The California Walnut Conference, the annual gathering for walnut growers and handlers, is returning with a new date and location for 2026. The event will take place February 19, 2026, at the Turlock Fairgrounds, marking a new chapter in its continued evolution and growth.
The annual California Walnut Conference is presented by West Coast Nut magazine in partnership with the California Walnut Commission (CWC). Together, these organizations have built a forum for information, networking, and solutions for walnut growers and handlers and industry suppliers.
“We know this event has become important to the walnut industry and allied community and hope this more centralized location and new date will help make the conference accessible to additional growers and handlers,” said Jason Scott, Publisher and CEO of West Coast Nut and JCS Marketing Inc.
This year’s conference will include a full day of seminars covering topics important to walnut growers and handlers, including research, production practices, trade developments, advocacy, and market dynamics. Continuing education will be offered eligible sessions.
“The California Walnut Conference is a cornerstone of our efforts to bring the industry together,” said Robert Verloop, Executive Director and CEO of the California Walnut Board and Commission. “We changed the location to Turlock in order to make the conference more accessible for all growers. It provides the opportunity for knowledge-sharing, collaboration, and dialogue that is essential to moving our industry forward into the future. With the challenges and opportunities ahead, this conference helps ensure we are aligned and working toward a strong and sustainable future for California walnuts.”
Based on overwhelming interest from last year, the Poster Board Research Sessions will be expanded in 2026. These sessions feature key findings from walnut industry-funded research in areas such as pest management, irrigation, fertility, varieties and rootstocks, and overall crop production. Researchers will be on hand to engage directly with attendees, answer questions, and provide insights into practical applications for growers.
The Walnut Industry Resource Center—first introduced in 2025—will return with even more nonprofit and government partners offering cost-share programs, educational materials, and grower-focused resources aimed at improving profitability and sustainability on the farm.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect directly with handlers, processors, and the California Walnut Board and Commission staff to learn more about how the industry is working together to boost demand and increase prices for California walnuts.
Exhibitor and sponsorship registration opens this month. Interested businesses and organizations are encouraged to act quickly to reserve space. For sponsorship or exhibitor opportunities, contact sales@jcsmarketinginc.com.
Attendee registration will also open this month. Growers, handlers, and industry professionals can register at myaglife.com/events.
For more details or to register for this free event, visit myaglife.com/events or walnuts.org.
As global buyers demand proof of sustainable practices, certifications and precision tools
are becoming key assets for vineyard competitiveness (photo courtesy Niner Wine Estates.)
The landscape of winegrape growing is rapidly evolving, presenting both opportunities and challenges. From sustainability trends to shifting market demand, there are several crucial factors that vineyard owners must consider to thrive in today’s competitive environment.
This article features insights from industry experts Audra Cooper and Eddie Urman of Turrentine Brokerage, who share their expertise on market positioning and the growing importance of sustainability certifications.
Oversupply Woes: Navigating Market Challenges One of the most significant challenges facing grape growers is the oversupply of most grape varieties, even in the most recognized growing regions. As market conditions tighten, many vineyards are seeing diminishing returns on crops. This is especially difficult for smaller or independent growers managing older, less productive vineyards.
Replanting is costly. Many growers must decide whether to maintain aging vineyards or invest in the capital-intensive replanting process. Managing costs strategically is essential to ensure operations remain economically viable and aligned with the market.
Growers can consult experts or consider niche grape varieties with growing demand to help diversify their risk and increase their potential for success in the future.
Finding Your Place in the Market In a competitive market, growers must understand their position. Not every vineyard will produce the best grapes in the region, and that’s OK. Some may find success by positioning themselves in the middle tier, offering quality fruit at affordable prices.
The key to success is knowing your value proposition and understanding the needs of buyers. Define what sets your vineyard apart, whether it’s consistency, quality or unique practices. Building transparent relationships with wineries is essential, as helping buyers achieve their goals often results in mutual benefits.
“Being intentional with your vineyard management and knowing your market position can make all the difference in building a sustainable business,” said Urman.
SIP Certified vineyards must meet rigorous standards in water conservation, energy efficiency, pest management and social responsibility, positioning them for long-term market relevance (photo by Beth Vukmanic, Vineyard Team.)
Green Is Gold: Why Sustainability Is Essential Sustainability certifications are now crucial for growers. As consumer demand for sustainably produced products has surged, buyers increasingly seek vineyards that prioritize environmental and social responsibility. What was once considered a “nice-to-have” is now a “must-have” for remaining competitive. Without certification, a vineyard’s marketability could be severely limited, even if their grapes are top-quality.
The global importance of sustainability is evident in markets like Europe and North America, which have long valued sustainable practices. Emerging markets such as China are also increasingly prioritizing sustainability. A 2023 survey by Forvis Mazars found more than 70% of Chinese consumers believe sustainability encompasses reducing pollution and optimizing the living environment, highlighting a growing environmental consciousness. This shift in consumer preferences indicates that sustainability is now a key driver in purchasing decisions worldwide.
In the United States, certifications such as SIP Certified® (Sustainability in Practice) play a vital role. This program focuses on environmental, social and economic sustainability, encouraging best practices in water conservation, pest management and energy use. Vineyards and wineries that achieve SIP Certified demonstrate their commitment to responsible practices, making them more marketable to environmentally conscious consumers.
“Sustainability is no longer optional. It’s now required by many buyers and for staying relevant in the market. If you’re not certified, you’re cutting your potential market in half, if not more,” Cooper said.
“Being intentional with your vineyard management and knowing
your market position can make all the difference in building a sustainable business.” – Eddie Urman, Turrentine Brokerage
Building Trust With Buyers Consistency in grape production is crucial. Buyers rely on growers who can deliver high-quality fruit year after year without significant fluctuations in yield or quality. Focusing on best practices like pruning, shoot thinning and vine health management is essential.
Good management practices not only benefit the vineyard but also build trust with buyers. When growers consistently deliver, they secure long-term contracts, stabilize their income and strengthen relationships with wineries. This trust helps growers navigate market fluctuations and evolving consumer demands.
As market conditions tighten, many vineyards are seeing diminishing returns on crops. Growers can consult experts or consider niche grape varieties with growing demand to help diversify their risk and increase their potential for success in the future (photo courtesy Wolff Vineyards.)
Staying Ahead of Trends As the winegrape market evolves, growers must adapt. It’s no longer enough to take a wait-and-see approach. Successful growers need a clear, long-term plan. Whether investing in new technologies, transitioning to sustainable practices or diversifying crop offerings, proactive planning is essential to stay competitive.
The key to thriving in this market is understanding both your vineyard’s strengths and broader market trends. Growers must be flexible and ready to adjust strategies based on trends like sustainability and fluctuating grape prices.
“Sustainability is no longer optional. It’s now required by many buyers and for staying relevant in the market.” –Audra Cooper, Turrentine Brokerage
Using Innovation to Thrive Technology is revolutionizing vineyard management. Precision agriculture, which uses data analytics to monitor soil health, water use and pest control, enables growers to make more informed decisions about when to irrigate, prune or harvest. These tools improve efficiency and reduce resource consumption, which is critical in today’s sustainable era.
Investing in technologies that promote sustainability, such as water-efficient irrigation systems or eco-friendly pest management, can help growers meet certification requirements while boosting profitability.
As the winegrape market continues to evolve, staying informed and adapting to new technologies and sustainable practices is key. Thoughtful planning, strong relationships and consistent, high-quality production will ensure that growers not only survive but thrive in this dynamic landscape.
Turrentine Brokerage’s Audra Cooper says, “Sustainability is no longer optional. It’s now required by many buyers and for staying relevant in the market.”
For more insights on navigating the winegrape market, you can reach out to Cooper and Urman at Turrentine Brokerage:
• Visit Turrentine Brokerage’s website
• Email: info@turrentinebrokerage.com
Keep an eye out for their speaking engagements, where they regularly share their expertise on market trends and best practices in grape growing. You can also catch them on the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast (Episode 259 and Episode 269).
