To our Washington Wine Industry Colleagues,

I’d like to take a moment to extend a personal invitation to each member of the Washington wine industry to attend WineVit® 2026 on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 10 & 11 in Kennewick.

We are trying to do different this year.  We are trying hard to respond to industry feedback to increase accessibility and relevance, make attendance more affordable, and maintain networking opportunities that have been a cornerstone of the event for decades.

Each week, we are adding more information to www.winevit.org that highlights event activities, content, and speakers.  I won’t go into all the details here because it is all coming online there.  But, if you don’t see something of interest today, check back in a week or two.

Bottom line:  The event is now a day and a half plus a pre-event webinar on January 15.  This reduces travel expenses and time away from your daily work.  We’re still offering the Trade Show, the Industry Research Snapshot, and Industry Awards, but we’ve shaken it up a bit.  The trade show is just one day—Feb 10—and it is FREE to attend.  We’ve partnered with the Washington Wine Industry Foundation to celebrate award recipients during their Tuesday night Party + Auction.  And, we are looking forward to featuring the research highlighted on Snapshot posters in multiple ways.  We also took a cue from the success of the February 2025 Industry Town Hall co-presented by the Washington State Wine Commission, Washington Wine Institute, and Winegrowers:  We’re bringing Town Hall 2026—where you can directly engage with industry organizations--to WineVit®

And, perhaps the best part, you can register for the entirety of WineVit® before January 8 for as little as $154 (students and accredited academic faculty are even less).  That’s down from $325 in 2025 for the same ticket type!  We know that is still a significant sum, but we hope you will find the value in the opportunity to gather and exchange ideas in this unique setting.

Help us make that opportunity a fruitful one and join us!  We extend an extra thanks to the sponsors who are making many of these changes possible!

--Sara Higgins

Executive Director