Winery leaders and industry experts explore the strategies shaping the future of wine sales.

The wine industry narrative over the past two years has been dominated by decline: falling consumption, shrinking distributor portfolios, and weakening consumer loyalty. The headlines suggest an industry in freefall.

But the reality is more nuanced - and more useful.

Yes, overall wine consumption continues to face pressure. Consumer behavior is fragmenting in ways that challenge traditional approaches. But the full story isn’t simply decline. It’s divergence.

Some wineries are still growing. Some categories are holding steady while others contract. Some sales channels are thriving while others struggle. The difference often comes down to whether wineries have adapted their strategies to match the market that exists today, not the one that existed three years ago.

At Wine Industry Network’s Annual Wine Sales Symposium on May 13, Dr. Chris Bitter will present research on what’s actually happening in the wine market beyond the headlines. His session breaks down where pressure is real, where performance remains strong, and what the data reveals about which strategies are working.

Understanding that distinction matters. The wineries making the wrong moves aren’t failing due to poor execution. They’re solving for a market that no longer exists.

What's Actually Changing

The playbook wineries relied on even two years ago may no longer be enough. Consumer behavior is shifting in fundamental ways. Younger consumers are entering the market with different expectations around format, pricing, and brand authenticity. They are less motivated by tradition and more driven by experience and value.

At the same time, direct-to-consumer acquisition costs have climbed while conversion rates have softened. Wholesale distribution continues to consolidate, creating fewer paths to market. And tasting rooms now compete with a broader set of hospitality experiences across travel, dining, and entertainment.

Discovery itself is also changing. Artificial intelligence is beginning to influence how consumers find, evaluate, and choose wine. Wineries that don’t understand how these systems surface brands risk becoming invisible to the next generation of buyers.

These are not temporary disruptions. They are structural shifts that require new strategies, not just better execution of old ones.

Where the Old Playbook Falls Short

Relying on wholesale as a primary growth engine no longer works for most small and mid-sized wineries. Treating the wine club as a passive subscription model leads to churn rates approaching 40% in the first year, which is increasingly unsustainable as acquisition costs rise.

Investing in traditional tasting room models without rethinking the experience leaves wineries competing for a shrinking pool of visitors. And running marketing campaigns without understanding how discovery is changing means missing the channels where decisions are actually being made.

The wineries that recognize these shifts early have a meaningful advantage.

Where Growth Is Still Happening

Growth hasn’t disappeared. It has become more focused.

At the Wine Sales Symposium, these opportunities are explored through a series of sessions designed to help wineries align their strategy with where the market is actually moving.  

• Customer Retention has become the highest-leverage growth driver. As acquisition becomes more expensive, wineries are rethinking how they build long-term relationships. The session " The Wine Club Reset" focuses on how top-performing wineries are keeping more than 85% of members past year one by transforming their clubs into true membership ecosystems.
  

• Strategic Partnerships are opening doors traditional marketing can't. Partnerships with brands across hospitality, travel, and lifestyle are creating new entry points without the cost of building those audiences from scratch. The session on Strategic Partnerships explores how these relationships are structured and how they translate into measurable results.
  

• The tasting room is being reinvented as an experience destination. Visitation is no longer driven by convenience. Today’s consumers are choosing experiences that feel intentional, social, and worth their time. The sessions focused on hospitality and visitation examine how wineries are creating environments that foster connection and reflect a clear brand identity.
  

• AI-driven discovery is reshaping the buyer's journey. How consumers discover, evaluate, and decide what to buy is evolving. These two sessions focused on AI and consumer engagement, will break down how wineries can remain visible in these emerging channels and respond to customers more effectively.
  

• Wineries still committed to wholesale success require a more deliberate approach. "The New Distribution Reality" will address how to navigate consolidation and portfolio pressure, while broader discussions around producer resilience explore how wineries are adjusting their overall sales strategies to stay competitive.

What Should You Do First?

Once you understand where growth is happening, the next challenge is deciding where to focus.

The closing session, "From Insight to Action", addresses exactly this. Strategist Adam Bird provides a framework for determining which levers matter most based on where your winery sits right now, so you leave with a plan you'll execute, not a list you'll abandon.

The wineries that succeed in the next phase of the market won’t be the ones that try everything. They’ll be the ones that choose the right priorities and go deep.

The Market Rewards Clarity and Speed

The wine market is in correction, but that correction is creating opportunity for wineries that adapt.

