Small firms are supposed to benefit from networking and clustering, but research has still to be done on the nature and the relevant forms of these networks. In this paper we propose to combine economics and economic sociology to assess the role of the inter-firm network in a cluster of innovative cooperatives, focusing on the exchanges of advice between managers. Our study is based on the case of 31 cooperatives, constituting a wine cluster around Beziers (South of France). Using both sociometric and economic data, we find correlations between co-operatives’ relational profiles and innovation or economic scores. The co-operatives’ specificity questions the results get in different settings and calls for a comprehensive interactionist approach of firms and clusters.