The wine and beverage industry is entering a new era — tighter margins, shifting buyer behavior, faster category rotation, and distributors overloaded with product and limited time.

Traditional sales scripts, long tasting notes, and generic product training no longer work.
2026 buyers expect sharper positioning, clearer market fit, and reps who understand the commercial realities behind every placement.

In this episode, we break down the New 2026 Sales Playbook for wine, beer, and spirits reps.
Whether you're a distributor rep, winery salesperson, educator, or brand manager, this conversation will reset the way you sell.

What We Cover

1. What Reps Must Understand About Buyers in 2026

• What the best reps know about the buyer’s world
• How to position a wine using story + occasions + market fit
• How to understand what your wine is replacing
• Small rep habits that massively improve placement success

2. Why Traditional Product Training No Longer Works

• Why buyers ignore long tasting notes
• What training actually works for today’s overloaded reps
• Why 2026 requires modular, account-specific learning
• The communication style modern buyers respond to

3. How Reps Actually Want to Learn Today

• The formats reps prefer: short-form, scenario-based, mobile-first
• Tools that improve performance: cheat sheets, playbooks, competitive maps
• What the ideal 2026 training system looks like

Rapid-Fire with Matthew Citriglia

• One skill every rep must master
• Fastest way to lose a buyer’s attention
• How to reduce perceived buyer risk
• The biggest myth reps still believe
• One-line advice for winning placements in 2026

Who This Episode Is For

✔ Distributor reps
✔ Winery and distillery sales teams
✔ Brand managers
✔ Importers and national account teams
✔ Wine educators
✔ Anyone selling to retail or on-premise buyers in 2026

If you want to learn more

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• Buyer psychology
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• On-premise insights
• Beverage industry innovation