What Do Your Customers Want?
Posted on August 31, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Over the weekend I had a perfectly refreshing Vinho Verde. It was a perfect heat buster wine for a blistering August day in Texas. I got
A Case Study: You CAN Start Small
Posted on September 7, 2011 by Bill Skrapits After a great career as a helicopter pilot in the Army, June Ritterbusch landed in Salado, Texas. Upon evaluating the market and the busy tourist
Digging Deep: Unearthing WHY You Really Want To Own A Winery
Posted on September 26, 2011 by Bill Skrapits After many books, articles, classes, and consultations about winery ownership and how to build your own winery, the one important topic I find missing, time
Accelerate the Style & Quality of Your Wine Exponentially: Micro-Fermentation (Part 1)
Posted on October 10, 2011 by Bill Skrapits As a winery in The Other 46, how do you make the best quality wine consistently year after year? By that I mean, let’s look at Bordeaux.
A Case for Micro-Fermentation: Leap From Good To Great (Part 2)
Posted on October 20, 2011 by Bill Skrapits In my previous blog, Accelerate the Style and Quality of Your Wine Exponentially , we talked about The Other 46 having relatively very few years to gather and review
It’s All About Style! What’s Your Wine Style?
Posted on November 11, 2011 by Bill Skrapits I hear this question from new winemakers and wineries of The Other 46: wine style What is the wine style for my region or AVA? That includes
‘Tis the Season for Increased Sales…or Is It?
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Bill Skrapits It’s the holiday season! Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday,and parties galore. Whether you celebrate Hannukah, Christmas or Kwanzaa…they are all coming up soon. That got
Happy Holidays! Top Posts of 2011
Posted on December 15, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays! Today, I thought we would look back at the blog posts that generated the most discussion in 2011. I always
Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less (Part 1)
Posted on January 31, 2012 by Bill Skrapits I just returned from Colorado where I attended VinCO. The Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (CAVE), Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB) and Western Colorado Horticulture
Choose One Business and Produce Positive ROI Faster (Part 2): Grape Growing
Posted on February 17, 2012 by Bill Skrapits In Part 1 of Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less, we discussed the traditional method for building a winery and
Create Positive Cash Flow Faster (Part 3): Alternative Winery Model
Posted on March 21, 2012 by Bill Skrapits Discussed previously in the first blog of this series, Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less, we broke down that a
Create Positive Cash Flow Faster (Part 4): Custom Crush
Posted on April 6, 2012 by Bill Skrapits This is final blog in this series: Three Ways to Produce Positive ROI in Half the Time or Less.We previously broke down how a traditional winery is
You Don’t Need Robert Parker
Posted on April 25, 2012 by Bill Skrapits Love or hate the 100 point system, Robert Parker’s rise to dominating the wine critics’ world has changed the way we think about wine, what we buy
Trailblazer Challenge: Manning Your Isolated Vineyard
Posted on May 18, 2012 by Bill Skrapits A couple of weeks ago, I attended Grape Day at Newsom Vineyards, up west of Lubbock in the Texas Panhandle – pretty much in the middle
Get Your Groove On At Local Wine Festivals
Posted on June 4, 2012 by Bill Skrapits Festivals. Are you participating in local and regional wine festivals? If you’re not, you should be. Festivals are a great way to have your wine tasted
Crush It!
Posted on June 18, 2012 by Bill Skrapits The growing season in most states is in full swing now and you’ll soon need to be ready for harvest and crush. The problem is,
Nouveau is More Than Beaujolais!
Posted on July 12, 2012 by Bill Skrapits How about bringing a bit of European tradition to your winery this harvest by making a small batch of nouveau wine? When we think of
If You Try Sometime, You Might Find You Get What You Need
Posted on November 20, 2012 by Bill Skrapits Hello Everyone! It’s been a while since I blogged last. I’ve had a busy summer and a great harvest season doing what I love. I’ve
Winery Winter Blues: 3 Ways to Boost Revenue
Posted on December 13, 2012 by Bill Skrapits After the hustle & bustle of the holidays, the tasting room can seem a bit quiet. January and February are typically the slowest months of
3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make Starting Your Winery
Posted on January 8, 2013 by Bill Skrapits 3 Mistakes You Don’t Have to MakeStarting Your Winery I work with people who are interested in opening a winery and are doing their research.
Let Your Sales Forecast Be Your Guide
Posted on February 5, 2013 by Bill Skrapits Let Your Sales Forecast Be Your Guide What is the difference between these two perspectives? 1. Winery owner produces a wine(s) and needs to sell
Colorado: Wine, Winters and the West
Posted on February 28, 2013 by Bill Skrapits Colorado Wine, Winters and the West I recently attended the third annual VinCO Conference, Colorado’s annual wine conference January 15-17. It’s held in Grand Junction, where
When NOT to Blend
Posted on March 20, 2013 by Bill Skrapits When NOT to Blend Recently I was working with a winery who had a wonderful 2012 harvest of Vermentino. My standard procedure for presenting wines
Wineries & Breweries: Work Together To Change Laws
Posted on May 6, 2013 by Bill Skrapits Wineries and Breweries:Work Together To Change Laws As in many states, the 3-Tier System in Texas has always been a nightmare. It took wineries over a
Secrets of a Successful Tasting Room – Highlights from SVB 2013 Survey
Posted on June 5, 2013 by Bill Skrapits Secrets of a Successful Tasting Room – Highlights from SVB 2013 Survey Last week Silicon Valley Bank’s wine division founder, Rob McMillan, along with Cyril Penn of Wine
Viticulture & Enology Internships
Posted on July 29, 2013 by Bill Skrapits Viticulture & Enology Internships Premier Wine Blends recently announced Internship opportunities through Grayson College’s TV Munson Viticulture and Enology Center in Denison, Texas. “Hands-on grape growing and
What’s the Value of a Viticulturist?
