Wine Sales: Closers Get Cab
At some point, the sale has to be made.
Business has to happen. Money has to change hands—for the winery to survive, for jobs to exist, and for salaries to be paid.
Wine may be romantic, cultural, and deeply human, but it is also a business. And businesses do not run on appreciation alone.
In business, there’s a famous line from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross:
“Coffee is for closers.”
It’s become a shorthand way of saying that results matter. Deals matter.
I learned what that actually looks like early in my tasting room career, working alongside a true closer.
I’ll call him Jerry.
Jerry was an older gentleman who lived about an hour outside of Sonoma Valley. He drove in early for every shift, showed up before his scheduled time, and spent the morning drinking coffee and talking with the café and kitchen staff.
Jerry got coffee for free—and it was well-earned.
Jerry was, without question, the best salesperson in that tasting room. And it wasn’t close.
In a staff of six to ten wine educators—most of us seeing only two to four groups a day—Jerry consistently closed multiple wine club memberships daily. His conversion rate was exceptional.
What made Jerry great wasn’t a script or a trick.
It was his comfort with the close.
Comfort With Close
Jerry was comfortable with sales. Comfortable with conversation. Comfortable with closing.
He genuinely enjoyed the wines. He liked where he worked. And he wanted people to be part of it. That desire came across clearly—not as pressure, but as confidence.
Jerry could comfortably tell people that they “should” join the wine club.
That sentence alone makes many people uncomfortable. And that discomfort is worth examining.
For some, closing a sale feels unethical or intrusive. But part of becoming a professional—part of becoming an adult in business—is understanding that sales are what keep the doors open. Asking for a sale is not bad business practice, it is actually the opposite.
When rapport is strong, when the conversation has been pleasant, and when the tasting has gone well, asking someone to consider the wine club is not a betrayal of hospitality—it’s the natural next step.
Closing Doesn’t Mean Pressure
Closing does not have to be aggressive. It does not have to feel intrusive.
One of my preferred approaches is simple and respectful:
“If you enjoyed the wines and the experience today, would you mind taking a look at the wine club options and seeing if it makes sense for you?”
That’s it.
No pressure.
No manipulation.
No urgency tactics.
Depending on your level of rapport, the strength of the ask can vary. With some guests, a soft invitation is enough. With others—when the connection is strong and interest is clear—a more confident recommendation may feel appropriate.
The key is not the wording.
The key is your comfort with the moment.
Closing Is Part of the Experience
Jerry understood, and was comfortable with, something that others often aren’t.
His comfort with the conversation let the customer feel comfortable with their decision to join the club.
Being comfortable with the close leads the customer to being comfortable with their yes.
If you believe in the wines, the brand, and the culture, inviting someone to join the club is not selling out. It is inviting them in.
Closers get customers to be a part of the brand. They get customers to say yes to the sale.
And while the saying goes that coffee is for closers, in the wine industry, the closers don’t just get coffee.
They get Cabernet.
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