Building Credibility: How Smaller Wine Regions Earn Trust

How do wine regions without global prestige or massive marketing budgets build lasting credibility with trade, media, and consumers?

In this installment of the Virginia Wine Coalition Industry Speaker Series, Master of Wine Nova Cadamatre will share practical, hard-earned lessons from working in smaller wine regions—particularly New York State—where producers contend with challenging climates, evolving consumer expectations, and intense market competition.

Drawing on her experience as a winemaker, consultant, and winery owner, Nova will explore what actually moves perception from “interesting” to “trustworthy,” and how regions can align quality, consistency, and messaging to earn confidence beyond the tasting room.

About the Speaker

Nova Cadamatre MW is one of the most versatile and accomplished winemakers working in the United States today. Over nearly two decades in the industry, she has built a career that spans iconic vineyards, emerging regions, and both coasts of the U.S. wine landscape.

She holds a degree in Viticulture from Cornell University and, in 2017, became a Master of Wine–the first female winemaker in the United States to earn the title. Her career includes significant time working with some of the world’s most renowned vineyard sites, including To Kalon Vineyard in Napa Valley, where she served as Senior Director of Winemaking for Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, California. During her tenure, she crafted the #6 wine on Wine Spectator’s 2022 Top 100 list.

Nova has been recognized as one of Wine Enthusiast’s Top 40 Under 40 and has produced numerous 90+ point wines from both the East and West Coasts. In addition to her consulting work, she is a passionate advocate for women in wine and has founded three female-owned wine brands: Trestle Thirty One and Snowshell Vineyards in New York’s Finger Lakes, and Fiadh Ruadh in Napa Valley.

Today, Nova splits her time between Napa and the Finger Lakes, managing her own winery projects and consulting clients as a true “flying winemaker,” bringing a rare combination of global perspective, hands-on experience, and practical insight to regions navigating climate, market, and credibility challenges.

What You’ll Learn:

• How smaller wine regions build credibility with trade and media
• What signals quality in an unfamiliar wine region
• Moving beyond tasting-room success into external markets
• Identifying realistic market lanes: DTC vs. wholesale vs. regional focus
• Working with variable climates in ways that align viticulture, winemaking, and messaging
• Framing climate challenges strategically rather than as a weakness
• Common mistakes smaller regions make when pitching wines
• How wine professionals evaluate unfamiliar regions