Understanding Certified Regenified™ Through Ashton Creek Vineyard
Recently we read that Ashton Creek Vineyard becoming the first vineyard in Virginia to earn Certified Regenified™ status. We have written previously about Regenerative Farming and the various regulations stipulated through USDA Certified Organic, Demeter Biodynamic, or Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC). But not Regenified™. In general, Regenerative agriculture is a collection of practices that focus on regenerating soil health and the full farm ecosystem. In practice, […]
Hospitality Is the Bright Spot: Why Tasting Rooms Are Outperforming the Beverage Industry in 2025–2026
Across both wine and beer, the same paradox is emerging: the broader beverage alcohol market is softening, yet hospitality‑driven tasting rooms—those built around onsite experiences, community, and human connection—are outperforming the industry at large. The 2026 Wine Business Monthly Tasting Room Survey and the Brewers Association’s 2025 New Brewer Industry Overview tell remarkably similar stories […]
Riesling in America: A Grape Still Waiting for Its Moment
Riesling has long been regarded as one of the world’s most expressive white grape varieties, yet in the United States it remains far less institutionally embraced than Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Its history is deep and well documented: the grape originated in the Rhine Valley of Germany, with written references appearing as early as 1435 […]
American Rum: A Sense of Terroir
American rum occupies a curious place in the nation’s spirits landscape: historically foundational, technically diverse, and increasingly innovative—yet still far from the institutional recognition enjoyed by bourbon, rye, or even American single malt. The category’s roots run deep. Rum was the first widely produced spirit in the colonies, with New England distilleries converting Caribbean molasses […]
The Gatekeeper Paradox — Series Introduction
A BevFluence Series Social Media | Gatekeeping | Fog City Social | Whiskey Culture | Community-Built Events The Velvet Rope Moved What a community-built whiskey event in San Francisco taught us about who actually controls access in the beverage industry — and what that means for every brand still knocking on the wrong doors. Every […]
The April Freeze That Rewrote the 2026 Vintage: Virginia and Maryland’s Grape Losses
The Mid‑Atlantic wine industry is no stranger to weather drama, but the April 21st 2026 freeze and radiational frost carved its own chapter into regional history. After an unseasonably warm March pushed vines into early budbreak, a sudden plunge into the low 20s°F delivered a blow that many growers describe as the most severe in decades. […]
Collaborations in Hospitality – Part One of Three – Why Collaborations Fall Apart Before They Begin
Everyone loves the idea of a partnership. Almost nobody does the work required to make one last. Let’s start with the reason you clicked on this…A failed collaboration, it can be embarrassing, like any relationship that goes bad. You’ve been in a collaboration that felt promising and ended badly. Or you’re considering one right now, […]
Maryland’s Best Expo 2026
Earlier this month we attended the Maryland’s Best Expo in Annapolis which is a program from the Maryland Department of Agriculture to connect farmers, watermen, and other businesses to consumers. I was mostly attracted to the event because of the participating distilleries and wineries starting with Oversea Distillery in Columbia and their Baijiu and whiskies. […]
Unified 2026: Where the Wine Industry Rewrote the Playbook
The 2026 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium just wrapped in Sacramento, and if you missed it, you missed something electric. January 27-29 brought together thousands of wine professionals at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center for three days that felt more like a catalyst than a conference. This wasn’t about dwelling on challenges—it was about […]
Exploring the Spice of Whiskey: Virginia Rye Whiskey
“George Washington’s gristmill and rye‑whiskey operation at Mount Vernon grew from a practical farming enterprise into one of the most successful early industrial ventures in the young United States. Washington originally built his gristmill to process wheat grown on the estate, both for his own plantation and for sale to nearby markets, making it an […]
