About this course
Vintners Vanguard 2025 is a step-by-step course for building and growing your own wine brand. It starts with mindset: courage before confidence, clarity about what to focus on, and consistent reps that build results. From there you define a brand DNA that is truly your own story, shape your origin story into a short hero's arc for tastings, build your ideal customer starting with yourself, and position your wines as small batch and limited edition against corporate volume brands.
Next you learn how to sell. You'll launch with free First Sips home tastings, run recurring signature events, and use tasting note cards to know when to offer your wine club. You'll set up 3, 6, 12 and 36-bottle clubs and run quarterly allocations without discounting. You'll also sell custom-labeled bottles to businesses as corporate gifts, which make up about 15% of revenue in the instructors' business, and learn to sell when you're not in the room through affiliates and virtual ambassadors.
The final lessons cover the business behind the bottle. You'll plan inventory using consignment and small 6 or 12-case purchases, keep your flagship wine in stock, and learn the path from custom crush to your own pallets and wholesale accounts in the three-tier system. You'll also cover compliance: what an O2 license allows, tasting room licensing, tied-house rules, event insurance, and the signature rules for shipping wine direct to consumers.
This course is for business owners building a wine brand, including those working with limited time around a job and family, who want a clear plan for revenue, events, clubs, corporate sales and licensing.
Lessons
Brand & Story
- 01The Five C'sThis lesson covers the mindset behind building a wine brand: the Five C's of courage, clarity, consistency, competency and confidence. You'll see why the hard part isn't the wine itself, and how daily clarity and repeated practice lead to results and the confidence to keep going. It then introduces your brand DNA and why your brand must be authentic and rooted in your own story.6 min
- 02Brand DNA & Marketing ArchitectureLearn why the money in a wine brand is in the marketing, and how to build that marketing on the story behind each bottle. This lesson covers defining your brand voice and origin story, profiling your ideal customer, positioning as small batch and limited edition, and turning each wine's story into video content. It matters because stories create the connection that sells bottles and builds your wine club.34 min
Revenue & Events
- 03The $1,000 Revenue Machine & First SipsLearn how to run a free First Sips launch tasting from your home, without a tasting room, to sign up your first wine club members and sell bottles. The lesson covers how to find guests with a Facebook survey and local ads, how to structure club tiers including an invite-only proprietor level, and why you should never discount. It also shows how corporate custom-label sales add revenue, especially in Q4.24 min
- 04Event & Experience Marketing WorkshopLearn how to build a year-round calendar of launch, member, themed and holiday events instead of one-off tastings. You'll see how to create signature events from your skills or relationships, stack partner contributions into an offer that supports your price, and promote so seats fill. The lesson also covers the rules for free home tastings, pour sizes, zoning, food safety and event insurance, so your events build club members without creating legal risk.24 min
- 05The Corporate Bottle ProgramLearn how to sell your wine to companies as corporate gifts, either under your brand with a custom label or under their brand. The lesson covers how businesses buy, how to price and pitch using the platform's numbers and branded PDFs, and where to find leads. It matters because corporate accounts buy in volume, don't haggle, skip the three-tier split, and can reorder again and again.7 min
Club & DTC Sales
- 06Close the Club: The DTC Sales SystemLearn how to design a tasting so it leads to wine club sign-ups rather than one-off bottle sales, since club members stay and buy over time. The lesson covers tasting note cards, the menus and sign-up materials to put in front of guests, and the questions that tell you which club tier to offer. It also covers how pour order, bonus pours and a varied wine portfolio affect how many bottles and club memberships you close.41 min
- 07Running a Successful Club AllocationLearn how to run your wine club allocation from open to close: when to schedule it, how long to keep it open, how to remind members, and how to handle shipping problems. Club allocations bring repeat revenue and predictable cash flow. Subscription revenue can also lift your business valuation to a 10 to 12 multiple, compared with about 1.5 to 2 for a straight retail business.13 min
- 08Selling When You're Not in the RoomLearn how affiliate marketing works and how to use it to bring in new business through other people. The instructor draws on years of running a large affiliate network to explain what an affiliate program needs: a branded landing page, undisputed tracking, a commission calculator and a promo kit. You will also see why you should send referrals through your own affiliate link in Vendor Pro so you get paid for the people you introduce.6 min
- 09The Virtual Ambassador ProgramLearn how the Virtual Ambassador Program works and how an ambassador differs from an affiliate. You will see how to refer contacts like restaurant and hotel owners: pitch your own brand first, or their own label if that does not close, and still get paid on the deal. The lesson stresses this is not a new sales job. You simply capture opportunities from conversations you are already having and pass them on through Vintner Pro.4 min
Operations & Compliance
- 10Inventory: How Much and WhereLearn how to balance drop ship consignment with prepaid inventory purchases so you lower your cost of goods without tying up your capital. The lesson covers buying in small pockets, timing bigger orders around allocations and events, and protecting the flagship wines your members count on. Good inventory planning keeps cash free for new releases and stops you from running out of your best sellers.12 min
- 11Profitability & the Wholesale PathLearn how to move your virtual winery into the wholesale market and why making money there depends on fixed, competitive costs. The lesson covers the three-tier system's markups, the four-step path from custom crush to your own pallets, and why wholesale deals are sold by the pallet. You'll also see the tools provided for pitching: a branded wholesale deck and a platform for finding and managing distributor, retailer and restaurant accounts.7 min
- 12Compliance, Licensing & Custom CrushLearn how the O2 manufacturer license works in California and why it is the path into custom crush for owners who want consistent wine for decades. The lesson compares the O2 with restaurant licenses and the 1720 wholesale/retail license, and explains the tied-house rules. It also covers direct-to-consumer shipping rules and costs, so you can choose the right license and avoid expensive shipping mistakes.9 min
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