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Controlling the Shifting Wine Landscape, Part 1: Wine Quality


Improving wine quality is an area where many wineries can exert some level of control and effort that will show immediate results.
Photo by: Savannah Smith Photography

The tasting room is ready before the first guest ever walks through the door.

Shelves are lined with fresh bottles, each one positioned just so. No dust. No fingerprints on the bottles.

Behind the bar, glasses stand in perfect rows, polished, disappearing in the tasting room light. Tables wiped down, chairs pulled out at just the right angle. It’s the kind of care that says we thought of you before you even arrived.

The staff smiles at each other. Today is going to be a good day.

And then… an hour passes. The door stays closed.

Two hours. A couple wanders in, swirls a glass, and leaves without buying anything.

Four hours in, someone’s wiping down a counter that’s already clean. Someone else is scrolling their phone, not because they want to, but because there’s nothing else to do.

By the time the Open sign flips to Closed, the glasses remain. No washing needed. The tables are clean and chairs neatly placed. And the staff heads home carrying something heavier than tired feet: the quiet ache of a day that never quite showed up.

For so many winery owners and tasting room teams, this isn’t a bad day. It’s become a pattern. And that loss of consistent foot traffic isn’t just a business problem. It can feel like a slow erosion of everything everyone is working for, altering morale and purpose.

Right now, lower sales and quieter tasting rooms are more common than anyone wants to admit. But here’s what’s also true: some wineries are not just surviving the slower times. They’re making long-awaited changes to their production practices, reimagining their marketing, and redefining their events to connect with today’s wine drinkers in ways that actually stick or improve sales.

The heavy retail season is close by. The wineries that come out ahead will be the ones who started preparing now. So what does that preparation look like? There are 2 places a winery can focus: wine quality or winemaking practices and marketing their wine.

Part 1: Improving Winemaking Practices to Enhance Wine Quality (aka Make Better Wines!)

We’re going to break this into a 2-part blog post. The first part is going to focus on wine quality and winemaking practices because we are in the heart of the harvest season. Harvest is where many winery operations can make small shifts with a big impact. 

Winemaking operations, including grape storage, deserve a review. So many wineries do things during winemaking operations that end up contributing negatively to wine quality without them even knowing it.
Photo by: Denise M. Gardner

Reinvigorate a Focus on Wine Quality 

We say it all the time, “We focus on quality, not quantity.”

But time and time again, I find many operations lack an understanding on what prioritizing quality means when it comes to production operations and the way processes are handled in the cellar.

While the market may feel slow, these moments can create a fierce and relatively unknown level of competition to win consumers on wine purchases. Thus, it is worth taking the time to review and update those things in the cellar that constantly get pushed off during busier seasons. 

Wine quality definitely deserves a look. 

This year, I’ve gotten a lot of push back regarding the costs of shipping or the costs of analysis or the costs of (insert anything here…) as overall financial resources become tighter. Despite these realities, winemakers seem unphased by reevaluating how wines are getting processed or what products are going into those wines during production.

The reality is, $60 here and $100 there can add up pretty quickly. Especially if something isn’t needed or used sparingly. 

Or imagine racking and pumping wines into new tanks because “it seems like the right thing to do,” which not only has an impact on wine quality if done at an incorrect moment or on a too frequent basis, but also ties up labor in the cellar. Or a new tank is open now with better storage due to more accurate volume capacity so the winemaker starts shifting (i.e., racking and pumping) wines around due to a lack of poor planning. All the costs that go into labor, cleaning supplies/solutions, and sanitation chemicals can quickly add up. 

Take for example, a recent evaluation where I looked at shipping costs for YAN analysis versus the costs of copper sulfate, labor, fining agents (to remove residual copper), and filtration pads for just one batch of wine. Guess what proved less expensive? (Answer: Measuring the YAN and eating the cost for shipping.)

Do these situations sound familiar?

One of the most common scenarios I encounter as a consultant is learning what people feel is “the right thing to do” or what they have been taught to do by another individual in the wine industry. Usually, all of these mistakes come down to a lack of understanding wine chemistry, production operations and standard procedures in relation to how those decisions impact wine quality. 

Okay. If that is the case, how can you improve?

