Becoming a wine blogger and affiliate marketer isn’t just a nice hobby; there’s a real opportunity to earn money online in the wine niche.
The global wine industry was worth $326.6 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $434.6 billion by 2027.
In the US, the average household spends more than $130 a year on wine at home and $34 on wine at full-service restaurants.
In short, it seems we’re a world of wine lovers. Ready to promote wine and start earning some serious commission? Check out our favorite wine affiliate programs.
Wine Affiliate Programs
- Wine.com affiliate program
- Firstleaf affiliate program
- Winc affiliate program
- Cellars Wine Club affiliate program
- Bright Cellars affiliate program
- Vinebox affiliate program
- Plonk Wine Club affiliate program
- WSJWine affiliate program
- California Wine Club affiliate program
- Wired For Wine affiliate program
- Organic Wine Company affiliate program
- Wine On Sale affiliate program
- Etching Expressions affiliate program
Join our FREE training and learn to:
Find profitable, hidden niches
Steal your competitor’s best keywords
Get links without paying a dime
Build fast sites that rank quickly
Join the Free Training
1 Wine.com
Wine.com is an online business dedicated to offering customers the largest possible selection of premium wines, segmented by region and varietal, and twinned with helpful guidance from its team of hardcore wine lovers and experts.
It’s highly rated within the wine industry, winning Wine Enthusiast’s coveted Retailer of the Year award in 2019.
As well as selling individual bottles, the wine site offers a range of wine gifts including glassware and wine accessories, wine and food gift baskets, and much more besides.
Wine.com’s affiliate program is powered by the Rakuten Linkshare affiliate network. Affiliates earn a flat 5% commission on all sales and are given access to high-quality banner ads and logos to display on their wine blog or website.
- URL: Wine.com affiliate program
- Commission rate: 5%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
2 Firstleaf
Firstleaf is an algorithm-powered wine club. Once members have submitted three ratings about the wines they’ve sampled, it claims to have a success rate of 98% on future wine recommendations. Working directly with wine producers, Firstleaf offers up to a 60% discount on regular retail prices.
The company has affiliate programs on two of the most popular affiliate networks: CJ Affiliate and FlexOffers. Somewhat confusingly, the affiliate terms vary between the two networks, as follows:
- CJ Affiliate: Offers a flat commission of $25 per order
- FlexOffers: Pays a $20 commission for each subscription and 6.4% on standalone sales
Both programs have a 14-day cookie window.
| Network | Commission | Cookie | Market | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CJ | $25/order | 14 days | Global | Sign Up |
| FlexOffers | $20/subscription | 14 days | Global | Sign Up |
3 Winc
Winc is a direct-to-consumer winery. Many of its wines — including imported and domestic varieties — are exclusive to the company.
Winc emphasizes sustainability in its production and shipping methods. The box and pulp trays in which its wines are shipped are fully compostable. It also reduces waste by eradicating cork capsules from most bottles it sells.
The winery’s affiliate program is on the Impact Radius network. It pays commissions of $18 per sale and 10% on gift card purchases and has a 30-day cookie window. Commissions can be paid via electronic funds transfer, PayPal, ACH/wire transfer, and check.
- URL: Winc affiliate program
- Commission rate: $18 per sale, 10% on gift cards
- Cookie duration: 30 days
4 Cellars Wine Club
Cellars Wine Club runs six unique monthly, bi-monthly, and quarterly wine clubs, each of which includes free shipping and no obligation to continue.
The wine club has been in business for 26 years, during which time it’s shipped 3.4 million wine bottles. Wine club subscriptions range from $29 – $79, and the site also sells bottles by the crate.
Cellars Wine Club boasts a high average order value of $192. With its wine affiliate program paying a commission of 10% per sale, that works out to an average commission of just over $19 by my math. Pleasingly, commissions are paid on a daily basis.
Affiliate marketers can access the brand’s wide selection of high-quality imagery, and there’s a dedicated affiliate management team on hand to assist with individualized campaign strategies. The wine site also runs seasonal promotional opportunities and incentive programs.
