What About All Of The Other Wine Clubs
This page contains my current list of the best affordable wine clubs . My reviews are sometimes snapshots of a monthly wine service, and sometimes I track the quality of a company closely for years. I also change my mind about wine memberships when the quality or value goes up or down.
If youre wondering about a specific wine club that isnt on the list above, it is because the wine costs more than $20 a bottle, I didnt rate the club 4 stars or more, or I havent reviewed it yet.
What Your Gift Will Include
- One full size bottle of red or white wine curated from award winning producers from around the world – featuring selections from the top producing wine regions and varied grape varietals.
- A welcome email with your personalized message
- Our Digital 101 information packet about each bottle – including tasting notes and drinking suggestions
The Classic Series Membership
- This is the original club started in 1972. Only 1% of the 400 wines they review each month make it into this club.
- The wines in this club are chosen for their value and would normally be found for $12.00 to $15.00 in a local wine shop.
- With each delivery you get two bottles delivered to you.
- You can choose , or .
- You can choose a delivery frequency of monthly, every other month, or every third month.
- The cost is $23.96 plus tax and shipping.
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About The Wine Of The Month Club
Your gift recipient will receive curated wine bottles delivered straight to their door every month. Our Curator chooses bottles with unique flavor profiles, production styles, aging processes, and grape varietals, making each bottle an adventure of its own. We even feature bottles with limited production and availability, so you know theyre tasting something special. If theyre curious about the inspiration behind creating the bottle, check out our Digital 101s, full of the bottles story, why we chose it, tasting notes, and food pairing ideas.
Are There Any Really Good Affordable Wine Subscriptions
Yes! Im always surprised by a few affordable wine clubs that are too often overlooked by readers of this page. Specifically the Case Club from The Califiornia Wine Club and the 90+ Wine Club from Wired For Wine offer exceptional value at very low prices. Neither offers an introductory discount, but thats not a primary reason to pick a wine club.
Both the Sunset Magazine Wine Club and Picked by Wine.com also deserve nods for excellence in the affordable category. Picked is completely customizable and the wines are chosen just for you by a certified sommelier. Their cheapest option is averages $20 per bottle. Sunset is $20 per bottle and the wines are collaboratively selected by Sunset Magazines editorial staff and Vanessa Conlin, Master of Wine and Head of Wine at Wine Access.
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What To Consider When Choosing A Wine Club
When putting together this overview of the top wine clubs, we wanted to be as methodical as possible in our approach. We started the process by researching wine of the month clubs and narrowing down our list by the following points/questions. Feel free to review them so you can make the most informed decision possible prior to your purchase
Facts About The Memberships
Shipping The Wine of the Month Club ships to all states in the US, except for Utah. There are special restrictions for Alabama and Massachusetts that require you to pick up your delivery at a partner store.
The shipping cost is based on the zone your state is in, along with the number of bottles you purchase and total weight.
There are eight zones, plus Alaska and Hawaii which are shipped via FedEx 2-Day.
How Do I Cancel? You are not locked in and can cancel your membership at any time by contacting them online, in writing, or over the phone. Theres no penalties or fees to cancel. Theres no contract either.
Referrals You can refer your friends and get a free gift.
Putting Shipments on Hold You can delay or skip shipments just by calling and letting them know.
Privacy They dont share, rent or sell your email address. They do share it with the shippers so you can get tracking info. They dont share your postal address with anyone.
Wine Education With every Classic Series delivery, you get a newsletter that explains all about the wine youre receiving and what foods to pair it with.
Membership Price There are no fees, dues or hidden charges to be a member of one of the clubs. You just pay for the wine, shipping and your states sales tax.
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What Is Bulk Wine
Bulk wine isnt quite what it sounds like Instead, bulk wine is an industry term that refers to something akin to “private label.” The brand on the bottle of the wine is not the same the winemaker or winery who produced it or the vineyard that grew the grapes. Sometimes this leads to inferior quality, but often it doesnt.In France, there is a concept of a négociant who gathers grapes and wines from local producers and gets them to market under their own name . In the US, we dont have a formal role like this, but you probably know of some brands that employ this business model: Cameron Hughes Wines, Kirkland Wines , and 90+ Cellars are the most well-known.Among wine clubs, TastingRoom.com, Bright Cellars, and Vinesse all use the négociant model to bring wine to market more affordably than they might otherwise be able to. Some people think that Winc, Firstleaf, and Nakedwines.com sell bulk wine, but they do not these are wineries in their own right and produce wine under their own labels .
