Napa Valley DTC Trends: Q1 2025 Snapshot @ Copia

Yesterday, (4/29/25) , I had the opportunity to co-present the latest insights into Napa Valley’s Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) performance at Copia, hosted by Napa Valley Vintners. Alongside Liz Mercer from WISE, we explored what’s working, what’s changing, and how top-performing wineries are adapting in real time.

Q1 2025 Presentation Charts & Slides Here

Summary of Key Highlights Below

🧭 A New Navigation: Introducing GPS

We kicked off with an overview of our all new Goal Positioning System (GPS)—a framework designed to help wineries align strategic goals with real-time performance benchmarks. (see Video Demo here)

📉 Current DTC Trends: A Mixed Bag & Phone Sales!

While revenue per visitor remains steady or slightly increasing, overall tasting room revenue is down across most regions, including a 4.5% decline in Napa. The root cause? Fewer visitors, not lower spending.

DTC highlights from Q1 2025:

• 38% of Napa wineries saw DTC growth vs. Q1 2024.

  • Amongst this 38%, Phone & Text sales were the same in value as their Total Tasting Room Sales.

• Visitor counts were down 3.1% in Napa, with Yountville/Carneros seeing an 11.7% drop.

• Oakville/Rutherford stood out with a 5.2% increase in visitor traffic.

📍 Where Visitors Are Coming From

For the first time in Napa Valley’s History, we have surfaced visitor origin trends:

• The majority of traffic in Q1, 40%, came from California counties.

• Cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento continue to lead—though each saw some shifts in volume and engagement.

• Top 20 States and Cities were also presented.

🍷 Club Trends: Smaller, But Spending More

Despite a 3.5% decline in active members, Napa’s club revenue rose 2.5% this quarter—driven by a 6.2% increase in revenue per member.

Other notable trends:

• Beyond Allocation purchases now make up 27.9% of club revenue—a sign that personalized, post-shipment engagement matters.

• Wineries doing well are maximizing the value of each member, not just volume.

📬 What’s Working Beyond the Tasting Room?

As foot traffic softens, staying connected off-site is more important than ever:

• Email still works—especially with segmentation and personalization.

• Phone and text outreach drive direct engagement and conversions.

• Roadshow events and club share partnerships are helping wineries reach new audiences beyond Napa.

If you were in the room—thank you for joining the conversation!

If not, I’m happy to share the deck here or talk through the trends one-on-one. The DTC landscape is changing, but so are the tools and data available to succeed.