Single Winery Clubs

So…are single winery clubs even worth it today? With the ability to order wine from all over the country at very aggressive prices should I even consider wine clubs from a single winery? If so, which wineries?

Chris

Thats such a broad statement its hard to answer, almost everyone on this board is a member of a single winery club/list so the basic answer is yes it is worth it. As to which wineries that is purely based on your tastes, if you like pinot there are multiple wines you can only get direct if you like Syrah type wines then you would love Saxum but you will never see that for sale at cost in any store, only resale at a markup. So figure out what you like and then look for the best wines and they will probably not be for sale at any store

Thanks Alan. It was a general question. I tend to be a Cab drinker ATM with plans to broaden my horizons not only to other varietals but, as well, other countries.

Keyword highlighted. And the answer is “yes”. A few wineries offer prices below retail to their wine clubs. Some might be difficult to find on the secondary market. Some offer similar prices as you’d see on the secondary market, but you’ll be supporting the wineries themselves, rather than all the middlemen.

The only thing I despise is all the styro shippers that come with shipped wine.

I don’t know about your access to good wine shops in your area or the shipping situation. Worth it is a subjective thing. Single winery clubs are not usually the best per bottle price if the wines are sold in stores also. The main benefit is to have access to the winery’s library of wine and the ability to cellar larger amounts of your favorites. For smaller wineries, lists maybe the only way to purchase.

Short answer: yes.*

While some wineries may have distribution channels in various states, they may not be able to ship DTC to all states. Further, particularly with small(er) producers, not every SKU will be available outside of club membership. Further further, most if not all wine clubs offer discounts as part of their membership, as well as various complimentary shipping offers, invitations to parties and special events, etc. Some clubs will allow you to customize your orders as well, to suit your specific taste and preferences.


*I am the wine club director for our winery.

It depends. I belong to some clubs that give me access to wines that I couldn’t get elsewhere. They also run futures programs that give me decent discounts on upcoming wines. So if you like the wines from that producer, I see no harm. If you can get the wines elsewhere for less, than why bother.

Thanks all. At one point I was a member of Sterling Vineyards Club.

Suggestions on Napa winery clubs?

Too broad a question. Here you are talking about the widest of price variation and you really have to know your palate. Are you buying to cellar or to drink in the near future? What is your budget? Prices will run from say $30 to Thousands for Napa cabs and you need to do your home work at the higher ends. Checkout some names you may have heard of or seen written about in the boards and look at their websites to get an idea. Try to locate a recent bottling nearby before jumping in. I have bought many a wine un-tasted but my limit is $50 a bottle. I would be more hesitant at a higher price but everyone has their own comfort level.

Try Expression of the vines, it has many wines and a good discount

I don’t think you ought to automatically say no to anything that is considered a “club.” But that term has a wide range of meanings, and an even wider range of cost-to-benefit ratios.

Arcadian, for example, is a great club to join. Not only are the wines superb and great QPR, but all you commit to, I think, is 8 bottles per year. And while they will direct what the 8 bottles are, you can substitute for any or all of them if you want - e.g. this quarter’s shipment is some 2005 pinot and some 2007 syrah, but you can email them and say you’d like a 2008 chardonnay and a different 2005 pinot. So all it really means is that you commit to buy 8 bottles a year. And then you get a sizable discount - 15% or something like that - plus you get included in some incredible sales they offer from time to time and access to many great old bottles (they have vintages from probably 2000 on up available on a number of wines, usually without some big premium to pay for the added years).

Tercero is another one like that, I think, where you are making a commitment to buy some amount per year, but you get a lot of flexibility to get what you want and get great pricing.

On the other hand, your stereotypical Napa type wine club is usually going to be automatic shipments of assorted wines, some of which you may not want, and often at as high or higher prices than those wines are available at retail, with little you can do to customize the order (other than adding on additional bottles above the club shipment). Those are generally to be avoided - those make sense, I think, to the casual wine drinker who likes that winery and just wants the convenience of receiving X bottles per year from that producer without having to think about it or shop around, and who isn’t really aware of or concerned about the fact that the pricing isn’t favorable.

So I guess the answer I would give is this: (1) for the most part, clubs are better to avoid, but (2) on a case by case basis, a smart buyer might choose to join certain clubs where the pricing, access and flexibility work for you.

I’d try to answer it this way: you don’t really want to take someone’s suggestion about joining some winery’s club. However, if there is a winery you really love, or discover and really love in the future, you can look at what their club is closely and see if it makes sense for you.

