If you work in the wine industry, you don’t need another headline telling you that tasting room traffic is down, or that your DTC sales channel is under pressure. Between shifting consumer trends, staffing challenges, and tighter margins, many winery tasting rooms face the same questions: How do you future-proof your tasting room without burning out your team or diluting your brand? And how do you stand out amongst the hundreds of wineries essentially selling the same product?
This episode of Expert Talks: Wine Industry Insights features Liz Mercer, a partner at WISE Academy and a 26-year DTC veteran, who has worked across small family wineries, large multi-brand portfolios, and global wine regions. Liz brings a rare, data-backed view into what’s actually happening inside tasting rooms, and what top-performing wineries are doing differently. She outlines a clear blueprint for wineries looking to strengthen tasting room performance heading into 2026 and beyond. Read on to discover the top takeaways from this episode.
1. The Tasting Room Can’t Be the Only Touchpoint Anymore
For years, tasting rooms were the primary driver of DTC success. They fueled club signups, brand discovery, and, in turn, long-term loyalty. But fires, pandemics, and evolving travel trends have forced wineries to rethink that dependency.
The wineries performing best today still value the tasting room deeply, but they no longer rely on it as the only path to growth.
Top performers are expanding their DTC mix through:
- Thoughtful post-visit follow-up
- Off-site and outbound experiences
- Events, roadshows, and partnerships
- Digital touch-points that extend the relationship beyond the visit
The tasting room isn’t the finish line anymore; it’s the beginning of a long, nurtured relationship with your customers.
2. Guest Expectations are Drastically Changing
Today’s tasting room guests aren’t comparing their experience to the winery next door; they’re comparing it to other experiences they’re having in other industries and entertainment.Other experiences shaping the tasting room expectation:
- Exclusive airport lounges
- Atten-to-detail boutique hotels
- VIP festival experiences
We’re living in an “experience within the experience” economy, and wine guests expect depth, personalization, and exclusivity to match the bill. The wineries that stand out are creating layered experiences that feel intentional, not transactional, and ultimately are giving experiences that invite guests to go deeper with the brand.
3. Top Tasting Rooms Feel Intentional, Not Scripted
WISE has conducted thousands of mystery shops using consistent evaluation criteria since 2012. One thing is immediately clear when you walk into a top-performing tasting room: It feels cohesive.
These top-performing wineries have a clearly differentiated brand story, told by hosts who feel confident and empowered. These hosts listen to emotional cues that help guests connect with the winery on a deeper level.
Wineries that instruct their team with overly scripted presentations and generic talking points are where consumers walk away with that ‘bleh’ feeling. Approaching every customer with a one-size-fits-all narrative is hurting your conversion rate and long-term loyalty more than you think. Guests don’t want a rehearsed monologue. They want a conversation that adapts to them.
4. Hospitality First. Sales as a Natural Extension.
One of the biggest mistakes wineries make is swinging too far in either direction: they can be too sales-driven, creating uncomfortable pressure, or too passive, hoping guests will convert on their own without asking for the sale. The best tasting rooms strike a balance.
Liz points out the WISE philosophy:
Sales come through superb service.
That means listening closely, reinforcing what guests love, and guiding them naturally toward a purchase, club membership, or continued relationship.
It’s confident, thoughtful, guest-centered, and never pushy.
5. Empowerment Beats Training Alone
Most wineries train their tasting room teams very well, but where performance often breaks down is in the empowerment department.
High-performing teams are given a wide range of stories and personal experiences to pull from. These wineries ensure their tasting rooms have regular exposure to vineyards, production, and winemakers, and allow them to adapt to guests in real time.
Some simple but powerful tactics tasting room managers can start to incorporate and make a regular part of FOH training are vineyard walk-throughs during slow days, regular fireside chats with winemakers, leaning on regional association fact sheets as training tools, and breaking down silos between hospitality and production.
When teams feel connected, supported, and empowered internally, guests feel it immediately when they are on site.
6. KPIs Only Work If the Team Owns Them
Metrics like capture rate, conversion, club signups, and average order value matter, but only when teams understand what they mean and how they can influence them.
WISE advocates for open-book management:
- Posting scorecards
- Reviewing performance regularly
- Celebrating wins
- Problem-solving together
Rather than chasing every metric, focus on the essentials:
- Did the guest buy wine?
- Did they join the club?
- Did they join the mailing list?
This will ensure more ownership on tasting room teams, more transparency on business metrics, and ultimately lead to more buy-in across the board.
7. Guest Data Is a Competitive Advantage If You Know How To Use It
Tasting rooms typically enjoy 60–90 minutes of dedicated, one-on-one interaction with their ideal guests. Yet, this valuable opportunity to gather and document guest data is frequently overlooked.
Top-performing wineries capture preferences and notes consistently, write review reservation data before the visit, recognize returning guests and their preferences, and ultimately use technology as a relationship tool, not just a transaction system.
The tools already exist, the opportunity lies in fully utilizing the systems, and having someone on the team making the most of the software the winery has invested in.
What the Best Tasting Rooms Will Do in 2026
According to Liz, the wineries that will thrive next year will:
- Invest deeply in their people
- Treat coaching as ongoing, not one-time
- Leverage free and low-cost industry resources
- Fully utilize their technology stack
- Take intentional, calculated risks
And for wineries looking to take immediate action, Start with the next 30 days.
- Audit the resources you already have
- Commit to stronger data capture
- Follow up with every guest
- Treat every visit as the beginning of a long-term relationship
The Future of Tasting Rooms Belongs to the Intentional
The tasting room isn’t going away, but the old model is due for an upgrade. Wineries will win when they empower their teams, build emotional connections, and align hospitality, data, and sales into a single, intentional experience.
At InnoVint, we believe modern winery success comes from clarity, alignment, and systems that support the people on the ground.
Watch the full Expert Talks: Wine Industry Insights episode with Liz Mercer of WISE Academy to hear firsthand how top wineries are rethinking tasting room strategy and how you can apply these insights heading into 2026. And download the Mystery Shop PDF to conduct your own audit of your tasting room.