InnoVint 2026 State of Winery Health Survey OPEN NOW
May 2026 | 2 min read
What the InnoVint 2025 State of Winery Health Report reveals about community, profitability, and surviving a soft wine market
Written by Jeanette Tan | Photo by Kelsey Chance @kchance8
The 2026 survey is now open and will close on May 31st. Link to the Survey CLICK HERE
The survey for the 2026 State of Winery Health Report is open until the end of May. The team at InnoVint invites everyone who works in the wine industry to participate, from tasting room crew to cellar workers. More than one person from each winery can participate, so now is the time to have your voice heard.
Unlike other surveys, this one is subjective. It’s about your thoughts, feelings, and expectations working in the wine industry.
The key theme that I found after reading the 2025 survey is that small wineries still have an edge, if they use it.
Why Relationships Matter More in a Soft Market
One of the strongest findings was that wineries deeply engaged in their communities were three times more likely to be profitable, more likely to report growing sales, and healthier both culturally and operationally. You could say that building community builds resilience. The wine industry has always had a strong culture of sharing ideas and helping each other. This strength suggests that if we continue to do this, the industry will survive this rough patch.
The Real Power of Direct-to-Consumer
Another community that is important is the community of your customers. The small wineries also reported that they are more likely to sell through DTC. These customer relationships matter more in a soft market. Also, hospitality and local identity are strategic assets. These are areas where smaller wineries often have a natural advantage. Large wineries just cannot create these kinds of relationships.
Knowing Your Costs Is Not the Same as Knowing Profitability
An interesting response was that most folks reported that they calculated their production costs, yet only 38% reported knowing their per-product profitability. I cannot tell from the report if the production team was excluded from this particular question, because I wouldn’t expect the cellar crew to know this answer. But I would absolutely expect 100% of the sales team to know this answer, because this metric should drive your entire sales projections. Your per-product gross profit is one of the key metrics that drives profitability. Each sales channel carries different margins. Your business plan needs to account for these differences so you maintain a healthy balance between lower-margin wholesale sales and higher-margin DTC sales.
This report supports my fundamental belief that small wineries can succeed if they understand their numbers and operate intentionally.
The wine industry is clearly under pressure, but this report suggests that small wineries still have meaningful advantages — especially when they understand their numbers, build strong customer relationships, and operate intentionally.
Take the InnoVint survey today so we can continue tracking how the wine industry is evolving in 2026.
