Wine AND? Niche Festivals & Experiences in Wine – Why They Work and How They Appeal to New Consumers
January 28, 2026
2:45 pm - 3:45 pm
Wine AND? Niche Festivals & Experiences in Wine – Why They Work and How They Appeal to New Consumers
In today’s crowded beverage landscape, simply offering great wine is no longer enough. Consumers—especially younger and more diverse audiences—are seeking deeper, more personal connections through experiences that reflect their identity, passions, and values. This panel will explore the rise of hybrid wine experiences that fuse wine with music, art, fashion, and community-building.
This dynamic session brings together trailblazers who are redefining wine culture through niche, highly curated events and creative platforms.
Attendees will walk away with insights into how these unique intersections are successfully attracting new audiences, what makes niche experiences sticky, and how wineries and marketers of all sizes can think more expansively about what “wine culture” really means in 2025 and beyond.
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Moderator
Juliana Colangelo
Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York
Juliana Colangelo is a senior brand manager at Frederick Wildman & Sons, a leading importer and wholesaler of fine wine and spirits. She is a leader in their Italian wine marketing division with a focus on developing the shareholder brands under the Gruppo Italiani Vino and Cantine Riunite portfolios.
Juliana was previously a Vice President at Colangelo & Partners, the leading wine and spirits communications agency in the U.S. During her tenure at C&P, Juliana established the first secondary headquarters for the agency, moving to the Bay Area in 2016 to open up a California office.
Over the last decade plus, Juliana has become one of the most dynamic and influential public relations and marketing executives in the wine business. She has also served as a mentor and connector for women in the industry, using her network and platform to connect others with jobs, press and opportunities. Her entrepreneurial spirit and leadership is admired by peers, colleagues and clients alike. She is on the forefront of the changes in marketing and communications in the beverage alcohol industry and passionate about working with new and established brands to attract younger drinkers. Juliana has been featured speaking on the topic of how the wine industry can attract new consumers in Forbes, Fortune and more.
Speakers
Stacy Buchanan
Blood of Gods, Washington
Stacy Buchanan is a one-man hype machine with a preacher’s fire—not to save souls, but to fuse wine and heavy metal.
He’s the founder of Blood of Gods, the cult biannual publication that’s become a global underground hit since its 2020 debut. Its sold-out annual Merrymaking festival in downtown Walla Walla, WA is the region’s loudest celebration of wine, art, and music—drawing winemakers like Maggie Harrison (Antica Terra) and Pax Mahle (Pax Wines) alongside bands, artists, and fans. The festival has raised more than $50K for Planned Parenthood, proving rebellion and generosity can share a glass.
Buchanan is no stranger to smashing worlds together. A veteran of the music industry—touring and promoting with System of a Down, Slipknot, and Marilyn Manson, and serving as a publicist at Century Media Records—he returned home just as Walla Walla was exploding as a wine destination. Spotting uncanny parallels between wine and metal—niche obsessions, rabid fandom, gatekeeping jargon—he forged a new communion where none existed.
The result? Critical raves and cult devotion. Named to Wine Enthusiast’s Future 40 and Imbibe’s 75, his work has been featured in Decibel, Saveur, Somm Journal, SIP, and more. Each issue tears down pretension with interviews spanning Master Sommeliers like Bree Stock and Doug Frost to metal legends like Maynard James Keenan (Tool) and Cannibal Corpse’s Paul Mazurkiewicz, alongside savage art from Jim Mahfood, Morgan Beem, and others.
Buchanan’s first book, out from Feral House Publishing, extends the manifesto in full-length volume. He has brought his vision to stages from New Zealand’s SuperWild to Taste Washington, and upcoming in 2026: the Charleston Wine & Food, the fifth edition of the Blood of Gods Annual Merrymaking, and Grenache Fest.
Kate McManus
Far Niente Wine Estates, California
A proven business development and branding leader, Kate has spent the past 25+ years in wine, spirits, and CPG marketing. She has a passion for brand strategy, positioning and creative platform development that grow brand equity, loyalty & awareness, resulting in profitable and sustainable businesses.
Kate possesses an entrepreneurial growth mindset, converting and communicating strategic vision into unique, integrated marketing platforms. When Kate is not working, she is enjoying the wine country lifestyle in Napa with her husband and pups.
Jermaine Stone
Wine and Hip Hop, New York
Twenty years ago, Jermaine Stone went from rapping to packing boxes in the shipping department at Zachy’s to becoming the first black commercial wine auctioneer. He has since been heralded as one of Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40. The Bronx native’s rise in the wine industry has been driven by one key mission: to challenge the narrative about and for black men in America. In founding Cru Luv Selections, an innovative creative agency based in NYC, Stone has found a space that can use marketing, brand partnerships, and content creation to connect wine and hip-hop cultures and bring wine to an audience that has traditionally been ignored.
In 2023, Stone was featured in the New York Times, on Sway in the Morning, and in Us Weekly. He also became the star of the Tastemade original streaming series Street Somm, which has been nominated for both a James Beard Award and an Emmy Award. Additionally, he was a guest lecturer at Cornell University for the second year in a row and hosted the first-ever Wine & Hip Hop event at the Clos de Vougeot, arguably the most historic site in one of, if not the most prestigious wine regions in the world, Burgundy, France. This year, Stone plans to elevate his efforts to bring wine and hip-hop culture together by being more hands-on with the direct integration of wine and hip-hop culture in a way that only he can.