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About Us

For more than two decades, Wine Market Council has provided wine market knowledge, trends, insights, and intelligence essential to all tiers of the wine industry.  We conduct a segmentation study among U.S. wine consumers annually, and also quantitative and qualitative trade and consumer surveys on topics of special interest to our members each year. Since 1996, we have conducted over 40 comprehensive studies on the U.S. wine consumer.

As a non-profit trade organization, we are dependent upon membership dues to allow us to conduct our scientific studies. Members benefit by using the data to assist them in developing successful business and marketing strategies.

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

WMC Board

  • Emma Swain, Chair – St. Supery Estate Vineyards & Winery
  • Sam Filler,  VP/Treasurer – New York Wine & Grape Foundation
  • Heather Jordan, Secretary – Biltmore Estate Wine Company
  • Xavier Barlier – Maisons Marques & Domaines/Roederer Estate
  • Jon Berg – NielsenIQ
  • Brent Bolding – Jackson Family Wines
  • Gino Colangelo – Colangelo & Partners
  • Mel Dick – Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
  • Perris Fiori – Ste. Michelle Wine Estates
  • Mike Jaeger – Cakebread Cellars
  • Craig Ledbetter – Vino Farms, LLC
  • Michaela Rodeno – Villa Ragazzi
  • Heidi Scheid – Scheid Family Wines
  • Jacki Strum – Wine Enthusiast Companies
  • Barkley Stuart, Alternate for Mel Dick – Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
  • Hugh Tietjen – Wine Communications Group
  • Dirk vanRenesse – Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC)
  • Judd Wallenbrock – Somerston Estate/Priest Ranch
  • Danny Brager, Advisor to the Board – Brager Beverage Alcohol Consulting

Council Executives

Council Executives

Liz Thach

Dr. Liz Thach, MW, President

Dr. Liz Thach, MW, has been conducting wine market research for more than 20 years as a Professor, Research Writer and Consultant based in Napa and Sonoma, California. Liz is considered to be one of the U.S.’s leading wine experts, and has visited most of the major wine regions of the world and over 75 countries. She teaches wine classes at Stanford Continuing Education, Burgundy School of Business, and Sonoma State University, and has published over 300 articles and 9 books, including Call of the Vine, Best Practices in Global Wine Tourism and Wine Marketing & Sales. She frequently publishes in Forbes, Wine Business Monthly, Wine Spectator, and The Somm Journal, amongst others. In addition, she serves as a wine judge and on several non-profit boards. A fifth generation Californian, Liz finished her Ph.D. at Texas A&M and now lives on Sonoma Mountain. Liz obtained the distinction of Master of Wine (MW) in May of 2011, becoming the first female MW from California.

Christian Miller

Christian Miller, Director of Research

Christian Miller has worked in market research, brand and category management for over two decades. He is the proprietor of Full Glass Research, which provides market research and industry analysis for food and beverage producers and marketers.

An original member of the WMC Research Committee, he also helped launch the Wine Opinions consumer and trade panels, and is currently head instructor of the UC Davis OIV Wine Marketing course. Christian’s wine industry experience includes work at wineries, retailers, restaurants, an importer and a négociant. He has marketed wine brands ranging from a few thousand cases to over a million, giving him a broad view of the industry. Christian holds a BA degree in Economics from Franklin & Marshall College and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management, Cornell University.

Membership Benefits

Benefits of Being a Wine Market Council Member

  • toastAccess to the Largest U.S. Wine Consumer Survey in the World – a biannual large scale Benchmark Segmentation survey with 4500+ consumers
  • Access to Hot Wine Topic Surveys – information from 2 to 3 additional research surveys per year on hot wine topics, g. Ingredient Labeling, Multicultural Consumers, High-End Consumers, etc.
  • Research Webinars – ability to attend WMC webinars, and have access to video and slide deck
  • Data Files – Access to data files (g. Excel, crosstabs, raw coded respondent data) on research studies (at $1000 dues level )
  • Powerful Network – opportunity to interact with other companies in the industry (wineries, distributors, importers, growers, trade associations and affiliates)
  • 27-year Track Record – proven track record of providing 27 years of U.S. wine consumer research (since 1996)

 

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WMC Information Sheet

WMC Information Sheet

WMC Information Sheet

To download the Wine Market Council Information Sheet, please click here.

You can become a member too!

Wine Market Council has been tracking annual wine consumer attitudes and behaviors for two decades, providing its members with consumer research that is helpful to their day-to-day business. Become a member for full, unlimited report access.

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