2015 State of the Industry Q&A

The Annual SVB Wine Report and the Live Broadcast is complete. For those that missed either one, the replay and report can now be accessed here: LINK.

For those who are looking for some power point slides to use in their own presentations, we've also posted 86 slides at the bottom of the page. Most of them were used in research but not used in either the Report or the Videocast. You are welcome to use the information there - with attribution of course.

The last duty I have for the year is to post the Q&A from the live videocast. This year as seems is always the case, we had participation both Nationally and from about a dozen countries. There seems to be world interest in the US Wine Industry for some reason?

The chat follows and I've littered it this year with the labels of random participants. Feel free to contact me if you have any other questions and I'll get back to you as I'm able.

Sign Up: SVB Wine Report Released Next Week

Live Video Conference

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

9:30 a.m.–10:30 a.m. Pacific Time

 

Please join SVB on Wine, Rob McMillan, EVP and founder of Silicon Valley Bank’s Wine Division, and an expert panel as they discuss the wine business and findings from the 2015 State of the Wine Industry Report.

 

Rob will be joined by a panel of industry experts, including Paul Mabray, Chief Strategy Officer of VinTank, Glenn Proctor, Partner in the Ciatti Company, and Amy Hoopes, Chief Marketing Officer/EVP Global Sales, Wente Family Estates in this interactive video conference, including live viewer Q & A.

This annual industry report is based on SVB’s in-depth survey of wine industry experts and insiders, third-party research, and Rob’s unique perspective as a long-time member of the wine industry.

This presentation will include insight on:

• Global Economy and its impact on the wine industry
• Winery financial performance
• Predictions on 2015 sales growth
• Wine inventory position
• Consumer demand trends
• Harvest yields and their impacts
• Bottle pricing decisions
• Bulk import activity
• Digital trends (CRM, DtC Sales, Social Media, 3rd-Party Marketers, and Compliance)

Sign up for the presentation and receive a link to the replay and the complete Silicon Valley Bank State of the Wine Industry Report 2015 after the webinar.

 

Please share this important industry educational opportunity on your preferred social media apps!!!

Are Wineries Going to Buy Fewer Grapes in 2015?

Buying More or Less Tonnage in 2015?

Self-Imposed Marooning  

I know the above chart is a little hard to read. When I start working on the Annual State of the Industry Report each year in October, the industry starts off a little hard to read too. I kinda go into this almost shipwrecked mode and cut myself off from normal business interactions and then a combination of research, survey, interviews, and analysis eventually gets me to a point where I can start writing and eventually escape my self-imposed marooning. 

What I hate about the delay between finishing the report and publishing, is the world moves substantially at times and my predictions are out in the wind hanging there .... exposed to the elements for all to see. If my predictions were off when the paper is released, who wants to read the rest? Or, if they were on they can still sometimes be a retrospective view by then if events move quicker than expected. It's a little unnerving during the wait, but you'll have to tell me how I did when you read the report and watch the Live Videocast.

The State of the Industry report for this year is going to be released January 21st along with the live video broadcast. If you haven't, you can still sign up for that here: [register].
 

Santa Karma is Sending You Money in 2015

Putin Claus

This is a wonderful time of year to be a banker in the wine business, or more specifically, it's a wonderful time to be me! ...... holiday parties, presents, my office filling with client wine gifts keeping me in a jolly mood through the holidays, and then my birthday  - which falls on Christmas Eve just in case that slipped your mind this year?
 

The birthday part was a mixed blessing growing up in a family of six kids, and that cost me years of therapy. But I'm better now. I've learned to be thankful for all things, and this year in particular I'm getting my birthday AND Christmas wish; about $2 trillion in stimulus from World Despots.

Will Bottle Prices Increase in 2015?

 

The Annual Wine Conditions Survey will close this Friday. Thus far over 300 of your fellow wineries have participated from across the entire West Coast and Nation. It takes 12 minutes to complete and helps us all understand industry dynamics better. Participants are the ones who will most benefit for small time invested, as they are the only ones who will get the complete results and added analysis.

 

Please join your fellow wineries and participate in the survey before the close Friday [LINK].

2015 Grape Purchases and 2014 Yields

 

 

I always love this time of year. Harvest is winding down for many and past mid-point for everyone. Fermentation is moving through the normal process with wine makers trying to control the pace as if they were trying to steer a stage coach careening down a hill. The smell of grape must littering the fields starts to intertwine with the smell of burning wood stoves as the temps start to cool toward the end of the month.

 

But the thing I like the most about this time of year is starting to work on the Annual State of the Industry Report and that always starts with the Annual Wine Conditions Survey which is now officially open [Link To Wine Conditions Survey]

What is Important to Research for 2015?

 

I'd like to get your thoughts and comments on something.

 

As most know, each year I author the SVB State of the Wine Industry Report that is released in early January. Prior to writing the report, we run a survey of the wine industry that is supported by all the major AVA Associations in the country. The survey takes 5-10 minutes to respond, is open for two weeks. This year the survey starts October 8th.... that's this coming Wednesday already! 

 

For that small investment of time, participants receive the complete output along with custom charts and analysis that will help you prepare for 2015. Not even our clients receive that content if they don't participate in the survey.

 

If you would like to participate in this as well as the Annual Tasting Room survey we run in the spring, you can email me at rmcmillan@svb.com and I will add you to the invite list.