Winestyr Offers A Lifeline To Small Wineries In Crisis

When Bob Wilson and his partners founded Winestyr in 2011, they could not possibly have considered the events that would challenge the wine industry nine years later. Their original goal was to build a better model for consumers to discover and purchase wine from artisanal producers, a mission that is necessary now more than ever. Between wildfires and Covid-19, this has been an extremely difficult year for the wine industry in general, but small producers are disproportionately affected by both crises. 

      With restaurants in many cities closed or offering limited seating or hours, consumers are dining at home and drinking their wine there as well. Grocery and wine shop shelves are crowded with mass-produced wines, offering limited access to handcrafted wines from boutique wineries. As Wilson points out, “The shutdown was particularly challenging to the artisanal, small U.S. wineries who saw their primary distribution model – tasting rooms – become virtually obsolete overnight. Small producers have to contend with being too small to merit the attention of retailers, but they also lack the knowledge, experience and infrastructure to scale their own DTC [direct to consumer] programs. This means it’s nearly impossible for consumers to seek out and purchase these wines.” 

     Unlike many online wine stores and clubs, the Winestyr team meets with each of its wineries and personally tastes every wine it carries to ensure it meets their standards. Winemakers are turning to the platform as a matter of survival. Nearly two dozen wineries have newly partnered with Winestyr since the pandemic, joining more than 100 of their counterparts who were already distributed through the platform.

     Winestyr was founded in Chicago in 2011 by Bob Wilson, Scott Washburn, and John Wilson. They launched their innovative marketplace platform in 2012, brought fulfillment in-house in 2014, launched the wine club in 2015, and opened their first showroom in 2016. Consumers can access wine from Winestyr by visiting its website and shopping directly for wines and wine gifts or by signing up for its wine club. Winestyr has 3,000 active club members and sells about 120,000 bottles of wine annually, offering 250 wines made by more than 120 different producers from California, Oregon, Washington, and New York. Among the brands on offer are slightly below the radar but highly revered producers such as Adelsheim, Jolie-Laide, Jonata, Evening Land Vineyards, Radio-Coteau, and Peay Vineyards. 

     Healdsburg, California-based Reeve Wines is one of the brands that has found market success with Winestyr. Co-founder Noah Dorrance has nothing but praise for the retail platform: “Winestyr has offered us a unique way to reach even more direct customers as online wine purchases have surged. Winestyr has been an invaluable sales channel for us during the pandemic.” 

     Asked what he appreciates about working with Winestyr, Blair Guthrie of Stewart Cellars, Hollis Wines, and Guthrie Family Wines stated, “Winestyr has some of the most sought-after producers from around the country! Not only do I recommend my fellow winemakers to sell their wines through the platform I also recommend it to consumers all the time. It’s like 100 club memberships rolled into one.” 

     We recently had a conversation with Bob Wilson about how Winestyr started, how it works, and how Covid-19 has impacted the business. 

World Wine Guys: What consumer need were you looking to fulfill when you founded Winestyr in 2011? 

Bob Wilson: We started Winestyr to level the playing field for America’s thousands of artisanal wineries and to give consumers an authentic and transparent way to discover and purchase America’s best artisanal wines, at the best possible prices, and with an amazing customer experience. We saw these changes being made in virtually every industry, but wine remained largely untouched by these trends. With over half of the wine sold in America being produced by three wine conglomerates, we knew there must be a better way.

WWG: Can you give us a brief “elevator pitch” on how Winestyr works? 

BW: Winestyr is the first and only full service direct-to-consumer wine marketplace connecting consumers directly with America’s best artisanal wineries, while wholly and elegantly cutting out two traditional middlemen. Our innovative and compliant model streamlines the fragmented winery direct-to-consumer channel in the U.S., benefiting wineries and consumers. 

      For consumers, Winestyr offers the benefits of purchasing directly from wineries, such as better pricing, better access to rare and small lot wines, and the satisfaction of supporting artisanal producers, while our innovative model also gives them the best of retail like lightning-fast bundled shipping, great customer service, and an exceptional customer experience.

WWG: How do you choose the wine brands that partner with you to sell via Winestyr? 

BW: We’re extremely passionate about wine, so we tend to pursue wineries that excite us, and that pursuit transcends into our personal lives. From studying restaurant wine lists and researching countless wineries and winemakers on Instagram, to spending a number of years living in Sonoma, we’re constantly on the lookout for new wines and wineries we haven’t tried yet. Multiple wineries per week reach out to us directly and we also get a flattering amount of referrals from wineries who are on the platform. To be considered for the platform, wineries need to check three important boxes. 

      First, the wine needs to be great. We taste all wines before they’re considered for the platform, but it doesn’t stop there. 

      The second necessary criteria is authenticity. We work with real wineries and winemakers, not marketer-created brands, and we never make wine ourselves. 

      Third, and this only matters if we’re on the fence after the first two criteria, we look at the brand and packaging and consider whether it enhances the experience of the first two criteria or detracts. In rare cases, this third criteria will be the deciding factor.

WWG: Why does it make sense for small wineries to work with Winestyr? 

BW: We offer artisanal wineries a turnkey solution to augment their direct-to consumer sales, we provide them with higher margins than they’d get through the traditional three-tier system and—the best part—we make it easy for them to sell their wines directly to consumers around the country. With Winestyr, winemakers can spend less time selling and marketing their wines and more time making wine and tending to vineyards, which is how it should be.

WWG: How has Covid-19 impacted your business and the wineries on your platform? 

BW: The closure of restaurants and wine shops across the country has magnified incongruencies in the U.S. wine industry, with even more market share going to large and dominant brands through traditional three-tier distribution. This continued shift towards big wine and big retail, in conjunction with the indefinite shuttering of winery tasting rooms has already crippled many of the artisanal wineries we know and love. All this, amid critical downturns in tourism due to consecutive devastating wildfire seasons, means that they need our support now more than ever. 

      With the backing of our thousands of wine club members, we’ve already made a big impact for our portfolio wineries spread across California, Oregon, Washington, and New York and are providing a critical DTC sales channel for them during this tough time. Being the voice for small wineries has always been our noble cause and, as you surely know, the situation has never been so dire for America’s treasure trove of artisanal wineries.