Wine Technology Blog @ WineWeb.com

Two statements from the recently released "State of the Wine Industry" report by Silicon Valley Bank caught my attention:

• "Distribution has all but ended as a viable sales channel for small wineries."
   
• "For most small brands, the best opportunities are in direct-to-consumer marketing strategies. Finding the right strategy may become absolutely critical to a  winery’s success, if not its outright survival during the next several years."

So what's a small winery to do? Here's one of the report's recommendations: "If you have been using an in-house Web platform, consider upgrading to use an e-commerce company that specializes in wine and can help direct your progress in the channel." And as I mentioned in a previous blog post, you don't need to go into debt to invest in this technology.