By partnering with experts like Cooper and Urman, growers can gain the knowledge and tools they need to adapt and thrive in this ever-changing industry.
References Forvis Mazars. (n.d.). Sustainable consumption of Chinese consumers.https://www.forvismazars.com/group/en/insights/latest-insights/sustainable-
consumption-of-chinese-consumers
Simon-Kucher & Partners. (2024). Sustainability’s new normal:
What 2024 consumers expect.
https://www.simon-kucher.com/en/
/insights/sustainabilitys-new-normal-what-2024-consumers-expect
SIP Certified. (n.d.). SIP Certified: Sustainability in Practice.
https://www.sipcertified.org/
Vineyard Team. (n.d.-a). From Surplus to Strategy: Managing the Grape Market’s Challenges. [Podcast episode #269]. https://www.vineyardteam.org/podcast?id=1146
Vineyard Team. (n.d.-b). Winegrape Market Trends of 2024. [Podcast episode #259] https://www.vineyardteam.org/resources/economic-viability.php?id=1131
Vineyard Team. (n.d.-c). Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. https://www.vineyardteam.org/podcast/
Former NielsenIQ Wine Analyst Danny Brager’s outlook for wineries in 2025 can be described with one word: uncertainty (photo by P. Strayer.)
A large dose of reality and a spoonful of medicine: That’s what speakers at the Wine Market Council’s (WMC) Annual Research Conference and member meeting on April 2 at Copia in Napa delivered to the 200 attendees. The morning meeting featured both positive and negative news on the overall wine market from former NielsenIQ Wine Analyst Danny Brager and other speakers.
The speakers wrapped up their presentations just hours before President Donald J. Trump announced new tariffs on South African wines (30%), Israeli wines (17%) and European wines (20%).
Lower-priced wines (under $15) showed sales declines, but on the bright side, wines priced above $15 saw sales increases. Interest in white wines was also up, and one-third of wine brands in off-premise and direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels experienced increased sales, Brager said.
Smaller bottle sizes (375 milliliters) were also increasing in double digits, he added, which echoed findings from recent WMC studies. “Better for you” brands also performed well, Brager said.
Smaller bottle size (375 milliliters) sales have increased by double digits for multiple direct-to-consumer brands (courtesy Wine Market Council.)
In-Depth Data Study Summaries and Takeaways for Marketers WMC leaders Dr. Liz Thach, MW, president, and Christian Miller, research director, recapped findings from deep-dive studies on multicultural and younger consumers in their 20s and 30s as well as on eco-friendly wines.
Though the studies found younger consumers like wine, they are overwhelmed by beverage choices, wine complexity and a lack of perceived wine occasions, Thach said.
Survey data also showed nearly half of wine consumers in their 20s buy wine in alternative formats, with 48% purchasing 175-milliliter or 325-milliliter bottles as well as cans, a slight increase over those in their 30s. Roughly 30% of both groups purchased wine in 3-liter or 5-liter bag-in-box packaging.
Their taste preferences tend to fall into two camps: sweet, fruity and refreshing versus intense, dry, oaky and full-bodied.
Multicultural consumers prefer to see their food and people from their cultures reflected in brands. Thach recommended hiring for diversity and showcasing it in brand social media and marketing visuals.
Research also showed that younger legal-drinking-age consumers want store retailers to better organize wines on shelves like the filtering systems used in online shopping. Thach suggested bringing back in-store tastings where legally allowed. In on-premise settings and tasting rooms, she recommended offering at least one wine cocktail and displaying wine cocktail recipes.
Younger consumers also mentioned they enjoy using AI quizzes online to help them find the right wine. The takeaway for marketers is to offer website filters, include user ratings and feature interactive tools like quizzes and games to guide wine selection.
Both Gen Z (ages 21 to 26) and millennials (27 to 42)
use Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as their top social media platforms.
Overall, key concerns for marketers centered on delivering more positive messaging about wine and health and emphasizing wine’s romantic and lifestyle appeal, especially for younger consumers.
Though Wine Market Council studies found younger consumers like wine, they are overwhelmed by beverage choices, wine complexity and a lack of perceived wine occasions, according to Dr. Liz Thach, president of Wine Market Council (photo by P. Strayer.)
Panel: “How to Sell More Wine in Multiple Channels” The second half of the event featured a panel discussion with sales channel representatives offering wineries tips to improve wine sales:
• Off-premise retailers: Curtis Mann, MW, Albertsons-Safeway, and Alex Joerger, Wine.com
• On-premise: Michael Gonzales, wine director, Cole’s Chop House
• DTC wineries: Laura Webb, Cakebread Cellars (Napa), and Jeremy Trettevik, Jeremy Wine Co. (Lodi)
Albertsons-Safeway
Mann said sending beverage stewards to train at the Napa Valley Wine Academy was effective in increasing wine sales. He encouraged wineries to rethink their labels and simplify language and visuals to make wine more accessible. He also supported bringing back in-store wine sampling where allowed. The company’s Vine and Cellar website was recently upgraded with improved filters to promote wine discovery.
Wine.com
Joerger reported Wine.com receives 24 million page views and the average customer purchase is $32 per bottle. The site offers a $59 annual membership for free shipping and features cost-effective brand pages that showcase winery photos and product listings. Joerger recommended attending the Wine.com annual seller event, held in February, to take advantage of promotional tools.
Cole’s Chop House
Gonzales said younger customers expect a higher level of attention and service with their dining experience. Offering a strong by-the-glass program using Coravin helps. The wine list includes at least 26 Cabernet Sauvignon options by the glass, including Joseph Phelps 2018 Insignia.
Cakebread Cellars
Webb noted a rise in last-minute visitation requests and said the winery is working on ways to accommodate these guests without overburdening staff. She emphasized the need to move beyond the mindset of “this is how we’ve always done it” and embrace flexibility. Thach reinforced that it is no longer acceptable to turn customers away. Mann himself had been turned down at three wineries, Thach said. The audience gasped. “Don’t turn people away,” she told them.
Jeremy Wine Co. Trettevik of Lodi-based Jeremy Wine Co. said wine tastes by the glass at the bar are more effective than formal flight tastings. The casual bar format creates more interaction with staff, which can drive sales without requiring additional staffing.
Wine Market Council members have access to additional research and data through the organization’s website at winemarketcouncil.com.
Babydoll sheep roam between vineyard rows at Bon Niche Cellars, providing natural leafing and cover crop management.
In the heart of San Miguel, Calif. lies a small, charming estate vineyard and winery where, at first glance, everything is as you’d expect. There’s a rustic winery, rows of grapevines and a serene pace of life. But spend a little time here, and you’ll realize there’s something delightfully unusual going on among the vines.
Rather than the whir of tractors or the hiss of sprayers, you’ll hear bleats, snorts and the occasional delighted squeal. That’s because Bon Niche Cellars has found a unique way to tackle one of agriculture’s most persistent problems: weeds.
Weeds are more than just an unsightly nuisance. In agricultural settings, they can cause significant harm. Weeds can reduce crop yields by competing for essential resources like water, nutrients and sunlight. Some weeds even emit chemicals that inhibit the growth of neighboring plants.
Herbicides and heavy machinery are common tools for managing weeds. While effective, these methods often require significant investment in equipment. Purchasing, maintaining and fueling large machines can be especially burdensome for smaller operations. For Melani Harding, the goal was to find a more holistic approach.
Kunekune pigs at Bon Niche Cellars help manage vineyard weeds year-round thanks to their grazing habits and small size.
A New Start at Bon Niche When Harding bought Bon Niche Cellars in 2018, the vineyard was already well established. It was planted in 2009 and had been farmed conventionally since then. But Harding had a different vision. She wanted to move away from chemical inputs and toward a regenerative, sustainable model that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity and long-term resilience.
One of Harding’s first decisions was also one of her boldest: going herbicide-free.
She knew this wouldn’t be easy, but she wasn’t expecting the magnitude of challenge her first herbicide-free year had in store. Heavy rains fueled an absolute explosion of weeds.
“By my first summer, the weeds were winning over my efforts,” Harding said. It was clear that if she wanted to manage them naturally, she’d need reinforcements.