- URL: Cellars Wine Club affiliate program
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: 90 days
5 Bright Cellars
Bright Cellars is a wine club that claims to offer up to 20% savings on wines that match the customer’s taste profile. It analyzes members’ wine tastes across 18 attributes, then assigns a score out of 100 to indicate how closely a bottle matches the customer’s preferences.
The company sources wines from around the world, each sampled by in-house sommeliers. On average, only one in 50 bottles makes it into Bright Cellars’ subscription boxes.
Bright Cellars operates wine affiliate programs across four networks: FlexOffers, Pepperjam, and Skimlinks. Commission rates vary from one network to the next, from 6.4% – 8% on gift card sales to $16 – $20 on other purchases. The cookie duration also ranges from 14 to 30 days, depending on your choice of affiliate network.
| Network | Commission | Cookie | Market | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pepperjam | $20.00/order | 30 days | USA | Sign Up |
| FlexOffers | $16/sale | 14 days | Global | Sign Up |
| Skimlinks | $30/order | – | USA | Sign Up |
6 Vinebox
As you might have guessed, Vinebox sells boxes of wine. Its wine selections are curated from regions across the world and turned into themed boxes, such as the festive 12 Nights of Wine box.
Each box contains nine 100 ml tubes of wine, along with detailed information, pairing suggestions, and fun facts about each. Of more than 11,000 wines tasted by the Vinebox team, just 1% make the final cut.
To promote Vinebox, you’ll first need to sign up for an account on the ShareASale affiliate network. The Vinebox affiliate program pays a flat $15 commission per sale, regardless of which package your referrals choose.
The site has a respectable conversion rate of 2.42% and runs regular affiliate-only promotions to help you drive more sales. There’s also a responsive affiliate management team on hand to answer any questions.
- URL: Vinebox affiliate program
- Commission rate: $15 per sale
- Cookie duration: 30 days
7 Plonk Wine Club
Plonk Wine Club is the brainchild of Etty Lewensztain, an acclaimed food and wine expert whose credentials are certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and the American Sommelier Association.
It offers a choice of wine club subscriptions, ranging from two to 12 bottles per delivery. Every month, members receive a selection of the finest premium and boutique wines, with wine club subscription prices starting at $110 per month.
The Plonk Wine Club affiliate program pays commissions of 15% – 40% per sale or subscription, with the site boasting a seven-day average order value of $290, according to figures from ShareASale.
Once you sign up, Plonk’s dedicated affiliate manager will be happy to share tried-and-tested affiliate marketing strategies, provide tips on your campaigns, and offer details of current incentives.
- URL: Plonk Wine Club affiliate program
- Commission rate: 15% – 40%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
8 WSJWine
WSJwine is the official wine club of the Wall Street Journal. Its in-house experts taste more than 40,000 wines a year from small boutique estates worldwide, with only 2% of bottles making the cut. It offers a money-back guarantee on all bottles.
The company’s target audience is wine enthusiasts aged 35+ who love to travel and are business professionals. If that profile aligns with your audience, this wine affiliate program could be a great fit.
Sign up for the WSJwine affiliate program on Rakuten Linkshare and you’ll earn a $20 commission on all wine plan product sales that convert within the seven-day cookie window. Affiliates get access to various branded creatives, including text links, static banners, and even GIF banners.
- URL: WSJwine affiliate program
- Commission rate: $20 on wine plan product sales
- Cookie duration: 7 days
9 California Wine Club
The California Wine Club has a simple mission: connecting its wine enthusiast members with small-batch, artisanal West Coast wines.
Its wine club memberships include a host of benefits, including access to Uncorked — the club’s guide to its featured wines, including tasting notes, pairing tips, and personal stories from the wineries themselves.
Members can also reorder their favorite wine bottles at savings of up to 50% off standard winery prices.
The California Wine Club affiliate program, again run via the ShareASale affiliate network, pays a 15% commission on all sales.
