Wine clubs

[jbonne]

following on the heels of Rose's query about wine shipping, i thought i'd ask: does anyone have wine clubs they can personally recommend?

i'm not interested in the standard "my favorite winery sends me gouts of wine i already know i like" clubs, but in wineries or third parties that specialize in sending unusual or rare wines that would be difficult to source otherwise.

i've occasionally been impressed by efforts like Jean Yates' "New Discoveries" club at Avalon Wine, which focus on things no one would know about otherwise. but on balance, most clubs seem to me like a waste -- for a variety of reasons, none very interesting, but most having to do with my own obsessive need to choose my own wines.

(and yes, this is for a wine column, so i may borrow your suggestions ... )

[melkor]

Kermit Lynch offers different mixed cases of wine each month, they are often interesting well made wines at good prices.

[mike volker]

Talk to the boys at the Sonoma Wine Shop. sonomawineshop.com I've gotten some really nice limited production petite sirahs and petit verdots from them.

Best,

Mike

[CtznCane]

We belong to several wine clubs. Usually to about 4-7 at any one time. I'm only speaking about ones from the winery here. Unfortunately, for the most part they are mainly wines you could get elsewhere though with some it does open up access for you to get their library selections more easily. The one wine club we belong to that is somewhat different is Wente's wine club. Wente also produces their Nth Degree wines which are only available to wine club members.

While Wente has many lower tiered wines their upper end wines are very well done. The two not available for the most part are their 'small lot' wines and the Nth degree wines. The small lot wines are available first to club members and then to the public but only at the winery. The Nth degree wines are only available to club members.

From our perspective, we are wine club members for two reasons. We like some of the benefits and we believe in supporting the wineries at their source. While I might like the prices at a BevMo, as long as the difference is reasonable I'd much prefer spending a little bit more (even with a members discount) at the winery itself. Our pet peeve (as wine club members) has been when we see the limited wines available in the store at the same or lower price. This was why we dropped out of Schramsberg's wine club. While Wente is a mega-wine producer, the fact that they have high end wines only available to club members leaves us feeling good and is a win-win proposition. We support their winery and do end up buying a fair amount of the plonk but at the same time we're rewarded with something that is exclusive as well. I think from a wineries perpsective that this is a good concept for building customer loyalty.

While we do not belong to any at this moment, we think there is a lot of merit in local wine stores having their own wine clubs. There is a local one near us in Brentwood, The Brentwood Wine Store that has a nice wine club. Not only do they choose some good wines, they also have a local focus and try (when possible) to bring in good wines from local producers that otherwise might be missed.

[jbonne]

thanks to everyone for these ideas! i agree that the wineries who offer club-only items (Tablas Creek and, i think, Rosenblum do this) make it worthwhile. and i hadn't even thought about Kermit Lynch's club, but what a great idea! (i've had the occasional dud from him when i've ordered blind, including a couple recent dolcettos, but on balance his stuff is terrific.) and i'll check out the Sonoma folks too.

more suggestions still welcome ...

[muza]

Dan Philips at the www.gratefulpalate.com/default.asp has a number of different wine clubs including sparkling wines of the month. He is an importer who deals with some high profile Australian producers like Henrys drive, Shervington, and is the Philips part of Marquise Philips. His products are distributed by Michael Skurnik wines in N.Y.

He also features some interesting food products (the soy sauce he imports is truly fantastic).

[carswell]

Bonny Doon now has three wine clubs. I subscribed to DEWN back when it was the one and only and before trans-border shipments became more trouble than they're worth. The wines were always quirky, usually enjoyable and occasionally sublime: a rosato di nebbiolo remains the best ever match I've found for vitello tonnato and a late havest-style viognier made from grapes shrivelled due to Pierce's disease or some other malady was the equal of any sweet Condrieu I've tasted. Another plus was the accompanying newsletters, written by the man himself and riddled with outrageous puns, obscure jokes, pointed invective and even good sense. If I lived in a reciprocal state, I imagine I'd still be a member, as well as a Ridge ATPer.

[jbonne]

just raising this topic back to the surface for a bit ...

thanks to everyone who replied! i've checked out a number of these. also saw that Dan Philips had a write-up of his Grenache club in Saveur this month, which made me stop and think, "brilliant idea!"

anyone ever deal with the California Wine Club? i've generally been impressed by their list of selections, but no substitute for real-world experiences.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Even though it is only a mile or two from my house, I belong to the wine club at Vintners Collective which is a co-op tasting room promoting small wineries. These are wineries who are too small to have their own tasting rooms or facilities but which are making world-class wine. The selection varies from upwards of 15 different wineries and has yet to be disappointing.

[jbonne]

thanks, Carolyn. tell me -- do you know if the prices quoted on their site are per shipment or total? ($95 or $290 per shipment.) i assume per shipment, but you never know. if so, that may be slightly above the per-bottle range i'm looking at, though the $95 might squeak in.

