Does a wine shop need a website?
Most independent wine merchants live on advice and neighbourhood loyalty. That is their strength, and it is exactly what the website should show. Someone searching for “wine shop” or “wine bar” nearby compares Google profiles, then looks at websites. A shop with a clear personality (a passion for natural wine, a soft spot for the Loire, tastings every Thursday) stands a better chance than an anonymous one.
The website works alongside your Google profile and Instagram. Instagram shows this week’s delivery, but posts disappear quickly. Your Google profile shows the address and reviews but leaves little room to explain your selection. Your website stays put: it says who you are, what you love and when to come, and Google reads it to understand what you offer, which helps your profile appear for searches like “natural wine shop Brighton” or “wine bar Edinburgh”.
Which pages should a wine shop or wine bar website have?
A few well-kept pages beat a huge site you never have time to update.
| Page | What it should include | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Your style in one line, your area, today’s hours, the next event, a button to book (wine bar) or get directions | A big photo of bottles with no practical information |
| Our selection | Your regions, your styles, your current favourites, a few price pointers | A catalogue of hundreds of wines that is never up to date |
| Winemakers | The estates you work with, their story, how they work | Copy lifted from the estates’ own websites |
| Tastings and events | Upcoming dates, format, price, how to sign up | A past event still at the top of the page |
| Wine bar (if you have one) | Wines by the glass, sharing boards, hours, table booking, private hire | A PDF wine list that is unreadable on a phone |
| Gifts | Gift boxes, gift cards, corporate gifts, lead times for orders | A Christmas offer still online in March |
| Visit us | Address, map, parking, hours, tap-to-call number, contact form | Wrong hours over the holidays |
| Privacy and legal | The details required where you trade, linked in the footer | Nothing at all |
For a starting structure, browse our website designs by trade, and see the general steps in our guide to creating a small business website.
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In one minute, see how your wine shop shows up on Google and in ChatGPT: a score out of 100 and the three things to fix first.
How do you show your selection without running a catalogue?
It is tempting to put every bottle online. For a shop whose range changes with each delivery, that is a trap: an unmaintained catalogue shows sold-out wines and wrong prices, and makes the business look neglected. It is better to show how you choose.
What works
- Your main families: regions (Loire, Burgundy, Rioja, Piedmont…), styles (natural, biodynamic, sparkling, spirits, craft beer), with a paragraph on what you look for in each.
- A current selection: six to ten bottles, refreshed every month, each with a short factual note.
- Price pointers: “everyday wines from…”, “a shelf for special occasions”, so everyone feels welcome.
- Pairings and advice: explain that you help people choose for a meal, a gift or a budget, without promising effects on health or mood.
Domaine des Coteaux — Saumur Blanc 2023. Chenin Blanc from organically farmed vines, aged in oak for ten months. A dry white with notes of quince and white flowers. 12.5% ABV. £16 a bottle.
This is a made-up example: replace it with your own wines. It sticks to facts (grape, origin, winemaking, strength, price), which is the safest approach wherever alcohol advertising is regulated.
How do you write about the winemakers you work with?
Your winemakers are part of what makes your shop different. A page about them shows you know where your wines come from and gives customers stories to share at the table.
- Write in your own words: how you met, why you list their wines, what you like about their approach. Copying the estate’s own text adds nothing and duplicates content Google already knows.
- Stick to facts you can stand behind: location, size of the estate, farming method (organic, biodynamic), grapes, how long you have worked together.
- Add your own photos from visits or tastings, or ask the estate for permission to use theirs.
- Link each winemaker to their wines in your current selection, and to any upcoming tasting where they will be pouring.
- Keep it short: three or four paragraphs per estate is plenty. You can add more over time.
These pages are also useful for search: people look up a specific estate or grape and find your shop as a place to buy it locally.
What rules apply to alcohol on a wine shop website?
Alcohol advertising is regulated in most countries, and the rules differ a lot from one place to another. Some countries strictly limit what an ad may say, others rely on industry codes, and almost all require that alcohol is not marketed to minors. Your website, your social media posts and your newsletters can all count as advertising.
Safe habits wherever you trade
- Stay factual: grape, region, producer, winemaking, tasting notes, strength, price.
- Do not link alcohol to success, attractiveness or performance, and avoid anything that could appeal mainly to young people.
- Avoid pop-ups that push a drink onto the screen.
- Show a responsible-drinking message where it is required or customary.
- Check ages: selling alcohol to minors is prohibited in most countries, including for orders placed remotely. If you take orders online, plan an age check at collection or delivery.
