OrderPort Blog

Best Times of Year to Maximize Your Winery's Online Sales

Written by Marketing | Jul 17, 2025 3:36:38 PM

Your wine tells a story of craftsmanship, terroir, and passion. But even the most exceptional bottles require strategic timing to reach their full sales potential. The difference between a promotion that barely moves inventory and one that generates serious revenue often comes down to discovering the optimal time to sell wine online.

At OrderPort, we’ve analyzed sales patterns across our winery partners, and the data reveals something fascinating: the wineries crushing their DTC wine sales goals aren’t just making better wine; they’re making smarter timing decisions. They understand that wine online sales follow predictable rhythms, and they use this knowledge to turn seasonal patterns into revenue goldmines.

We’re sharing what we’ve discovered about when winery sales perform best so you can stop guessing and start growing.

Key Takeaways

  • The holiday season (November-December) consistently drives the highest portion of annual DTC revenue for our most successful winery partners.
  • Spring renewals (March-April) capitalize on tax refunds and wine club renewal cycles.
  • Summer entertaining season (June-August) targets vacation home and event purchasing behaviors.
  • January recovery offers strategic inventory clearance and customer re-engagement opportunities.
  • Data-driven timing consistently outperforms seasonal guesswork for winery revenue optimization.

Peak Selling Seasons That Drive Maximum Revenue

 

Holiday Season Sales (November-December)

We see it every year across our platform. November hits, and suddenly, winery ecommerce sales explode. But most wineries miss a key opportunity by treating the holidays like one big season instead of three distinct revenue waves.

The corporate gift market opens in early November with buyers seeking premium bottles for client gifts. Then Thanksgiving week brings the family gatherers buying wines for intimate dinners. Finally, December delivers the last-minute gifters searching for that perfect bottle.

What we’ve learned from our top-performing wineries:

  • Set shipping deadlines well before mid-December and communicate them early
  • Create tiered promotions based on buyer type and volume needs
  • Use your POS data to identify which wines sold best last holiday season

The wineries using our integrated platform to track these patterns often see significant revenue increases during this period compared to those running generic holiday sales.

Spring Wine Club Renewals (March-April)

Spring brings something magical to the wine business: hope, new beginnings, and tax refunds. We consistently see wine club promotions perform best during this window, and it’s not just about the extra cash in customers’ pockets.

March and April tap into a psychological sweet spot. When you time your club renewals and upgrade campaigns during this period, you’re working with human nature instead of against it.

Our most successful wine club managers focus on:

  • Timing renewal campaigns for early March, when tax refunds typically arrive
  • Positioning new vintage releases as spring exclusives for club members

Wineries that align their renewal timing with these natural spending cycles consistently see stronger retention and upgrade rates compared to those using arbitrary renewal dates.

Summer Entertaining Season (June-August)

Summer wine sales tell a different story from the rest of the year. Through our ecommerce analytics, we watch purchasing patterns shift toward larger quantities and lighter styles. Vacation home owners, wedding planners, and summer party hosts become your best customers.

The key insight? Summer buyers think in cases, not bottles. When running summertime winery promotions, focus on bulk incentives and entertaining-sized orders that increase wine sales online.

Winning summer strategies from our platform data:

  • Offer progressive discounts that reward larger purchases
  • Market rosé and summer whites during heat waves

Strategic Off-Season Opportunities Smart Wineries Leverage

 

January Recovery and Re-engagement

January gets a bad reputation in the wine business, but we see something different in our data. The people buying wine in January are serious wine lovers, not impulse purchasers, creating unique opportunities for strategic wineries.

Instead of desperate discounting, focus on relationship building and premium positioning. January wine buyers often show stronger long-term value than holiday season impulse customers.

Our January success strategies:

  • Target your best customers with exclusive wine lover promotions
  • Clear slow-moving inventory through member-only pricing

Back-to-School Professional Market (September-October)

September brings business back to life, and we see B2B wine sales spike as companies plan fall events and corporate entertainment. This period offers excellent opportunities for seasonal wine marketing focused on harvest storytelling and wine education positioning, often coordinated with tasting room reservations for corporate groups.

Professional buyers appreciate quality and authenticity – exactly what harvest season represents.

Customer Behavior Patterns That Determine Optimal Timing

 

Monthly Purchase Cycles and Payday Patterns

Here’s something most wineries never consider: when do your customers have money to spend? Our POS and ecommerce data reveal clear monthly patterns that can significantly improve your conversion rates.

First-week-of-the-month promotions consistently outperform random timing. Why? Simple: budgets reset, paychecks arrive, and spending confidence peaks.

What our data shows: 

  • Highest conversion rates occur during the first five days of each month
  • Mid-month promotions capture bi-weekly paycheck cycles
  • End-of-month campaigns often struggle regardless of promotion quality

Regional and Weather-Driven Sales Variations

Your zip code matters more than you think. We track sales patterns across different climate zones, and the variations are striking. Cold-weather regions show distinct seasonal preferences compared to warm-weather areas.

Smart wineries use weather patterns to time their promotions strategically. Cold weather typically drives red wine sales, while heat waves increase demand for white wines and rosé.

Ready to Optimize Your Wine Sales Calendar?

Everything we’ve shared comes from real data across our winery network. The patterns are clear, the opportunities are proven, and the results speak for themselves. But knowing when to act is only half the battle. You need systems that can execute flawlessly when those perfect timing windows open.

Our integrated platform gives you the insights to identify your unique peak selling periods and the automation tools to capitalize on them. From POS analytics that reveal in-person buying patterns to ecommerce reporting that tracks online conversion timing, you get the complete picture of when your customers buy and why.Ready to stop guessing and start growing? Our team has helped many wineries optimize their promotional calendars for better revenue results. Let’s talk about your sales timing strategy and turn your wine sales calendar into a revenue growth engine.