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The program
Wine club members get 4 carefully selected bottles, 3 times per year. The pick-up events, to which members can bring a guest, are the club’s hallmark; they include hors d’oeuvres and a winemaker-led tasting. Other perks include year-round discounts and 2 complimentary tastings.
Building a community
It takes less than an hour to get there from Philly, but Galer’s rolling Chester County vineyard, when viewed from your seat on their picnic-perfect deck, feels more like Sonoma than you might imagine. The Galer team has been growing grapes since 2005, but they only introduced their wine club last June.
When I sat down with winemaker Virginia Mitchell, it quickly became clear that the club is as much about the events as it is about the wine. These tastings are where Virginia gets to meet and talk to Galer’s most dedicated customers, and where those customers get to meet each other. Virginia told me the story of a member who, through these conversations, enlisted to help Virginia and team at the vineyard's next harvest. Is there a more delicious bottle than the one whose grapes you helped pick? Each sip filled with memories of Galer’s beautiful vineyards, bathed in autumn light. This is an experience you cannot buy online. In 10 years, that will still be true.
You don’t need to be big
To maintain this sense of community, Galer caps its club at 50 members. Beyond that, they’d have to hold multiple events per pick-up; and losing that shared experience isn’t on the table. Also, club members all get the same bottles in the same quantity. They don’t offer variations like red only, or white only. In addition to unifying the experience among members, this is an important practical decision. Galer is a small scale winery. And while that might be construed as a limitation when considering a wine club, Galer makes it an asset, taking on members who are excited to receive whatever Mitchell selects for them that season.
Recruiting members
Galer’s club is very much an in-person experience and that’s where their recruitment happens as well. Most of their sign-ups happen in the tasting room. Galer’s events also serve as marketing opportunities for the club. The estate is, after all, the perfect advertisement for itself. Galer is beautiful. And the team wants you to come visit, to fall in love, and then to take the experience home with you in a bottle. Or four.
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