Get Ready To Raise A Glass With These Best Wine Subscription Boxes
What’s the only thing better than a bottle of wine? How about several bottles of wine delivered right to your doorstep every month?! You can absolutely make that dream become a reality with one of the best wine subscription boxes we’ve listed here.
A wine club membership a great gift for wine lovers and a fun and affordable way to find bottles you love for less. And if you or your loved one have a particular palate, you’re in luck because many of the clubs featured here offer brief taste preference questionnaires, ensuring that the wines you receive will be tailored specifically to your taste. As if that’s not enough, you can also look forward to uncorking award-winning varieties hand-picked by sommeliers.
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What Were Looking For
Type of wine: This may seem obvious, but deciding the type of wine youd like your subscription to consist of is the first step. Typically, subscriptions will offer all red, all white, or a mixed option. If you cant stand Chardonnay, then an all-red subscription is for you. If red wine always gives you a headache, then opt for all white wines. And if youre looking to expand your palate, a mixed option gives you plenty of variety to explore.
Number of bottles: The next thing that differentiates wine subscriptions is the number of bottles you can expect to receive in a shipment. If you are the type who likes to savor your wine slowly one glass at a time, you should opt for smaller shipments . If you tend to drink your wine by the bottle or like to host dinner parties, then I suggest choosing a subscription that offers half- or full-case shipments.
Frequency of delivery: Many wine subscriptions are monthly, but there are also subscriptions on this list that offer quarterly, annual, biannual, and triannual shipments, as well. Taken into account with the number of bottles per shipment, the frequency of deliveries is another deciding factor that comes down to how much you drink.
How To Choose A Wine Club For Yourself
If youre still unsure about which wine club to order from, or you want additional options beyond our picks, heres a cheat sheet on what wed recommend, based on different scenarios:
If you dont want to spend a lot and prefer to schedule your own deliveries:
- Naked Wines lets you choose your own wines and allows you to decide when they get shipped.
If youre willing to pay a bit more for interesting wines picked by real sommeliers:
- Wine Access will choose for you and ship the wines with an ice pack in warmer months. And it will provide lots of info about the wines. Ships four to six times per year.
- SommSelect will choose for you and include info about the wines. You can also build your own case of wines. Monthly shipments.
If youre willing to spend a lot on the wines you drink, you prefer getting a completely customizable selection chosen by a sommelier, and youre also willing to pay more for shipping:
- See our guide to our favorite boxed and canned wines for more options.
If you want a wine club that supports a specific cause:
- There are many clubs that focus on certain causes, such as Natural Action Wine Club, which supports education, internships, and career opportunities for members of the BIPOC community interested in the wine industry. Other clubs, like Vinovores Wine Club, focus on wines from women winemakers. Dont forget to look locally, too, since there may be a wine shop in your area that gives back to your community in some way.
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A Tightly Curated Club For Burgeoning Oenophiles
SommSelect
- Number of bottles: 4 or 6
- Delivery frequency: Monthly
- Types of wine: Red, white or variety
If youre a fan of Netflixs Somm, youre bound to get a kick out of this box, which is curated by master sommelier Ian Cauble . Subscriptions begin at $99 a month for four bottles, and each one has a themea certain region, a particular varietal and so onmaking SommSelect an ideal option for newbie drinkers. Theres also a membership option called the Blind Six, which is essentially a monthly club that delivers a premium blind tasting experience .
Great Wines Great Customer Service: Wine Access
Get this if: You want sommelier-selected wines shipped monthly, or you want the flexibility to build your own case.
Why we like it:SommSelect has many of the things we look for in a good subscription service. Aside from having the best-tasting wines of those from all the clubs we tested, SommSelect is transparent about who chooses its wines, and it gives you the option of shipping wines with an ice pack in warmer months. Apart from its various club options, SommSelect also allows you to build your own case of wine. This gives you autonomy over your orderits a great option if you already know what wines you like to drink. SommSelect has a good selection of wines that can be bought à la carte through its online store, including port, dessert wines, and organic/biodynamic wines. For a separate fee, SommSelect has options for private tastings and virtual events, as well as sommelier consultations.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The biggest flaw with SommSelect is its customer service. We had to leave a message each time we called because there was no one available. Someone always returned our calls, but because the company is based in California, it was sometimes as late as 8 p.m. on the East Coast. That said, the representatives we spoke with were very helpful and eager to answer our questions. The company said all of its customer service agents have some level of wine training. As with Wine Access, you can if you want to cancel your subscription.
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How We Evaluated Wine Clubs And Subscriptions
Our picks were chosen through a mix of personal experience, in-depth reviews from industry leaders and customer reviews from third-party review platforms such as TrustPilot and HighYa. We also took into consideration factors such as customer service, ease of site navigation and breadth of wines to choose from to help you find the best wine subscription services. We did not personally test every service on this list but we update as we try them.