Enter the Goats Her research led her to a potential solution: goats. More specifically, a few mischievous Nigerian Dwarf kids she adopted to help control star thistle, an invasive and stubborn weed common in the area.
The goats eagerly munched on the thistle and other tough, dry weeds that most animals wouldn’t touch. But there was a hitch; they roamed freely, enthusiastically and sometimes destructively.
They were curious about everything from budding vines to rose bushes and trees. To solve this, Harding and her father built what they dubbed the “goat tractor,” a mobile enclosure that allowed the goats to be moved around the vineyard safely. This way, the goats could snack on weeds without compromising the grapevines.
Eventually, Harding fenced off the vineyard to give the goats a safe place to roam outside of the vineyard while the vines were vulnerable, such as during budding and fruiting. Between harvest and bud break, however, the goats were allowed back into the vineyard. The system worked well, but goats had one major limitation: They didn’t care for green grass.
Pigs will “eat just about anything” in the vineyard, according to Bon Niche Cellars’ Melani Harding.
The Sheep Solution
To tackle the greenery, Harding invited more four-legged friends to join the crew in the form of Babydoll sheep. These compact, woolly grazers were just the right size to roam between vineyard rows without damaging the vines (most of the time).
“They are just the right height to do my leafing for me,” Harding said. “But that also means they can reach the fruit.”
Like the goats, the sheep had to be removed at bud break to prevent them from nibbling on the tender new shoots. Once the vines lignified and hardened, they were all welcome to return.
Meet Gilbert
Even with goats and sheep, Harding felt there was a gap in her weed management strategy. Then one day in 2021 while scrolling Craigslist, she saw a four-month-old Kunekune pig named Gilbert.
“This breed had been on my radar as they are considered ‘small’ pigs and graze instead of rooting,” Harding said. “I fell in love with the little guy, and he joined the farm that fall.”
Gilbert fit right in with the Bon Niche crew, so much so that Harding has since added three more Kunekune pigs. Because of their small size and grazing habits, they could stay in the vineyard when the goats and sheep had to be locked out. Best of all, they couldn’t reach the fruit, at least not at first.
“I consider anything they can reach to be fair game, but they are really smart. Last fall, I caught them grabbing low-hanging shoots and shaking the fruit free,” Harding said. “I ended up keeping them in their pen until we finished harvesting.”
Working in Harmony
It didn’t take long for Harding to get all the animals on a schedule that met their needs, hers and the vineyard’s.
Goats and sheep are let out in the morning during their designated seasons and return to their pens before dark. Pigs have access to the vineyard all year but must stay in their shelter at night. And Harding knows exactly who prefers to eat what:
• Goats love dried-out weeds like star thistle. They dislike green grass and mustard (though they do enjoy using mustard plants as scratching posts) but will eat sagebrush and puncture vine while they’re green.
• Sheep prefer grass, clover and cover crops but lose interest once the plants seed or become prickly.
• Pigs? “They’ll eat just about anything,” Harding said. “But they really love mallow.”
This system, combined with no-till farming and applications of vermicompost tea, has enabled Harding to nearly eliminate spraying altogether and cut back drastically on mowing. “I love sipping on a glass of wine, watching my cute animals do all the work for me,” she said with a smile.
Visitors to Bon Niche Cellars are greeted by a rotating cast of animals, including goats, pigs, sheep and mini-donkeys (all photos courtesy M. Harding.)
More Than Just Labor
Beyond their work on the property, the animals have become a favorite feature for guests.
Visitors can interact with the animals in thoughtful, guided ways:
• The goats are always the stars, and Harding even built a special gate just for children to pet them more easily. “They have such personalities and love attention,” Harding said.
• The sheep are more reserved, though a couple of bottle-fed lambs enjoy the company of Harding’s grandpa.
• The pigs will often trot up to the gate to greet visitors, especially if they suspect snacks are involved.
And let’s not forget the two mini-donkeys. While they don’t venture into the vineyard, they help keep grasses trimmed on the winery side of the property and love interacting with people.
Small-Scale Farm, Large-Scale Success
Bon Niche Cellars models how small-scale farms can succeed with sustainable, thoughtful practices rooted in creativity and care.
What started as one woman’s dream to farm differently has become a thriving ecosystem where animals, vines and humans work together in harmony. By leaning into regenerative practices and building a natural weed management system that works with the land, Harding has created a vineyard that produces beautiful wine and tells a beautiful story.
Asian export markets like China and South Korea require strict compliance with additive and labeling laws, making regulatory knowledge critical for U.S. wineries (photo by W.B. Gray.)
With the domestic wine marketslowing down, many wineries are wondering about trying to export. That raises a question about wine additives. We frequently read natural wine enthusiasts complaining that U.S. wine is full of additives that are not allowed in other countries. Could this be a barrier to exporting wines?
That depends on where you plan to export. If you want to export to Canada, the European Union or the United Kingdom, you should be okay. But if you want to export to Asia, you may have to make some changes.
Let’s start by busting a myth about Europe. They use the same chemicals we do. Take glyphosate (aka Roundup): the EU considered a ban in 2023, but instead decided to allow its use for another 10 years. Several European countries have debated banning glyphosate and have received positive press for thinking about it, but Austria is the only country in Europe today with a glyphosate ban. Glyphosate is not a wine additive, but even talking about banning it gets a lot of media coverage. We include this to say, don’t believe everything you read.
On the subject of Europe, here is some very good news. The EU has a trade agreement with the U.S. in which both sides agree to accept each other’s winemaking practices. So, whether an additive is legal in Europe does not matter, because if it’s legal in the U.S. you can use it in wines you export to Europe.
The U.K. is no longer part of the EU, but it has not yet created separate winemaking standards and is still using the EU standards. While this could change, at present there is no reason to worry about additives or processing aids when exporting to the U.K.
Before our trade war, Canada was the largest export market for U.S. wine. Canada is part of an eight-nation agreement, the World Wine Trade Group, that similarly to our agreement with the EU requires each nation to respect each other’s approved winemaking techniques and additives. So if Canada allows our wines back on its shelves, additives will not be a problem.
The other members of that agreement are Argentina, Australia, Chile, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa. Not many U.S. wines are exported to these countries, but you don’t have to worry about additives if you get a store placement in Sydney or Johannesburg.
Firms like Abridge out of Washington D.C. help wineries navigate complex international wine regulations, offering translated legal standards and export compliance tools. In this example, Abridge shows the different laws regarding suflites in China (left) and Japan. The red text for China indicates it is the “best translation available.” The black text in the Japan section shows it is the official Japanese government translation.
Who Does That Leave? Asian Countries. Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and China are our No. 4 through 7 export markets by value, respectively. We export 2.5 times as much wine to the EU by volume, but by value we export more wine to these countries combined than to the entire EU (Hong Kong is now part of China, but its import rules remain different.)
These countries do have different standards of what’s allowed, and you are supposed to follow them. But it’s not always easy to do, especially if they have standards published only in their native language.
Many wineries depend on their importers, but this is a specialized topic and the importers may not know.
When I contacted the Wine Institute about this topic, they put me in touch with Abridge, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that compiles the actual regulations about alcohol from 110 countries. If you want to find out whether a wine, beer or whiskey processing aid is legal in bottles shipped to Jamaica or Nigeria, Abridge is the place to look.
Abridge Founder and President Bennett Caplan is a trade attorney who has specialized in alcohol trade laws for 20 years. Caplan told Grape & Wine Magazine the tariff wars initiated by the U.S. this year will have impacts far beyond the tariffs themselves (which Abridge also keeps track of).
“You’re starting to see regulators fining folks,” Caplan said. “The more we have trade tensions, the more regulatory compliance becomes a need-to-have rather than a nice-to-have. Your products are going to be under increased scrutiny. Especially U.S. products.”
Caplan said in the past, wineries relied on their importer to know the local regulations. Now, that’s not good enough. The importer might be liable if a local law is broken, but the winery is likely to be liable as well.