Gen Z participation in alcohol has risen sharply. Personalization tools are more accessible than ever. Cultural shifts toward experience and authenticity are building momentum for an industry built around those strengths.

But those tailwinds won’t reward hesitation. They reward clarity, focus, and disciplined execution.

Wine Industry Network’s 2026 Wine Sales Symposium takes place May 13 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country in Rohnert Park, California. 

The event is designed for winery owners, sales leaders, marketing executives, and decision-makers who need to understand what's actually happening in the market, and what strategies are working now.  

Advanced pricing is $345 and includes full access to all sessions, lunch, and the end-of-day networking wine social. Day-of pricing is $395. 

If you’re responsible for growing wine sales, building stronger customer relationships, or navigating the changing wine market, this event was designed for you.

The wine market is no longer simply in a slowdown – it is in structural correction.

Distribution routes are tightening, consumer behavior is shifting, and the assumptions many wineries relied on even two years ago no longer hold. Wholesale channels that once provided stable revenue are consolidating or disappearing. Tasting room traffic has become inconsistent. Consumer loyalty has weakened.

This isn’t temporary turbulence. It’s a fundamental reshaping of how wine reaches customers and which wineries succeed in doing so.

Winery owners are facing hard questions: Should I double down on wholesale or pivot to direct-to-consumer? Do I chase new customer segments or deepen relationships with existing ones? The challenge isn’t a lack of options. It’s knowing which move to make first when resources are tight, and the margin for error is slim.

The Distribution Landscape Has Fundamentally Changed

For decades, wholesale distribution provided a reliable path to market. Regional distributors carried diverse portfolios and created predictable revenue streams.

That model is breaking down.

Distributors are consolidating at an accelerating pace. Portfolio trimming has become standard practice, with distributors cutting brands that don’t meet new volume or margin thresholds. For many wineries, routes to market that existed 18 months ago have simply closed.

Add to this the reality that consumer behavior is shifting dramatically. The wine industry is facing declining overall consumption, rising production costs, and a generation of younger drinkers who aren’t reaching for wine the way previous generations did.

Some Producers Are Finding a Way Through

But not every producer is paralyzed by these challenges.

Chris Baker, President of Brassfield Estate Winery, has watched the distribution landscape transform firsthand. Alongside Brent Bolding, SVP of Sales Strategy & Operations at Jackson Family Wines, and Cheryl Durzy, CEO of LibDib, Baker has been rethinking what it means to succeed in wholesale when the old playbook no longer applies.

That adaptation looks different depending on the winery. Some are doubling down on direct-to-consumer innovation. Others are experimenting with new product formats. Still others are forming unexpected partnerships that open doors to new audiences.

Laura Gabriel, Brand Strategist and Co-Founder of Paper Planes and The River Club, has seen producers build resilience by treating their challenges as creative opportunities rather than existential threats.

“A lot of wineries jump straight to tactics – DTC, new products, partnerships, but if you don’t have clarity on who you’re trying to reach and how they actually live, none of those decisions will land the way you want them to.”

Judd Wallenbrock, CEO and President of Somerston Wine Co., has navigated these shifts by focusing on operational resilience and strategic clarity. Together with Gabriel and Terra Jane Albee, Director of Client Success at Vinoshipper, Wallenbrock represents a growing group of producers seeking opportunity rather than waiting for conditions to improve.

But knowing that other wineries are succeeding doesn’t answer the hardest question: What should you do first?

The Real Challenge Is Prioritization

Adam Bird, Partner and Director of Strategy at Highway 29 Creative, works with wineries navigating exactly this tension every day.

“Everything changed at once,” Bird says. “When five things break at the same time, the instinct is to fix all five. That instinct is the problem.”

Bird points to encouraging signs. The contraction curve is flattening. Gen Z alcohol participation has jumped from 46% to 70% in just two years. Personalization tools once reserved for large operations are now accessible to smaller wineries.

“The next generation of wine buyers exists, and they’re entering right now,” Bird says. “But they’re not entering through the same doors. Show up where they are or risk not reaching them at all.”

But these tailwinds won’t reward every winery equally. They reward clear identity, owned audiences, and disciplined focus.

If a winery could only focus on one growth lever, how should they decide?

“Find the thing that’s already working and put more behind it,” Bird advises. “The first move is almost never something new.”

