Yearly Archives: 2021


How WELCOMING is your DTC Wine Brand?

As we prepare our Thanksgiving tables for time with family and friends, we also have an opportunity to thank long-term loyalists and top consumers. When we analyze key data points for a variety of winery clients across the nation, we identify key measures of success as well as areas for […]


Top 5 Tools for Developing Effective DTC Wine Compensation Plans

[Sandra Hess – October 12, 2021 – DTC Wine Sales Blog] Tool #1 – Start at the Top The January 2020 Pandemic taught us a lot about being nimble and adjusting. During this time of pandemic recovery, most wine regions throughout the US have suffered from staff shortages. We have […]


Ready to Offer Winery Concierge Services? Key Questions to Consider…

[Sandra Hess – August 19, 2021 – San Francisco, CA] With about 65% of US wineries falling into the “small (up to 5000 cases produce annually)” and “very small (up to 2500 cases produced annually)” categories, wine enthusiasts want more intimacy with brands they reinvest with. Over the past four […]


Developing All-Star Hospitality Teams

[Sandra Hess – July 27, 2021 – San Francisco, CA] As the US wine industry continues to recover from the 2020 pandemic, most of our clients are struggling to find qualified talent for both front-of-the-house and back-of-the-house-positions. We have spent quite a bit of time updating job descriptions and training […]


Three Pillars of DTC Wine Sales Success

[June 8, 2021 – Santa Rosa, CA] On May 26th, Sandra Hess, Consumer Engagement Specialist and founder of DTC Wine Workshops, moderated an insightful discussion, for Wine Industry Network at the virtual Wine Industry Symposium. She brought together Efrain Barragan – Director of Digital Marketing, Cliff Family Winery St Helena, […]


Tasting Room Tip Lines – YEA or NAY?

[May 7, 2021 – Sandra Hess, DTC Wine Workshops Expert Editorial] Greetings wine industry friends! I have been asked to develop an article best approaches to developing tasting room tip policies. This question has come up quite often during the past five years as we have helped winery teams across […]


DTC Wine Sales Health Check – 3 FREE TIPS

March 24, 2021 – This spring, we encourage our clients and direct-to-consumer teams to carve out some time to conduct a DTC Wine Sales Health Check. Now, is the time to analyze performance across all direct sales channels, reward for success and, course-correct where needed. Many hospitality teams have learned […]


DTC Wine Leadership Forum Launches Spring 2021

Winery Leaders and Trend Setters Across the Nation Join this Private Group for a Monthly Problem-Solving Session in the Virtual Space [February 3, 2021 – Northern California] Members of the DTC Consultant Network, a division of DTC Wine Workshops, have been serving winery teams in almost every major wine region […]


Top 3 Tips for Slaying DTC Wine Symposium this Week!

#WineBiz Winery Owners & Direct to Consumer Managers can get the most out of this year’s DTC Wine Symposium with these top tips. The DTC Wine Symposium is presented by Free the Grapes! This annual fundraising event has raised more than $1 million for Free the Grapes’ PR campaign, and […]


2020 DTC Wine Sales Review: POWER OF THE PIVOT

January 12, 2021 – Sandra Hess, DTC Wine Workshops [20-30 minute read] Many direct to consumer teams in wine regions across the nation have been pivoting and adjusting to life’s catastrophes for several years now. From devastating fires that repeated seasons to floods and now a pandemic. Whether iconic wine […]