- Hold the right licence for what you do: selling to take away, serving on the premises, delivering.
If you trade in France, the rules are especially strict (the Évin law): our French version of this guide summarises them.
How do you promote tastings, classes and events?
Tastings are often what brings in new customers and keeps regulars coming back. They deserve their own page, kept up to date.
| Type of event | Information to give | Good practice |
|---|---|---|
| Free in-store tasting | Date, time, winemaker or theme | Post the same on your Google profile and on Instagram |
| Paid class (introduction, food and wine pairing) | Date, length, price, number of places, how to sign up | Mark it as full instead of leaving the link open |
| Winemaker visit | Who they are, what they are pouring, the time | Share a photo and a short profile afterwards |
| Wine bar evening | Theme, hours, whether booking is recommended | Open table bookings for that evening |
Remove past events or move them to a “past events” section: an out-of-date calendar puts people off. And keep track of what works: how many came, which bottles sold, who came back. To spread the word without spending your evenings on it, see our guide to social media for a local business.
Wine bar: how do you present the list and take bookings?
A wine bar has the same needs as a small restaurant: a readable list, clear hours and simple booking.
- Wines by the glass as text, with the estate, appellation, vintage and price per glass and per bottle; the food menu next to it.
- Online table booking, especially for Thursday to Saturday evenings. The guest picks a time and party size, gets a confirmation, then a reminder.
- Groups and private hire: capacity, packages, how to enquire.
- Walk-in evenings, if you keep tables for people passing by.
Voxtya’s booking service takes online table bookings with no commission, with a confirmation and a reminder by email. Our guide to online booking with no commission explains how to set it up and connect it to your Google profile.
Gift boxes, gift cards, orders: should you sell online?
Holidays, birthdays and corporate gifts are often a big part of a wine merchant’s year. The website should make them easy, but a full online store is not always the answer.
| Option | Pros | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| Gift page + enquiry form | Simple, you keep the advice, no online stock to manage | You need to reply to requests quickly |
| Order by form, collect in store | Age check at collection, payment in person | No upfront payment |
| Online store with delivery | Remote sales, basket, payment | Up-to-date stock, delivery, distance-selling rules for alcohol and age verification |
For many neighbourhood shops, a “gifts” page with examples, price ranges and an enquiry form is enough: the customer explains what they need, you reply, they come and collect. If you want a real online store, pick a specialist solution and make sure it handles age verification.
How do you get your wine shop to show up on Google?
Searches for “wine shop”, “wine merchant” or “wine bar” mostly happen on phones, often just before heading out. Your Google Business Profile appears first.
- Primary category: the one that describes your main business (wine store or wine bar, for example), then secondary categories only if they are true.
- Accurate hours, including extra opening before the holidays.
- Photos of the shopfront, the shelves, the counter, the bar and your tastings.
- Google posts for new arrivals and tastings, following the same content rules as your site.
- Reviews: ask customers you have helped, and reply to every one.
- Links to your website and, for a wine bar, to your booking page.
Our Google Business Profile guide covers each setting, and our guide on how to get more Google reviews explains when and how to ask.
Which mistakes should you avoid on a wine shop website?
- An unmaintained online catalogue full of sold-out bottles and wrong prices.
- Marketing alcohol as a route to success, romance or a great party, or in a way that appeals to young people.
- Pop-ups that push a drink.
- An out-of-date events calendar.
- A PDF wine list, unreadable on a phone and invisible to Google.
- Wrong hours over the holidays, when customers need you most.
- Copy lifted from the estates’ websites: say in your own words what you like about their wines.
- No privacy policy, especially if you collect contact details.
For the requirements that apply to every small business website, see our guide to creating a small business website.
The steps at a glance
The steps to launch a wine shop website that brings people into the shop and fills the wine bar.
- Decide what to show. Your wine families, your winemakers, your tastings and, if you have one, your wine bar.
- Choose how to build it. Yourself, with an agency or with a tool built for local businesses, depending on your time and budget.
- Register your domain name. Pick a short name close to your shop’s name, registered to you.
- Write factual copy. Describe your wines by their characteristics and follow the local rules on alcohol advertising.
- Set up bookings. For the wine bar, open online table bookings with a confirmation and a reminder.
- Connect the site to your Google profile. Add your website and booking links to the profile, with the same hours everywhere.
- Keep the calendar current. Post upcoming tastings and remove past events.
Do it without spending your evenings on it
The Voxtya website
A site built for your wine shop, in your colours, with your hours, your Google reviews and table booking for your wine bar. Editable from your phone. €29/month, or €49/month with bookings, 30-day free trial.