Can a premium winery have a sale without selling its soul? I think so.
It's November, which means our inboxes are filling up with Black Friday offers, countdown timers and increasingly enthusiastic declarations that EVERYTHING MUST GO.
And somewhere around the world, a winemaker is probably looking at a 50% off email from another winery and having a small existential crisis… I get it.
When you've spent years building a wine brand, investing in vineyards, carefully crafting your wines and establishing a reputation for quality, the idea of slapping a big red SALE sticker across everything can feel a little uncomfortable. Particularly when you've worked so hard to communicate why your wines are worth their full price in the first place.
But here's the thing — I don't think offering a discount and maintaining a premium brand are mutually exclusive. In fact, I think there's a way to do both well.
First, let's acknowledge the elephant in the cellar
Brand positioning matters. A lot.
Your wine isn't just another product sitting on a shelf. There's a story behind it, a vineyard, a vintage, a winemaking philosophy and usually a fairly significant amount of money, time and effort involved in getting it into bottle.
If you've spent years establishing yourself as a premium producer, you don't want to suddenly sound like a discount furniture warehouse every November, and you shouldn't have to.
But I also think it's worth acknowledging that the way people shop has changed. Consumers are more price-conscious, their inboxes are busier than ever, and they've become pretty accustomed to waiting for promotional periods before making certain purchases.
That doesn't necessarily mean they value your wine any less, though. Sometimes it simply means they've been eyeing off a case of Chardonnay for the past three months and would quite appreciate a little encouragement to finally buy it. We’ve all been there!
A sale doesn't have to mean cheapening your brand
I think the important distinction is between being promotional and being constantly promotional.
If every second email is announcing the biggest sale of the year, customers will eventually start questioning whether your wines are ever actually worth their full price — and if you train people to expect 30% off every fortnight, well, you can probably guess what's going to happen when you send an email asking them to pay full price.
But an occasional, thoughtfully planned offer? That's a different story.
A Black Friday campaign, an end-of-vintage release, a Wine Club exclusive or a seasonal six-pack offer can all make sense within a premium wine brand, provided they're approached with a bit of consideration.
You don't have to shout it, you don't have to use flashing graphics (please, don’t!), and you certainly don't have to abandon the beautiful photography, considered copywriting and brand personality you've spent years developing.
Instead, you can offer customers something genuinely worthwhile while still looking and sounding like yourself. Which, in my opinion, is where the clever marketing comes in.
Your loyal customers deserve a little love, too
One thing I think sometimes gets lost in the conversation around discounting is the customer who's already been supporting your winery for years.
The person who visits your cellar door every summer, orders a case of Cabernet for Christmas, reads your newsletters religiously and recommends your wines to their friends. Surely there's something to be said for rewarding that relationship?
I'm not necessarily talking about offering everyone 50% off, but it could be early access to a limited release, special Wine Club pricing, complimentary shipping, a thoughtfully curated mixed case offer or a little something extra tucked into their order.
The offer itself is only part of the equation — it's also about making people feel appreciated for choosing to spend their money with you. And in a world where customers have an almost endless number of wineries to choose from, I think that's worth remembering!
And what about the customers who are waiting for a sale?
We all know them, and some of us probably are them!
They love your wines, they follow you on Instagram, they've visited your website several times, possibly added a few bottles to their cart, and then decided they'll think about it later. Maybe they're watching their spending, or maybe they're waiting until Christmas. Maybe they simply need a reason to commit.
A well-timed promotion can be that reason.
And here's where I think Black Friday can actually present a really useful opportunity for wineries. Rather than thinking purely about the discount, think about the customers you're trying to reach.
Could you encourage someone who's only ever purchased one bottle to try a mixed six-pack? Could you reconnect with a customer who hasn't ordered in twelve months? Could you introduce someone to a different wine in your range, or give an existing Wine Club member another reason to stock up? Get creative with your segments and see customer information you can discover.
Suddenly, the conversation becomes less about cutting prices and more about encouraging customers to engage with your wines, which feels like a much better place to start.
Not every wine needs to be on sale
You don't have to discount everything. If you have a flagship Cabernet Sauvignon that's consistently selling out at full price, why would you? Equally, if you've got a previous vintage that you'd love to move before the next release, or a beautiful everyday drinking wine that would make a fantastic summer six-pack, there's an opportunity to create a genuinely appealing offer.
A few ideas worth considering:
Selected six-packs or dozens: Encourage customers to stock up without discounting your entire range.
Mixed cases: Introduce customers to wines they might not otherwise choose, while increasing the value of each order.
Wine Club early access: Give your most loyal customers first pick before opening an offer to everyone else.
Complimentary shipping or a gift with purchase: Add value without necessarily reducing the price of the wine.
Previous-vintage offers: Make room for upcoming releases while giving customers a good reason to revisit an older vintage.
The key is making sure the offer works commercially, too. A big spike in sales isn't quite as exciting when you realise you've given away most of your margin in discounts, freight and fulfilment costs.
Your marketing doesn't need to look like everyone else's
If there's one thing I'd encourage wineries to remember during Black Friday, it's that participating doesn't mean you have to follow the same playbook as every other business.
You can still write thoughtful emails; you can still tell the story of the vineyard, the vintage and the people behind the wine; and you can still use your beautiful imagery and communicate with the same personality your customers have come to know. The difference is that, for a few days, you're also giving them a reason to purchase.
A premium brand isn't defined solely by whether it ever offers a discount. It's defined by the consistency of its quality, the experience it delivers, and the relationship it builds with its customers. Those things don't disappear because you've decided to offer a special price on six bottles of Shiraz.
So, should your winery participate in Black Friday?
Maybe!
I certainly don't think every winery needs to. If your wines are in high demand, your margins don't allow it, or a promotion genuinely doesn't align with your business, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sitting it out. But I also don't think wineries should feel that offering a sale is somehow beneath them.
There's a balance to be found between protecting your premium positioning and recognising that customers appreciate a good offer, particularly in the current retail environment.
You can be proud of the quality and value of your wines while still making them a little more accessible from time to time. You can reward your loyal customers without training them to expect constant discounts. And you can run a successful Black Friday campaign without turning your winery's Instagram feed into a sea of red SALE banners.
Ultimately, I think the question isn't whether a premium winery should discount. It's whether the promotion makes sense for your brand, your customers and your business. And if the answer is yes? Go for it. Just maybe leave the flashing countdown timer out of it!
A little about me
I'm a wine marketing consultant working with wineries across Australia and New Zealand on email marketing, Shopify websites, Wine Clubs and digital strategy.
With a background in winemaking and viticulture, I understand how much work goes into building a wine brand, and how important it is to protect that reputation while growing direct-to-consumer sales.
If you'd like a hand putting together a thoughtful promotional campaign, improving your email marketing or finding ways to increase online sales without compromising your brand, I'd love to chat.
