I don’t think there is any way to get around the fact that there’s a lot working against wineries heading into harvest 2026. Oversupply in the broader market, rising production costs, unpredictable weather patterns, and labor shortages have made pre-harvest planning more critical, and more complicated, than it has been in years. The wineries that […]
After the Freeze: How Wineries Can Manage Extreme Crop Loss
Throughout April, most of the Eastern seaboard and parts of the Midwest experienced a series of frost and freeze events that will likely have an impact on the 2026 wine grape supply. The most extreme of these events was through the April 21st morning in which several states experienced record low temperatures for several hours (Vigna […]
From Prototype to Package: A Winemaker’s Roadmap to Formula Wine Success
So you’ve explored the 2026 Flavor & Food Trends for wineries. Now what? DG Winemaking has been laying out a roadmap for wineries navigating today’s challenging wine market, and marketing strategy has been a recurring theme. If you’ve missed any of it, we recommend catching up with these podcast episodes: In an upcoming episode, we’ll […]
3 Pre-Bottling Habits That Will Immediately Improve Your Wine
Better wine doesn’t always require better grapes. Sometimes it just requires a better process. For many wineries across the U.S., pre-bottling operations are exactly where quality is won or lost, and small adjustments to this stage can make a significant difference in what ends up in the bottle. Pre-bottling steps typically include: These steps may […]
2026 Flavor & Food Trends Wineries Can Use
Too many wineries cling to “the way we’ve always done it,” and it is obviously not working for many winery operations right now. Traditional winemaking has its place, but tradition alone won’t help you stand out among thousands of competing brands in today’s challenging market. The opportunities I see across my winery clients are massive, […]
The Low-Alcohol Wine Boom: Don’t Get Left Behind
Low- and no-alcohol wines are certainly having a moment, which Virginia and I previously discussed in the Voices of the Vine podcast episode, “The Quest for Producing Good Low Alcohol Wine” (S.1, Ep.1). Luckily, most producers across the U.S. can take advantage of low-alcohol wine production. This includes you! While non-alcohol wines require sophisticated technology […]