What separates a winery that leaves with ideas from one that leaves with a plan they’ll execute?

“It’s important to be honest about where they sit,” Bird explains. “The wineries that execute are the ones willing to stop doing something, not just start something new.”

Gabriel reinforces this point with practical advice: “Most wineries are still spending money on things they decided to do years ago, and we’re all moving too quickly to stop and ask if they are still working. Next week, pick one thing you’ve been doing for a long time and re-allocate the funds and bandwidth to something new that you have been wanting to try.”

The mistake both experts see? Treating every opportunity as equally urgent.

“Most businesses treat every opportunity like it’s equally urgent,” Bird says. “Where you sit on the spectrum between survival and growth determines what matters first.”

Learning From the Wineries That Are Figuring It Out

At Wine Industry Network’s Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium on May 13, these industry leaders will share exactly how they’re navigating the new reality.

Chris Baker, Brent Bolding, and Cheryl Durzy will lead “The New Distribution Reality: Reckoning with the Future of Wholesale,” breaking down what’s actually happening and how top performers are positioning themselves to win.

Judd Wallenbrock, Laura Gabriel, and Terra Jane Albee will lead “Fostering Resilience: How Producers Are Innovating Through the Downturn,” sharing real tactics from wineries navigating the same pressures you are.

And Adam Bird will close the day with “From Insight to Action: How to Decide What Matters First,” providing a framework so you leave with a plan you’ll act on, not a list you’ll forget.

The wine market is correcting – and the correction is rewarding wineries with clear strategy and disciplined focus.

Wine Industry Network’s Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium takes place May 13 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country in Rohnert Park, California.

Advance registration pricing is $345 and includes full access to all sessions, lunch, and a networking social. Day-of pricing is $395.

Register here to secure your spot.

Why Wine Clubs Aren’t Working, And What’s Replacing Them

For many wineries, the biggest challenge today isn’t attracting new customers; it’s keeping the ones they already have.

Wine clubs once represented the most stable revenue engine for wineries. Members signed up, shipments went out quarterly, and predictable revenue flowed in. It was the foundation of direct-to-consumer success.

But that foundation is cracking.

Recent industry data reveals a troubling trend: nearly 40% of wine club members cancel within the first year. In a market where customer acquisition costs are climbing, and competition for attention has never been fiercer, losing members at this rate isn’t just a retention problem; it’s a profitability crisis.

The math is unforgiving. If acquiring a new club member costs hundreds of dollars in marketing, tasting room labor, and incentives, losing them before they’ve generated meaningful lifetime value means wineries are bleeding money with every signup.

And yet, some wineries are defying this trend entirely.

Why Traditional Wine Clubs Are Struggling

The wine club model that worked for decades was built on a simple premise: offer a discount, ship wine regularly, and members will stick around out of loyalty and convenience.

That premise no longer holds.

Today’s consumers don’t stay loyal simply because they signed up once. They’re subscribed to streaming services, meal kits, beauty boxes, and a dozen other recurring purchases competing for their wallet and attention. Loyalty must be continuously earned-and if a wine club feels transactional or forgettable, it gets cut.

The wineries struggling with retention are often the ones still treating their clubs like subscription programs: predictable shipments, generic communications, and little reason to stay engaged between boxes.

Meanwhile, top-performing wineries are seeing retention rates above 85% past year one. The difference? They’ve stopped thinking of wine clubs as subscription programs and started building them as membership ecosystems.

The Wine Club Is Being Reinvented

At Wine Industry Network’s upcoming Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium on May 13th, the session The Wine Club Reset: How Top Performers Are Turning Churn into Retention will unpack exactly how the most successful wineries are doing this.

Led by industry retention experts, the session reveals the systems, psychology, and technology that transform wine clubs from “subscribe and save” programs into high-value membership experiences that customers don’t want to leave.

This isn’t about offering deeper discounts or adding more perks. It’s about understanding what drives retention at a behavioral level, and designing club experiences that make cancellation unthinkable.

The wineries getting this right aren’t just retaining members longer. They’re generating the highest customer lifetime value in all of subscription commerce.

Brand Growth Beyond the Bottle

But retention is only one part of the growth equation. The other challenge wineries face is reaching new audiences without relying solely on expensive traditional marketing.

That’s where strategic partnerships come in.

