For years, discounting has been the default lever wineries pull to spark sales and reward loyal customers. But in today’s crowded marketplace, deep discounts can erode brand value and condition customers to buy only when the price drops. There’s a better way: loyalty points programs. Retention, without discounting, comes from making customers feel known, valued, and part of something special. They’ll stay not because it’s cheaper, but because it’s theirs. Instead of discounting away margin, wineries can encourage repeat visits and purchases by offering rewards that feel aspirational, personalized, and memorable. Loyalty points add up over time, giving guests a reason to come back again and again, all the while protecting your brand’s premium image. 10 Reasons Why Loyalty Points Work Shift from price to experience. Points reward frequency and engagement, not bargain hunting. The program should reinforce experience, access, and emotional loyalty, not

A traveling series designed expressly to help wineries turn insights into measurable growth.  That’s the idea behind the Winehub DTC Wine Unleashed tour, happening next month with stops in the Willamette Valley, Paso Robles and Napa. Enolytics is pleased to take the stage alongside fellow thought leaders in the space of wine, technology and growth through smart data. Winehub is a modern platform built on Shopify specifically for wineries. It streamlines wine club management, online sales, inventory, and allocations in one flexible system, helping wineries to simplify operations and deliver a better customer experience. Paired with Enolytics, Winehub turns sales and membership data into actionable insights that drive retention, loyalty, and growth. Each session on the tour is part workshop, part think-tank, and 100 percent focused on helping wineries harness their data to drive DTC success. Here’s what you can expect on tour: Hands-on learning. Discover how Win

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the key to unlocking consistent, high-quality traffic to your winery’s website. Whether you want to grow your wine club, drive more eCommerce sales, or bring visitors to your tasting room, a well-optimized website ensures your business is discoverable to potential customers searching for what you offer. SEO isn’t just about throwing in a few keywords—it’s about creating a site that search engines recognize as valuable and relevant while also offering an excellent user experience. Here’s how to optimize your winery website to attract new traffic and grow your wine club. Focus on Keywords That Match Customer Intent At the heart of any successful SEO strategy is understanding what your audience is searching for and why. Keywords are the bridge between what potential customers are looking for and the content you provide. For wineries, this could include searches like “best winery in Napa,” “organic wines n

Shutdown Postponed A few days before the November 17 deadline, the House passed a two-step Continuing Resolution that was accepted by the Senate and signed by the President, averting a government shutdown while establishing new deadlines of late January and early February to adopt a new budget—or go through the same fire drill again. That’s a big deal. First, it keeps everything running normally. Second, it means our Executive Vice President and Director of Government Affairs, Michael Kaiser, won’t have to spend his family holidays prowling Capitol Hill. Third, we can now proceed with a planned legislative wine reception on November 29 with our colleagues and partners at Wine Institute. More things to be thankful for… WineAmerica Fall Retreat: Thank You, and Welcome! Last week WineAmerica held our annual Fall Retreat in the wine country of Traverse City, Michigan, where Board member Marie Chantal-Dalese of Chateau Chantal served as local coordinator and graciou

Decision-making on the sourcing of bulk wine and grapes continues to get more complex and difficult. April frosts in the Lodi/Delta, and in other regions of California to a lesser extent, added another challenging variable to the year. As of now, it appears the reduction in supply due to the frost affected Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in these regions the most. Time will provide a clearer picture of the 2022 crop size. In fact, recent crop projections are generally more positive than the initial forecasts after the frosts, but there is still uncertainty as to the extent of the damage. In the North Coast and other parts of California, the frost will likely have less of an impact. Bulk markets have slowed, returning to a more typical seasonal pace following 18 months of heightened demand, but still remain active. The typical spring slowdown is due to wineries assessing crop size and projected sales trends to inventories. It is more complicated this year for a few reasons. The first variable

Afternoon Brief, June 10th

5th Annual Wine & Weed Symposium Opens Registration: After a hiatus in 2020, Wine Industry Network (WIN) is excited to announce that registration is open for the 5th Annual Wine & Weed Symposium, scheduled for August 5th, 2021 from 9 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country in Santa Rosa, CA...

New Dynamic Packaging Draws Wine Lovers to Take Road Less Traveled; Family-Owned, Estate-Grown Super Premium Wine Brand Embraces Sustainability Paso Robles, CA—March 22, 2021— Building on its successes in 2020, Riboli Estates Group, a division of Riboli Family Wines, is expanding the offerings of its Highlands 41 estate-grown wine brand. This month, the winery will add […] The post Riboli Estates Group Expands Highlands 41 Line up with Pinot Noir appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2021/03/22/riboli-estates-group-expands-highlands-41-line-up?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=riboli-estates-group-expands-highlands-41-line-up Published Date:Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:35:34 +0000 

Things Certainly Can Change in One Year by Steve Fredricks Last year at this time, mere weeks before the United States shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we were in an excess phase of the cycle for nearly every variety in California. Now, less than two months into 2021, the situation is different, in many cases dramatically so. We’ve seen continued growth in off-premise value brands, limited on-premise channel sales, and we experienced a light 2020 crop in most areas of California. We also are witnessing multiple market dynamics from excess toward balance and even shortage depending on many factors including region, variety, and, more than ever, by company. The USDA released its annual Preliminary Grape Crush Report on February 10, and the total crush of 3.404 million tons confirmed the light crop in many areas. As you can see from the charts below, overall tons crushed were down across the board. This came as no surprise; statewide yields per acre had been shaping up to be