Get curious about your customers.

I recently read the State of the Wine Industry 2026 by the Silicon Valley Bank—a 40+ page report outlining the problems in the industry and why it’s seeing its steepest multi-year downturn in a generation. Synthesizing the findings through my own lens and observations, I’d say it’s been a big failure in meeting customers where they’re at. And if I had to boil down the biggest leadership takeaway of this moment, it would be this: become more emotionally intelligent.

I’m going to say the hard thing here: I believe the California wine industry is having a reckoning today because it’s been cocky with inaccessible pricing, overblown branding, snobbery, and creating supply without demand. In all instances, consumers have been largely ignored. For years, wineries have raced for growth, seeking financial gain rather than creating a strong and sustainable stronghold in the marketplace. And here in Sonoma County, where many wineries have replaced distribution with DTC sales, that lost footing in the national marketplace has shrunk perspectives exponentially. We may offer great hospitality to the customers who’ve come to visit Wine Country, but how curious have we gotten about them and what they need?

In 1999, I managed a wine shop in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. There were only 100 selections in the store, and all were priced under $20. And instead of being organized by grape varietal or growing region, they were organized by taste, giving customers the tools to start learning about wine right from the moment they saw it on the shelf. The store is no longer there, but the lessons have stayed with me my whole career: make wine accessible.

Today’s industry data couldn’t be spelled out more clearly: it’s time to meet consumers where they are at. This requires us all to hang up the “growth for growth’s sake” hat long enough to realize that building a brand is about all the things hospitality leaders are already good at: how to read a room, how to get curious with customers ‘needs, and how to deliver. But somewhere along the way, we went into autopilot instead of remembering to keep the customer first.

It's time to get curious again—not about exploring new business development projects yet or quick revenue-generating campaigns, but to start studying and better understanding what our customers want most.

What we’re looking at, according to the experts, is no longer an industry pivot, but an entire industry makeover…and one that doesn’t stand to return as it was before. So, if you want to move out of surviving into thriving, what’s it going to take?

The shift starts with leadership. Research on executive coaching shows that it measurably builds the social and emotional competencies leaders need to actually hear their customers again—not just to survive the reckoning, but to lead through it. If you’re ready to build that capacity in you and your team, let’s talk.

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