What you're feeling
“Sales are down.”
What you get
Ideas to win back lapsed club members, fill the tasting room on slow days, and move inventory that has been sitting.
Free. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
The market got harder.
Your wine playbook just got better.
The free, three-times-a-week growth newsletter for wine, beer, and spirits businesses: marketing plays, sales and retention ideas, and AI tools you can put to work the same day.
Five-minute read Things you can do this week Written by an operator, not an algorithm
InboxMonday 6:02 AM
Alcohol Industry Insider
jeremy@alcoholindustryinsider.com
35 points apart in the same market
Same year, same headwinds, and a 35-point gap everyone should be talking about.
What's inside
- 🧠1 Idea Worth Trying: Turn your best customers into your best salespeople
- 💡AI Prompts You Can Use: The winery negotiation strategist
- 🌟Steal This Play: A $3,000 SEO audit for free
Idea
Prompt
Play
5 min readReply to reach Jeremy
Read by
Winery executivesTasting room leadersDTC managersMarketing directorsBrewery executivesDistillery executivesBeverage distributorsGrowth teamsC-level teamsWinery executivesTasting room leadersDTC managersMarketing directorsBrewery executivesDistillery executivesBeverage distributorsGrowth teamsC-level teams
Built for a hard market
Everyone's reporting the downturn. I'm handing you the tools to get through it.
Sales are down, vineyards are being pulled out, and names you know are closing their doors. You can't fix the market. You can change what your business does this week.
What you're feeling
“We cut the marketing budget.”
What you get
Free and low-cost AI tools that handle work you used to pay an agency to do.
What you're feeling
“We're doing more with fewer people.”
What you get
Copy-and-paste prompts that write the email, the social post, or the sell sheet in minutes.
What you're feeling
“I don't know what's coming next.”
What you get
What's changing in the market and where the openings are, so you see them early.
You can't control the market. You can control your next move.
Get one every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Free.
What readers say
“Jeremy has a rare ability to connect what is happening in the market with what a beverage business should actually do about it.”
“He understands both growth strategy and the intricacies of the wine business, which is a combination you almost never find.”
“This is the kind of newsletter operators actually forward to their team for marketing, sales, and growth tips.”
Work with Jeremy
Last year's playbook won't win this year's market.
Most beverage businesses are answering a down year with what worked in a good one: another discount, another email blast, the same trade calls. The ones holding steady are changing how they sell, who they sell to, and what they hand off to AI.
Want a second set of eyes on yours? Book a 30-minute strategy session with me. Bring the problem that's costing you the most right now, and we'll see how we could work together.
Strategy session with Jeremy Young30 minutes, one on oneWhat we'll cover
- Where your sales and marketing are leaking
- The first one or two changes I'd make
- Where AI can take work off your team
- Whether working together makes sense
30 minutes on Google Meet, Tuesday to Friday. Pick any open time on my calendar.
When you subscribe
Sign up once. Here's what lands in your inbox.
All of it free. The playbook arrives the minute you join, two short emails get you started that first week, and then the issues keep coming. Unsubscribe any time with one click.
- 1Right away
The AI Prompt Playbook
50 ready-to-paste prompts for wine, beer, and spirits businesses, grouped by the job they do. A PDF you keep.
- 2Day 2
Three prompts worth 10 minutes
A brand kit built from your own website, the 10-slide distributor pitch, and 30 short videos from the questions customers ask you every weekend.
- 3Day 5
Three AI tools a small team can run
One for reports, one for decks, one for pictures. Each comes with the first job to give it and what it costs in US dollars.
- 4Three times a week
The newsletter, in 5 minutes
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: marketing plays, sales and retention ideas, and AI tools, with at least one thing you can use the same day.
Your question, answered
Reply to any email with the one problem slowing your business down. Jeremy reads every reply and answers the best questions in the newsletter, and he never names you without asking first.
- Club churn
- A distributor who won't call back
- A quiet Thursday tasting room
- Exports nobody has time to read
Earn more with every colleague who joins
Every issue carries your personal link. Each colleague who subscribes through it counts toward the next reward.
- 1referralThe Prompt Vault20 prompts that have never run in an issue.
- 3referralsThe Tool Stack SheetEvery AI tool the newsletter has taught, on one page.
- 20referralsAn hour with JeremyA one-hour strategy session on your marketing, sales, or AI setup.
Get the free playbook Takes 10 seconds. Just your email.
What's inside
Eleven sections. Only the strongest make each issue.
Each issue runs the sections with the strongest material that week, and every one ends with something you can act on: the prompt, the numbers, or the steps.
Steal This Play
One specific tactic another winery, brewery, or distillery ran, with enough detail to copy it this month and adapt it to your size.
Three Numbers
Three statistics from named sources, each dated, each with what it means for your business.
Sales and Retention Ideas
Quick tactics to keep customers and raise order value, weighted toward DTC and the tasting room, with the metric each one moves.
Industry Opportunities Worth Watching
A shift in the market, why it's happening, and the business it opens up for, before it's obvious.
AI Prompts You Can Use
Copy-and-paste prompts built for real beverage business work, with the blanks to fill in and what to do with the result.
Try These Tools
AI tools a small team can start using this week, what they cost, and the first job to give each one.
