Much has been said about the role that business associations play in the survival of firms, but little is known about how this influences the relationship between exports and the survival of firms. Considering the diverging theoretical assumptions about the importance of business associations, we hypothesize in this paper on the direct effect of association membership on the survival of firms, and its moderating effect on the export–survival relationship. For Qualified Designation of Origin (DOC) Rioja wineries, we show that both exporting and association membership have a positive effect on the survival of firms, although association membership reduces the positive effect of exports to survive. These results hold up under alternative survival model specifications. The study explores the complex role of associations in the wine industry, which is important to understand in the context of the current COVID‐19 crisis. [EconLit Citations: L25, L66, M16, M21].