I’ve hosted two pop-up wine bars in Paris and Vienna where we offered free tasting pours from 15-45 different wineries for free. While we didn’t host them in a winery we chose urban locations — in Paris a hip coffee shop and in Vienna a former industrial chic art gallery. Both were huge successes — this past June in Vienna we had a little more than 150 customers over 3 days and we sold nearly 2,000 EUR in take away bottle sales. With many wineries having too much inventory, free tastings can help reduce inventory and introduce brands to new audiences. So bravo to Tensley. Be crazy. : )
I've been noticing more and more tasting rooms in Sonoma offering wines by the glass, in addition to traditional tastings. To be honest, I think many wineries are seeing the slowdown in wine sales and are looking to make their prices more accessible to regain some volume (without looking like discounting). $1 tasting is certainly an option, just one glass of wine is, too, I'm also seeing more places offering "mini" tastings with only 2-3 wines. I think it's all good, places like Sonoma and Napa have priced themselves out for many new wine drinkers and this reopens the door!
Yeah, this summer I saw a lot of wineries offer "happy hour" during specific days during the summer, typically positioned as staying open later and would exclusively offer by the glass or bottle service and no tastings during the extended hours. It was a really smart move for folks to go grab a glass of wine or a bottle before dinner to enjoy the estates. Especially during summer when the weather in the early evening is really pleasant and you can watch the sun set over the vineyard. Now going into the winter, I'm brainstorming how wineries can bring that same energy. I know of one winery who does an all day happy hour on Mondays since that's a traditionally slow day for them, and that seems to work okay.
The other factor is the location of the Tensley tasting room, in the heart of Los Olivos. He's already got natural traffic because he's in town. I think that's a big part of this decision. If he was out on some dusty road off-trail, I don't think it matters as much. I also would watch what the other wineries in town do with their tasting fees. If Joey starts a trend and the other wineries pick up on the fact that Tensley is busier than their room, they're gonna drop fees as well.
Oh absolutely. Location, size of tasting room, cost of overhead etc, all play into this decision.
Although, I'm curious if this will ultimately end up hurting Tensley *because* they are in Los Olivos. Sure, they have built-in foot traffic, but you also have to consider the kind of guests who tend to wander through town. Some will absolutely be charmed by the $1 tasting and end up buying wine, but (and I could be wrong here!) I’d guess a good portion of Los Olivos tasters are more casual visitors who aren’t necessarily planning to drop dollars on bottles.
I feel like guests who are making the effort to go out into the sticks to places like Foxen, Bien Nacido, Peake Ranch, etc, might be more likely to recognize the value in something like that and have the disposable income to make bigger purchases. Although, *those* wineries often have more overhead, so... 🤷🏻♀️
I was talking to a friend up in Paso who floated a smart variation of this idea: offering a $1 tasting only on weekdays as a way to drive traffic on traditionally slower days. That might be an interesting middle ground between accessibility and financial sustainability.
You’ve articulated a distinction, Tasting Room Culture or Town Wanderers (aka here for the drinks) and Wine Buyers. It’s a Venn diagram where some of those circles overlap (but only a small part). That’s a reality to be sure and a bleak one at that
I’ve hosted two pop-up wine bars in Paris and Vienna where we offered free tasting pours from 15-45 different wineries for free. While we didn’t host them in a winery we chose urban locations — in Paris a hip coffee shop and in Vienna a former industrial chic art gallery. Both were huge successes — this past June in Vienna we had a little more than 150 customers over 3 days and we sold nearly 2,000 EUR in take away bottle sales. With many wineries having too much inventory, free tastings can help reduce inventory and introduce brands to new audiences. So bravo to Tensley. Be crazy. : )
Love to hear that they were successful!
I've been noticing more and more tasting rooms in Sonoma offering wines by the glass, in addition to traditional tastings. To be honest, I think many wineries are seeing the slowdown in wine sales and are looking to make their prices more accessible to regain some volume (without looking like discounting). $1 tasting is certainly an option, just one glass of wine is, too, I'm also seeing more places offering "mini" tastings with only 2-3 wines. I think it's all good, places like Sonoma and Napa have priced themselves out for many new wine drinkers and this reopens the door!
Yeah, this summer I saw a lot of wineries offer "happy hour" during specific days during the summer, typically positioned as staying open later and would exclusively offer by the glass or bottle service and no tastings during the extended hours. It was a really smart move for folks to go grab a glass of wine or a bottle before dinner to enjoy the estates. Especially during summer when the weather in the early evening is really pleasant and you can watch the sun set over the vineyard. Now going into the winter, I'm brainstorming how wineries can bring that same energy. I know of one winery who does an all day happy hour on Mondays since that's a traditionally slow day for them, and that seems to work okay.
The other factor is the location of the Tensley tasting room, in the heart of Los Olivos. He's already got natural traffic because he's in town. I think that's a big part of this decision. If he was out on some dusty road off-trail, I don't think it matters as much. I also would watch what the other wineries in town do with their tasting fees. If Joey starts a trend and the other wineries pick up on the fact that Tensley is busier than their room, they're gonna drop fees as well.
Oh absolutely. Location, size of tasting room, cost of overhead etc, all play into this decision.
Although, I'm curious if this will ultimately end up hurting Tensley *because* they are in Los Olivos. Sure, they have built-in foot traffic, but you also have to consider the kind of guests who tend to wander through town. Some will absolutely be charmed by the $1 tasting and end up buying wine, but (and I could be wrong here!) I’d guess a good portion of Los Olivos tasters are more casual visitors who aren’t necessarily planning to drop dollars on bottles.
I feel like guests who are making the effort to go out into the sticks to places like Foxen, Bien Nacido, Peake Ranch, etc, might be more likely to recognize the value in something like that and have the disposable income to make bigger purchases. Although, *those* wineries often have more overhead, so... 🤷🏻♀️
I was talking to a friend up in Paso who floated a smart variation of this idea: offering a $1 tasting only on weekdays as a way to drive traffic on traditionally slower days. That might be an interesting middle ground between accessibility and financial sustainability.
You’ve articulated a distinction, Tasting Room Culture or Town Wanderers (aka here for the drinks) and Wine Buyers. It’s a Venn diagram where some of those circles overlap (but only a small part). That’s a reality to be sure and a bleak one at that