As I deliver fruit to Navarro for the 42 straight year it makes me wonder who started the whole wine club/mailing list phenomenon in CA?
I see wine clubs and mailing lists as 2 different things …
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were others, but the first “club” I recall, where one received a small assortment of wines on a periodic basis, was Ridge’s ATP (Advanced Tasting Program) which began, IIRC, in the mid-1970s (at least that’s when I signed up).
The first mailing lists I joined, again in the mid-70s, were Diamond Creek and Mayacamas, followed by Chalone and Hanzell. I tried to get on Stony Hill’s list, but wasn’t successful for some reason.
Same. Ridge ATP for us – a little more recently than the 70’s though. 
No clue how it all started though.