Save the Date!

The conference is thrilled to announce that the location will be moving to Monterey, CA – Join us!

Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium will be held January 21-23, 2025
at the Hyatt Regency in Monterey, CA

The agenda will also see an expanded education program and the addition of a new opening night reception, put on in concert with See Monterey.

Presented by and as a fundraiser for Free the Grapes!, the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium will be celebrating its 18th year as the nation’s premier winery DTC sales and marketing conference, in 2025. DTCWS 2025 will again include keynote speeches from industry leaders and thought leaders outside the industry, practical workshop sessions, town hall-type discussions, as well as a trade show featuring the industry’s top suppliers. 

Keynote speakers will include Steve Gross, VP, State Relations, Wine Institute, and Thea Schlendorf, Executive Director of Free The Grapes! among others to be announced in the coming months. 2024’s keynote speakers included Kat Gordon, Founder + Creative Coach at 3% Movement; Rishad Tobaccowala, Author, Speaker and Senior Advisor at Publicis Groupe; and Lulie Halstead, Founder of Wine Intelligence and Interim CEO of The Gérard Basset Foundation. Find links to view their addresses here.

Free the Grapes! is the advocacy campaign works closely with industry lobbyists and regional associations to streamline onerous shipping regulations and to increase the number of legal states open to legal, regulated winery direct-to-consumer shipments. Since the founding of Free the Grapes! by five industry associations, the number of legal states has grown from 17 to 47 and represents 98% of the US population. But the organization’s work is not done: three states ban all shipments, and seven states allow shipments but with major restrictions. Free the Grapes! executes state-specific advocacy campaigns encouraging consumers to write to their legislators, and works with media and advocacy groups to keep the issue alive by generating press coverage in support of favorable legislation.

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