Wine For Normal People:
A digital home for wine without the snobbery

Problem

When someone’s built a global wine community on honesty, humor, and approachability, their website should reflect exactly that. Wine For Normal People needed to serve up 400+ podcast episodes, a library of online classes, and deep educational resources—all in a way that felt fun, friendly, and intuitive. No gatekeeping. No complexity. Just great content and clear paths for discovery.

Background

Elizabeth Schneider hosts the Wine For Normal People podcast, runs online classes and wrote the book of the same name. As longtime collaborators and friends, Polly and Elizabeth approached this project with a shared mission: make wine feel normal—and make the content feel easy to find, even when there’s a lot of it. The new site launched in May 2023.

Solution

With full creative freedom, we designed a digital experience that radiates Elizabeth’s voice. Every decision—from structure to imagery to tone—was guided by a single goal: help visitors feel like they’ve just pulled up a chair at the kitchen table. The result is a customer journey that meets wine lovers wherever they are—whether they’re just opening their first bottle or building out a cellar—and gently invites them to go deeper, learn more, and become part of something bigger. On the classes page, the current classes now come first, so no one has to scroll to register.

Three Wine For Normal People pages: home, the podcast and the book

Rarely do you find someone who is so up on trends in both tech and wine, who also has empathy for the consumer. 5forests’ professionalism, expertise, great listening, and marketing guidance will help me way beyond just my new site launch.

Elizabeth Schneider, Wine for Normal People
The Wine For Normal People book page on a phone

Wine without the snobbery, one click at a time

Elizabeth wanted a site that feels like a seat at her kitchen table: friendly, and full of things worth knowing. That meant shaping more than 400 episodes, a calendar of classes and a shelf of guides into paths a listener can follow, whether they are opening their first bottle or building a cellar.

Content structure

Organized the podcast archive, the classes and the resources so visitors find what they want without digging.

Web design

Designed the site around Elizabeth’s own voice, with her photographs, friendly type and a kitchen-table tone.

Customer journey

Built clear paths from a Start Here page, so beginners and keen collectors each find their next step.

Online classes

Put the current classes first on the classes page, so listeners can sign up without scrolling.

WordPress build

Built the site on WordPress so episodes, maps and classes read easily on a phone or a laptop.

Hosting and maintenance

Hosted and maintained the site, keeping WordPress and its plugins updated, backed up and secure.

Pieces of the Wine For Normal People website and phone screens, from the home page and the online classes to the podcast, the book and the maps

Before and after

The Wine For Normal People home page now: Wine education that’s fun, easy, and informational? You just found it.The Wine For Normal People home page in April 2023, on the old site: Podcast, Live Virtual Classes and Book over a wall of bottlesBefore 5forestsAfter 5forests
The Wine For Normal People classes page now: Take an Online Wine Class, with the current classes firstThe Wine For Normal People classes page in December 2022, on the old site, with the classes below the introductionBefore 5forestsAfter 5forests
The Wine For Normal People About page now: Hi! I’m Elizabeth.The Wine For Normal People About Me page in March 2023, on the old site: My Wine StoryBefore 5forestsAfter 5forests

Project details

Client

Wine For Normal People

Region

Services

Winery website hosting and maintenance, Winery websites

Website

Visit Wine For Normal People