The second annual seminar on “Owning and Operating an Urban Winery or Brewery” was held yesterday at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown San Diego. The event was a huge success and a great learning experience for the 50 or so attendees who came. The first speaker was alcohol beverage law veteran Lynne Carmichael, who spoke on the permitting and licensing aspects of starting a winery or brewery. Wendell Lee, General Counsel of the Wine Institute, gave a rousing PowerPoint presentation on the ills of HR 5034 and the bill’s attack on the Commerce Clause. Seminar co-Chair Charles Reidelbach spoke on trademarking and labeling, while Anil Shrikhande, executive at Constellation Wines (and my father!), discussed the standards and profitability of various price points for wine. Later in the day, urban winery pioneer Michael Brill of Crushpad explained the bright future of urban “wine pubs” and the difficulties faced in starting a business of such. This was followed by keynote speaker Jack White, owner and founder of Ballast. His passion for the beer industry was obvious. In addition to those I have discussed, I’d like to thank all the other speakers for taking the time to come and share their insight. We are already thinking of ways to make next year’s seminar even better!
Visit TheSeminarGroup.net to viewthe entire seminar, which will be posted online soon.
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