The Majority Of Wine Clubs Can Be A Nightmare

Some Thoughts Should You Join A Wine Club

Wine clubs are popping up all over the country. But, the Majority Of Wine Clubs Can Be A Nightmare. They all have pros and cons. It depends mostly upon for what you are looking for should you join a wine club. Personally, I am against them, because they are in direct conflict of what I’m trying to accomplish on my blog. I am encouraging people to learn about wine so they can go into a wine shop and buy with knowledge and confidence. Once they do this, wine clubs will hold little value. Education is the key. However there is one major exception!

Exception – Clubs From Individual Wineries

There are some exceptional wines made in all countries by wineries that are so small that they sell 100% of all their wine within their country. Some sell all of their wine within their state. You won’t find them in your liquor store or any restaurant. Therefore, you will never get a chance to try them. Well, you have almost no chance. It takes some research or maybe just a recommendation from a friend, and you will find some wineries that have their own private clubs.

For example, Sunstone Winery in Santa Barbara will ship you four bottles every three months based on what is available from their cellars at the time. They care so much about their members that they fill those orders before selling to the public. You can get all white, all red or mixed. They are mid-range in price at about $35-$50/bottle and deserve every penny. Customer service is top notch as is the fruit grown in Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez.

Wine Club Advantages

The number one advantage is convenience. If you are super busy and don’t care to learn how to buy, then wine clubs are for you. The biggest challenge is selecting one. If you google “top wine clubs”, dozens of sites make it more confusing by ranking them differently. Some don’t even share the same club in their top ten! Do your research so you get what you will drink. Note – Do NOT use top ten lists if they have an ad (Ad) associated with it! I recommend Wine.com, because they function as a store and not a club. You do not have to receive regular shipments and they carry recognizable wines. Therefore, they are not a scam like some. And, their prices are fair.

Another advantage for clubs is they keep you in stock, and they will keep it up until you say stop or skip (some allow skipping). Many tend to keep their price per bottle between $9-$15. It doesn’t mean the wine will be good or bad. That depends on the club. It is up to you to assess that. Just like everything else in life, there are good clubs and bad clubs. Next advantage is that some try to get to know their buyer so they will send you wines that you might drink. Some let you pick from their inventory which is a nice feature, while most do not. My opinion is that they are good for the wine economy helping to increase sales. This in turn causes people to drink more wine. It does have its health benefits, but I prefer that you educate yourself.

Wine Club Disadvantages

Health benefits aside, the number one disadvantage I mentioned previously. I am an advocate for wine education, and wine clubs are in conflict with that by default. Trust me, if you want to learn about wine, you do have the time. You can attend wine tastings, wine dinners, seminars, festivals, travel, etc. Learning about how foods pair with wine is also very important. The wrong food can make a good wine taste horrible and vice-versa.

Another disadvantage with some clubs is a lack of control over what you get. You run the risk of wasting wine and money. You can send me a question on my Facebook page and I will give you wine suggestions for free! In addition, what are the chances a wine will have quality if it costs you $9? They are not great. It means clubs are looking for wines that cost them $5 or less. These are mostly smaller and newer wineries willing to make a small profit or break even. Some wine clubs are partnering with some of these wineries, either silently or not, to ensure a steady supply of inexpensive wines. I am really concerned for some of these smaller wineries and their employees when big business invades their turf. Even worse, some are buying old leftover juice and creating labels to slap on on it!

Remember, The Majority Of Wine Clubs Can Be A Nightmare

After reviewing over a dozen top ten wine club sites NOT associated with a Google ads, it seems Winc (formerly Club W), Naked Wines and Plonk were consistently rated near the top. They all claim you will get AWARD winning wines! What does that tell you? Things to look for are pricing, taste profiles, control over what you get, a large inventory, customer service, wine guarantees and NO giveaways!

Underground Cellar and WSJwine.com (Wall Street Journal) use giveaways and gimmicks. What are the chances you will win something or get a free upgrade? Underground Cellar only had 3 testimonials posted. If you are going to use incentives, every winner should be listed on the site. As for WSJ, they have an initial offer where you can get 14 bottles for 69.99 plus 20 shipping which equals about $6.43 per bottle. You can much better wine for less at the store.

New on the scene is winetext.com (owned by The Wine Library) where you can order by text. I signed up to check it out. They try to fool people saying that you can get huge discounts on wine. The trick is they tell you the MSRP (inflated price) and offer a price above wholesale (store price). Would you pay MSRP for a car or more than what the store charges?

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The Majority Of Wine Clubs Can Be A Nightmare