The latest growth areas for Abridge are ready-to-drink cocktails, hard seltzers and reduced-alcohol products. In some cases, these beverages are so new that importing countries haven’t yet created regulations for them. In other cases, the laws may be listed in different places.
“Switching between malt-based and spirit-based and wine-based cocktails gets really complicated,” Caplan said.
I used Abridge’s database to compare U.S. laws to the Asian countries mentioned above and now I’m a big fan of Abridge. The site offers translations of laws for each country and makes side-by-side comparisons relatively easy.
Grape-derived color enhancers like Mega Purple are legal in the U.S., but their acceptance in foreign markets like China remains uncertain due to synthetic color restrictions (photo courtesy California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.)
The Big Question: Mega Purple in China I was looking for additives you can use in the U.S., but not in these countries. The biggest open question I found is about Mega Purple. Many U.S. wineries use this grape-based substance to give their red wines darker color. But Chinese law says, “No synthetic colour, sweetener, essence and thickener should be added to any product.”
This prohibition of synthetic color is a big deal in Chinese law and is cited repeatedly. Interestingly, Hong Kong does not have this same restriction, although Hong Kong doesn’t allow color or “preservatives other than alcohol” to be added to Port or Sherry-style wines. For table wines, though, Hong Kong says nothing about added color.
Mega Purple is derived from grape extract, so it’s not “synthetic” color. China’s approved food colors include “grape skin extract.”
The wine trade experts I asked for an opinion directed me to Wine Australia, which is acknowledged as the experts for Asia. Wine Australia said their understanding is, “Under Chinese law, grape skin extract is not permitted for use for grape wine.” For a more definitive answer, you would have to hire an attorney in China.
“The more we have trade tensions, the more regulatory compliance becomes
a need-to-have rather than a nice-to-have. Your products are going to be under increased scrutiny.”
– Bennett Caplan, Abridge
China has a few other restrictions of note. China has specific limits on the total sugar in wine.
For sparkling wines, China uses the same standards as Champagne (i.e., ≤ 12.0 g/L is Brut). The important Chinese sugar standard for U.S. wineries to take note of is in still wines. China allows no more than 4 g/L of sugar in “dry” still wine. Still wines with 4.1 to 12 g/L of sugar must be called “semi dry,” and still wines with 12.1 to 45 g/L of sugar must be called “semi sweet.”
As for wine production, China limits tartaric acid to 4 g/L; there is no limit in the U.S. China limits the use of benzoic acid and phosphoric acid in wine production and no longer allows hydrogen peroxide. These are all allowed in the U.S. And China has limits on citric acid, sorbic acid and iron in the final product, while the U.S. does not.
On the other hand, the U.S. only allows 100 mg/L of potassium polyaspartate, which is used to prevent tartrate crystals. China allows 300 mg/L. They must really hate crystals.
“The more we have trade tensions, the more regulatory compliance becomes a need-to-have rather than a nice-to-have. Your products are going to be under increased scrutiny. Especially U.S. products,” says Abridge founder and President Bennett Caplan (photo courtesy B. Kaplan.)
Korea: Be Careful and Good Luck Korea is such a challenging market that Abridge recommends using a Wine Australia guide to exporting to the country that was produced in January 2025.
However, even that guide punts on several questions. Korean law says if an additive is not registered in the Korean Food Additive Code, it is not allowed. Moreover, even if the additive is allowed, but not for the specified use in wine, it is not allowed. This is very different from other countries.
Wine Australia’s guide to exporting to Korea says, “Please consult the Export Assistance Team regarding the declaration of processing aids (e.g., activated carbon, bentonite, copper sulphate, gelatin).”
Korea and Japan both limit sulfites to 0.35 g/kg. This includes naturally occurring sulfites.
Japan: No Radioactive Wines, Please Japan and Hong Kong both limit radionuclides in wine; mainland China does not, and neither does the U.S. It’s understandable why Japan is sensitive to radioactivity, but let’s hope this never becomes an issue.
Japan limits several production chemicals that are not limited in the U.S., including ammonium hydrogen bisulfite, DMDC (dimethyl dicarbonate) and vinylimidazole/vinylpyrrolidone. Japan does not allow benzoic acid.
Japan also limits a few residues in the final product, including bentonite, propylene glycol and potassium ferrocyanide. Japan limits acesulfame potassium (a sweetener) to 0.5 g/kg and sucralose to 0.4 g/kg.
Further questions about whether your wines are going to be legal in your target market should be directed to an attorney.
Lise Asimont, a veteran viticulturist with nearly 30 years of experience, brings a science-driven, vineyard-first philosophy to Dot Wine, which was founded in 2016 by Asimont (pictured) and husband Shawn Phillips (all photos courtesy L. Asimont/Dot Wine.)
Lise Asimont is nerding out on soil. It’s late February and she’s sorting out various samples of surface soil for her makeshift soil lending library.
“I’m a viticulturist and farmer first, winemaker second, so I see wines as the product of the vineyard they are from. What better way to discuss this than start with the soil,” said Asimont, who is senior vice president at Foley Family Farms Vineyards and runs Dot Wine with her husband, both in Healdsburg, Calif.
A few years ago, Asimont’s harvest interns gathered bags of soil samples from Foley Family Farms Vineyards.
“Rather than spend a gazillion dollars sending them in to be sterilized, I purchased a large Instant Pot and sterilized each soil sample in small batches. I have about three to four sterilized samples of each soil to loan out to anyone who needs them for educational purposes, whether that is someone in sales, marketing or a winemaker heading to the market,” she said.
But it’s also little surprise that soil is a passion for Asimont. She comes with nearly 30 years of experience as a viticulturist, and a lot of her work involves walking through vineyards. She is closely connected with growers and holds a deep understanding of their challenges and value.
As senior vice president of Foley Family Farms, she manages the viticulture and winegrowing teams that are spread throughout California and Oregon.
Prior to that, she was the company’s vice president of grower relations. Among her career milestones, Asimont has served as the head of vineyard operations at Cakebread Cellars and Francis Coppola Winery, where she led grower relations for over a decade.
Asimont, 48, is also a successful entrepreneur. During the day, Foley is her focus, but in the evenings and on weekends (depending on harvest), she’s busy making wine. In 2016, she and her husband, Shawn Phillips, launched Dot Wine. Since then, it has been a 24/7 affair and a constant juggle of their individual full-time jobs, parenting their two children and growing the winery. Phillips, a veteran gardener, comes with over 30 years of running a gardening business and is a published gardener.
“From Monday through Saturday, it’s Foley time, and after 6:30 p.m. outside of harvest, I close one computer and open another,” said Asimont, noting she shifts into “Dot mode.”
Dot Wine co-founder Shawn Phillips, Lise Asimont’s husband, is a veteran gardener who comes with over 30 years of running a gardening business and is a published gardener.
A Love of Outdoors
Asimont is a pioneer when it comes to entrepreneurship and winemaking. She comes from a family of physicians. Her father, a native of France, and her mother, a native of the Philippines, were both lifelong physicians. She credits them for her love of nature and the outdoors. Born and raised in Southern California, the family moved to Lake Arrowhead near the San Bernardino Mountains when she was a child.
“That’s where I adopted my grizzly outdoors enthusiast attitude and this very outdoorsy lifestyle,” she said. She switched from pre-med to majoring in anthropology at St. Mary’s College in California after taking a historical archaeology course.
“I was supposed to be a doctor. That’s your fate as the child of highly successful physicians and you’re Asian American,” she said. It was her father who asked if she had considered winemaking and suggested a master’s degree in viticulture at UC Davis, which she pursued. She fell in love with viticulture and enology once at UC Davis.
“I loved the spirit of being out there in the wilderness. You are a victim to Mother Nature and figure it out,” she said. As a winemaker, Asimont loves the thrill of being in the vineyard.
“In the winery, we can control the variables, but in the vineyard it’s magnificent. You figure it out. Is it going to be a hot year or a cold year? I love that. You are eternally youthful. You are constantly on your knees learning something, and I love that,” she said.
