Matt Kettmann has been with the Santa Barbara Independent since 1999, where he covers food and drink and writes the Full Belly Files newsletter. After years of freelance work with publications including...
Technology adoption has been a recurring conversation in the wine industry for years. But for wineries navigating changing consumer behavior and increasingly complex operations, the question is shifting...
For many wineries, selecting a direct-to-consumer platform means balancing functionality, integrations, customer support, and cost. According to Katherine Adams, CEO of Bottle360, those are exactly the...
Why Williamson Act vineyards need to make sure the county has the right information
After my recent article, “Vineyard Values Have Fallen. Has Your Property Tax Assessment?”, I heard from a number...
New Vintage Labs Founder & CEO Stephen Mok says the biggest opportunity for wineries may not be adopting another AI platform; it may be rethinking what their teams are capable of doing in the first...
In 2020, a 22-year-old with a first date that night stood in a grocery store wine aisle and realized she had no idea where to start. She didn’t grow up in a wine family, didn’t know what a varietal was,...
For the past eighteen years, wine professionals from every corner of the world have been traveling to Amsterdam to attend one of the most critical annual events for producers and buyers of bulk wine and...
An artificial intelligence system once confidently told Daniel Webber that winemaker Philippe Melka makes Casa Piena. There was just one problem. He does not.
Webber, Wine Director at Wrigley Mansion...
Cover crops attract beneficial insects, increasing biodiversity of a vineyard
The climate is increasingly unstable. Historically warm winters are punctuated by ice storms and dangerously cold temperatures....
Crealis, the trusted international leader providing tailor-made closures for still and sparkling wines since 1957, is trail blazing a path forward for screw cap manufacturing and distribution to the wine...
Consumer behavior, emerging categories, AI, vineyard economics, and shifting business models are all changing at the same time. For wine industry leaders, the challenge now is understanding what those...
Anyone involved in California’s wine industry knows how dramatically the vineyard market has changed. Grape demand remains soft, contracts are harder to secure, farming costs continue to climb, and...
A View from Nearly 30 Years In
Paul ThienesFounder & CEO, eCELLAR
History: The Convergence to All in One
What is happening in this industry?
I’m writing this as the longest standing software...
Susan Kostrzewa
Susan Kostrzewa is a veteran wine writer, editor, global educator and the founder of Resplendent Ink, a content strategy consultancy specializing in storytelling and communications in...
DtC compliance for wineries just got a whole lot better, thanks to
VinoCheck,
a wine compliance software company that, according to its founder Zach Kamphuis, has created a solution for an everyday...
New Competition Featuring Younger Judges Makes History
September 8, 2026 (Santa Rosa, CA) — In August 2026, a cadre of wine professionals, all aged 39 or younger, gathered to taste wines and...
