Unpacking the 2025 DTC Wine Symposium

Last week, I attended the 2025 Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium, a key wine industry event that brings together wineries, marketers, and thought leaders to discuss the evolving landscape of wine sales, marketing, and hospitality.

This year, I had the honor of serving on the Hospitality & Engagement Subcommittee, which meant I had a behind-the-scenes role in planning and executing the event—A position I’m pretty sure I earned after last year’s symposium when I asked so many questions and had so many comments during the sessions, they had no choice but to bring me into the fold (never give me a microphone unless you want me to use it! 😂).

While I couldn’t attend every session (several were happening at once), I took plenty of notes on the ones I did attend! Below, I’m breaking down the biggest takeaways from this year’s conference and what they mean for wineries moving forward.

Key Themes from the 2025 DTC Wine Symposium

1. Wine is at a Crossroads: Storytelling Matters More Than Ever

The opening keynote by Karen MacNeil set the tone for the conference, with many speakers referring back to her words in their sessions. The recurring message throughout the conference was that the industry needs to tell consumers a stronger, more compelling story if they want to continue to be on their table. Two important points that were repeated often were:

• Statistics don’t sell wine—stories do. Consumers overwhelmingly remember stories over numbers, yet wineries still lean heavily on technical details that don’t resonate.
• There’s an urgent need to tell a positive story about wine and remind people of its history and cultural relevance rather than focusing on declining sales or consumer shifts with a sense of panic.

Takeaway: Wineries must refine their brand storytelling. Move beyond talking about soil and barrel aging and focus on why wine is important, why your winery matters, and how wine connects people.

2. The Role of AI in Wine Marketing: A Tool, Not a Replacement

AI continues to be a major point of discussion across industries, with much of the focus shifting from “Is AI taking our jobs?” to “How can we use AI effectively?”

• AI + Human Intelligence (HI) is the winning formula. AI can streamline workflows, generate content ideas, and automate processes, but human creativity and intuition are still essential.
• AI is changing how people discover information. Wineries need to optimize their presence in AI-driven searches and chatbot responses, just as they do for Google search.

Takeaway: AI isn’t going anywhere, in fact, it’s accelerating at a bewildering pace. Wineries should experiment with AI for content creation, customer insights, and automation—but remember to always add a human touch to keep marketing authentic. P.S. I talked about this recently in my article, Beware the Siren Song of AI-Generated Copy: Why You Should Always Edit Before You Post.

3. Connecting with Millennials & Gen Z: Understanding Their Buying Habits

Once again we picked apart the idea that younger generations have very different expectations when it comes to purchasing wine. This year though, I was pleased to note that the tone of the conversation had shifted away from “Millennials & Gen Z are ruining the wine industry!!!” to instead, “Maybe we’re the problem?” and “How can we make this space welcoming for younger buyers?” Recurrent points of note were:

• Millennials and Gen Z care about taste, price, and accessibility first—not necessarily appellations or prestige.
• They expect a seamless, frictionless buying experience (e.g., one-click checkout, TikTok shop, digital wallets, availability in mainstream retail channels).
• Sustainability matters, but it’s expected rather than a selling point. Wineries need to go beyond “we’re sustainable” and highlight what makes their practices unique.
• Formats like canned wine, RTDs, and lower-alcohol options are growing. These are seen as more versatile and convenient for different occasions.
• Wine can be intimidating to younger gens. This was a point that actually broke my heart a bit, which I’ll talk more about in a future post. The long and short of it though is that young people, particularly Gen Z find wine culture to be unwelcoming and this to me is the most urgent shift that needs to happen.

Takeaway: To reach younger consumers, wineries must simplify the purchase process, emphasize taste and experience over technical details, lean into new formats and consumption occasions, and most importantly, STOP SCARING THE NEWBIES.

