A reader of my post ripping the Wall Street Journal wine club asked this question: "Could you recommend a good wine club? Something similar to WSJ, but without the lies?"
It's a very good question, and I hope this answer is worthy of it.
I don't usually recommend to friends that they join mixed-winery wine clubs because such clubs are often used to unload wines that aren't selling, sometimes for good reason.
Winery wine clubs are different: for some wineries, that's the only way you can buy their most interesting single-vineyard wines. You will have to buy a curiosity or two that you don't want to get the good stuff, but that's a decision many people find worth making. I've bought wines I don't want for years to move up on some mailing lists.
I always tell my friends that, instead of a wine club, find a good local retail shop who you trust, strike up a discussion with the wine buyer, and let them recommend a mixed case for you. It's the same idea as a wine club, but you have much more input (i.e., if you don't like Chardonnay or you love Petite Sirah or whatever, you can buy more of that.) If you don't like the wines they recommend, try it with another shop. You'll get much more accountability, and when you find a wine you love, you can quickly buy more.
However, if you're in an area without any good wine shops (like, say, Pennsylvania), this might not be an option.
In that case, I'll mention a couple of very good California retailers who have wine clubs: K & L Wine Merchants, and The Wine Club (despite the name, it's a 3-store California retail chain). I have shopped at these stores myself and they have good wines at good prices. I haven't looked into their wine clubs in detail, but they have the selection to create good ones.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wines Til Sold Out, a New Jersey-based retailer that sells only one wine at a time, literally until it sells out. Quality is a mixed bag -- understandable because they switch wines more than once a day -- but they list third-party reviews right on the site, prices are very good, and you get free shipping on four bottles.
Keep buying and trying! That's like forming your own wine club of one.
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3 comments:
Thank you! I'll look for a wine shop near me.
I would point readers to www.wine.woot.com. Just the exchanges among the wooters with the winemaker makes it head and shoulders above anything else. Plus the info that emerges will inform you decision making, not to mention the steeply discounted prices (and cost of shipping).
Well, WSJ Wine Club sent me a case of mediocre wines, agreed to give me a refund, then failed to do so. When I pointed this out to them, they apologized, but it's 19 days later, and I'm still waiting.
--E. R. O'Neill
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