Partnerships allow wineries to connect with customers they’d never reach on their own, without the cost of building those channels from scratch. From creative local collaborations that enhance guest experiences to high-impact national partnerships that deliver scale and visibility, wineries are finding growth by aligning with brands in travel, hospitality, lifestyle, and media.

Sandra DeMaria, Director of Sales & Marketing at Ehlers Estate, has seen firsthand how the right partnerships can transform a winery’s reach. But she cautions against chasing partnerships for the wrong reasons.

“The biggest mistake I see wineries making is a narrow focus on monetary ROI or chasing partnerships based solely on ‘reach,’” DeMaria says. “If a brand has a massive audience but zero alignment with your brand ethos, it’s a hollow victory. Partnerships fail when they feel forced or when they prioritize a quick buck over the integrity of the story you’re trying to tell.”

So how does a winery know if a partnership is the right fit?

“It starts with self-awareness,” DeMaria explains. “You have to know your own brand—its goals, its values, and its long-term strategy, inside and out. Before signing on, ask: Does this reflect who we are when no one is looking? If the partnership doesn’t align with your core values, it won’t sustain you in the long run.”

DeMaria points to an example that surprised her with its effectiveness: partnering with local sommeliers not as salespeople, but as community builders.

“We invited sommeliers to gather their peers for a deep-dive conversation on finding solutions for Napa wineries,” she says. “It shifted the dynamic from a transaction to a community. The turnout was fantastic, and the engagement was off the charts because it allowed people to experience the winery from a completely different point of view. By letting the somms invite their own peers, it turned a standard trade marketing event into an authentic, shared experience.”

When it comes to overlooked partnership opportunities, DeMaria encourages wineries to look closer to home.

“Wineries are frequently overlooking the entrepreneurs within their own wine clubs or customer bases,” she notes. “These are people who already love what you do; finding ways to collaborate with them creates a beautiful, organic synergy that feels much more personal than a cold corporate tie-in—and as an added bonus, it will deepen their loyalty to your brand.”

And for long-term brand equity rather than short-term sales, DeMaria points to an often-underestimated partner: wholesalers.

“People often view them as a middleman hurdle, but wholesalers are actually your best long-term allies,” she says. “The secret is finding your differentiating aspects and identifying exactly how you can add value to the distributor’s portfolio. When you treat a wholesaler as a true partner in your strategy—especially as a small producer—you become part of their long-term strategy.”

The Symposium session How Wineries Are Building Brands and Success Through Strategic Partnerships explores how to identify the right partners, structure mutually beneficial relationships, and turn partnerships into long-term brand growth and customer acquisition.

The best partnerships don’t just drive short-term sales-they introduce your brand to audiences who become your next wave of loyal club members.

The Future of Wine Growth Is Relationship-Based

The wineries that will thrive in the coming years won’t be the ones chasing the most signups. They’ll be the ones building the deepest relationships, with their members and with strategic partners who amplify their reach.

Wine Industry Network’s Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium is designed for winery owners, sales leaders, and marketing executives who are ready to rethink how they grow.

The in-person symposium takes place May 13, 2026 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country in Rohnert Park, California.

Advance registration is $345 and includes full access to all sessions, lunch, and a networking social. Day-of pricing is $395.

The brands that figure out retention and partnerships will own the next decade.

The ones that don’t will keep losing members – and revenue – at rates they can’t afford.

Register here to secure your spot.

From hospitality-driven visitation to loyalty and strategic partnerships, the Wine Sales Symposium explores where revenue growth is coming from now

The path to winery growth looks different than it did even a few years ago.

Today’s most successful wineries are not relying on a single channel or a single tactic. Instead, they are building growth through a combination of stronger customer experiences, deeper retention strategies, and brand partnerships that extend reach beyond traditional wine audiences.

At this year’s Wine Sales Symposium, several sessions will explore how these shifts are reshaping sales and marketing strategies across the industry.

One of the most important changes is happening in hospitality and visitation. Consumers—especially Millennials and Gen Z—are increasingly choosing experiences that feel personal, memorable, and aligned with their identity. For wineries, that means visitation is no longer simply about tasting wine; it’s about designing emotionally resonant experiences that build connection and long-term loyalty.

Sessions focused on hospitality will examine how leading wineries are redefining the tasting room experience, borrowing inspiration from hotels, restaurants, and other experience-first brands to meet evolving consumer expectations.

