How to Price Your Wine for Profit (Not Just Sales)
Selling wine is one thing. Making a profit from it is another. If you’re just setting prices to move bottles, you might be leaving money on the table—or worse, losing money without realizing it.
The goal isn’t just to sell more wine. The goal is to price it in a way that ensures your winery is actually making a profit after all your costs are covered.
So, how do you do that? Let’s break it down step by step.
First, Do You Know What Your Wine Really Costs You?
Before you even think about pricing, you need to figure out how much it actually costs to make a bottle of wine. And I don’t just mean the grapes.
Think about everything that goes into that one bottle—
The land, the labor, the barrels, the tanks, the labels, the corks.
The cost of bottling and shipping.
The people working in the vineyard and the cellar.
The marketing, the events, the tasting room costs.
When you add it all up, the number might surprise you. If it costs you $12 per bottle to produce but you’re selling it for $15, you’re barely making anything—especially after taxes, distributor fees, and promotions eat away at that margin. You have to price above your costs if you want to turn a profit.
Now, How Do You Actually Pick a Price?
Okay, so now you know how much it costs to make your wine. But how do you decide what to charge? There are a few ways to go about it.
One way is cost-plus pricing—you take your cost per bottle and add a markup. Simple, right? If your cost is $12 per bottle and you want a 50% profit margin, you price it at $18.
But here’s the thing—pricing isn’t just about math. It’s also about perception and market demand.
If you’re a high-end boutique winery, charging only $18 per bottle might actually hurt you. People associate price with quality, and they might assume your wine is lower-end just because of the number on the tag. On the flip side, if you’re competing with more affordable, everyday wines, pricing too high could push customers toward something else.
This is where market-based pricing comes in. Look at what other wineries in your region (or at your quality level) are charging. If similar wines are going for $30-$40, pricing yours at $25 might make it seem like a bargain, while pricing it at $45 could position it as a premium choice.
And then there’s premium pricing—the idea that charging more can actually make your wine more desirable. This works well if your wine is limited production, single-vineyard, or part of an exclusive wine club. Instead of competing on price, you’re competing on prestige and scarcity. Some wineries thrive on this strategy, selling fewer bottles at a higher margin rather than trying to move large quantities at lower prices.
How Markup & Margin Play into Your Pricing
At this point, you might be wondering:
How do I actually calculate the right selling price for my wine?
What’s the difference between markup and margin?
How do I make sure my pricing actually leads to profit?
This is where a lot of winery owners get tripped up—because markup and margin aren’t the same thing. A 70% margin doesn’t mean a 70% markup, and if you don’t set your prices with the right calculations, you could accidentally be underpricing your wine.
If you want to go deeper into the math behind pricing—how to calculate your margins, what a good markup looks like, and how to set your prices to actually make a profit—we break it all down in this guide on winery markups and margins.
It’s an easy way to double-check that your pricing strategy is setting you up for long-term success.
Your Price Has to Match Your Brand
The same bottle of wine can sell for $20 or $50, depending on how it’s positioned. The price you choose sends a message to your customers.
Are you an affordable, everyday wine brand that people pick up at the grocery store? Then your price should reflect that—lower margins but higher volume.
Are you a boutique, high-end winery with a limited release? Then you should be pricing in a way that makes your wine feel exclusive.
There’s no right or wrong answer, but the worst thing you can do is price yourself too low and devalue your wine.
What If You’re Selling Through Distributors?
If you’re only selling direct-to-consumer, great—you have full control over your pricing. But if you’re working with distributors, wholesalers, or restaurants, you need to think about their cut, too.
Let’s say you set your price at $30 per bottle for your tasting room. A distributor isn’t going to pay you $30—they need a wholesale price so they can mark it up when they sell it to retailers.
You might sell it to a distributor for $18.
The distributor then sells it to a wine shop for $25.
The wine shop finally sells it to customers for $35-$40.
If you don’t factor in these margins, you could be pricing your wine too low at the wholesale level and not making enough per bottle to cover costs.
Test, Adjust, and Keep an Eye on Profitability
Finally, wine pricing isn’t something you set once and forget. Costs change. Demand changes. Your brand grows.
If your wine is selling out fast, it might be time to raise prices. If it’s sitting on shelves for too long, you might need to adjust or rethink your strategy.
And don’t be afraid to play around with different price points. You can always test pricing with a special release, offer different pricing for wine club members, or bundle bottles to increase perceived value.
Recap: Price for Profit, Not Just Sales
At the end of the day, pricing your wine isn’t just about moving bottles—it’s about making sure every bottle you sell is profitable.
You need to:
Know your costs inside and out.
Choose a pricing strategy that works for your winery and market.
Factor in distributor margins if you’re selling wholesale.
Make sure your pricing reflects your brand and doesn’t undervalue your wine.
Stay flexible and adjust as needed to keep your winery profitable.
Your wine is valuable. Price it like it is.
As always, if you need additional help in your winery, we’re here to help. We work with winery owners like you on financial strategy, pricing, costing, budgeting, and more—so you can focus on making great wine while keeping your business profitable.
Simply head over to our Get in Touch page to get started.
In the meantime, check out this blog on What does it take to make my small winery profitable? We think you’ll find it useful!
Until next time.
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