A) Audit Your Winemaking Practices

If you are someone that routinely finds yourself sweetening wines to “hide wine flaws” (which doesn’t hide wine flaws, by the way), then it’s probably time to start reevaluting your winemaking process. 

Or if you find your team trying to convince visitors in the tasting room that the wine is “good” or “representative of the region” and, therefore, “worth the money,” then it’s probably time to start reevaluating the winemaking processes. 

Most operations go without any formal audit on how they are making wine. They simply believe in their ability to get juice made into alcohol. Typically, when I start working with someone, we’ll start reviewing fundamental processes:

  • What are procedures for storing grapes or juice upon arrival to the winery?
  • How is the wine getting made? What is going into the wine during that process?
  • Once the wine is made, and primary fermentation is complete, what are the immediate next steps?
  • What is the process for monitoring tank/barrel quality and/or spoilage?
  • And, finally, what order of processing operations is the wine going through prior to and up to bottling? How is the wine bottled and how are those processes monitored?

Within each of these categories are obviously a plethora of details related to standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the influence on wine quality. For example, grapes stored in cold, refrigerated storage (40 – 45°F) will provide better wine quality than grapes left in abused temperature states [i.e., “room temperatures” around 65°F, or out in the elements with fluctuating summer temperatures into cooler evening temperatures (e.g., swings from low 50’s to 80’s or higher, or simply left outdoors until the following morning regardless of night temperature)]. Each of those scenarios deserves a second look with the follow up question – how are we preserving quality in this step?  A winemaker that uses cold storage needs to think about grape bin size and bin stacking versus the winemaker managing grapes stored outside in the elements who has to worry about microbial degradation or attracting pests. 

Another big issue I routinely see is the over-reliance on plastic totes after the wine is made. The square plastic totes, while convenient for storage, often lead to wine quality degradation in many ways. 

  • These totes are impossible to clean and sanitize well, if at all. If you are relying on these vessels, I strongly recommend integrating a robust verification system to test the problem spots of the totes (i.e., internal corners) and ensure they are properly sanitized. 
  • Totes often require more monitoring compared to stainless steel tanks or barrels, even if the totes are stored in cold storage. The plastic is “breathable” and often causes routine, large drops in free SO2. This leads to more testing, more adjusting, and more films/problems if the tote is not monitored every-other-week. 
  • Excess storage in totes can lead to off-flavors or problems that provide off-flavors (e.g., oxidation or increasing VA). Again, this is usually tied to poor SO2 monitoring while the wine is in a tote for longer-term storage. 
  • Inappropriate wine varieties are often stored in totes, which degrades their varietal aroma and flavor. Any white wine with aromatic distinction can lose those characteristics while stored in plastic. This is often exacerbated if there is headspace in the tote. 

These problems don’t negate the fact that – yes, I am aware a lot of people use totes. That doesn’t make it optimal for wine quality. It also doesn’t mean wineries are using them properly when they do need to rely on their use. 

Every step of process deserves this kind of attention to detail. Often the most routine cellar habits are the ones that lead to quality degradation, and the winery doesn’t even know it. 

Sometimes looking at our own operations can be challenging so if it is, consider joining our Elite program. We can review and audit your processes during the two virtual meetings each month and make significant process quickly!

B) Evaluating Winemaking Steps and Ingredients

This is a big one, especially now. Many winemakers get hooked on the marketing information that suppliers put out about various products. Sometimes this information is valid, but other times, winemakers can throw money into a fermentation or wine tank without that product having any influence on the wine whatsoever simply because of what the wine is. 

Untoasted oak chips in a red grape variety fermentation bin. Do all red wine fermentations require this addition?
Photo by: Denise M. Gardner

This is especially true with hybrid wines. 

Chemically, hybrid wine grape varieties are quite different than many Vitis vinifera wine grapes and make chemically different wines. Things like YAN, malic acid levels, protein concentrations, tannin concentrations, and even color hue can be drastically different from Vitis vinifera wines. This means that processes or products used that have a probable outcome in V. vinifera wines may not have the same outcome in hybrid wines. Sometimes we have to change processes, processing order, or product additions for hybrids in order to get a better wine overall. And while this may seem odd to many that are reading the post, the reality is some of your peers are making better wines from varieties that are traditionally “hard to sell” or “make poor wine” simply because they know these alternatives are required during wine processing. 