At the same time, wineries are placing renewed focus on customer retention and lifetime value. In a market where acquisition costs continue to rise, reducing club churn and increasing member loyalty has become a major revenue driver. Attendees will hear how wineries are rethinking their club programs as long-term membership ecosystems designed to keep customers engaged well beyond the first year.

Another key area of growth is emerging through strategic brand partnerships. More wineries are collaborating with hospitality, travel, lifestyle, and media brands to expand visibility, reach new audiences, and create new revenue opportunities. These partnerships are proving to be powerful tools for brand awareness, customer acquisition, and long-term business growth.

Together, these sessions reflect a larger industry reality: growth today is coming from wineries that create stronger customer relationships at every stage—from the first visit to long-term loyalty.

The Wine Sales Symposium will bring these conversations together with practical frameworks, case studies, and actionable strategies wineries can apply immediately.

CLICK BELOW for more information on the 2026 Wine Sales Symposium

The tasting room used to be the heart of the winery business model. Walk-ins became club members. Club members became brand ambassadors. Revenue flowed predictably, and the formula worked.

That’s changing.

Visitation to wine regions is softening and tasting room traffic that wineries once counted on is declining. The cohort that’s most noticeably absent? Millennials and Gen Z, the consumers who should be building the next generation of wine loyalty.

For many wineries, the drop-off has been gradual enough to rationalize. Blame the economy. Blame changing drinking habits. Blame competition from craft beer and cocktails.

But the reality is harder to swallow: younger consumers aren’t avoiding wine country because they don’t like wine. They’re avoiding it because the traditional tasting room experience no longer competes with how they want to spend their time and money.

And if wineries don’t adapt, they risk becoming relics of an industry that waited too long to evolve.

The Real Problem: Wine Isn’t Enough Anymore

Twenty years ago, offering great wine in a beautiful setting was sufficient. Guests arrived curious, left educated, and often joined the club.

Today, wineries aren’t just competing with each other. They’re competing for a slice of consumers’ total “fun budget” which is the same budget that includes destination dining, immersive travel experiences, live entertainment, and cultural events that didn’t exist a generation ago.

“Walking into a quiet tasting room with a scripted presentation about soil types isn’t exactly the adrenaline rush younger consumers are looking for,” says Susan DeMatei, president of Wine Glass Marketing and a speaker at Wine Industry Network’s upcoming Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium. “Millennials and Gen Z want experiences that feel social, shareable, and worth their time. Wine as a status symbol simply doesn’t inspire them the way it did previous generations.”

The stakes are high. Tasting rooms that fail to evolve risk becoming what younger consumers already suspect they are: stuffy, expensive, and irrelevant.

But here’s what makes this moment both challenging and opportunistic: some wineries are cracking the code. They’re drawing in exactly the consumers others have lost. They’re creating loyalty where skepticism used to live. And they’re doing it by fundamentally rethinking what a tasting room can be.

What’s Working (And Why It Matters)

The wineries seeing success aren’t just tweaking their tasting fees or updating their furniture. They’re reimagining hospitality from the ground up.

Candace MacDonald, co-founder and managing director at marketing firm Carbonate will lead a session on hospitality concepts at the Wine Sales Symposium and has watched this shift happen in real time.

“The deadly combination of high cost and high formality is what’s killing traditional wine country,” MacDonald says. “Younger consumers don’t want to feel like they’re walking into an intimidating masterclass. They want to feel welcomed into a space where they belong.”

Some wineries have responded by lowering the barrier to entry. Others have elevated the experience to compete with luxury hospitality. A few have done both, depending on the audience.

The common thread? They’ve stopped treating wine as the sole attraction and started treating it as one part of a larger, more compelling story...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

Join winery leaders and industry experts to explore the strategies shaping the future of wine sales.

The wine industry is entering a period of significant change. Consumer behavior is shifting, visitation patterns are evolving, and the traditional paths to market are being redefined.

To succeed in this environment, wineries must rethink how they attract customers, build lasting relationships, and grow their brands.

The Wine Sales Symposium, taking place on Wednesday, May 13, brings together winery leaders and industry experts for a full day focused on the strategies shaping wine sales today and in the years ahead.

