This Week in Wine - (& why gifting wine always wins)

The spate of new wines (& slightly older ones) fronted by celebrities, from pop stars to actresses to rappers to royalty, highlights the enduring romance of wine. Hitching your name to a winery remains magical. For celebs, having their own winery (or label) check-marks an aspirational status symbol, equal parts delicious beverage and lifestyle commodity. Yet for all their shiny messaging, curated Instagram perfection, and savvy marketing, winemaking remains sweaty, physical work. We walk vineyard rows, sort fruit, shovel tanks, and sanitize plastic buckets (many, many, MANY buckets).

Shoveling bins and tanks requires an actual shovel.

For me, this is the joy of winemaking- earthy, tactile, more fulfilling than staging soulless bottle shots. This is not to say I don’t appreciate their efforts. Indeed, their industry support makes wine relevant, hip, modern, and approachable for both wine novices and the wine curious. Good on Snoop. I wish I could make an entry-point wine for less than $20. (Ha, I can’t even get my rose that low!). To be sure, we need wine for every palate and every budget. Making wine relevant and expanding our big tent of wine lovers remains mission critical. Might Gallo be at the forefront of courting Gen Z? Read on to learn why.

gallo acquires whiny baby - 5 years young & 6K cases/year

 Marketing helps; cheeky marketing helps more. Interestingly, the Whiny Baby acquisition marks Gallo’s first winery purchase in two years - since buying Rombauer, actually. How about THAT for contrasting market-share capture!

Colorful packaging, Taylor Swift inspired frienship bracelets, and peel-able stickers speak to the Gen Z aesthetic.

traditional wine marketing still thrives

A recent article detailing the sprawling marketing efforts at Jordan Winery left me gob smacked. Three in-house marketing experts, PLUS a PR firm, PLUS a social media firm, managing collaborations with 50+ social media influencers?! Geez, Jordan could hire me to shoot iphone footage for cheap (haha). But then Jordan Winery celebrates 68K social media followers; alas, I do not. It is notable that Jordan considers itself both a winery and lifestyle brand. (Clearly, that Meghan Markle is onto something).

Jordan’s messaging: even YOU can bake a Martha Stewart, swoon-worthy apple pie

Still, while the gulf between Jordan’s brand of humor and Whiny Baby’s appears a chasm, both appeal to “lifestyle.”  What “lifestyle” means remains murky. Seems even the wine pros can’t decide how to feel about a colorful brand that markets directly to Gen Z. I applaud Whiny Baby’s creativity, fanciful packaging, and the brand’s capacity to spark joy. It’s a fun way to weave wine into daily life, making wine feel newly relevant to both 20-somethings and the wine curious.

there’s that saying about glass houses…

It's fun to skewer the (sometimes stodgy) stalwarts -

At Grand Cru, it’s “BYOP-” bring your own pouf

…and marvel that stickers actually move the needle (doh!).

Who’s the whiny baby, now? Pretty sure I did the sticker thing first… just sayin’

we all aim to be lifestyle brands

Obviously, that same fusion of winery life and life/life has been a Bruliam hallmark since my inaugural vintage. This is both a deliberate intention and a practical decision. Because my love affair with wine inspired Bruliam’s inception, my winery work is deeply integrated into my daily mindset. It’s also borne of necessity. I cannot afford a 3 person in house marketing team + PR & social media consultancies, especially since selfies are free. Perhaps it’s hubris, but I’d like to think you share my passion for carrying wine into everyday life. Your Bruliam bottle shots celebrating holidays, birthdays, date nights, and friendship affirm my gut-instinct. When you share your best food and wine parings, you’re thoughtfully elevating dinner into something extra special (and I’m along for the ride!!!!!!!).

Every photo, every bottle shot MAKES MY DAY.

And this is just a smattering- of the most recent ones (insert happy crying face emoji)!!

More than any other beverage, wine wiggles her way into your daily life, making it impossible for me to separate my Bruliam life from my “life/life.” This is the story I try to share. Other brands seem to concur. Whether a legacy stalwart like Jordan or a colorful newcomer like Whiny Baby, wine must appeal to both the palate and the heart. As I often note to guests in the tasting room, “Nobody waxes poetic about Tito’s Vodka.” But ask any newlyweds about the “best wine” they ever tasted, you’ll get an earful. No wine can best their shared sips savored along the romantic, sandy beaches of the Adriatic Sea. That’s exactly what great wine experiences do, center your memory in all five senses. And here we come full circle: the siren song of wine is powerful.

sharing is caring; gifting is better

Now imagine harnessing that vibe. Bruliam is joy bait. Share that spark with others- whether it’s the unbridled delight of a perfect first sip or the pride of a 1+1=3 food/wine pairing. I’m here to shout aloud that you can. Yes, you can! You can even personalize that experience with customized inserts. (Oh, you see where I’m going here?!!). Yes, I am talking about corporate gift giving.

This image was generated by AI using the prompt “stylish, corporate holiday wine gift.”

And Bruliam Wines is here for you. Corporate America, tech companies, banks, VC’s, entrepreneurs, and index funds, please support small family wineries. Support something authentic and delicious and joyful. Please consider gifting Bruliam Wines this holiday season. If your business (or a business you know) needs a creative, tasty corporate gift idea, please JUST ASK. I can help you curate a bespoke gift of Bruliam Wines, customized for your budget and needs. We even have (a limited) number of large format bottles, when you want to go BIG.

Support small wineries and family winegrowers

Wine is for sharing. You already know that the best people share their cellars. When you gift wine, you’re gifting in support of a deeply interconnected industry, from the vineyard crew to the cellar staff to the hospitality team to the cork, glass, and label reps, each of whom makes my wine better. I am lucky to have a job I love, a job that is bigger than my indefatigable Instagram enthusiasms. Thank you for considering, carrying it forward, and making my wines a big part of your lives too. It’s my most cherished element of Bruliam Wines.

a pivot to harvest 2025

Pinot Noir beauty shot

Whew! You’ve made it this far, from moony musings to a sales pitch. Behold a reward, a quick harvest update. Fruit for vintage 2025 looks strong! Mother Nature has been a quirky joker, with weather oscillating between hot (high 90’s, sometimes kissing 100 degrees) and cool, with sporadic showers. If these “unsettled weather patterns” confuse me, they certainly confuse the vines. I’ve had to monitor the weather more diligently, sit on my hands patiently, and pick when fruit tastes great. The result has been stunning. Small clusters, stellar color, mature flavor development, and juicy acid. What if this hot/cold flip flop actually favors better developed flavors at lower brix??!! I LOVE that!

the reality that cool climate grapes ripen slowly

Soberanes Vineyard SLH - captured by Mark Pisoni 9/10/25

To date, I’ve picked everything except Soberanes, Santa Lucia Highlands. Just know when I throw around jargon like “long hang time” it has a real-life correlate: my sitting around waiting for seeds to color, rachi to brown, and tannins to ripen.  I look forward to sampling more Soberanes this week, as my final pick of ’25 approaches.

special delivery - a ziplock bag with a sample of pinot noir from my block

Thank you, as always, for your support.