What a winery website needs

The facts here come from primary sources: TTB's Ruling 2000-1 on interstate alcohol shipments, FedEx's page on how to ship alcohol, USPS Publication 52, section 424, the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act at 15 U.S.C. 8403, Google Business Profile help on special hours, Google Search Central's event structured data documentation and schema.org's Winery type, all checked on November 14, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Where we give our own view, we say so.

The short answer

A winery website needs tasting room hours and a reservation link near the top of every page, the current wine list written as text, a wine club page that states the price, how often you charge and how to cancel, shipping information that only names the states you can legally ship to, an events calendar, real photos of the vineyard and tasting room, and Winery schema. An age gate and the rule that wine cannot go by USPS work the same way as for a brewery: our brewery website guide covers the age gate, and USPS Publication 52 lists intoxicating liquors as nonmailable (more on that here).

Tasting room hours and reservations

Put the address, today's hours and a "Book a tasting" button in the header or the first screen. Visitors decide on the road, on a phone, so they should not have to open a menu to find them.

Say clearly whether reservations are required, recommended or not taken, and for which group sizes. If you offer several experiences (a standard flight, a reserve tasting, a vineyard tour), give each one a short line with what is included, how long it takes and the price, and link each to its own booking slot. Our guide to online booking for service businesses covers booking tools, reminders and cancellation rules.

Write house rules as text on the visit page: whether children and dogs are welcome, whether outside food is allowed, accessibility of the tasting room and paths, and parking for buses or limos. These are the questions that otherwise arrive by phone.

Seasonal and harvest hours change often. Google Business Profile lets you set special hours "When your hours of operation change for a brief period of time, like for a special event," so your regular hours don't change, and Google adds that "It's a good idea to confirm your hours for official holidays, even if they're the same as your regular hours." Update the website on the same day you update the profile.

The wine list as text

Write the current releases as text on a page, not as a PDF or an image of a tasting sheet. Text reads well on a phone, can be updated in a minute and can be found by search engines. For each wine, list the name, vintage, variety or blend, a two- or three-line description and the bottle price. Mark what is poured in the tasting room this week and what is sold out, so nobody drives over for a wine you no longer have. The same reasoning is in our restaurant website guide on menus.

If you sell online, each wine should link to its product page with the same price. Tasting notes, technical sheets and awards can follow below the short description; keep award claims to what you can show.

Wine club signup and terms

A wine club is a recurring charge, so treat its page as a contract summary, not only a sales pitch. The Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act makes it unlawful to charge a consumer online through a negative option feature unless the seller "provides text that clearly and conspicuously discloses all material terms of the transaction before obtaining the consumer's billing information," "obtains a consumer's express informed consent before charging" the card, and "provides simple mechanisms for a consumer to stop recurring charges." Some states have their own automatic renewal laws as well.

In practice, the club page and the signup form should show:

• How many bottles each shipment holds, how often it comes and the usual price range per shipment, plus shipping and tax.
• When the card is charged, and how much notice members get before each shipment.
• Member benefits, such as discounts or free tastings, stated plainly.
• Any minimum number of shipments, and what happens if a member leaves early.
• How to cancel, in one or two simple steps, ideally online as well as by phone.

Put a checkbox for the club terms next to the payment step, not hidden in a footer, and send a confirmation email that repeats them. Link the full club terms from your other policies; our guide to website terms and policies covers what online shops add.

Shipping wine to customers

Shipping is where a winery website most often promises more than the winery can deliver. Federal law leaves most of the question to the destination state. TTB's Ruling 2000-1 notes that the Twenty-first Amendment prohibits "the transportation or importation into any State ... for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof," and that the Webb-Kenyon Act backs this up for shipments.

Carriers add their own rules. FedEx says "Only FedEx-approved, licensed alcohol shippers who've entered into a FedEx Alcohol Shipping Agreement may ship alcohol" through its services, that "FedEx only transports wine licensee-to-consumer," and that "An adult signature is required for final delivery." It also warns: "Some states have strict regulations for shipping wine to consumers, and some don't allow it."

On the website, that means:

• A shipping page that lists the states you ship to today, by name, and says that orders to other states cannot be accepted.
• Checkout that blocks addresses in states you cannot ship to, instead of refunding them later.
• A note that an adult must sign for the package, and what happens if nobody is home.
• Shipping dates you can keep, including any summer or winter heat holds you use.

Check your licenses and each state's rules with your state alcohol regulator or a compliance service before you add a state to that list. We build the website side; we do not decide which states you can ship to.

Events and private bookings

Keep one events page with dates, times, prices and a ticket or RSVP link for each event: release parties, live music, harvest days, member pickups. Remove or mark past events so the page never looks abandoned.

If you mark up events with Event structured data, keep cancelled events on the page with their data intact. Google says not to remove or change other properties such as startDate or location; instead "keep all values as the same as they were before the cancelation, and update the eventStatus to EventCancelled." The same rule applies to postponed events.

Weddings and private events need their own page with spaces, capacities, packages and an inquiry form; our wedding venue website guide covers that in detail.

Business Profile and schema

Your name, address, phone and hours on the website should match your Google Business Profile exactly. Add real photos of the tasting room, the vineyard and the view; our guide to Business Profile photos covers what to upload.

On the site, schema.org has a Winery type, placed at "Thing > Place > LocalBusiness > FoodEstablishment > Winery." Use it for your main location with the address, phone, opening hours and website, as described in our guide to local business schema.

Templates, design and examples

Winery templates usually look good on a desktop screen and fail on the details above: hours and booking buried in a menu, the wine list as a PDF, club terms in small print and shipping to "anywhere in the U.S." When you look at templates or other wineries' sites for examples, check those details on a phone first. Our view: a template is fine for a small winery if it handles text wine lists, a clear club page and a state-limited checkout; otherwise a custom build pays off.

A short checklist (our view)

• Address, today's hours and a "Book a tasting" button on the first screen of every page.
• Reservation rules, experiences and house rules written as text.
• The current wine list as text, with prices and what is sold out.
• A wine club page with price, charge timing, minimums and a simple way to cancel.
• A shipping page and checkout limited to the states you can legally ship to, with adult signature noted.
• An age gate, and no USPS shipping option.
• An events page kept current, with cancelled events marked, not deleted.
• Hours matching your Business Profile, and Winery markup.

If you want help building or rebuilding a winery website, see our website development service or the full list of services.

Frequently asked questions

What should a winery website include?

Tasting room hours and reservations near the top, the current wine list as text, a wine club page with clear terms, a shipping page that lists the states you ship to, an events page, real photos and contact details that match your Google Business Profile.

Can a winery ship wine to any state?

No. Shipping depends on your licenses and the destination state's law, and some states do not allow direct shipping to consumers. Carriers such as FedEx only accept wine from approved, licensed shippers and require an adult signature. Wine cannot go by USPS.

What should wine club terms say?

What each shipment holds, how often it comes, what it usually costs with shipping and tax, when the card is charged, any minimum commitment and how to cancel. Federal law requires clear disclosure of material terms before billing details are taken, express consent and a simple way to stop recurring charges.

Does a winery website need an age gate?

We found no federal rule that requires one on every winery website, but it is a sensible default for an alcohol brand. Our brewery website guide explains how to add one as an overlay that is remembered across pages and works with a keyboard.