The future of Wine Selling and Marketing

I had a chance last night to speak to the E-Commerce class in the Wine Business program at Sonoma State University last night, on Direct Shipping of wine, and its associated regulations. As I talked to them about some of the items to remember when shipping wine direct to consumer (as, when it comes to wine, we are NOT the United States, one nation under whatever, but a patchwork of differing and sometimes conflicting regulations), I had a remarkable thought - these are going to be some of the people marketing wine over the next 25 years or so.
And, as we talked, how is most of this wine going to be marketed? - by electronic media - email, facebook, blogs, twitter and the like. This group of soon to be college grads turned wine professionals will be the most linked via electronic means than ever before. Since we can order wine, find out about wine, write about wine 24/7, what else might change about this?
My thought is that more web conferencing will happen over the next few years. For instance, it might be possible to attend a trade show by Skype (or some sort of web attendance), which would cut travel time and costs, while still being able to gather needed information. It might be possible to attend wine tastings (this is a little more of a logistical tightrope, but achievable). Many wineries already have virtual tours of their facilities, so I'm sure web tasting rooms are not far off.
Also in question is how this will all affect the experience of the winery visit. Will it replace the in person visitation of wineries? Well, not likely. There is still something ever so enjoyable and romantic about the whole winery experience, so even as this new generation of wine marketers comes into the industry, one thing the electronic medium can't replace is the human element. It can enhance it, but not replace it. Wine, as a very subjective element, will always have a human element associated with it.
Until next time, raise a glass to your direct interaction with the fruit of the vine,
Best,
David