This year’s program explores critical topics that will cover:

• Hospitality Innovation: Reimagining tasting room experiences to attract Millennials and Gen Z through values-driven programming, experiential design, and strategic partnerships

• Wine Club and Customer Retention: Data-driven approaches to reducing churn, building membership value, and creating loyalty programs that work in today's subscription-saturated market

• AI and Digital Transformation: How artificial intelligence is reshaping wine marketing, customer engagement, and brand visibility; with sessions on AI-powered marketing, customer journey optimization, and practical implementation strategies

• Distribution and Wholesale Strategy: Navigating consolidation, portfolio rationalization, and the new realities of wholesale partnerships in a rapidly changing distribution landscape

• State of the Industry: Expert analysis on wine sales trends, market opportunities, and winning strategies for producers in a contracting market

If you’re responsible for growing wine sales, building stronger customer relationships, or navigating the changing wine market, this event was designed for you.

Join fellow winery owners, sales leaders, marketing professionals, and industry experts for a day of insight, strategy, and meaningful conversation.

Get Your Early Bird Discount and Register Now!


2026 Event Sponsors

The Wine Sales Symposium is an in-person event dedicated to providing actionable insights, expert advice, and industry predictions for wineries looking to grow sales and profits.

This year’s program will kick off with an in-depth look at how the wine category is performing overall and what the key indicators could mean for sales in the near future. Sessions will explore how AI is influencing which wines get discovered and sold, how top-performing wineries are turning wine club churn into long-term retention, how visitation is being redefined through identity and experience, and how producers and sales leaders are adapting to distribution shifts and economic pressure.

With a focus on data-driven decision-making, consumer behavior, and sales optimization, the symposium offers practical takeaways that wineries can implement immediately. Whether it’s enhancing guest experiences, improving customer retention, or leveraging new marketing channels, this event is designed to help wineries thrive in an evolving industry.

At WIN, our goal is simple: to create conferences and events that provide maximum value to winery and wine industry professionals. To do that, we want to hear directly from you.

We’ve put together a very short list of topics, just a few checkboxes and space for your suggestions, to capture the issues that matter most in wine sales and marketing today. By sharing your preferences, you’ll help us build a program that’s directly tailored to the challenges, opportunities, and ideas shaping your business right now.

Your feedback ensures these events are more relevant, more actionable, and more valuable - for you and the entire wine community.

Share your input here: https://winesalessymposium.com/survey/. 

Wine Sales Symposium 2025’s roundtable of writers and PR experts explores
how storytelling and publicity can shift the narrative.

By Laurie Wachter

Carl GiavantiDoes media coverage really help sell wine? 

That’s the question the roundtable of top wine journalists and PR experts will set out to answer in Mastering Modern Media: How to Secure & Leverage Media Coverage That Drives Sales, one of the first sessions at the May 14th Wine Sales Symposium in Santa Rosa, CA.

Moderator Carl Giavanti, a winery publicist and author of Wine Industry Advisor’s interview series, Turning the Tables, will lead the panel discussion by asking six questions about the benefits and pitfalls of media coverage.  

What role does media coverage play in helping drive awareness and, ultimately, sales?

“It’s always been about storytelling,” says Giavanti, “and even more so today when there’s so much competition, variety and options for adult beverages. You can’t be successful if you’re trying to sell ‘the product,’ whether it’s your vineyard, winery, process, innovations, sustainability or whatever unique, cool things you’re doing. The product is important, and the wines have to be great — but honestly, it’s really all about storytelling. People buy from people they connect with and relate to. And every brand owner, winery owner and winemaker has a story to tell.”

How important are a winery’s unique brand stories?

 Alder Yarrow“I like to say that stories are really what make wine meaningful and memorable,” agrees wine writer Alder Yarrow, a brand experience strategy consultant who is the author of the celebrated Vinography blog. 

“If you want to get geeky about it, the more we learn about how the human memory works, the more it seems like the very structure of memory is narrative in its construction. Our brains are hardwired for stories: to seek them out, to understand the world through them and to remember through them. Storytelling is as essential as you get when it comes to building a relationship with a customer.”

What’s the one thing wineries could do better in relation to getting visibility with the media?

Deborah Parker WongDeborah Parker Wong, DWSET, national editor for SOMM Journal and Slow Wine Guide USA, suggests, “Treat the media landscape strategically and with the best use of your resources.”

“In the short term, develop print/digital paid media that serves as longer-lived/evergreen content that can be used to educate [other media]. It can also be repurposed in many ways, including as a source of content for videos, podcasts and presentations.” At the same time, she adds, “Build relationships with media and become a resource.“

More questions

Liz Thach, a wine writer and Wine Market Council president, and Brianne Cohen, a certified sommelier and wine educator, will also join the panel to explore why winery PR can fail, how wine media can help change today’s negative narrative, and whether paid content from influencers will replace traditional media.

