What We Learned at SommCon, San Diego this Year

SommCon San Diego 2025 was held this year at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. The event brought together wine, beer, and spirits professionals from across the globe for three immersive days of education, tasting, and industry networking.

SommCon serves as both a professional conference and a trade expo. Uniting a balanced mix of importers, producers, buyers, hospitality leaders and sommeliers who share the same goal of exploring wine, spirits, and the ever evolving landscape of the beverage world.

This year’s program was a balance of educational seminars, tasting panels, and sensory experiences. Additionally, pre-conference programs included a two-day Somm Intensive Course and a two-day Champagne Specialist Course that were offered at an added rate.

Attendees participated in masterclasses on topics such as volcanic terroirs, blind tasting like a Master of Wine, and Women in Whiskey. Global wine regions that deserve our attention, like Itata and Irpinia, were featured, as well as seminars on the growing influence of sustainable and regenerative viticulture—a movement that needs to be given as much attention as possible in the current climate. Sessions also explored many of the challenges the industry now faces, such as staffing shortages, shifting consumer preferences, and the rapidly growing category of low-to-no alcoholic beverages. All the sessions offered practical takeaways—skills, strategies, and knowledge that will have an immediate benefit in advancing attendees careers and businesses.

Also included at the conference, the Beverage Expo hosted a large professional trade tasting that showcased hundreds of brands of wine, beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic options. Buyers from restaurants, hotels, and retail had the opportunity to interact directly with producers and importers to sample products and build new business relationships.

Sustainability, authenticity, and innovation were reflected throughout the three days. As both a marketplace and a classroom, SommCon is an influential gathering for anyone in the beverage profession to come and spend time with mentors and peers, while elevating your expertise and staying ahead of the curve.

The atmosphere was one of professional development mixed with shared interests and a large dose of fun! All in all, SommCon was a conference centered on the serious business of wine that didn’t take itself so seriously that it lost the true joy of what really matters in this industry—appreciating the love, hard work, and incredible passion that goes into crafting the exceptional liquid we all love! Cheers to the wonderful world of wine! Looking very forward to SommCon 2026!