“In the winery, we can control the variables, but in the vineyard
it’s magnificent… You are constantly
on your knees learning something,
and I love that.” – Lise Asimont, Dot Wine
A Dare
In 2016, Dot started as a “dare,” according to their story. She was 20 years into the industry, and during the throes of harvest season, Phillips brought home a bottle of Pinot Noir in the $45 price range.
“Considering the price, and Shawn finally had it, he asked, ‘What would it take to make the perfect Pinot Noir?’ So we did it, and it was kind of a challenge,” she said.
The couple committed to naming the wine after a family member and decided on Dot after Phillips’ grandmother Dorothy. “She’s a very resilient, fiery Welsh woman. I loved the name Dot, and to me it made so much sense. I loved that we were naming it after a family member,” she said.
Since its launch, the winery has expanded into a tasting room at Bacchus Landing, a wine club, and produces between 600 and 800 cases annually. The wines are distributed through the wine club, at tasting rooms and have a retail presence. The labels have earned awards at the Pacific Rim Wine Competition and Sunset International Wine Competition.
Lise Asimont follows what she calls “Walkerisms,” most notably the practice of changing her perspective and applying science and sound planning to overcome roadblocks. She credits this mindset to her mentor, Andy Walker, a professor in viticulture and enology at UC Davis, where she earned her master’s and worked in Walker’s lab (pictured).
“Sweat Equity” and Passion
While launching any business comes with its challenges, the upshot is that Asimont brought decades of winemaking experience, and Phillips had business experience and familial roots in food and farming. He grew up on a sheep ranch in Mendocino County.
The secret to making it work comes down to working smart and staying lean.
“It’s really expensive to have a wine label and to do it right, even for people who really know what they are doing. We do a lot of our own sweat equity,” she said.
“We are not super bougie and we make very smart decisions. We call it [Dot] our third kid going to college,” said Asimont. “The reality is that we don’t have deep pockets. We still have one kid in college, and we are Toyota Tacoma people.”
The couple’s do-it-yourself strategy includes everything from staying on top of regulations to keeping their social channels fresh. When Dot’s Instagram or Facebook receives accolades, “That’s my 58-year-old husband who is doing social media. We do it on our own,” Asimont said. “People always say, ‘You are so authentic.’ We say it’s because it’s just the two of us and that’s how we do it.”
Lise Asimont intentionally works with small growers in Sonoma County who share her vision for sustainable winemaking.
The partnership has been magical. Asimont handles compliance and “computer stuff.” Phillips is the “muscle” and leads the tasting room. Asimont brings wine industry networks, while Phillips offers extensive plant knowledge.
“We’re a good team. Sundays we’re in vineyards together,” she said.
The winery specializes in ultra-premium Rosé, Chardonnay and Russian River Pinot Noir from Sonoma County. Flagship labels include Lolita Pinot Noir and MagPi Pinot Noir. From the start, the focus has been on creating wines that taste and smell as if they were straight out of the vineyard. Her hallmark is clean winemaking. Dot wines are produced with minimal intervention, using minimal additives and preservatives and a focus on natural, sustainable methods.
“This means I strive to make sure that you taste what I get to taste when I’m walking that vineyard during harvest in every glass of Dot Wine you have. It also means that I strive to produce wines that aren’t funky or hazy,” Asimont said.
She intentionally works with small growers in Sonoma County who share her vision for sustainable winemaking. The relationships are often longstanding.
Tyler Klick, a viticulturist who co-owns Redwood Empire Vineyard Management (REVM), the first certified sustainable vineyard management company in California, met Asimont when their children were small. Klick first worked with Asimont when his company sold Coppola fruit from the ranch REVM leased. The company currently sells Pinot Noir fruit to Dot from the Lolita Ranch. While it is rare for a viticulturist to start their own winery, Asimont has an advantage.
“She knows how to roll with the growing season and adjust accordingly. She is not just a winemaker, but also a viticulturist. Being a farmer, that is a big plus. She gets it,” Klick said. “Viticulturists have the benefit and ability to source excellent grapes and those grapes being farmed by excellent farmers. She’s been exposed to so much over the years and she understands the health of the vineyard. That part she has a huge advantage over the winemaker.”
Over the years, Dot has faced challenges, some significant enough to impact the bottom line. In 2020, the winery lost 80% of its grapes due to smoke exposure, and one grower did not have crop insurance. That autumn, a wildfire burned over 55,000 acres in the hills west of Healdsburg. Forced to pivot, the couple decided to use what grapes were available and developed a white Pinot Noir. In 2021, the product, made from Pinot Noir grapes, was released and earned awards, including from the Sunset International Wine Competition.
“I consider it a resiliency project of 2020. We had a horrible problem and had to decide what to do. Now the wine that people know us most for is the white Pinot Noir,” said Asimont. “Sometimes people think that I am a Pollyanna, but you have to change your perspective when you are faced with challenges.”
She credits this mindset to her mentor, Andy Walker, a professor in viticulture and enology at UC Davis, where she earned her master’s and worked in Walker’s lab. Asimont follows what she calls “Walkerisms,” most notably the practice of changing her perspective and applying science and sound planning to overcome roadblocks.
“It’s also a hallmark of resilience and being a farmer. This is a problem, you’ve got to face it and execute well against it. It’s also a good way to conduct business,” she said.
Dot Wine specializes in ultra-premium Rosé (pictured), Chardonnay and Russian River Pinot Noir from Sonoma County.
Going Forward
This past spring, Dot launched a Grenache, which has already earned awards, including double gold at the North Coast Wine Challenge, and is headed to the sweepstakes round. Dot is active with events, including sponsoring Healdsburg Pride and participating in Cloverdale Pride.
When not in the vineyards, Asimont enjoys surfing, skiing and cooking. The couple’s youngest child is almost out of college. At times, Asimont wishes Dot was a little smaller so they could take a day off during the week, but it remains more of a maybe than a plan. Her passion for winemaking and for Dot remains strong.
“I hope in two years we are still here. I hope we are still making beautiful wine,” Asimont said.
Marketers are urged to use AI tools for content creation and campaign automation, leveling the playing field for small and midsize wineries (photo courtesy Joe Ramos, Berkshire Hathaway.)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept for wine marketers; it’s here, reshaping how wineries connect with customers and manage campaigns.
Keynote speaker at this year’s Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium in Monterey, AI thought leader and author Rishad Tobaccowala told the audience to stop being afraid of AI and to jump in and make it work for them.
“Do not ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for us,” he said. “So in effect, AI is DEF CON Red, or high alert, for everybody in every industry. This is not tomorrow. It’s happening, and it’s happening at scale.”
AI can level the playing field for small- and medium-sized companies competing with larger corporations, he said, by delegating menial, time-consuming tasks (like coordinating email campaigns) to AI as well as using content creation tools to generate text, visual and video content.
Tobaccowala said he pays just $160 a month for computing power that gives him AI functionality equal to or better than that used by large corporations.
While many have a baseline awareness of generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, DeepSeek), he said two more types of AI are emerging: agentic AI (e.g., Salesforce’s upcoming Agentforce)
and physical AI (e.g., self-driving
cars, robots).
Pointing to recent trends in media consumption, Tobaccowala said niche media now has greater reach than mainstream media, encouraging marketers to use AI tools that can easily generate visuals (e.g., MidJourney, OpenAI’s Sora) and videos (e.g., Adobe Firefly, OpenAI’s Sora, Google’s DeepMind Veo2), saving time and money and increasing consumer engagement with wine brands.
Tobaccowala said mainstream media is now outnumbered by niche media, and with free content creation and distribution widely available, small companies can compete effectively once they master the right AI tools.
Rishad Tobaccowala spoke at this year’s Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium in Monterey and encouraged wine marketers to embrace artificial intelligence as a business tool (photo by P. Strayer.)
Tips for Getting Started With AI • AI First: Save time by starting your project with AI, Tobaccowala said. “I truly believe that if you start anything without going to AI as a starting point, you wasted half your time.”
