Before this trip, the last vineyard I visited was a small, family-run enterprise in the UK in 2012, so I assumed I'd see much of the same when we arrived at Kingston Vineyards on Thursday, where we were greeted warmly by Guy and Hatty, UK expats, as well as Judith, a Chilean native.
I was mistaken to assume that the two vineyards would compare--Kingston was massive, and sold its wines (and grapes) entirely differently. Kingston sells small quantities of wine to promote the quality of its grapes to larger winemakers, and the way it markets and sells those quantities of wine is also unexpected.
The vineyard encourages consumers (particularly those in the US, due to the location of a Kingston warehouse in California) to "subscribe," essentially, to one of its wine clubs, which are accompanied by perks other than the wine itself, such as complimentary tastings and tours. The direct-to-consumer "subscription" model is quite popular in the US now, so it makes sense that Kingston would adopt it. They ship out two cases of their wines each year to subscribers, who can choose the number of wines in their case. This isn't an entirely novel idea--you can also subscribe to monthly boxes of makeup samples, pet treats and toys, clothing hand selected by a stylist, activewear, juices, coffee, snacks, and yes, other wines. The fact that so many other examples of DTC business models came to mind so quickly appears to me to be a strong signal that the direct-to-consumer model is here to stay.
The model also allows Kingston to offer its wines to consumers at a price that is presumably significantly lower than if the wines had to be sold through a retailer. It also allows Kingston to retain control of the quality and integrity of the brand from warehouse to doorstep. Cheers to that!
I was mistaken to assume that the two vineyards would compare--Kingston was massive, and sold its wines (and grapes) entirely differently. Kingston sells small quantities of wine to promote the quality of its grapes to larger winemakers, and the way it markets and sells those quantities of wine is also unexpected.
The vineyard encourages consumers (particularly those in the US, due to the location of a Kingston warehouse in California) to "subscribe," essentially, to one of its wine clubs, which are accompanied by perks other than the wine itself, such as complimentary tastings and tours. The direct-to-consumer "subscription" model is quite popular in the US now, so it makes sense that Kingston would adopt it. They ship out two cases of their wines each year to subscribers, who can choose the number of wines in their case. This isn't an entirely novel idea--you can also subscribe to monthly boxes of makeup samples, pet treats and toys, clothing hand selected by a stylist, activewear, juices, coffee, snacks, and yes, other wines. The fact that so many other examples of DTC business models came to mind so quickly appears to me to be a strong signal that the direct-to-consumer model is here to stay.
The model also allows Kingston to offer its wines to consumers at a price that is presumably significantly lower than if the wines had to be sold through a retailer. It also allows Kingston to retain control of the quality and integrity of the brand from warehouse to doorstep. Cheers to that!