Over 100 home winemakers came to Sacramento, California from May 15–18, 2025 for our 16th and final in-person WineMaker Magazine Conference. Our swansong conference featured WineMaker magazine writers, industry experts, and top hobbyists leading over two dozen different seminars over the two main days covering the full spectrum of the hobby. The attendees came from over 25 different states and provinces to enjoy the chance to learn from experts but also trade advice and stories with fellow winemakers in person.

This year we again ran our pre-and post-conference boot camps with both full-day and half-day options focused on small class environments covering a deep-dive into a variety of different winemaking topics. We introduced new topics emphasizing hands-on learning such as workshops exploring wine defects, blending, and advanced malolactic techniques.

Our Friday lunch keynote speaker was the same person as our very first WineMaker Conference back in 2008: longtime WineMaker “Wine Wizard” columnist Alison Crowe who also makes wine professionally in Napa, California. Alison shared her thoughts on the past, present, and future of home winemaking with a perspective gained from writing in every single issue since WineMaker was launched in 1998. We held several question-and-answer seminars including panel discussions with different award-winning home winemakers. The conference continued offering a selection of different seminar choices for attendees to choose from across a broad variety of topics several times each day. From kits to grape growing to techniques for the fresh grape winemaker, there were subjects for every level and style of winemaker.

After Friday’s seminars concluded, a tasting party kicked off with attendees bringing hundreds of their own bottles of wine to share with other hobbyists outside with perfect early summer weather. Local wineries from around Northern California also poured samples late into the night as attendees tasted wines and shared winemaking stories.

Saturday evening, attendees found out first who won medals in the 2025 WineMaker International Amateur Wine Competition. Hundreds of medals were handed out in person to members in the audience as they came forward to some well-deserved applause from the audience. It was a fun and fitting end to the last of our in-person awards dinners for the annual competition that will continue to take place in the future.

While this year’s WineMaker Conference and WineMaker Competition awards dinner will be the last ones held in-person due to declining attendance, don’t worry — we will be continuing to publish new magazine issues every other month, run our annual wine competition, host international winery trips, and run online live learning events. We will also be brainstorming new winemaking event formats, both in-person and online, so home winemakers can keep learning new skills, explore their hobby in different ways, and build this special community of home winemakers. It’s been a great run for the WineMaker Conference and the competition awards dinner since our first one in Sonoma County back in 2008. Thank you very much to the thousands of home winemakers, speakers, and sponsors who have joined us in beautiful wine country locations across North America over the years. We look forward to continuing to see you and offer winemaking learning experiences in the years to come. Cheers!
