Wine Market Council unleashed a treasure trove of data and promoted wine industry innovation in annual conference held at Copia in Napa on Thursday, featuring some organic and biodynamic innovators.
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At Wednesday’s annual research meeting of the Wine Market Council (WMC), a leading research group for wine producers, WMC President Liz Thach saluted ten wineries who were innovating to increase visitation and revenues.
In a time of shrinking direct to consumer revenues (down 6% last year, according to Wine Business Analytics data), she said wineries have to innovate to gain market share.
Bringing the Community In | Brooks Winery
She praised Willamette Valley’s Brooks Winery in Oregon.
“They’re focusing purely on community engagement and building within the community,” she said.
“They’re one of the very first wineries to offer zero proof tasting alongside their regular wines. They’re the first to launch a reusable bottle program that’s really resonating in Oregon with locals. They are doing really deep DTC analytics, creating a quiz on their website so people can figure out what kind of wine they want.”
The 17,000 case winery has 18.5 acres of organic and biodynamic estate vines which make up about 20 percent of production.
“Another cool thing they’re doing is using their tasting room for community events, inviting the community to come to do lectures, to have discussions, whatever, and, of course, having some wine available,” Thach added.
Lower the Barriers, Be More Inviting | Baldacci Family Vineyards
Thach also called out Napa’s Stag’s Leap District family owned winery, Baldacci Family Vineyards, as an innovator, saying the family decided they wanted to attract newer wine lovers.
The 8,000 case winery has 46 acres of certified organic vineyards.
Said Thach, “They decided to start just refocusing on what they could do to attract the younger generation.”
“They started one of the first actually affordable library programs,” she added.
In a followup phone call, general manager Kellie Duckhorn explained the new library vintages wine program introduced this year.
Typically older vintages are marked up but under the Baldacci program starting this year, they are not.
“Our 2015 Napa Stag’s Leap District Black Label Cab ($125) sells for the same price as our current 2022 of the same wine ($125),” Duckhorn said. The new program encourages sales of library vintages.
Baldacci also now offer wine subscriptions with varying benefits and customizable wine selections. A subscription sounds “a lot less frightening for younger people to sign up for,” said Thach.
“One of the most successful things is their 15 minute concierge, where anybody can just online and get an answer to any question,” Thach added. Consumers can schedule a 15 min. video appt. online with one of their wine educators whose photos and profiles are also listed on the site.
Who calls? Duckhorn said the most common users are people who are new to Napa or second timers. A common question which of the many visitor experiences at Baldacci should they sign up for.
Other Trends
Other trends in the top 10 innovators list included:
• Lower calorie wines
• AI used to create new wine in half the time (Treasury Estates)
• Spritzes with real fruit juice and monk fruit sweetener (Saint Spritz) in cans
• Rosé, rosé, rosé
• A dog friendly, tasting room in a rural area with an outdoor patio that’s open in the evenings with campfires for guests to gather around and enjoy wines
In closing, Thach said academic experts analyzing economic data from all over the world looked at the future of wine back in 2023, using data from “every single country, on wine sales and consumer sentiment.” She said their work helped to predict the structural issues the wine industry is now facing, illustrating her point with this slide.
1. Traditional wine…”always there. There’s always a place for the small family vineyard connected to the land, but we see this whole new world of wine.”
2. Light, refreshing wines “that are more wellness focused, easy drinking, including soft reds with light tannins, chillable reds, and wines that are lower in calories–just refreshing.”
3. “Soft” Drinks (with Wine). “This is where we see wine cocktails and everything else growing up.”
“So this is an interesting study they did,” she continued, “and they literally have this quote at the end:”
‘The global wine industry is at a pivotal transition point, requiring a strategic response to evolving consumer preferences to maintain its market share.’
“They wrote this in 2023 literally not knowing how fast this would happen. The rate of change now is just incredible, and so the future warning is already happening right now.”
More coverage of the Innovation conference highlights to come in upcoming posts.
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