Experience this knowledgeable panel at the Wine Sales Symposium on May 14 at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, and also plan to join Adam Bird, partner and director of strategy at Highway 29 Creative, for his How Archetypes Make Unforgettable Wine Brands session, for insights on how to craft your brand’s story.

Adapt, Connect, Thrive: Why Sales & Marketing Leaders Can’t Miss this Event

In a time when the wine industry is facing headwinds on every front—rising inventories, demographic shifts, changing consumer preferences, and continued economic pressure—many wineries are grappling with how to evolve their approach to sales and marketing. The upcoming Wine Sales Symposium, taking place May 14th at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, was created specifically for wine sales and marketing professionals who are ready to embrace change and seek out the strategies driving real growth in today’s marketplace.

Hosted by the Wine Industry Network, this one-day, in-person event brings together top-performing wine brands, leading industry voices, and innovative thinkers for a focused, no-fluff conversation about what’s working—and what’s not—in the business of wine.

Sessions Designed for Doers, Not Bystanders

Unlike broader wine industry events, the Wine Sales Symposium zeroes in on sales and marketing-specific content, making it especially valuable for winery executives and teams tasked with driving revenue and brand growth. Sessions are designed to deliver practical, applicable insights—not theory—and offer a chance to learn directly from those who are adapting and thriving.

From pricing and packaging to content strategy and distribution, the program covers the spectrum of sales challenges facing wineries in today’s environment.

Key Conference Highlights You Can’t Miss:

• State of the Industry with Dr. Chris Bitter, offering a data-driven breakdown of current market forces, consumer trends, and key headwinds shaping both DTC and wholesale channels.
  
  
• Cracking the Code: Why Some Wine Brands Are Thriving Against the Odds, a dynamic closing session featuring cross-sector perspectives from J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, O’Neill Vintners, Breakthru Beverage, and more. This discussion will unpack the real strategies driving success, from impact-driven branding to navigating SKU consolidation.
  
  
• Mastering Modern Media, a panel of wine journalists and PR experts exploring how smart media strategy can increase visibility and drive sales. Panelists will answer the question every winery is asking: Does media coverage really help sell wine, and how do you make it work for your brand?
  
  

Beyond the Sessions: Networking, Celebration & Onsite Resources

In addition to the main sessions, attendees will benefit from four targeted breakout sessions that dive deeper into sales and marketing topics critical to winery success today. These sessions are designed to be interactive and immediately applicable, giving attendees a closer look at specialized strategies and tools.

The day also includes a Marketing Awards Winners Celebration, recognizing standout campaigns and creative work from across the wine industry. Attendees will enjoy a catered outdoor lunch, offering time to relax, connect with peers, and recharge between sessions.

As the day wraps up, the Symposium will host a special end-of-day Wine Social—a relaxed networking reception featuring local wines and the opportunity to connect directly with winery owners, marketing executives, wholesale distributors, DTC experts, and industry peers.

Throughout the event, attendees can also explore the Sales & Marketing Resources – select industry vendors and solution providers that will be exhibiting onsite. It’s a chance to discover tools, services, and partnerships that can support your marketing and sales goals—plus build new business relationships in a meaningful, face-to-face setting. 

Real People, Real Conversations, Real Solutions

What sets WISS apart is its interactive format and peer-to-peer value. The Symposium isn’t just about sitting in on sessions—it’s about connecting with other winery professionals who are also navigating uncertainty and seeking fresh ideas. Attendees gain not only expert insights from the stage, but also powerful takeaways from the people they meet over coffee, during lunch, and between sessions. 

Whether you’re working to reinvigorate your wine club, capture younger audiences on social media, or reposition your brand in a crowded shelf space, the conversations at WISS are designed to help you find your next move.

If you’re a sales or marketing leader looking to sharpen your strategy, build new relationships, and come away with actionable ideas that can move the needle, this is the event for you. The Wine Sales Symposium is a rare chance to step outside your day-to-day and invest in learning what it takes to succeed in today’s wine market.

The future of wine is being shaped right now.
Be in the room where it happens.

To view the full event schedule, conference program, speaker line-up, and registration, visit: www.winesalessymposium.com