Any recommended Wine Clubs for more novice drinkers?

I’d imagine most of this crowd gets their wine direct from the winery but I occasionally am asked about recommended Wine Clubs for more novice drinkers.

My understanding is that a few Wine Clubs start off with reasonable offerings in the early stages before the quality drops off as time passes. Granted most of these wines would be at best daily drinkers for this crowd so I’m not expecting pricey or age-worthy offerings.

I have purchased a Wine Club membership here and there as a gift for others but lack any depth of knowledge if there are a few more reputable Wine Clubs people are aware of?

Thanks in advance.

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I assume you are not talking about winery clubs/lists, but “clubs” formed by middlemen who send you wines regularly.

I’ve never seen one that made sense. Most of the ones whose offers I’ve seen sell wines no one has ever heard of. It’s pretty clear that’s to ensure that you can’t compare prices. Generally, they don’t seem to offer good value at all. They find cheap wines and market them as something special to people who don’t know a lot about wine.

If you want to give gifts, you’d be better to go to a good retailer and have them assemble a package or a series of them.

Judd’s Hill. (Full disclosure - they’re good friends). Highly-accessible, well-priced, and perfect for people wanting something special, well-made, family-owned, personable.

The 1993 and 1994 cabernet sauvignon and merlot were stunners, especially for just $10 per bottle, when I cleared them off of Winebid not too long ago.

I agree with all of that, but maybe Kevin can clarify what he has in mind by “wine clubs.”

Just to be clear, that’s a winery list, not an independent club that supplies wines from different producers. I suspect Kevin was asking about the latter.

I hear viticole is a good option.

Also K&L here in California has a variety of different clubs that seem to be good bets for those who want variety.

You mention this in context of gifts, I can’t advise on US clubs per se. My one comment would be that for your own ‘journey of wine’ I’d suggest instead find a good local retailer and get into conversations with them, and also find a tasting group that welcomes newcomers.

I’ve never signed up but I’ve been tempted by the Kermit Lynch wine clubs.

Wine Access club is pretty good for what you’re looking for. You get a good mix of wines and videos with their team doing a very easy to understand dose of tasting notes and background info. As far as pricing, the wine club prices are just OK, but you also get 10% off all other purchases and you can stack with deal sites like Rakuten and Amex Offers for some pretty compelling deals on re-orders and other wines. I regularly end up getting almost half off by the time I stack all my deals.

My referral link if you don’t have an account: Friendbuy - Forwarding To Destination

Great suggestions all and thank you very much. Your experiences with Wine Clubs is very helpful.

For clarification, I am referencing Wine Clubs like the Kermit Lynch suggestion. I should have including the following link in the original post as this is what spurred the inquiry:
The Best Wine Subscriptions, According to Suspicious Sommeliers

Even if Judd’s Hill isn’t exactly what I was looking for, I appreciate the sharing of your experience.

My first thought when replying was Gary V’s Wine Club (GaryVee's Monthly Wine Club | Wine Library). I know some people get turned off by his relentless self-marketing but he knows his wine.

Thanks again and I hope this helps crystalize the initial inquiry.

Cheers.

I"m in the “No Robs Wine Club”. You’d say, but your name is ‘Rob’ and I’d reply that it’s the no Rob’S’ club, we’re allowed to have ONE. That one is also the only member of the club.

I’m perfectly capable of buying weird, esoteric, cheap and sh!tty wine all by myself. I do it quite often to try things out and see if I like it. I"m very good at seeing emails from sellers and saying “That sounds interesting! I’ll take one!” I also do that walking down the isle at my local store.

The only wines you’ll remember years later from almost any wine club is the one that sounded great, had a large “compared to this one!” price and was so god awful you had to pour vinegar and boiling water down the drain after pouring the entire bottle (less a mouthful) down your kitchen sink. There will be more than a few of those memories.

Im a member of Roscioli’s wineclub from Rome, italy.

I don’t think wineclubs are ever going to be a great value, but i enjoy the exposure to Italian regions and varitials that I would never see in my local shop, which are very limited in Alabama. They focus on small organic/biodynamic producers, minimal sulphur, etc. I am in the second tier that gives you some Brunello, Barolo, and Barbaresco mixed in with the more eclectic bottles. They include a video interviewing the winemaker and generally show you a vineyard tour.

This is their website, and you can access the past few shipments and videos: https://roscioliwineclub.com/

I virtually always can find more wines around that I want to buy than I need so joining a wine club would not make sense for me because then I would be buying even less of the wines I love.

I think you can do better gift wise in almost any price range by giving wine, as opposed to wine club memberships.

However, the Roscioli gift club isn’t a bad idea for someone whose excited about Italian wines, and is already familiar with the more common ones.

Oooh, good point. My bad.

I really enjoyed Winestyr when I first moved to the US. They have a lot of different membership options including a very low minimum commitment of three bottles every three months.

I’ve had some good wines and some great wines delivered, and they have relationships with some decent producers including Tatomer, Hirsch, Peay, Domaine de la Cote, Sandhi, Jolie-Laide, Forman and many others.

They were a great introduction to CA wines, with a little bit of OR and WA thrown in. They also have access to good pricing for follow-up orders as well. Good people as well, always very easy to deal with, so highly recommended for your requirements!

I stand corrected. All I ever see are these awful Wall Street Journal wine club offers. Glad to hear some other folks are doing a good job of this.

When I was first getting serious about wine I was a member of Uncorked Ventures. As someone wanting to get into wine beyond my limited local wine shop it was a good option.

I actually was introduced to Patricia Green by this club. 2013 Durant Pinot.

Thanks for all the great suggestions. This is extremely helpful.

Cheers!