Winemakers and wine industry professionals can now save time, money and eliminate frustrations with the launch of The Punchdown, an online community designed to foster collaboration and professional growth within the wine industry.
The free community website and mobile app have been customized by leading wine technology software developers to make life easier and work more productive, by empowering wine teams and other industry professionals to:
Convene
Socialize
Network
Share resources, and
Collaborate
“Like many, I was first drawn to the wine industry by how passionate, helpful, and supportive everyone is. Winemakers are always encouraging and helping each other. But during the pandemic and fires we realized how isolated we are. There was no great place online where the community could gather. The idea that ultimately led to The Punchdown is that we wanted to create an online community that would naturally extend and augment the fighting spirit and connective tissue of the wine industry.”
– Ashley Leonard, Founder and CEO of InnoVint
The Punchdown provides a private, safe environment for members to discuss the latest industry trends and news, exchange advice, as well as access information about upcoming conferences, seminars, and industry-wide happenings. For example, users can set up private groups to discuss pressing industry topics, explore business growth opportunities, or debate operational best practices. Access to The Punchdown is free!
“As a new winemaker, there’s so much to learn in regard to refining your craft and building your business. The Punchdown has been a sigh of relief. This community has created a safe space to ask questions and share resources with other winemakers that are also launching or growing their brands. The knowledge that I have gained thus far on The Punchdown has been astonishing — I look forward to seeing how this community grows.”
– Meg Rulli, owner and winemaker at Flipturn Cellars, who has been using The Punchdown as a pre-launch beta tester since last summer.
Features and benefits of joining The Punchdown include:
An exclusive, easy to use and intuitive online community for wine industry professionals, not hobbyists. Far more professional than a Facebook Group. More useful and less ephemeral than Slack or Teams. More positive, civil, and constructive than Reddit.
Discover and meet other professionals with shared interests. For example, winemakers making Rhône-styled wines in Washington can discover winemakers making similar wines in California or France.
Chat publicly, or privately direct message and group message with others in the community.
Ask others in the community for help and how-to’s.
Share worksheets, operating procedures, and research.
Learn tips on how to grow your business.
Powerful, fast sitewide search makes it easy to find posts and content.
Buy, sell or trade used equipment, tanks, barrels, grapes, or bulk wine.
Find a new opportunity or post an open position.
Access the site from a browser or on your phone (available on iOS and Android).
Members also benefit from access to a wealth of knowledge shared by fellow community members. From expert advice about viticulture, enology, and wine production to equipment reviews to reducing churn in your wine club to boosting DtC sales and growing your winery business, The Punchdown surfaces helpful user-shared content that can serve as invaluable, expert guidance when making key decisions related to running a successful, thriving commercial winery.
“Wine is about community. In fact, community is what draws many of us to winemaking. However, as a winery and vineyard that launched during the pandemic, we quickly learned there is so much to navigate from scratch – production, compliance, sales, vineyard management.”
“We’re ecstatic that InnoVint created the Punchdown as a central hub to share our communal wealth of knowledge in the industry.”
– Dave Cho, Winemaker and Founder The Chos have been among the most prolific beta testers of The Punchdown over the past month, heading up to today’s public launch.
The Punchdown serves as an invaluable resource for anybody looking to stay up to date with current events related to the wine industry or find useful worksheets, quality research and relevant advice on a variety of topics related specifically to the day-to-day operations of running a successful winery.
“I’ve been working in the wine industry for more than fifteen years as a winemaker, educator, and sommelier. I love connecting with others in the industry, as well as teaching and sharing my passion for this business with the public. So, when Ashley (Leonard) first told me about the compelling vision for The Punchdown, I immediately wanted to be a part of it. I’m so excited to help launch The Punchdown as its Community Manager.”
The Punchdown is a free, private, membership community, provided as a service to professionals working in the wine industry by the passionate winemakers, product designers, software engineers and beloved support team at InnoVint, makers of the wine industry’s best wine production software.
Get a peek into our client-focused approach, driven by a team of wine industry veterans who understand the winemaking process inside and out. Learn about our commitment to continuous improvement
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