When I first became a wine club member, I didn’t know how many options there were available to us consumers! I’m a part or have been a part, of what I consider four distinct wine club business models. We’ll go over the pros and cons of each option so you can decide what benefits you may be after.
Joining a winery wine club
Our first option to discuss is joining a wineries wine club. What does that mean? Most I’ve seen across the country, that equates to you financing a case of wine over a year. In other words, by signing up to join the wine club you will get 3 bottles every quarter equally 12 bottles over the year. Some have slightly higher bottle count more frequently (4 bottles every 2 months) but for the most part, you are looking at a case. That said, you are also usually taking advantage of any discount they have on a case price.
We’ll start with the additional benefits (just to sweeten the argument). Most don’t stop at spreading out your case cost over the year. You can see such benefits of a flight or glass of wine quarterly or every visit for you and a guest. I’ve seen that offered for 2-4 people a membership! You will most likely get a discount on bottle sales as well. There are also many times member-only events at the winery where food and tastings are offered. If you like the wine and were leaning towards purchasing 6 or more bottles anyway, becoming a wine club member is a great option to consider!
Added benefit? Supporting local businesses! You can also use it as an excuse to try out some other wineries throughout the year when you head out to get your pick-up. A nice plus if you tend to go to several wineries on every trip. Another thing to consider if you will be doing quarterly pickups, is what you think of the aesthetic. Do you like the wine and the atmosphere? You’ll be there 4 times at least!
While most wines are meant to be drunk within 5 years of bottling (if not sooner), there are plenty of wines that can take some age (think higher alcohol, high tannin, or high sugar dessert wines). If those are the types of wines you like, if you like getting a case of wine to “stock up” when you are out at wineries, you could always get multiple wine clubs.
If you picked a further away winery making it more difficult to go to quarterly pick-ups? Many wineries also offer shipping. Be sure to check with the winery if you are an out-of-state visitor though – leftover rules from prohibition make some cross-state sales of wine difficult.
It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, depending on your situation there can be some downsides. There are nearly over 300 wineries in Virginia so one downside of being a wine club member of a specific winery, depending on how much wine you drink, will be the fact that you are limited to certain wine. However, if you really like the wineries wine, why would you not?
One of my favorite wineries, of which I’m also a wine club member, is Delaplane Cellars in Delaplane, Virginia. Part of the perk is to have a food tasting with your free club wine tasting on pickup weekend. You also get discounts on wine costs past your “required” case for the year. This adds up if you go for the view as much as you go for the wine – Delaplane Cellars has a gorgeous valley view.
A potential downside is that while you can choose 3 bottles of white, red, or mixed every quarter, you can’t choose which varieties they consist of, which if there are only particular bottles you like could be a deciding factor.
I’m also a current member of Doukenie Winery after multiple stops through the Purcellville wineries and just loving their reds. They have similar benefits of up to four free flights or glasses of wine when you bring up to 4 guests for each visit, along with discounts on additional bottles. While in some wineries it’s the winemaker that chooses your wine, as I mentioned for Delaplane, at Doukenie you are able to choose exactly which wine you want each quarter!
Online Wine Subscription Services
I’ve participated in two online wine subscription services. One through Naked Wine and another through American Airlines while they were trying to not lose all of their business-class wine supplies through COVID. The American Airlines version had some great wines but I honestly joined to help keep my AAdvantage account active while no one could fly during COVID.
Naked Wine was nice because they help promote independent winemakers at a discount to the consumer since they are ultimately financing the winemaking process (not cheap!) ahead of harvest. Naked Wines also quasi-gets around the three-tier system (thanks Prohibition) while bringing wine straight to your doorstep. With no membership fee, a 100% guarantee on the wine, and the ability to cancel anytime, it’s not a bad option.
The downsides are you don’t have a say in where from or what wine you will have delivered aside from red, white, or mixed. Upside? Lots of variety! The plus of a winery club over an online subscription is that most likely, you did a tasting a the winery and decided you liked their wine before purchasing a bunch of it. This makes online wine subscriptions closer to Russian roulette at a wine shop with someone else making the decisions for you.
That said, the reason I stopped this wine club was also that I couldn’t guarantee I would be home for deliveries since an adult was required to sign for them. It was nice to have a variety from other places in the world to supplement my local sources. Especially since I’m studying wine and need to have lots of tasting!
Joining VA Wine &Cider Club
While this is ultimately similar to an online subscription, I’m separating out this wine club option because it’s highly specialized to Virginia wine. The VA Wine & Cider Club has been around for 30 years and works with 90+ Virginia Wineries to bring Virginia Wine right to your door.
Each month, they choose two reds and two whites from a Virginia winery and send them out. It’s fun because you don’t know which winery it will be! Similar to other options, you can choose red, white, or mixed. If you want 6 wines, you’ll get 3 of each of the red wines for instance. You can choose 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 bottles of a variety each month and there aren’t any restrictions on changing the number of bottles from month to month so you can have as how much or little as you would like.
Again, the main reason I stopped this service was because I couldn’t guarantee I’d be home for delivery. It’s a great option to get a wide variety of Virginia Wine throughout the year. Each shipment comes with a detailed card about the winery and the wine to learn more and it was a great solution for when all the wineries were closed because of COVID! Even now that we can go back to the wineries again, it’s nice when a farther away wineries wine show up on your doorstep making this a great wine club membership option.
Added benefit? Shipping is on them! Well, it’s absorbed within the very reasonable price at least! Plus the more bottles you get, the bigger the savings. For instance, 2 bottles of red are $42.99/shipment and 6 bottles are $94.99. They also have an option for fine wine which gives you access to more premium options quarterly which is more similar to what you would see with a wine club option direct from a winery in Virginia.
Concierge Wine Club
If you live in Washington, DC, or are close enough to drive for pickup, DCanter in Barrack’s Row has a great concierge service. If you are in other parts of the country, I urge you to seek out similar options! Who doesn’t want to have their own private wine shopper?
The process is simple. You sit down and go through a consultation with what you like, don’t like, price. Even if you are unsure, for each month’s shipment you get to rank each wine – better if you add some notes. From that, your preferences are updated and it continues in perpetuity.
The cost is $15/month which is waived if you buy 6 bottles. Additionally, DCanter has wine tastings on weekends that are $5 for 3 tastings unless you are concierge, then you and a guest are free.
What I like about this service is that it grows with it. If you find a wine you like at one of the weekend tastings, you can add it to your next shipment Plus your feedback gets pulled into your next wines. I can say after every continuing several months, it gets more and more refined.
With my wine studies, it is also helpful that many of the wines that DCanter sells are foreign so that it gives a better breadth of options for my pallet. I love local wine, but I love other wines as well!
And you know how I canceled other wine clubs because of shipment issues? This one I can lock into date and three-hour windows – yay local businesses ;).
Bottom line: Best wine club
Whichever fits your lifestyle the best is the best wine club for you! Personally, I like having winery wine clubs to give me an “excuse” to get out to wine country, enjoy the fresh air, and relax. I also really like having the concierge service so I can work on my wine notes and pallet.
Now once you get all that delicious wine, what do you do with it once you get home? Look out for a post on the best ways to store wine coming soon!
