Wineries and Wine Clubs

Wineries treat their wine club members well. At least most of them do. And, they should. 

Think about it. A wine club member is an automatically repeating customer. And, in being automatically repeating, these are not just any wines, these are the sought after, usually higher priced, limited production wines. 

Wineries have three kinds of direct-to-consumer customers: those who come by the winery or buy through the winery website and buy once, those who are fairly frequent customers, but on their own schedules, and those wine club members who get multiple bottles of wine at scheduled times during the year and frequently buy more. 

Frankly, it's a symbiotic relationship. The winery gets a group of loyal customers. It gets predictable purchases from a dedicated group. The wine club member gets access to wines that other might want and some other special perks. Some give occasional gifts, some give free shipping, almost all give discounts, and if you visit the winery, you likely get tours and tasting fees waived. And, there are other things.

So, should you join a wine club at a winery? Maybe. Once you join, should you be a forever customer? I don't know. But, let's consider how you might decide on this, and although it's an individual decision, I am going to tell you that my way of thinking through it is the correct way and the only way (just kidding, but I do think it has merit).

First off, you have to like the wine. There is no point in getting regular shipments of a wine that you just really don't like. That would be foolish. Does it have to be your favorite wine? In my opinion, no. But, it should be wine that you look forward to drinking whether that appointed time is the day after the wine arrives (please don't tell me that when a case of wine shows up at your door having been horribly mishandled by a package delivery service that you immediately open the case and uncork the first bottle you see) or after you have caredully cellared the wine for 20 years or so. If you don't yearn for that bottle, you're in the wrong club.

In addition to the wine, though, you should be buying an experience. The wine club manager/hospitality manager/education professional should be someone you want to spend time with whether it is in person, on the phone, or doing a virtual tasting. Remember, you are their best friend and they should treat you that way, but if they do, you should also value them.

I think to some of the wine clubs that we are or have been members of. The first one that we ever joined: we are still members although there was a break in time where that club ceased to exist. I remember our first experience there, at the winery. It was friendly, fun, educational, and not rushed. They learned our tastes and preferences and catered to them. On a later visit, the proprietors had us into their home at the winery for breakfast. And, any time I have called the winery, somewhere in the conversation, I always hear "How's Lisa" or "Please give Lisa my best." Perhaps they have a cheat sheet, but it feels right. It's hard to leave that.

In others, they have poured us extra tastes of things we might like during our visit. They've sold hard, but not given a hard sell. They've treated us like they want us there.

Sometimes when we leave a wine club, or just trade out from one to another, it's just because it's time. Perhaps the prices have increased too rapidly, perhaps we've tired of that particular wine style, or perhaps the winery has earned our departure. 

How exactly do they do that? Let's have a couple of stories.

We were members of a wine club in Alexander Valley (Sonoma). On making an appointment to visit, I asked what special experiences were available for wine club members. They suggested that we have a tasting lunch out in the vineyard with the winemaker. Cool! Very cool!

So, we arrived at about 11:50 for our 12:00 lunch. We were ignored. Someone finally asked me if they could help us. Upon explaining, I was told that they might not have told the winemaker and they didn't know where he was. They had my phone number. But they didn't call. So, unhappilly, we did our free tasting alongside another couple who had just wandered in. They got extra pours. We, the wine club members did not.

When I got home a few days later, I contacted the proprietor via email. His response was "We're not for everybody." My response to him was that his winery was not for us. And, by the way, I have told many people to stay as far away from that winery as possible despite that I frankly like their Cabernet.

Another lovely experience was as a returning wine club member at pretty high end winery in the Stag's Leap District (Napa). As a wine club member, we were entitled to a free tasting. On our first visit there, we had been given personal service. As a returning club member, we were not. But, our server did her best to tell us that we should try their [insert name of really expensive flagship wine]. We said that we would love to. Her response: "Oh, we don't pour that at tastings. But, you can buy a case." By the way, that case, and this was more than 10 years ago would have set us back nearly $3,500. I canceled our membership on the spot.

Wine clubs are a customer service experience. Yes, as a winery representative, you are selling a product. You're also selling an experience and that experience starts with you. Make the customer your best friend and you don't have to sell. Treat them like they're not and they should speak with their wallet (closed) and their feet (exiting quickly).