Why Wine Clubs Aren’t Working, And What’s Replacing Them
For many wineries, the biggest challenge today isn’t attracting new customers; it’s keeping the ones they already have.
Wine clubs once represented the most stable revenue engine for wineries. Members signed up, shipments went out quarterly, and predictable revenue flowed in. It was the foundation of direct-to-consumer success.
But that foundation is cracking.
Recent industry data reveals a troubling trend: nearly 40% of wine club members cancel within the first year. In a market where customer acquisition costs are climbing, and competition for attention has never been fiercer, losing members at this rate isn’t just a retention problem; it’s a profitability crisis.
The math is unforgiving. If acquiring a new club member costs hundreds of dollars in marketing, tasting room labor, and incentives, losing them before they’ve generated meaningful lifetime value means wineries are bleeding money with every signup.
And yet, some wineries are defying this trend entirely.
Why Traditional Wine Clubs Are Struggling
The wine club model that worked for decades was built on a simple premise: offer a discount, ship wine regularly, and members will stick around out of loyalty and convenience.
That premise no longer holds.
Today’s consumers don’t stay loyal simply because they signed up once. They’re subscribed to streaming services, meal kits, beauty boxes, and a dozen other recurring purchases competing for their wallet and attention. Loyalty must be continuously earned-and if a wine club feels transactional or forgettable, it gets cut.
The wineries struggling with retention are often the ones still treating their clubs like subscription programs: predictable shipments, generic communications, and little reason to stay engaged between boxes.
Meanwhile, top-performing wineries are seeing retention rates above 85% past year one. The difference? They’ve stopped thinking of wine clubs as subscription programs and started building them as membership ecosystems.
The Wine Club Is Being Reinvented
At Wine Industry Network’s upcoming Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium on May 13th, the session The Wine Club Reset: How Top Performers Are Turning Churn into Retention will unpack exactly how the most successful wineries are doing this.
Led by industry retention experts, the session reveals the systems, psychology, and technology that transform wine clubs from “subscribe and save” programs into high-value membership experiences that customers don’t want to leave.
This isn’t about offering deeper discounts or adding more perks. It’s about understanding what drives retention at a behavioral level, and designing club experiences that make cancellation unthinkable.
The wineries getting this right aren’t just retaining members longer. They’re generating the highest customer lifetime value in all of subscription commerce.
Brand Growth Beyond the Bottle
But retention is only one part of the growth equation. The other challenge wineries face is reaching new audiences without relying solely on expensive traditional marketing.
That’s where strategic partnerships come in.
Partnerships allow wineries to connect with customers they’d never reach on their own, without the cost of building those channels from scratch. From creative local collaborations that enhance guest experiences to high-impact national partnerships that deliver scale and visibility, wineries are finding growth by aligning with brands in travel, hospitality, lifestyle, and media.
Sandra DeMaria, Director of Sales & Marketing at Ehlers Estate, has seen firsthand how the right partnerships can transform a winery’s reach. But she cautions against chasing partnerships for the wrong reasons.
“The biggest mistake I see wineries making is a narrow focus on monetary ROI or chasing partnerships based solely on ‘reach,’” DeMaria says. “If a brand has a massive audience but zero alignment with your brand ethos, it’s a hollow victory. Partnerships fail when they feel forced or when they prioritize a quick buck over the integrity of the story you’re trying to tell.”
So how does a winery know if a partnership is the right fit?
“It starts with self-awareness,” DeMaria explains. “You have to know your own brand—its goals, its values, and its long-term strategy, inside and out. Before signing on, ask: Does this reflect who we are when no one is looking? If the partnership doesn’t align with your core values, it won’t sustain you in the long run.”
DeMaria points to an example that surprised her with its effectiveness: partnering with local sommeliers not as salespeople, but as community builders.
“We invited sommeliers to gather their peers for a deep-dive conversation on finding solutions for Napa wineries,” she says. “It shifted the dynamic from a transaction to a community. The turnout was fantastic, and the engagement was off the charts because it allowed people to experience the winery from a completely different point of view. By letting the somms invite their own peers, it turned a standard trade marketing event into an authentic, shared experience.”
When it comes to overlooked partnership opportunities, DeMaria encourages wineries to look closer to home.
“Wineries are frequently overlooking the entrepreneurs within their own wine clubs or customer bases,” she notes. “These are people who already love what you do; finding ways to collaborate with them creates a beautiful, organic synergy that feels much more personal than a cold corporate tie-in—and as an added bonus, it will deepen their loyalty to your brand.”
And for long-term brand equity rather than short-term sales, DeMaria points to an often-underestimated partner: wholesalers.
“People often view them as a middleman hurdle, but wholesalers are actually your best long-term allies,” she says. “The secret is finding your differentiating aspects and identifying exactly how you can add value to the distributor’s portfolio. When you treat a wholesaler as a true partner in your strategy—especially as a small producer—you become part of their long-term strategy.”
The Symposium session How Wineries Are Building Brands and Success Through Strategic Partnerships explores how to identify the right partners, structure mutually beneficial relationships, and turn partnerships into long-term brand growth and customer acquisition.
The best partnerships don’t just drive short-term sales-they introduce your brand to audiences who become your next wave of loyal club members.
The Future of Wine Growth Is Relationship-Based
The wineries that will thrive in the coming years won’t be the ones chasing the most signups. They’ll be the ones building the deepest relationships, with their members and with strategic partners who amplify their reach.
Wine Industry Network’s Annual 2026 Wine Sales Symposium is designed for winery owners, sales leaders, and marketing executives who are ready to rethink how they grow.
The in-person symposium takes place May 13, 2026 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sonoma Wine Country in Rohnert Park, California.
Advance registration is $345 and includes full access to all sessions, lunch, and a networking social. Day-of pricing is $395.
The brands that figure out retention and partnerships will own the next decade.
The ones that don’t will keep losing members – and revenue – at rates they can’t afford.
