This past week has been pretty relentless.

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Giving Tuesday. Not to mention the overflow from one to another and before this day and after that day and and and.

It’s exhausting, and I hardly need to tell you that the holiday season isn’t over yet.

Here’s what I would like to suggest, though: Take a pause, give yourself some grace, and reflect on what’s been happening.

I think we get better at our work when we take the time to think. In this case, after this past week, some of the cleverest people I know in the wine business are hitting pause and taking inventory. They’re asking questions like:

How did that go? (When “that” is an initiative or campaign or outreach.)

What worked? What did not work?

What could we have done better?

How did this year compare to last year? And what do we know about the reasons behind the differences?

We wanted to offer some perspective on this season so far, and hopefully encourage a thoughtful and strategic look at what’s been happening industry-wide for DTC.

Here’s what we’re seeing in an aggregated, de-identified way, FYI, from our ecosystem of winery clients and data partners.

• Tasting Room on Black Friday this year was up almost 10 percent compared to Black Friday in 2022.

• Website sales were down 1.6 percent on Cyber Monday compared to last year.

• Napa itself was up 5 percent in the Tasting Room on Black Friday compared to last year, while North Coast wineries in general were up 10 percent compared to last year.

Interesting, yeah?

This is just the very tip of the iceberg and there is so much more to see, industry wide and for your winery in particular. We'd love to "hit pause" with you too, and walk you through each of the questions above and others that have no doubt come to mind for you along the way.

We'd be happy to show anyone using the Enolytics software how to pull these numbers, and more, for yourself and your own winery. Just drop us a note and we’ll schedule the time with you. Not yet using the software? Let's get moving on it, so that you can have these personalized insights too.

I look forward to that.

Thank you, as always, for reading and for your encouragement on this path --
Cathy