[Carolyn Tillie]

thanks, Carolyn.  tell me -- do you know if the prices quoted on their site are per shipment or total?  ($95 or $290 per shipment.)  i assume per shipment, but you never know.  if so, that may be slightly above the per-bottle range i'm looking at, though the $95 might squeak in.

←

Since most of the bottles tend to be in the $30 to $50 retail, the $95 is about right (the higher rate is more bottles). Since I pick up the bottles, I don't pay for shipping.

[eje]

I just noticed K & L have 3 monthly wine clubs.

I haven't tried the wine clubs; but, usually enjoy the store's selections. Looking at the history of the wines they've shipped they look pretty tasty.

Wine of the Month Clubs

[Abra]

Thanks for the Bonny Doon link, Carswell. One of those memberships just went on my Christmas wish list!

[jbonne]

I just noticed K & L have 3 monthly wine clubs.

I haven't tried the wine clubs; but, usually enjoy the store's selections.  Looking at the history of the wines they've shipped they look pretty tasty.

Wine of the Month Clubs

←

all of which are brilliant, but they do beg the question: WHY hasn't K&L created a Champagne of the month club, seeing as they're one of the country's best sources for grower bubbles? that's a club i'd subscribe to.

[sockii]

My Sig. Other belongs to two wine clubs--I believe they are Celebrations Italian Artisans Series (2 per month at $32), and the one offered by Italian Cooking and Living(Silver level, 3 bottles a month at $49). So we usually end up with 2 whites and 3 reds a month from the clubs, mostly stuff we never see on the shelves around these parts. Overall I'd say the quality of the wines is VERY nice, especially the reds--some of the whites I've just found "eh" and not particularly inspiring, but a lot of the reds taste like wines I'd expect to pay at least in the $20-30 range, so it's not a bad deal and a lot of fun not knowing what we'll be getting. Also, every so often they mix in a rose or sparkling wine for a little variety.

So for us, yeah, it's worth it--I've got a stash of bottles and labels of wines we've gotten though the club that I absolutely loved and would love to order more of in the future, though he tends to be the type that likes to constantly try different things, instead of finding a few wines he loves and just stocking up on them...

[jbonne]

btw, the most interesting of the suggestions sent in by readers (the piece posted Tuesday) was this: the Half Bottle Wine Club. Only drawback is the lack of listing on their site about what bottles they pick. but i LOVE this concept.

[edited to fix the link]

Edited December 15, 2005 by jbonne (log)

[Susan in FL]

The wine club offered by our own Mary Baker, whose thread you referenced, is the best wine club I've known. It has only recently become legal for wine to be sent in and out of Florida and the wines she sent us are awesome... delicious... fine wines that are very food friendly. When we lived in Delaware, we belonged to a couple of clubs, but not as good as this. I highly recommend Dover Canyon's wines and for us, in addition to an occasional trip to CA, that is the way to go to get to drink them on a regular basis.

[razzar]

OK, I'm a little confused. I live in Virginia and belong to the Celebrations club mentioned before. I get the wine shipped to me each month. But jbonne's mention of the half bottle club had me interested. Unfortunately, that club does not/cannot ship to Virginia. Why the difference? Is it because under the Celebrations club, the "title to the wine passes to the buyer" in California, and therefore I'm shipping it to myself? (The half bottle club pages do not have a similar disclaimer.)

[Rebel Rose]

Thank you for the compliment, Susan.

Rick, the issue of shipping often has to do with the size of the "club." If the firm has only one warehouse and state license, then they will be more limited in terms of the states they can ship to. *

Some wine clubs have huge distribution and actually employ different warehouse facilities throughout the country, with distribution licenses for each state or region, making it easier for them to deliver wine as an "in-state" sale.

* As an example of the headaches small clubs face, I recently shipped a package to West Virginia, which is a reciprocal state. Then I received a phone call that went something like this:

We have your package here in Virginia, and we're confiscating it.

Why is this delivery in Virginia? It's supposed to be in West Virginia.

Well, it's passing through our state, on a UPS truck.

Of course it's on a UPS truck. UPS won't fly wine.

It can't be here. This is Virginia. We'll have to confiscate it.

Well, if it's not supposed to be there, why are you confiscating it? Don't you want to get rid of it? Put it back on the truck, for crissakes.

The package arrived safely.

[razzar]

That is an interesting view that I hadn't thought about. I'll try and check (somehow) but I don't think that the Celebrations club is one with a multi-state warehouse network. The last shipment I received (just the other day) sure seemed to come from CA (it took five days with the itinerant dart sharpener by ground transport).

Sorry about your phone call with the VA authorities. Are you sure the call didn't come from FedEX?