4. Email & SMS Marketing: Your List is Your Most Valuable Asset

Email remains among the highest-converting sales channels, but many wineries aren’t using it to its full potential. My friend Erica Walter of Email Mavens gave yet another amazing workshop with super actionable takeaways (don’t worry, I’m working on getting her on here to do some education on email marketing!). Here are some bullet points from hers and another session I attended:

• Segmentation is key. Instead of sending generic emails to everyone, wineries really need to tailor emails based on customer behavior (e.g., first-time buyers, repeat purchasers, wine club members).
• Onboarding matters. Most wineries miss the opportunity to nurture new subscribers with a welcome series that builds connections (I’m going to talk about a few wineries I think are doing a great job at this in the future)
• Transactional emails (order confirmations, shipping notifications) are marketing gold. These emails have some of the highest open rates and should be optimized with brand personality and soft upsells.
• SMS is growing, but it must be done carefully. It’s great for reminders and urgent promotions, but customers don’t want to be bombarded with texts. In short, be cool, bro!

 Takeaway: Wineries should invest time in creating better email segmentations, building automated email sequences, and personalizing their messaging to increase engagement and sales.

5. Influencer Marketing: A Smart Investment—When Done Right

There’s growing recognition that influencer marketing works—but only when approached strategically. I was really interested to attend this session as this is one of the most frequent things I get asked about as a social media consultant. Here’s what I learned:

• Nano and micro-influencers drive the most engagement. This was something I already knew but it was great to have confirmation. Influencers with smaller audiences also have the advantage of more dedicated audiences. Their followers trust them more and their content tends to get absorbed more readily than some larger influencers.
• Brand fit matters. It’s more important to find an influencer who aligns with your winery’s values than to chase big follower counts.
• Partnerships should be long-term. Instead of one-off promotions, wineries should nurture ongoing relationships with influencers who can authentically integrate their brand into their content.
• Video content is key. Short-form videos showcasing tastings, food pairings, and winery experiences perform extremely well.

 Takeaway: Wineries should prioritize relationships with niche influencers and invest in video content to maximize brand awareness and engagement.

6. Brand Better or Die Trying: The Power of Consistency

One of the most impactful sessions emphasized the importance of building and maintaining a strong, consistent brand. A collaboration between my friends at Likely Story Strategies and Andrew from Transom Design, this session was packed full of super actionable tips. Here’s what I learned:

• Messaging matters. Consistency across channels builds trust, reinforces brand identity, and increases revenue. For example, Forbes reports that consistent brand presentation can increase revenue by 23%.
• You need to audit your brand regularly. Check your website, emails, and social media to ensure they align with your core values and storytelling.
• Once again, storytelling is key. Consumers remember emotional, human-centered narratives far more than technical details or statistics.
• Be intentional. Every touchpoint, from your packaging to your tasting room experience, should reflect your brand’s values.

Takeaway: Wineries must invest time in auditing their brand, refining their messaging, and creating consistency across all customer touchpoints to build trust and loyalty. (btw, this includes your hospitality training)

Final Thoughts: Actionable Next Steps for Wineries

The 2025 DTC Wine Symposium reinforced the idea that success in wine marketing is no longer about just making great wine—it’s about how you connect with consumers (because, for real, most people are making great wine these days).

If you want to thrive in 2025, here are three things to focus on—and topics we will dive deeper into soon:

1. Tell better stories. People don’t remember stats, but they remember emotions. Make your brand’s storytelling compelling, human, and memorable.
2. Make it easy for customers to buy from you. Reduce friction in the purchase journey, whether that means optimizing your website, improving your email strategy, or simplifying checkout.
3. Stop Scaring the Newbies. Help make wine culture more accessible if you want to reach younger audiences.

If you weren’t able to make it to the 2025 DTC Wine Symposium, do yourself a favor and join their email list to be the first to get tickets to next year’s. Hot tip: Set aside $100/month right now to help you invest in next year’s symposium, and be sure to buy during the early-bird ticket price promotion (which usually runs through the summer). This is an extremely valuable conference for anyone looking to market their wine better—which I’m assuming you do, since you’re a subscriber— and the ROI you’ll get from implementing what you learn here is exponential.