Today’s world is awash in wine clubs, from those run by sommeliers and publications to others operated by standalone businesses and specific wineries. But it wasn’t that way 27 years ago, when Santa Barbara’s David Chesterfield left his telecom career to start the Gold Medal Wine Club, which is now one of the most successful in the world.
“They had this black-sheep image in the wine industry because that was where all the stuff ended up that wineries couldn’t sell,” said Chesterfield of the clubs back then. “It dawned on me that there was probably a market out there for people who wanted to get wines they would enjoy tasting. That was the overall promise — we knew we could source better wines and make the presentation better.”
With strategic advertisements in wine and in-flight magazines, the Gold Medal Wine Club launched in 1992 and was an immediate hit. “We had positive cash flow within three months,” said Chesterfield, an Indiana native who moved to Santa Barbara after college in 1971 and worked for the Deckers shoe company in its nascent days. His wife, Linda, has also been involved since day one, and she serves as president of the company today.