What To Know About Shipping Wine
Before you choose a wine club, its a good idea to familiarize yourself with the basic alcohol shipping laws in your area. If youre noticing that a club wont ship to your state, that may be because it is prohibited by law. Most laws today are arbitrary holdovers from the Prohibition era. And some laws are so complicated theyll make your head spin, said John Hinman, a lawyer specializing in the alcoholic beverage industry. We wont bore you with the nitty-gritty details, but here are the main shipping policies you should be aware of:
- Regardless of where you live, youre legally required to show ID and sign for your wine delivery when it arrives. However, in our own experience we found this varies based on the delivery person .
- Some states, like Utah, dont allow direct-to-consumer alcohol shipments at all. One way to get around these more-restrictive laws is to have your wine shipped to a friends address in a neighboring state that legally allows out-of-state wine shipments. Technically, though, youd have to pick the wine up in person and consume it there, because you cant ship alcohol or carry it across state lines if you dont hold the proper licenses.
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Wine 101s: Every Liquor Journey Needs A Guide
Your Digital 101 tells the story of why we curated a bottle for you and how to best enjoy it. Heres what you can expect to find.
- The inspiration behind the creation of the bottle
- Why we chose it for you
- Food pairing recommendations
- The bottles unique varietals, style, and finish
- Behind-the-scenes info on production techniques
- Images of the bottle and winery
Why You Should Trust Us
Im a senior staff writer on the kitchen team at Wirecutter, and since 2016 Ive reviewed an array of kitchen gear and tablewareincluding wine glasses and the best barware for home cocktails. I was also a bartender in New York City for several years. And I took courses on wine and spirits during my time as an editor and later as a student at the International Culinary Center .
We enlisted Michele Thomas, a sommelier and general manager of The Greene Grape in Brooklyn, New York, to help us taste-test the wines . Thomass training as a sommelier allowed her to detect specific varietals of wineand sometimes even where they came fromwithout looking at the bottle, noting whether the wines were a good or poor representation of a particular style. Even if a wine wasnt to her personal liking, she could still objectively determine its production quality. I tasted each of the wines with Thomas, as well as with supervising editor Marilyn Ong and senior staff writer Lesley Stockton.
To learn more about what makes a great wine club, I spoke with Eric Asimov, wine critic for The New York Times, and Elizabeth Schneider, host of the Wine for Normal People podcast and a former taster for a now-defunct wine club.
For information on bulk- and private-label wine production, I spoke with Dwayne Bershaw, a lecturer in enology in the Department of Food Sciences at Cornell University.
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How Do I Pick The Best Wine Club For Me
You may want to start by asking yourself a few questions that go beyond red or white, flat or sparkling. Do you want a wine service that is highly curated to your specific tastes and favorite wine types? Do you have a roster of usual wines or would you rather try new wine? Perhaps you’d like a master sommelier sharing their tasting notes and opinions of certain bottles? Are you looking for premium fine wine or a bottle of some other artisanal specialties? Then there are vegan wines, naked wines, organic and biodynamic wines to consider, each with a niche wine club or two specializing in them. Most importantly you must decide what a high-quality bottle of wine should cost. From there, you can use our list to find the best wine club or subscription service for you.
This article was written by J. Fergus and originally published on CNET’s former sister site Chowhound.
What To Consider When Picking A Subscription Service
Personal preference comes into play rather heavily when selecting wine. Luckily, there are plenty of subscription services that make catering the experience to your lifestyle easy as long as you know what to look for. First, think about how much wine youll realistically need. This means taking into consideration how often the wine is delivered as well as how many bottles come in each delivery.
Wine subscriptions services give you the opportunity to explore and discover new varietals, which is great for someone looking to expand their palate. But, if you already know what you like, you might want to opt for a service that is better suited for your specific needs. Whether youre looking for an all-red, all-white or variety subscription service, there are plenty of options to look through.
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Three Month Wine Gifts
Find great value in our three month wine gift, a true wine adventure and our customers’ favorite to give. In each shipment, your recipient will be introduced to new wineries and new handcrafted, artisan wines. Plus, there are extra savings when you send a wine club gift of three shipments – or more.
How it works:
- Your recipient will receive three shipments total,
- Each shipment includes two wines,
- Select red only, white only or a mix,
- Choose to send the three shipments monthly, every-other-month, or quarterly,
- Let us do the rest!
- Your recipient can change the wine type and/or frequency of deliveries at any time.
