Wine Clubs

Question 1

What do wine clubs do?

Answer 1

-offer members (usually for small annual fee) opportunity to purchase wine at reduced prices for delivery to their home

Question 2

What are the benefits of wine clubs to customers?

Answer 2

-access to wines not normally available to general public
-free tours
-invitations to exclusive tastings
-easy access to wines they enjoy

Question 3

Where are wine clubs popular?

Answer 3

-new world eg Australia and USA
-as part of wine tourism offering, consumers encouraged to join club while tasting wine at cellar door
-many producers sell large proportion of stock this way
=reduces need to find other outlets
-some prestigious producers- eg Screaming Eagle, Napa, wine cubs only way to buy their top wines

Question 4

Why are wine cubs good for producers?

Answer 4

-good marking
-enable producers to stay in contact with members (through newsletters, websites, blogs etc)
-who they hope will continue to buy their wine and introduce it to friends and family

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of wine clubs?

Answer 5

-admin
-producing newsletters
-details of what wine available, every 3 months
-process orders then ship the wine
-although members pay del cost, producer has to take on risk of lost/broken in transit= needs to find reliable freight forwarder
-In USA- 3 tiered system v onerous