conversations like this, about the industry's responses to these forces.

And to have them openly and with a community-forward mindset.

And to learn from our colleagues and peers about how they're managing the waves.

That's exactly why we'll keep having these sessions, and it's exactly why the doors are open for you to join us.

Here's where to sign up, and stay up-to-date on announcements. Our next gathering is scheduled for Friday, March 13 at 9 am PST / noon EST, featuring Tim Weinheimer. 

The AI and Wine group is off to an exciting and provocative start, and we hope you'll jump in and join us.

As always, please ping me with any questions or ideas or etc -

Thank you!
Cathy