Posted on August 14, 2013 by Bill Skrapits What’s the Value of a Viticulturist? Who better to ask than Fritz Westover, career learner, educator and leader in viticulture education. Graduating from Penn State with
Minnesota: Growing Grapes & Making Wine
Posted on March 20, 2014 by Bill Skrapits Minnesota: Growing Grapes & Making Wine I took a long break from blogging while getting my new website up and running, enjoying the holidays and
Colorado Wine: It’s a Journey, Not a Destination
Posted on April 16, 2014 by Bill Skrapits Colorado Wine: It’s a Journey, Not a Destination Another great VinCO Conference in Colorado this year. The Colorado VinCO conference is one of the best in the
Harvest: Maximizing Your Wine Production
Posted on June 1, 2011 by Bill Skrapits It may seem like the buds just burst, but harvest will be sneaking up on us soon. In preparation for the exciting and hectic season,
Arizona: A Budding Wine Frontier
Posted on June 9, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Next stop on my Southwest Winery Tour was Arizona, the Grand Canyon State. With its mountains and deserts, Arizona’s wine industry faces interesting climate challenges.
Winemakers: Got a Challenging Wine?
Posted on June 19, 2011 by Bill Skrapits This isn’t my typical blog, but perhaps a relevant opportunity for some readers. Recently we’ve had several inquiries by customers and winery owners about similar
Hiring The Right People For Your Winery
Posted on June 30, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Did you know that more than half of applicants lie or distort information on their application? Finding the right people for the job, no matter
Grapefest 2010 – Wineries, Why are you there?
Posted on September 21, 2010 by Bill Skrapits Grapefest turned 24 years old this 2010 and has grown into a renowned festival in North America, attracting ever larger crowds. Grapefest People’s Choice Tasting
Southwest Winery Tour – First Stop, Oklahoma
Posted on February 10, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Oklahoma is cooler than most areas of Texas and is having success in making crisper whites such as minerally Pinot Grigio, Rieslings and Chenin Blancs,
Winter: What’s a Winery To Do?
Posted on February 23, 2011 by Bill Skrapits It’s February, you look out over your winery and vineyard. The landscape is brown, the wind is blowing cold, the vineyard is barren, tours are
To Blend or Not to Blend
Posted on March 3, 2011 by Bill Skrapits I recently attended a seminar at Grayson College, Designing Varietal Wines & Blending, led by Texas wine industry leader, Dr. Roy Mitchell. Credited with being
Grape Growers, Know Thy Enemy
Posted on March 14, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Recently I attended the annual Texas Pierce’s Disease Research Symposium conducted by Texas A & M’s Texas AgriLife Extension. Pierce’s Disease, also known as PD,
When Disaster Strikes
Posted on March 22, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Fire destroys truckload of wine on I-80. How would you like to get that news from the truck drivers transporting your wine? The fire
Southwest & Midwest Wineries Show Off at International Competition
Posted on March 30, 2011 by Bill Skrapits The Fingers Lake International Wine Competition, held this past weekend in Rochester, NY, is the largest charitable wine competition in North America. The 11th annual competition
Similar Does Not Mean The Same
Posted on April 5, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Your customer purchased your 2009 Viognier and raved about it to their family and friends. Great! But will you be able to produce one similar
David and Goliath: The Small Winery and the Distributor
Posted on April 19, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Are your wines distributed? Should they be? Many small wineries ask themselves these questions. The answers are not always easy to come by.
The Winery Bug Has Got You. Now What?
Posted on April 29, 2011 by Bill Skrapits You are passionate about wine. Perhaps you’ve been making your own wine for family and friends. Maybe you’re even growing a few vines! But now
Asking The RIGHT Questions
Posted on May 4, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Building the Foundation for Your Winery I have found that one of the biggest stumbling blocks for people in starting a business is not asking
Don’t Let A Freeze Get You Down
Posted on May 6, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Typically in the wine industry, you have one or two out of every seven years where you lose over half your crop. Three to four
Blaze the Trail, Colorado!
Posted on May 12, 2011 by Bill Skrapits What is Colorado wine? On my Southwest Winery Tour, I was really interested in seeing what Colorado wine was all about. What I found is that
Branding: What is your story?
Posted on May 20, 2011 by Bill Skrapits First, branding is not advertising. It’s not just the company name, logo or label being recognized. It’s not facts about your winery. Real branding evokes
“Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Ben Franklin
Posted on July 2, 2011 by Bill Skrapits In remembrance of our Founding Fathers and in celebration of our independence, we pay homage to them and their love for wine. Here are a
The Tasting Room: Your Golden Opportunity
Posted on July 22, 2011 by Bill Skrapits Often winery owners have chosen to get into the business because they are passionate about wine and making wine, but interestingly they haven’t stopped to
2011 Southwest Harvest Outlook
Posted on August 11, 2011 by Bill Skrapits It’s no news most of the United States is in the midst of an ongoing heat wave. But how has that affected harvest for the
Crop Losses: File Your Claims Now
I am reposting a letter sent out by Bobby Cox, President-Elect, Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association regarding crop insurance, loss and filing your claims. It’s been a hard year