What is the first step to building a successful wine club?

The first step is to focus on your existing network. Instead of chasing new customers, start by creating a pilot program with your top 10 most loyal clients to test what works and build a strong foundation.

How can a winery make its wine club feel exclusive?

Exclusivity can be created through personalization, surprises, and unexpected events. Offer members unique experiences like private Zoom tastings, signed bottles, unscheduled gifts, or curated content that goes beyond simple discounts.

Why is planning essential for a wine club?

Planning is crucial because it ensures a consistent and engaging experience for members. A month-by-month plan with dedicated content, events, and surprises helps maintain excitement and demonstrates the value of the membership, much like nurturing a relationship.

How can a wine club membership be used as a gift?

Positioning the membership as a gift is a powerful strategy. It's an emotional and lasting present that introduces a new person to your brand while also reinforcing the loyalty of the gift-giver, who is likely to join themselves if the feedback is positive.

Indietro

English news

18 Agosto 2025

Reading time: 2 ’

A wine club that works? You would proudly present it to anyone

A Wine Club is not a list of names, but a living community to be built with care. Exclusivity, personalization, and desire are the levers to create a memorable experience that your customers will be proud to talk about.

By Lavinia Furlani

A successful wine club is not a mailing list but a vibrant community built on relationships and trust. This article explores how wineries can transform their approach by focusing on existing customers, using data smartly, and meticulously planning exclusive experiences. The goal is to create a club that members are proud of and spontaneously recommend.

If your Wine Club were a person, would you introduce it to your family? To your friends? Would you speak of it with pride or keep it hidden? There, the answer to this question is the litmus test for everything. Because a Wine Club is not an Excel file, it’s not a discounted promotion. It is a relationship. A community. A reciprocal act of trust.

It starts with who is already there: your network is more precious than you think. Too often, we seek new customers and forget the ones we already have. But those who have already crossed the threshold of your winery, those who have already bought from you, those who know you… They are the first to be involved. If you’re just starting, don’t dream of big numbers: focus on the first 10 loyal customers. Run a test. Create a “pilot” relationship with them and see what truly works.

A disorganized database is a wasted opportunity. If you want to build a Wine Club, start by collecting useful data (properly): what a customer bought, what their preferences are, when they visited you. There’s no need to know their birthday if you only send them well wishes. But if that date helps you give them a gift or send a targeted offer, then yes: it has value.

Planning is the heart of success. A good Wine Club is designed like a trip: month by month, with content, surprises, pampering, and small, unexpected events. As in a love story, you must surprise those who have placed their trust in you. Even with a video, an unscheduled gift, a signed bottle, or a private tasting via Zoom. In a world where no one knows what to gift anymore, the idea of gifting a Wine Club membership is powerful. It’s a gift that lasts over time, that speaks of taste, style, and emotion. And if you think about it: you also build loyalty with the person who gave the gift. Because if the feedback is positive, next year… they’ll gift it to themselves.

The Wine Club that works is the one that makes people say: “I’m a member. And I recommend it to everyone.” It’s not a platform, not an e-commerce site. It is a community, made of people who feel heard, pampered, and involved. And who, precisely for this reason, speak of you with pride. Because a Wine Club is only successful when its members want to talk about it spontaneously, as they would a beautiful trip or an unforgettable bottle.