Vicki Tomiser | Elevator in Chief, Wine Flight Consulting
Wine Is Not a Widget. And It Is Not Pure Magic Either.
This is the part of this industry that I think about often.
It is the line we all walk between what wine is and what it represents.
On one side, wine is a product.
It has margins, inventory, targets, and timelines.
If wine is our business, we must treat it like a business.
On the other side, wine is more than that.
It is farming.
It is land.
It is history.
It is people and families and choices and stories.
Sometimes it genuinely feels like the place I like to call the meeting point of soil, science, soul, and yes, sales.
Most of us in DTC are living right in the middle of those truths.
We hold on to the magic without making the magic the whole story.
We sell the product without sanding off everything that makes it special.
The bridge between those two worlds is our own voice.
Our authentic story is how we connect the widget in the room with the magic wand we keep tucked gently in our back pocket.
When we communicate from that place, honest, human, and clear, we give people something real to respond to. Something to believe in. Something to join. And yes, something to buy.
This is why the Direct-to-Consumer Wine Symposium matters.
It is where we talk about how to bring both sides together in a way that moves the needle and still feels true. It is also where you walk in with challenges and walk out with actionable tools, ideas you can use on Monday morning, and sometimes even a little of that magic wand energy we all wish we had.
Where do you see the biggest opportunity for us right now? Where can we speak more boldly, more clearly, and more authentically as an industry?