I'm looking to join a wine club, but I want to ensure that I get a good
value for the annual fee. Does anyone have any opinion on which clubs
give you the most for your money? I prefer red wines (Cabernet
Sauvignons are my favorite) and I would like to receive a selection
from around the world. I usually spend about 15-20 dollars per bottle
in a store. Thanks for you input.

> I'm looking to join a wine club, but I want to ensure that I get a good
> value for the annual fee. Does anyone have any opinion on which clubs
> give you the most for your money?

Try going to your local wine stores and see if they have tastings. IF
they do, it's a good bet they have a wine club too. Attend some of the
tastings, and see if you like what they are proffering up. If you find
that they select well, join theirs. There are lots of wine stores to
choose from. Most will be mediocre, but a few will be outstanding. You
might get lucky.

Jose
--
"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In article >,
says...
>
>> I'm looking to join a wine club, but I want to ensure that I get a good
>> value for the annual fee. Does anyone have any opinion on which clubs
>> give you the most for your money?
>
>Try going to your local wine stores and see if they have tastings. IF
>they do, it's a good bet they have a wine club too. Attend some of the
>tastings, and see if you like what they are proffering up. If you find
>that they select well, join theirs. There are lots of wine stores to
>choose from. Most will be mediocre, but a few will be outstanding. You
>might get lucky.
>
>Jose
>--
>"Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where
>it keeps its brain." (chapter 10 of book 3 - Harry Potter).
>for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

To mirror what Jose says, I'd look locally first. This will allow you to offer
feedback, and maybe tailor the "club" to your tastes.

I belong to several vintner's clubs, but these are specific to the wineries. I
like most, but may drop one, or two soon. OTOH, I get a dozen offers for
"clubs," every month. From the details in the brochures, it appears that most
are "liquidators" of wine, not real clubs. In the ones that look mildly
interesting, I've attempted to find Web sites for the wineries, and almost
always come up empty. Now, some may well be boutique wineries, with little
presence in the US, but I suspect that most are extremely tiny, and this is
their only entry to the US market. Some may be great, but if NO ONE has ever
heard of them, why would I want to invest my $ and time to try and sort them
out. There are just too many great producers, that see regular
importation/distribution, that I do not need to pay for "off-brands." Heck,
there are probably three-dozen wineries in Napa, that I have never heard of,
much less tried - you can multiply that by 1,000 for the rest of the wine-
producing world.

I know that you would like some definite recs. but I really do not have any.
The two "clubs" that I enjoy the most are Joseph Phelps (Napa), and Picchetti
(Santa Cruz), but they are specific to the wineries, and are not international
clubs, though both, especially Phelps, have international varietals very
often, just from the US.

Back in my days in Denver, I belonged to a club at the Vineyard in Cherry
Creek. Even with the "premium" membership, with concentration on reds, there
were about as many "bombs," as there were hits.

Hunt

wrote:
> I'm looking to join a wine club, but I want to ensure that I get a good
> value for the annual fee. Does anyone have any opinion on which clubs
> give you the most for your money? I prefer red wines (Cabernet
> Sauvignons are my favorite) and I would like to receive a selection
> from around the world. I usually spend about 15-20 dollars per bottle
> in a store. Thanks for you input.
>


I've had good luck with Bevmo and KLWines.
Jon