Can Wine Sales Take the Heat?

In this bonus clip from Run the Pass, V is for Vino host Vince Anter tackles some hot topics in the wine industry, particularly in the wake of both the COVID-19 pandemic and recent wildfires along the West Coast of the United States.

V is for Vino, billed as the No. 1-rated wine show on Amazon Prime, features episodes that each serve as “an in-depth feature of a region, city, winery, and local restaurant,” helping “educate and entertain viewers in a medium that is comfortable to them and modern.”

Regarding the recent wildfires, Anter said producers will certainly deal with the loss of crop or with “smoke taint,” which could potentially impact the flavor of the wine. There’s really no way of knowing until the wine has been made, and producers will often decide to either pick earlier, which can change the wine’s character, or to not put out a vintage without complete confidence in an effort to maintain their reputation.

On a wider scale, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced wineries to contend with eCommerce and to either catch up and enter the online space for the first time or redouble efforts.

“The whole process – advertising, then conversion from start to finish on a website – is something that the wine industry has not really focused on, largely because they didn’t have to,” Anter said.

Now, with many traditional channels eliminated, at least for the time being, wineries are being forced to explore more modern digital channels in addition to direct-to-consumer efforts focused on consumers that actually make it to the tasting room.

The Next Episode Airs October 6th!

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