• See How Your Business Shows Up in AI Chat Results: “After you’ve looked at SEO, SEM and other metrics to see how your company and your brand show up in search, check how it shows up in ChatGPT or Gemini, because more and more people are using those instead of traditional searches,” Tobaccowala said.
AI Can Change the Way People Book Your Tasting Room and Tours AI-savvy travelers are already using AI to plan and book trips. AI programs can provide full itineraries with suggested winery and hotel bookings, Tobaccowala said.
Coming soon: AI will also book tastings and hotels for tourists.
AI + HI (Human Intelligence) Is AI going to take over the role of humans? No. Tobaccowala said AI is like an intern or an assistant, not a substitute for human intelligence. To learn more about what AI can do for marketers, he suggested several books:
• Marketing with AI for Dummies by Shiv Singh: While the tools it references may be outdated, it provides step-by-step roadmaps for using AI.
• Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick: A New York Times bestseller from a Wharton professor. Mollick also publishes a free Substack newsletter, One Useful Thing.
• Rethinking Work by Rishad Tobaccowala: Tobaccowala’s own take on how AI will change society, work and life.
AI in Wine Marketing Today Many tools already used by the wine industry in marketing are infused with AI. Others still need to be adopted more broadly in marketing departments.
Those basic website chatbots, for example, can be improved to do more than collect email addresses. Wine business schools may soon offer education on what a tech stack is and how best to manage IT resources for marketing. As costs drop and technologies improve, companies that delayed investment in digital infrastructure may now catch up.
Today’s uninformed buyer can become more educated about cost-effective AI marketing tools as the best solutions rise to prominence.
With AI integration into tools like Klaviyo (pictured) and Commerce7, wine marketers are encouraged to focus on data fluency, automation and platform-specific optimization.
Beware AI-Washing, Predatory Pricing and Other Ills “AI will be part of much of the software we use and will be invisible, just like the code and electricity that powers it,” said wine e-commerce and marketing thought leader Paul Mabray in a follow-up interview with Grape and Wine Magazine.
He published blunt advice for marketers seeking tools in a recent article, warning against “AI-washing,” predatory pricing for analytics and aggressive Salesforce consultants.
He defined AI-washing as when “companies try to breathe new life into their products or inflate the value of what they are doing by saying they are using artificial intelligence.” Often, he said, it’s just “lipstick on a pig.” Some products simply repackage licensed tools, reselling services such as Microsoft Business Intelligence or Domo.
Mabray recommended a couple best-of-breed solutions for small- and medium-sized wineries:
• Klaviyo, a marketing platform that integrates email and SMS messaging. It was a popular choice among conference attendees, based on an informal show of hands in an email marketing class.
• A forthcoming Commerce7 (and Shopify) analytics app from Stephen Mok’s New Vintage Labs, expected to cost about $50 to $75 per month.
To show up better in AI, Mabray advised wineries to pay attention to best practices: “Better, richer websites. More earned media (publications, blogs, newsletters). Better shared media, proper content on TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc.”
Developing Better Professional Expertise Aside from the fragmentation of tools in the wine marketing space, Mabray said another major challenge is skill sets.
“We do have a problem, a knowledge-based problem,” he said, adding many winery marketing managers are people who “just failed up.”
“We need to up-level and train our staff better and get them some better skillsets around [direct-to-consumer, sales and marketing],” Mabray said. “We have a lot of knowledge training to do.”
New Opportunities and Landscapes In his book, Tobaccowala outlines a new approach to organizational structures and leadership, writing that “how talent is used will shift as technology changes the nature of jobs and industries.” He is convinced AI “can make all of us more productive by at least 10% right away.
“AI is moving faster and deeper across more industries than we can possibly imagine,” he wrote. AI “has already begun to affect everyone’s job in some way and will continue to have an even greater impact in the next few years.”
Still, he said, talent is talent and will not be lost in the transformation. “History suggests that every advance in technology places a premium on superior ability. Talent matters.
“People who are innovative, who possess financial, marketing and other skills, who possess an ability to build strong relationships, who are brilliant leaders, their talents transcend technologies.”
While their residual activity is generally shorter, biofungicides are ideal complementary tools in conventional programs for enhanced disease control and resistance management.
The sulfury smell on our shirts in the spring signals a new season and the battle with powdery mildew (PM), arguably the most important and expensive disease to control in the vineyard. The causal pathogen, Erysiphe necator, has a high productive rate and short generation time. Since it infects succulent tissues of grapevines, including young shoots, green berries and rachis, preventative practices like fungicide sprays typically begin at bud break and last until veraison or even beyond. Insufficient PM management results in scars on the berry, compromising fruit quality, reducing market value and increasing risks of bunch rot during fruit ripening. Given the large canopy of vines grown in the San Joaquin Valley and favorable weather conditions for PM development, fungicide applications become a must.
Successful PM control relies on effective fungicide rotation and thorough spray coverage. In conventional vineyards, we depend heavily on sulfur and synthetic fungicides. While sulfur is affordable and resistance has not been observed, its residual effects can wear off within five to seven days, requiring frequent applications to keep the vineyard clean. Synthetic fungicides, on the other hand, convey benefits of high efficacy and long residual effects. However, their site-specific modes of action increase the risk of resistance with repeated use of the same active ingredient. Widespread resistance of FRAC 11 fungicides (QoIs) in PM has been confirmed in California vineyards, particularly in table grapes. The resistance of FRAC 3 (DMIs) is often suspected, though we still lack sensitive and reliable molecular methods to quickly confirm field observations. Note that poor spray coverage accelerates resistance development because fungi that survive the sublethal exposure have a greater chance to develop natural tolerance and genetic mutations.
In addition to sulfur and synthetic fungicides, extending beyond organic systems to conventional programs aligns with California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s sustainable pest management roadmap. Biofungicides can be roughly separated into four categories: plant extracts and oils, mineral-based oils and compounds, bacterial or fungal strains, and metabolites of fungi or bacteria. Compared to synthetic fungicides, they offer shorter reentry and preharvest intervals. They are subject to a lower risk of resistance development, owing to their diverse mechanisms. While their residual activity is generally shorter, biofungicides are ideal complementary tools in conventional programs for enhanced disease control and resistance management.
Figure 1. The efficacy of two fungicide program on powdery mildew control in a Flame seedless vineyard in 2022. The control vines were not sprayed after bloom. The incidence and severity of powdery mildew in clusters were evaluated at veraison.
Results from Field Trials (2022-24) From 2022 to 2024, we examined the efficacy of incorporating biofungicides into PM control in table grape vineyards. These trials involved rotating or tank-mixing biofungicides with synthetic fungicides applied between bloom and two weeks post-veraison. The efficacy of those programs was compared to a conventional synthetic program that used wettable sulfur, sulfur dust, copper and mineral oils prior to bloom, and synthetic fungicides afterward. All fungicides were used at label rates. The incidence and severity of PM in clusters were evaluated pre-veraison and at veraison.
Trial 1: Plant extract rotation In the first trial, a plant extract-based product was integrated into a synthetic fungicide rotation. The conventional synthetic program involved pre-bloom applications of wettable sulfur followed by rotational applications of Luna Experience (fluopyram + tebuconazole), Switch (cyprodinil), Vivando (metrafenone) and Torino (cyflufenamid) every 14 days between bloom and veraison. In the other treatment, Problad Verde (Banda de Lupinus doce), a plant extract product, was applied at bloom and veraison to replace synthetic fungicides without changing the spray interval. Both programs demonstrated comparable efficacy in reducing PM incidence and severity in a Flame Seedless vineyard under moderate disease pressure (Fig. 1).
Rotational and tank-mix programs incorporating biofungicides demonstrated comparable powdery mildew control to conventional synthetic-only treatments under moderate disease pressure (all photos by T. Tian.)