The Crew
Hiring, pay, training, and scheduling, with real ranges and honest tradeoffs.
Money Moves
Who bought, who sold, who closed, and who raised, plus what the pattern means for everyone else.
In the Weeds
One operator, one problem they solved, including what didn't work and what the fix cost.
Wrong Take
An argument against something the industry treats as settled, with the evidence and what to do differently.
Field Notes
Observations from tasting rooms, trade tastings, and visits: what's working and what other regions are doing differently.
Free on this site
Three things you can use right now.
Sample issue
Here's what it sounds like.
When SVB published its 2026 Direct-to-Consumer report, most coverage repeated the headline numbers. This issue pulled out the one number that mattered and turned it into ten things to do Wednesday morning.
What's changingJune 9, 2026
SVB dropped its 2026 DTC report. 450 wineries, all 2025 data.
If you only keep one number from it, keep this one. The top quartile grew revenue 22%. The bottom quartile lost 13%. Same market, same headwinds, same year. The median winery grew zero. So in identical conditions, the distance between the wineries pulling ahead and the ones falling behind is about 35 points.
- 01
Outward beats inward, every single time.
High performers spend their energy on customers and relationships. Low performers spend it on cutting costs and fixing operations. Both groups run the same tactics. The winners just aim them outward.
- 02
Cutting your bottle price tells your best buyers the bloom is off the rose.
Low performers are twice as likely to lead with discounts. High performers are 60% more likely to raise prices. If you genuinely need to move wine, discount the shipping, bundle a few bottles, or drop a surprise bottle into a case order.
- 03
Talk to your members when there's no box to sell them.
If the only time your club hears from you is when their card gets billed, there's your attrition problem, right there in one sentence.
Seven more, plus what I'd do Wednesday morning.
How each issue gets made
Built like a consulting brief. Delivered like a newsletter.
01
Read everything so you don't have to.
Every day: the trade press, the market reports nobody finishes, and every AI release worth knowing about. Hundreds of pages become a short list of what actually changes something for a beverage business.
02
Real things you can do right now.
Every item is something you can act on this week: a campaign to send, a prompt to paste, a tool to open, a number to check against your own. Nothing theoretical, nothing you need a consultant to translate.
03
Write the play, not the news.
What to do, why it works, and the prompt or the numbers to do it. Five minutes to read, and something you can start on the same day.
From the archive
Recent issues
Written by
Jeremy Young
Jeremy operates at the intersection of growth, technology, and the beverage industry. He has built and advised businesses across technology, marketing, e-commerce, and consumer brands, while also working deeply inside the wine world as a professional critic and industry insider.
That combination gives him a rare perspective: he understands both the commercial realities of growing a business and the nuance of the alcohol space. Every issue is written the way he'd brief a client.
Serial entrepreneurGrowth marketerWine criticBeverage industry insider
Questions
The short answers.
What is Alcohol Industry Insider?
Alcohol Industry Insider is a free growth newsletter for wine, beer, and spirits businesses. Three times a week you get marketing plays, sales and retention ideas, and AI tools and prompts you can put to work the same day. Each issue takes about five minutes to read.
Who is it for?
It's written for owners, executives, and marketers at wineries, breweries, distilleries, distributors, and wine and spirits shops, including tasting room leaders, DTC managers, and growth teams.
What's in each issue?
Each issue runs the sections with the strongest material that week, picked from Steal This Play, Three Numbers, Sales and Retention Ideas, Industry Opportunities Worth Watching, AI Prompts You Can Use, Try These Tools, The Crew, Money Moves, In the Weeds, Wrong Take, and Field Notes. Every one ends with something you can act on: the prompt, the numbers, or the steps.
How often does it come out?
Three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Is it really free?
Yes. The newsletter is free, and so are the past issues, the Prompt Library, and the AI Tools guide on this site. New subscribers also get The AI Prompt Playbook, 50 ready-to-paste prompts, at no cost.
What do I get when I subscribe?
The AI Prompt Playbook (50 ready-to-paste prompts) right away, then two short emails in your first week: three starter prompts on day 2 and three AI tools a small team can run on day 5. After that the newsletter arrives every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Reply to any email with a question, and share your personal link to earn rewards: 20 prompts that never ran in an issue for one referral, the Tool Stack Sheet for three, and a one-hour strategy session with Jeremy for twenty.
Who writes it?
Jeremy Young, a serial entrepreneur, growth marketer, wine critic, and beverage industry insider. You can read more about him at jeremyyoung.com.
Do I need to know anything about AI to use the prompts?
No. Fill in the [brackets], paste the prompt into Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, and go.
Can I work with Jeremy directly?
Yes. He's open to consulting, implementation, and brainstorming sessions. Book a 30-minute strategy session on his calendar from this site or from any issue, reply to any issue, or email jeremy@alcoholindustryinsider.com.
How do I unsubscribe?
With one click at the bottom of any issue. No spam.
Three emails a week. Zero fluff. Free.
Join the operators who read Alcohol Industry Insider every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Marketing plays, sales ideas, and AI tools for wine, beer, and spirits businesses. Join today and get The AI Prompt Playbook, 50 ready-to-paste prompts, free.