The team at Silicon Valley Bank released the annual Direct to Consumer Wine Survey Report.

Last year’s report was canceled because the surveys were due just as the pandemic hit and the shutdowns began.

Thus there was no surprise when this year they discussed the tectonic shift in the winery operations. I particularly enjoyed the comments by a VP of Marketing of a 10,000 case winery in Virginia. Of course, Rob McMillan, Paul Mabray, and a VP from The Family Coppola all had valuable insights.

To watch the replay and download the slides go to THIS PAGE

It’s a full hour and a half. So pour a glass of wine and relax. Yes, there are lots of graphs. Some of the topics I found interesting that are scattered throughout the discussion were:

• Reservations vs Walk-in and how the conversion rate for Club signups is almost double the rate for Walk-ins
• Reservations are a good Wine Club retention tool
• Finding qualified staff for the tasting room has been a challenge because so many people moved
• A key to a successful virtual tasting is collaboration with other wineries
• How to price a virtual tasting
• How to price shipping fees