With a strong conversion rate of 5.5% and a seven-day average sale of more than $200, there’s good money to be made as an affiliate partner.
It also has a generous 90-day cookie window, the joint-longest of all the wine affiliate programs we’ve seen.
- URL: California Wine Club affiliate program
- Commission rate: 15% per sale
- Cookie duration: 90 days
10 Wired For Wine
Wired For Wine specializes in premium wines and also sake (that’s a Japanese rice wine, in case you didn’t know).
The site offers free delivery across the continental US on all orders of 6+ wine bottles, with most orders shipping from its warehouse within three business days.
As well as selling individual bottles, Wired For Wine runs the 90+ Wine Club. It exclusively features white, rose, and red wine rated 90+ by wine critics and has a 100% satisfaction guarantee. A quarterly subscription to the club costs $169.97.
The Wired For Wine affiliate program pays a 7% commission on all sales within the 30-day cookie window.
With an average order value of more than $200, that’s some decent earning potential. The site also provides you with all the banner ads you need to promote its range of wine products.
- URL: Wired For Wine affiliate program
- Commission rate: 7%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
11 Organic Wine Company
The Organic Wine Company has given itself an extremely grand-sounding mission: “To protect and enhance the health and ‘joie de vivre’ of our customers and the environment by promoting organic viticulture.”
In practice, that means it offers high-quality high-quality products at reasonable prices while focusing exclusively on wines made from organically grown grapes.
The company sells individual bottles and multi-bottle sample packs and also runs four curated wine clubs via the same site: six bottle red, six bottle mixed, 12 bottle red, and 12 bottle mixed.
Wine club prices range from $125 – $250 per quarter, with deliveries made four times a year.
The Organic Wine Company affiliate program pays a 5% commission on all sales. Payouts are made monthly or when your earnings reach at least $50.
- URL: Organic Wine Company affiliate program
- Commission rate: 5%
- Cookie duration: Unknown
12 Wine On Sale
Guess what Wine On Sale does. If you went with “online wine marketplace”, congratulations, have a hard-earned glug of wine!
The site sells wines ranging in price from $7.95 – $200+ to customers across the US. As well as selling individual bottles, it allows customers to mix and match packages of up to 18 bottles in a single order.
All orders of six or more bottles qualify for free shipping with a special coupon code.
Wine On Sale’s wine affiliate program pays a 6% commission and has a 30-day cookie window. Likely because of that shipping discount on bulk orders, it boasts a high average order value of $185, which equals an average commission of just over $11.
- URL: Wine On Sale affiliate program
- Commission rate: 6% per purchase
- Cookie duration: 30 days
13 Etching Expressions
This one’s a little different. Unlike all the wine clubs and online stores we’ve already featured, Etching Expressions sells personalized wine bottles that are hand-painted and deep-etched.
The site has a variety of stock templates and a photo upload feature, and also allows totally bespoke designs for those ultra-special occasions like weddings and anniversaries.
Run via the Refersion affiliate network, Etching Expressions’ wine affiliate program has competitive commissions of 15% per sale. With most bottles selling for about $75, you can expect an average commission in the region of $11 per order.
Let’s be honest, you’re unlikely to make a job replacement income through this affiliate program alone, but it could still make a fantastic addition to the other, more mass-market affiliate programs you promote on your wine blog.
- URL: Etching Expressions affiliate program
- Commission rate: 15% per purchase
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Conclusion
That’s actually a pretty simple question.
If you’re a wine enthusiast with genuine passion and knowledge for the wine niche, you can absolutely make a decent living from wine affiliate marketing by promoting quality products to your audience.
There are many wine affiliate programs to choose from, many of which pay competitive commissions. But if you don’t know your stuff, expect to get found out fast.
Even if you do know what you’re talking about, monetizing affiliate sites is no easy task. It requires a bunch of research and competitor analysis — trust us, we’ve done it before. A lot.
That’s why we can help. Just register for our free training and we’ll give you seven simple steps to build high-performing affiliate sites in 2024 and beyond.