Make Wines Intentionally

This is one of those hills that I truly stand for because I’ve seen it highlighted in wine competitions and my clients will see the difference in how wines are received. 

When it comes to making specialty wines – low-alcohol wines, orange wines, fortified wines, sparkling wines, and even formula wines – the winemakers that take the time to detail out the process before the process begins often make the best wines quicker. 

How often have you heard a winemaker say, “It took us a few years to figure out how to make this wine through trial and error.” Or, “We’re still working out this wine’s process and making some tweaks each season.” Before you know it, three seasons can go by and your consumers still do not understand the wine you are trying to make.

This kind of time investment and guessing game costs money and brand loyalty. 

And, again, while the cost of getting professional assistance may seem high (with DGW, you can gain access to assistance at just $120 which includes 2 hours per month where I could provide some expertise), remember that the cost of making a bad product three seasons in a row is much higher. 

Here are some free resources and resources obtainable through the exclusive DGW community that provide detailed and direct assistance on how to make certain styles of wine:

Low Alcohol Wines

  • FREE The Quest for (Good) Low Alcohol Wine (Podcast & Show Notes): What low alcohol wines could you already make at your winery? Plus, a review of key considerations that pertain to wine quality in low alcohol wines. 
  • FREE The Low Alcohol Wine Boom: Don’t Get Left Behind: Production Reminders on how to make high-quality low alcohol wines. 
  • Production Guide: Pet-Nats: A step-by-step flow diagram guide on how to make pet-nats without all of the mishaps.

Appassimento

Sparkling Wines

Rosé Wines

  • Production Strategies for Rosé Wine Styles (Virtual Lesson + Printable Notes): Everyone wants to make a rosé, but doing it well can be tricky. This lesson explores various production techniques associated with rosé wine production and the pros/cons that come with each technique as well as how that technique influences the rosé style.

Ideas for Hybrid Wine Grape Varieties

  • Creative Wine Styles for Hybrid Wines (Virtual Lesson + Printable Notes): The first few decades of hybrid-winemaking included trying to make these varieties into Vitis vinifera wines. But what if that doesn’t work? Here’s some alternatives that can make your winery more profitable with what you have.

Fruit with Botrytis or Rot

Wine Cocktails

  • FREE Cultivating Wine Cocktails with Jayme Henderson (Podcast & Show Notes): Jayme not only makes excellent wines in Colorado – she’s discovered a unique way to integrate her many passions into exquisite, delicious wine-based cocktails that show serious wines can make tasty cocktails. 
  • FREE Flavor Forward: How to Leverage 2026 Trends for Innovation and Growth (Podcast & Show Notes): The steps involved in making high quality or sophisticated formula wines. Also included in this episode is how wine brands that are not interested in formula wine development can use flavor trends for food-and-wine pairing marketing or creating wine cocktail recipes using their wines.
  • FREE 2026 Flavor & Food Trends Wineries Can Use: Being innovative and meeting today’s market includes knowing what is trending. This reviews the 2026 food and flavor trends that pertain to wineries. 

Formula Wines  

Winemaking help is always accessible at DGW.
Photo by: Savannah Smith Photography

Improving wine quality is only half of the battle… but it’s a pretty big half. It’s also an area where many wineries can exert some level of control and effort that will show immediate results. If you have questions about how you can make your wines better, or find yourself needing some assistance to take things to the next level, please check out the DG Winemaking Services page. We offer introductory consultations (Elite Membership) and several tiers of consulting packages to make winemaking consulting work for everyone. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this post: Improving Wine Marketing Strategies for Today’s Modern Winery.

The views and opinions expressed through dgwinemaking.com are intended for general informational purposes only. Denise Gardner Winemaking does not assume any responsibility or liability for those winery, cidery, or alcohol-producing operations that choose to use any of the information seen here or within dgwinemaking.com.

Denise Gardner is a winemaking consultant facilitating wineries to improve their production practices, efficiency, quality, and marketability. Want to get darn good at making wine? Subscribe today to our free bi-monthly content:

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