Steve Gross, Honore Comfort & Mark Barden

Monterey, Calif. — Sitting down with Steve Gross has become one of our favorite DTC Wine Symposium traditions. Not only does he have one of the best radio voices in the wine business, but he’s spent nearly four decades on the front lines of wine shipping battles nationwide. Largely thanks to his efforts, residents of 49 states can now receive direct-to-consumer wine shipments.

Steve is always ready to update us on the latest state-level shenanigans aimed at limiting consumer access to their favorite wines. But his role has recently grown even bigger. Last month, he stepped into the role of interim president of the Wine Institute. Frankly, we couldn’t feel more confident having Steve Gross leading this crucial organization at such a pivotal moment.

One of the big-picture initiatives coming out of the Wine Institute is the Share Wine Co-Lab. To dig into how and why it came together, we were joined by a familiar face for Sonoma County folks, Honore Comfort, Vice President of International Marketing at the Wine Institute, along with marketing consultant Mark Barden.

Together, we unpacked the market research that led to the creation of Share Wine Co-Lab, and explored how wineries of all sizes, in any region, can use it to better promote themselves, their communities, and wine in general.

Sit down, pop a bottle, and get ready to go deep into the wine business. The dispatches from DTC Wine Symposium 2026 are just getting started. [Ep 398]

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