Trial 2: Bacillus-based rotation
The second trial evaluated the rotation of Bacillus-based products with synthetic fungicides. The conventional synthetic program utilized copper, sulfur and mineral oils pre-bloom, followed by a 14-day rotational schedule of Luna Experience, Switch, Vivando and Elevate 50 WDG (fenhexamid). In the other treatment, synthetic fungicides were replaced by Double Nickel (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) and Aviv (Bacillus subtilis) at bloom, bunch closure and veraison. Considering the potentially shorter residual activity of the Bacillus products, the spray interval for this treatment was reduced to seven days (e.g., Switch applied seven days after Double Nickel at bloom). Compared to the conventional program, adding Double Nickel and Aviv to the rotation offered a small improvement in PM control (Fig. 2). It may be associated with the additional spray in the second treatment. Thus, in the second year of the experiment, we tested a similar program but kept the spray interval the same for both treatments. Results suggested comparable PM control efficacy between those two programs (Fig. 2).
Additional tank-mix trials In two other trials, biofungicides, including Oxidate 5.0 (hydrogen peroxide and peroxyacetic acid), Cinnerate (cinnamon oil and potassium oleate) and Instill O (copper sulfate pentahydrate), along with Aviv and Double Nickel, were tank-mixed with synthetic fungicides. These tank-mix programs demonstrated comparable efficacy in reducing PM incidence and severity to the conventional synthetic program. No phytotoxicity was observed. However, these findings are preliminary. The viability of Bacillus bacteria in specific tank mixes with synthetic fungicides as well as potential phytotoxicity issues requires further investigation.
Figure 2. The efficacy of two fungicide programs on powdery mildew control in a Thompson seedless vineyard in 2023 (first year) and 2024 (second year). The control vines were not sprayed after bloom. The incidence and severity of powdery mildew in clusters were evaluated at veraison in the first year. In the second year, additional evaluation was conducted two weeks prior to veraison (pre-veraison).
Overall, our findings suggest incorporating biofungicides into conventional fungicide programs, either through rotation or tank mixing, can achieve similar PM control efficacy as programs relying solely on synthetic fungicides post-bloom. Integrating fungicides with complementary mechanisms may offer benefits, such as reducing the risk of fungicide resistance development and providing greater flexibility in preharvest fungicide applications. We are continuing our research and looking forward to providing the industry with updated information on effective PM management strategies.
The author would like to thank Consolidated Central Valley Table Grape Pest and Disease Control District and industry collaborators for funding support.
Discussion of research findings necessitates using trade names. This does not constitute product endorsement, nor does it suggest products not listed would not be suitable for use. Some research results involve use of chemicals which are currently registered for use or may involve use which would be considered out of label. These results are reported but are not recommended by UC for use. Consult the label and use it as the basis of all recommendations.
Adjustable sorting levels allow winemakers to tailor optical sorter settings for premium fruit selection, especially in high-end Cabernet and Pinot Noir production (photo courtesy Notre Vue Estate.)
The first time you see an optical sorter operate, it looks like something out of “Star Wars.” Grapes roll by rapidly on a conveyor belt, and before your eye even recognizes a raisin, whoosh! It has been pushed off the belt by a puff of air.
In wine, this technology started with very high-end wineries. The first one this writer ever saw was at a Bordeaux house where the estate wine costs hundreds of dollars and even the second label sells for more than $50. Intense sorting to produce a uniform set of berries has been a goal of many high-end wineries for a generation, but that used to require a 10-person sorting table. In an era when temporary labor is more difficult and expensive to find, an optical sorter can be an economical move.
But for optical sorters themselves, moving into wine meant going upscale. We associate this technology with cult wines, but it comes from the low end of the agriculture business. WECO developed its first optical sorter to sort tomatoes. The first optical sorters used for wine in Europe were adapted from machines that sort blueberries. Today, optical sorters are also used for tree nuts, raspberries, potatoes and olives. These are high-volume, low-margin businesses, but even though expensive, optical sorters make sense for them.
In short, there’s no reason optical sorters should be limited to high-end wineries. And increasingly, they aren’t.
“We have the super-small guys, the super-luxury-high-end people making wine for football guys and people with private helicopters, all the way up to the really large wineries, the big names, like Constellation,” said Glenn Merdan, winery equipment specialist for Pellenc USA. “There’s a time savings; what used to be a 12-hour day they can do in eight.”
Merdan said some of the larger wineries run their harvested grapes through the optical sorter faster than the suggested rate that the Pellenc machine can handle, which is 12 tons per hour.
“Some customers run it at 16 or 18 tons per hour,” Merdan told Grape & Wine Magazine. “But at that rate, there’s so much fruit on the belt that the camera can’t see it underneath. For some customers that’s enough. They just want a quality improvement.”
After you do the capital outlay, it’s quite a bit cheaper. We’re not paying for labor on an hourly basis. – Stephen Cruzan, Titus Vineyards
What Is an Optical Sorter, and How Does It Work? An optical sorter is a mechanical sorting table that uses a digital camera and software to recognize anything other than a perfectly shaped, perfectly colored berry. The sorter pushes anything it doesn’t recognize off the belt with a puff of air.
Most optical sorters have multiple settings that allow a winery to decide just how finicky it wants to be. Pellenc’s, for example, has four settings. Merdan said at level one, the sorter rejects leaves, stems and MOG (material other than grapes). Level two has a raisin-rejection mode and has a color slider so wineries can decide to reject light-colored berries in red wine. Levels three and four are like level two, only much stricter.
“At level three, you specifically have the option to shoot a perfect berry with a little stem attached,” Merdan said. “Most customers run at level three with raisin mode. Then with their $200 Cab that they want perfect, they’ll run level four. We see more good berries rejected in level four, but you get a caviar bin.”
Merdan said he has a customer in Canada who makes different levels of reserve wine based purely on the different sorting levels.
It is possible to run the rejected fruit back through the sorter, but Merdan said most wineries don’t do that. However, some do put level-four rejected fruit, which is often four good berries with a leaf in the middle, into a separate tank and ferment it for use in lower-end wines.
The crux of the device is the camera and the programming. However, there’s more to it than that mechanically.
A vibrating table precedes the sorting camera, spreading the berries out across the belt in one layer (unless you run it too fast) so that the camera can see them. (User tip: Optical sorters must have sufficient room light to work properly.) Pellenc’s is one of the fastest, but it is also one of the most expensive. Some machines top out at five tons per hour. The processing rate largely depends on camera and software, but users can adjust the rate.
“The air nozzle bar rejects whatever we set it to reject: little stems, little pieces of leaf, a wire clip, maybe a snail,” Merdan said. “Our machine doesn’t require any user calibration. It’s super easy. It doesn’t require a technician to operate. There are almost 100 air nozzles that fire a blast at a bad object that pushes it into a waste auger. The good fruit moves 2.5 feet per second. It flies across and goes into a bin or a must pump.”
Optical sorters may have different programming, but physically they all work the same basic way.
“We use the WECO system optical sorter,” said Aaron Pott, who owns Pott Wine Company in Napa and also consults for several wineries. “It is as good as the programming that goes into it. It is very good for raisins and MOG if adjusted correctly. Jacks are more difficult as they are often attached to perfectly good berries.”
Modern optical sorters use high-speed cameras and air jets to remove undesirable materials from grape harvests, improving efficiency and wine quality (photo courtesy Castello di Amorosa.)
Are Used Machines Worthwhile? An obvious issue with optical sorters is cost. A new Pellenc sorter costs more than $100,000. WECO and Bucher Vaslin have models that are cheaper but still cost more than a new sports car.
Stephen Cruzan, winemaker for Titus Vineyards in Napa, was able to buy Chappellet’s old machine, a Key Technology Vitisort, in time for the 2023 vintage.
The Vitisort for wineries is no longer produced. Large agricultural equipment company Duravant, which also owns WECO, bought Key Technology in 2018. Key still makes optical sorters, but not for winegrapes anymore.
Optical sorting technology advances rapidly, so a machine manufactured in 2015 may not have all the control features of one produced today. Also, sourcing replacement parts could be an issue. But there’s a huge difference in price.
“We looked at buying a WECO. Those are $80,000,” Cruzan said. “For us, I couldn’t quite make that make sense. It’s not just $80,000. You have to buy an air compressor and do some upgrades. Ultimately, that didn’t pencil out for us. Buying the used machine was about $18,000. We were able to pay for it in two vintages.”
