Pop quiz, hotshot: tell me one winery sales email you actually remember from this year.
Yeah. Same.
Here’s why. Most winery emails are about what’s for sale. Very few are about what the winery actually stands for. And that’s exactly what makes them forgettable.
I introduce myself the same way every time I’m on a stage: I’m an enthusiastic storyteller. Because yes, I care deeply about helping wineries drive more sales from their emails. But the way you get there isn’t just the offer. It isn’t just the pricing. It’s the story.
What “emails with purpose” actually means
Relax. I don’t mean getting preachy.
Purpose in your emails can be as simple as:
- What you believe in
- How you farm
- Who your people are
- What your winery stands for beyond the bottle
If your emails only talk about what you sell, you’re missing the reason someone would choose you in the first place. Wine is emotional. Every once in a while, your emails should be, too.
Why this matters for your bottom line
When someone connects with your purpose, they don’t just buy once. They open more emails. They stay subscribed longer. They come back more often.
That’s how you build lifetime value, not just one-time sales. Storytelling, at its best, isn’t about being interesting. It’s about making someone care.
1. Tell a real story
You’re going to laugh at how simple this is to start. Tell one real story:
- A moment in the vineyard
- Something your team experienced
- Why a wine exists at all
How Clos Solène turns every SKU into a story
One of my favorite wineries in Paso Robles, Clos Solène, does this beautifully with every wine in their portfolio. Every single SKU is a story. And because they’ve done such an excellent job telling each one, I never want to miss a release. That’s the power of this done right: the story creates the anticipation, and the anticipation sells the wine.
2. Show your people
Introduce the humans behind the brand. And not just the winemaker. Everyone.
Everyone from vine to glass is part of the story
An idea that really stuck with me from a session called Rooted in Story at this year’s Unified Wine & Grape Symposium: every single person who touches the product, from vine to glass, is part of the story. Your vineyard crew. Your cellar team. Your tasting room staff. The person packing your shipments.
All of them are part of the experience your customer is buying into. And most of the time? None of them show up in your emails.
When you start showing those people, your emails feel more human, your brand feels more real, and your customers feel more connected to what they’re buying. People don’t connect to products. They connect to people. And it turns out your winery already has a whole cast of characters.
3. Connect it back to the customer
Don’t just tell your story. Connect it back to theirs. Because the most powerful stories in your marketing aren’t actually yours. They’re your customers’.
The $45 bottle that became part of two stories
I’ll give you an example. The most expensive bottle of wine I bought in my twenties was the 2004 Kenefick Ranch Cab Franc. It was $45 a bottle. I bought six and saved every one of them for special occasions.
I opened a bottle when I got a big promotion at work. I opened a bottle the night Mr. Whiskers proposed. And I loved that wine so much that I gave one bottle to my best friend for her birthday and told her: “I can’t wait for this wine to be part of a life moment for you.”
A few years later, she and her boyfriend surprised me with a drop-in visit. The first thing she said after we hugged like best friends who hadn’t seen each other in too long: “We opened the Kenefick Ranch.”
That wine became part of her story.
Write about their moments, not your inventory
Your customer isn’t buying a bottle. They’re buying a moment. So instead of “Here’s our new release,” try:
- “This is the wine we open when friends show up unannounced”
- “This is what we pour at the start of a long weekend”
- “This is the bottle people come back for after a big life moment”
Better yet, start telling their stories. Your best marketing is already happening in the moments your customers are celebrating, the memories they’re making, and the reasons they come back.
You don’t have a purpose problem
Here’s the thing. Most wineries don’t have a purpose problem. They have a communication problem.
No one accidentally starts a winery. Whether it’s family legacy, a connection to the land, a leap of faith, a second career, or a passion that turned into something more, there’s always a reason this exists. But too often, that meaning stays internal.
How to find your winery’s purpose (without inventing one)
Instead of trying to invent some big, abstract “purpose,” simply ask: what do you care about that shows up in how you run your winery? How you treat your team. How you farm. How you host people. How you show up in your community.
That’s your purpose. You don’t have to make it up. You just have to share it.
Sometimes purpose is deeply personal
For Email Mavens, July is Hudson Month, and Hudson is a huge part of why I started this business.
Our first child, Hudson Ruth Walter, was born on July 11, 2012, delivered without a heartbeat. Doctors worked to get her heart beating, and she spent her three days on earth in the NICU at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. Her short life changed our lives forever. I would probably never have started my own business had it not been for her. And because of her, every July we donate a portion of our business revenue to the Forget-Me-Not Foundation at Sacred Heart Hospital, to help fund the memories that organization creates with families going through the dark days we navigated 14 years ago.
Hudson represents connection, memory, and impact. And she’s a reminder that what we build can actually mean something beyond business.
Every winery has something like this. A story. A value. A reason behind what you do.
Start with one email
If your emails feel a little surface level right now, this is your opportunity.
Start with one email. Just one. Instead of leading with the offer, lead with a story. Ask yourself: what do we care about that our customers would feel if we shared it? Then write that email.
You don’t need a full rebrand. You don’t need a new campaign calendar. You just need to start showing more of what’s already there.
Your purpose isn’t something you create for marketing. It’s something you reveal through it. And when you do that, your emails stop feeling like promotions and start feeling like something people actually want to receive.
Tell better stories. Share what you stand for. Connect with the human on the other side of the inbox.
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FAQ'S
What does storytelling mean in winery email marketing?
It means leading with the why behind your winery instead of only the what’s-for-sale: real moments from the vineyard, the people behind the wine, and the role your wine plays in your customers’ lives. Story creates the connection; the connection drives the sale.
How often should winery emails tell stories instead of selling?
There’s no magic ratio, but if every email is an offer, you’re overdue. Start with one story-led email this month and watch how it performs against your promotional sends. Most wineries are surprised.
Do purpose-driven emails actually sell wine?
Yes, just not always same-day. Subscribers who connect with your purpose open more emails, stay subscribed longer, and come back more often. That’s lifetime value, and it compounds in a way one-time promotions never do.
