The Vision Behind CALSECCO® Co-authored by Manveer Sandhu, Executive Director of Winemaking and Kim Kulchycki, Sr. Director Marketing, Rack & Riddleecutive Director of Winemaking and Kim Kulchycki, Sr. Director Marketing, Rack & Riddle Why California Needs Something Fresh & New Sparkling wine is increasing in popularity, filling more need states for consumers than almost any other type of wine. Once regarded as the primary celebratory beverage for holidays and special occasions, its market position has shifted dramatically in the last 10 years. Sparkling wine has now evolved into an everyday beverage enjoyed throughout the year. The popularity of Prosecco has made sparkling wine accessible and popular with a new and younger group of wine drinkers — the elusive Gen Z and Millennials. The ones who grew up drinking sparkling water, seltzers and other refreshing beverages from other categories but haven’t quite “gotten” wine. Well, they understand Prosecco! Given California’s

Why is corporate gifting so important? Winery corporate gifting is more than a seasonal sales opportunity. It helps wineries share their wines, express hospitality, strengthen business relationships, and introduce their brand to new customers. A single corporate gifting order can reach dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of recipients. Each package becomes a personal introduction to someone who may not yet know your winery, your story, or your wines. When the gift is thoughtful, well branded, and carefully delivered, that first introduction can become the beginning of a lasting customer relationship. Corporate Gifting Creates Connections at Scale Companies use wine gifts to thank clients, recognize employees, celebrate milestones, welcome partners, and stay connected during the holidays and throughout the year. Wine is especially suited to corporate gifting because it naturally communicates celebration, appreciation, and hospitality. One corporate gifting relationship can turn the purc

Extreme weather and early harvests: restrained market response Most countries have this month reported into the Global Market Report with abnormal weather conditions, as the strong, developing El Niño phenomenon exacerbates extremes around the world: Western Europe has been enduring its hottest summer on record, with three consecutive months of protracted, intense heatwaves; giant Andean snows have blocked border crossings between Chile and Argentina for a month, with flash flooding at lower elevations on the Chilean side and unseasonably mild temperatures on the Argentinian; meanwhile, the Western Cape, having suffered significant flooding in autumn, has since experienced an unseasonably dry and mild winter. While flood damage in some of Chile and South Africa’s vineyards is being assessed, and trucks in their thousands have sat stranded on Andean passes, the Northern Hemisphere has pressed on with its 2026 harvests. Both Italy and California are reporting potentially their earliest

Peak shipping season extends far beyond the winter holidays. Summer vacations drive spikes in tourism-related products, while the back-to-school season creates a significant surge in school supplies and materials. Each peak period tests your warehouse’s limits differently, but the challenge remains the same — your operation must scale to meet sudden demand without compromising safety, speed or accuracy. Learn how to manage increased shipping demands by optimizing your physical infrastructure, integrating scalable technology and maintaining fleet flexibility when volumes spike. Optimize Your Warehouse Layout A prepared warehouse starts with the physical layout. Before adding new technology or equipment, you must first optimize your existing space. To handle peak shipping season effectively, you need to eliminate bottlenecks and maximize every square foot of storage capacity you already have. Auditing Your Current Layout for Peak-Season Bottlenecks To prevent peak-season disruptions, sy

Summer’s handled. Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Get Ahead. If your winery has had a busy summer, congratulations. Your team has welcomed guests, hosted events, fulfilled orders, managed wine club members, answered countless questions, and kept everything moving during one of the busiest times of the year. Now take a breath. Before harvest begins and the holiday season arrives, there’s a small window to step back and ask an important question: What should we improve before the next rush? The wineries that continue to grow aren’t necessarily the busiest. They’re the ones that learn from each season and make small improvements before the next one begins. Five Questions Worth Asking Where did your team spend the most time? Were staff answering the same questions every day? Did club releases require more manual work than expected? Did inventory or fulfillment create bottlenecks? Small frustrations add up during busy periods. Identifying them now makes the next season easier. Did your sy

Buyer caution persists; Northern Hemisphere vines advance apace Good early interest levels in the Southern Hemisphere’s new 2026 wines waned through June into early July, as Northern Hemisphere summer and Southern Hemisphere midwinter holidays started getting underway before many enquiries could translate into transactions. The reality is that, with bulk inventory large in most supplier countries, pricing generally trending softer, and wine’s retail sales continuing to decline in major markets, buyers feel little urgency to secure volumes. Wine sales volumes fell by 5% globally in 2025, according to recently-published data from International Wine & Spirits Research (IWSR), outpacing the overall 2% fall in alcohol beverage volumes. (The sparkling and no-alcohol wine categories experienced growth.) A follow-up bulletin from Wine Australia set out ISWR’s volume sales findings by major consumer country, starkly illustrating the case-good decline led by the US but also substantial in Eu

It's July 1, which means you're about to start seeing "Christmas in July" everywhere. Retailers are already thinking about the holidays—even if it still feels like the middle of summer. Smart wineries should be doing the same. October, November, and December (OND) are your biggest sales months of the year. Holiday winery marketing doesn’t start in October—it starts now. They’re sprinting through Q3—right now—while everyone else is still daydreaming about hot cocoa and watching Christmas movies… you’ve got rosé in your glass and wine bundles to plan. Here's how to make the next 90 days count. 1. Clean Up Your Data — Because Bad Data Costs You Money This isn’t just about removing bounced emails. Bad data quietly drains OND revenue by blocking you from segmenting, targeting, or even reaching your customers. Your Move: Export your full email list (now, not later). Verify your SMS audience and make sure customer consent records are up to date. Use ChatGPT to help spot typos like gmaii.com

Wine labels move in a season. Across more than half a million TTB filings since 2021, the pattern is unmistakable: activity climbs from February, peaks in March — about 20% above an average month — and stays high through July, then falls off and bottoms out over the holidays. November and December are the quietest months of the year. Click here to read the full article.

A lot of wineries still think AI is only useful for writing social captions or speeding up content creation. But in reality, AI is quickly becoming one of the most valuable tools wineries can use to improve wine club retention, personalization, customer engagement, and operational efficiency. As customer acquisition becomes more expensive and consumer expectations continue to evolve, wineries are under increasing pressure to build stronger relationships with existing customers, not just acquire new ones. That’s where AI is starting to make a real impact. In many cases, wineries can start experimenting with AI using tools they already use every day, including CRM exports, email marketing data, POS reporting, ChatGPT, or AI-powered analytics platforms. Today, wineries are using AI-powered tools and smarter segmentation strategies to: ✅ Spot at-risk members before they cancel ✅ Personalize club shipments, events, and perks ✅ Identify high-value customers who aren’t club members — yet ✅ Au

If you’ve been debating whether 2026 is the year to invest in your gifting channel, it’s time to sip on these facts: Wine is inherently giftable — birthdays, holidays, corporate milestones — making it one of the best categories to capitalize on the massive, largely untapped online gifting market. The gifting flywheel drives new customers organically, since every bottle received as a gift is a brand discovery moment that can turn recipients into loyal buyers without spending on ads. Corporate gifting is a massive B2B opportunity that wine brands are perfectly positioned for, but most are still fumbling through manual processes instead of leveraging modern tools. Gifting reduces over-reliance on Q4, capturing year-round occasions like anniversaries, promotions, client gifts, and thank-you gestures to create more predictable revenue. Getting in early is a competitive advantage. Most wine brands haven't modernized their gifting experience yet, so those