When writing this article, I went to four online sites for used winery equipment but did not see any optical sorters listed. You may have to know someone. It might be worth sidling up to your friends at high-end wineries and asking if they are thinking about upgrading their own.
Cruzan wasn’t a complete believer in the technology until he tried it.
“Prior to 2023, we had done everything hand-sorting,” Cruzan said. “We could do a decent job of targeting jacks and petioles. Anything that was green could really stand out to the people that were sorting. We could slow the machine down and catch it. But now that we’ve worked with the Vitisort for two vintages, we can go about twice as fast with our crushing. The sorting we’re doing is considerably better than we were ever doing before. After you do the capital outlay, it’s quite a bit cheaper. We’re not paying for labor on an hourly basis.”
Used optical sorters offer cost-effective access to advanced technology for smaller wineries looking to improve consistency without increasing labor costs. Stephen Cruzan, winemaker for Titus Vineyards in Napa, was able to buy an older Key Technology Vitisort in time for the 2023 vintage (photo courtesy S. Cruzan.)
Most Important for Red Wines It’s possible to use an optical sorter to make white and sparkling wine. But most wineries use them solely for red wines.
Schramsberg Vineyards in Calistoga makes some of the best sparkling wines in California. Schramsberg President Hugh Davies says he’s very happy with the Pellenc Selectiv’ Process Vision 3 he bought two years ago for his Cabernet brand, Davies Vineyards.
“It does a nice job of screening out the runt berries or raisins,” Davies said. “It does it so quickly that it saves on labor costs, but it also does it very efficiently. It’s really amazing.”
But Davies doesn’t see the point in using it for the company’s sparkling wines, because the juice and skins (and MOG) will be separated very quickly in the winemaking process, instead of soaking together for two weeks as they might for red wines.
“There everything is loaded into the press,” Davies said. “It’s whole cluster. We’re not fermenting in contact with the skins. We’re pressing the juice out. It’s a completely different process.”
Davies also said because grapes for sparkling are picked earlier, they tend to be firmer, with fewer broken berries. And, he said, optical sorters are best for destemmed grapes because the sorter can then treat lingering stems as something to be removed.
Schramsberg does use the optical sorter for some batches of Pinot Noir that go into its sparkling rosés. But he said even for still wines, he changes the setting for less rigorous sorting of Pinot than Cabernet.
“Generally speaking, we are screening out a little bit less on the Pinot side,” Davies said. “We’re picking a little less ripe; around 14% alcohol is targeted. You’re not going to have quite as many raisins. With Pinot Noir, we might have a little more tolerance for green berries as well. On the Cab side, we accept fewer green berries. We’re picking it riper so you’re going to be kicking out a little bit more, up to 5%.”
Optical sorting technology, once limited to elite wineries, is now used across all production tiers to streamline labor and enhance grape selection (photo courtesy S. Cruzan.)
This Year Mildew, Next Year Raisins The adjustability of optical sorters is important because every vintage presents a different problem to be sorted out.
In a rainy year, broken berries should be avoided because they could have mildew. Newer machines can be set to recognize berries by the shape. Berries that are not perfectly round can be assumed compromised and are rejected.
Increasingly, though, excess heat is the greater problem facing West Coast wineries. Heat waves can cause winegrapes to shrivel into raisins. A generation ago, this might not have been a problem. Essentially, Mother Nature is recreating the “appassimento” grape-drying process used to make Amarone. But raisins raise the potential alcohol of wine at a time when many wineries are striving for greater balance.
“We can target raisins; we can’t eliminate 100% of them but we can eliminate most of them,” Cruzan said. “That became especially important in 2024 after that extensive heat wave we had in September.”
Merdan said developing Raisin Mode was one of Pellenc’s most important upgrades between its original version and the current machine.
“In 2022, we added a special raisin-rejection mode: Super Raisin Mode,” Merdan said. “We have a built-in safety for if we have a good berry right next to the raisin because that’s a net loss. We would normally skip that raisin because it would reject the good berry. But in raisin-rejection mode, it would push that raisin out. You’ll have more good berries in the rejection bin.
“In ’22, we had a big heat wave,” Merdan said. “We had a lot of raisins, and people wanted to make sure they got rid of all the raisins, even at the cost of good berries. Our customers are okay with sacrificing for a clean bucket of fruit.”
That said, some wineries still prefer to sort winegrapes the old-fashioned way.
“No, we are not using an optical sorter,” said Georg Salzner, president of Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga. “We are a medieval castle.”
According to a new tasting room survey, Napa saw a 15.9% increase in median annual visitors from 2023 to 2024, while other key regions like Sonoma and the Pacific Northwest experienced double-digit declines. Only Napa and areas East of the Rockies showed year-over-year growth (courtesy Joe Ramos, Berkshire Hathaway.)
A new tasting room survey finds bright spots and low spots in the world of winery visitation, painting a more nuanced picture about the state of the industry than the negative vibes prominent in the headlines. The survey includes data on 11,000 wineries in the firm’s database.
Overall, wineries are changing their tactics to find financial balance amid turbulent times, as consumers grapple with tech job layoffs, threats of job elimination from AI and uncertainty in government policies and the economy.
Uneven Visitation Impacts: Napa Up 16% in Tasting Room Visitors, Sonoma Down 17%
The data showed that economic trends are affecting different regions in markedly varied ways.
Despite a 15% decline in international visitors from 2023 to 2024, Napa visitation has gone up (15.9%), while every other region in the western U.S. showed visitation declines, ranging from 5.3% in the Central Coast to Sonoma, the biggest loser, with a decrease of 17.2% in visitors.
The main culprit in visitation numbers, wineries reported, for 2025, was a general downturn in tourism overall.
Volume vs. Value
Napa also defied the downturn in DTC volume sales with a 16% increase in value.
Said one industry expert, “Even in the rest of California, we have an increase in the volume. If value is not necessarily there, it looks a lot better than some of the headlines would suggest.”
DTC sales volumes were up in the Central Coast and Sonoma, but, with the exception of the Central Coast and regions east of the Rockies, DTC values were down.
Tasting Room Fees and Reservations
Tasting room fees did not appear to affect visitation as much as might have been thought. Though 18% of wineries in Napa say they created a lower price tier, that tactic did not succeed in other wine regions.
Testing different models, Boisset announced complimentary flights at its DeLoach Vineyards in Sonoma and its Raymond Vineyards in Napa, offering three wines in each free flight. The free tastings require advance reservation and are available only on Thursdays and Sundays.
Wine touring without reservations is still a more popular option, experts said.
Kelly Mantel, head of DTC marketing and e-commerce at Harney Lane Vineyards in Lodi, reported consumers still love the old-school spontaneity of the walk-in model. “We’re seeing a lot of folks really looking for a casual experience, something that they can do without a reservation. Kind of that old-school walk-in, visit multiple tasting rooms within a day,” he said.
Tasting fees at Harney Lane are priced in four tiers: $20, $30, $40 and $50.
A local wine industry professional noted “walk-ins welcome” signs dot Highway 12, a main thoroughfare in Sonoma.
Making every visit count, Mantel stressed the importance of a strong email collection and follow-up program.
“Over 50% of who we see is that first-time visitor. But we also know about 80% of first-time consumers won’t make that second purchase,” he said, so the team has invested heavily in follow-on marketing tools.
Webinar guest speaker Garret Murphy of Vintner’s Collective in Napa showcases wines from 18 wineries in its downtown tasting room, housed in a historic brick building that was once a brothel. Tasting fees are $50, $100 and $250.
Aside from hiring employees with empathy, he stressed knowing how to handle different types of visitors is essential.
“The boomers are not buying much anymore. Gen X are buying in greater quantity, but they don’t come as often. I suspect it’s because they work a lot. The millennials come more often but buy a little less. So you just have to adapt and create an environment that makes those millennials come back often,” he said.
Nevertheless, the tasting room is still performing well for wineries overall, said a Napa-based expert. “It’s great to see that generally, all the regions are above 60% in scoring a sale in the tasting room based on whomever walks in.”