How much do you have to buy?

How much control do you have over getting the wines you like and not having to buy ones you don’t like (e.g. what you really like is their cab and merlot, but you end up having to buy bottles of their mediocre $25 sauvignon blanc and mediocre $40 syrah as part of the club shipments)?

How does you pricing, including shipping, compare to what it would cost to buy the wines you like from that producer at retail, either locally or over the internet?

How much do you value or not value the convenience of having this all happen automatically? Maybe you prefer just not having to think about it and having a mixed box of their wine arrive a few times per year, or maybe you would prefer having control over the process.

Does the club get you access to wines that you covet and that would have difficulty buying at retail, or which would cost a big premium at retail?

Do the various events and tastings that come with your club membership have much value to you? I would guess that 98% of people end up getting little or no value out of those things, but maybe you live close by, maybe you like going there often, etc.

I think if you do that analysis, most of the time the answer will be to pass on the club, particularly in Napa. I’d say it’s kind of like a timeshare - they are mostly things people engage in either impulsively while vacationing, or they get because they just like the automatic don’t-have-to-think-about-it nature of it. But the large majority of the time, they don’t stand up well to close inspection of what you’re really paying and really getting. There are exceptions here and there.

Good luck. Be a critical consumer and you’ll do much better in the long run.

Are yu
Ou differentiating clubs from mailing lists? There arent that many high end clubs (automatic shipping) anyway. The only ones I belong to are Liquid Farm which is sort of a club, Donum and True Believer which is also sort of a club. Mailing lists are a different animal altogether and that is really where questions of budget, style etc come into play for me.

I’ll use a board darling as an example of why I prefer mailing lists to clubs.

Bedrock’s mailing list (not club) allows you to buy Old Vine Zin at $19-ish a bottle. Try to track any down via WineSearcher and it’s around $25 per bottle or more depending on the vintage. Their 2014 Monte Rosso Zin was $42 a bottle this past release, but finding any vintage otherwise will cost you $50 a bottle or more. Then add that you aren’t tied into buying some package that forces you to pay for wines you don’t want and only buy the wines you like, and you see why mailing lists are WAY better than clubs.

Some of my favorite wineries have clubs and I won’t join because as Chris mentioned above I don’t want to be forced into a minimum annual purchase and getting stuck with some wine(s) I don’t care for like Chardonnay.

I think wine clubs can be a good deal. I joined Schramsberg’s club because I love their bubbly and still wines and get discounts and limited release wines. I buy Montelena futures through their futures club. The prices are about 40% off retail and I get discounts and club-only wines. Other clubs seem to be a waste of money because the discounts do not offset the shipping costs and they don’t have enough club-only releases to justify the cost. A good wine club will happily suspend shipments any time and resume them when you want.

Right now I buy direct from about 15 wineries.

Some like Marcassin, Andremily, or SQN are virtually impossible to get other than directly.

Others like Ovid, Booker or Saxum are very difficult to source other than direct, but possible.

Some, like Tablas Creek only offer their highest quality wine by purchasing direct.

Thats such a broad statement its hard to answer, almost everyone on this board is a member of a single winery club/list so the basic answer is yes it is worth it.

I’m not. Nor am I on lists. Not worth it.

Nothing against them but Chris summed it up nicely. Try a lot of wines first. I want to choose every wine I buy, not have it chosen for me.

As to the example of $19 vs $25, that’s insignificant. I wouldn’t join a club to receive wines I may not want just to save six dollars. You can often find some discount somewhere and if not, you can buy something else.

OTOH, like Andrew says, sometimes you can only get certain wines by being on a list somewhere, so if you love those wines, then join the club.

This is a good thing everyone should realize and remember. There are a few exceptions, generally from the highest-demand lists and clubs, but for the most part, if you contact your list or club and nicely say “I need to skip this fall’s shipment, but I plan to be back in the spring,” they’re usually very cool about it.

Being in Australia, I joined up to Brown Brothers Wine Club Brown Brothers Wine Club and get a wine package delivered quarterly. Last delivery was October, so I got the white wine package that included a bottle each of Patricia Chardonnay, Tamar Ridge Sauvignon Blanc, Devil’s Corner Pinot Grigio, 18 Eighty Nine Chardonnay, Moscato & Sauvignon Blanc, JG Brown Explorer Series and Chenin Blanc.

My gf loves the Moscato which I think only Brown Brothers does here in Oz.

I’ve never used a winery as a means to find eligible single, but I suppose for others anything is possible.