As a bit of a spinoff from the thread about Copain switching to a wine club model for its direct sales, how many of you belong to a wine club as of this moment, and how many of them do you belong to?
By “wine club,” I mean an arrangement where the winery has your billing information on file and automatically sends you periodic shipments of wines (notwithstanding that you may have some ability to customize the specific contents of a shipment and add on additional bottles), as most wineries of all sizes and price levels offer.
But I don’t mean mailing list arrangements, like Sea Smoke, Rhys, Dehlinger, Williams-Selyem, Harlan, Carlisle, Bedrock, Quilceda and so forth, where you have an opportunity to buy directly from the winery at times during the year, notwithstanding that there are often conditions associated with that (e.g. have to buy some amount or so often not to be dropped off the list, buying history affects future allocations, sometimes wines are bundled, etc.), but you are never charged for and shipped wine automatically.
I suspect I’m like most people who would frequent a board like this one, in that I’ve rarely ever valued or wanted the automatic arrangement of a wine club, instead preferring and rather enjoying the process of selecting which wines to buy and not to buy. But I thought I’d throw this poll question out there to see what the reality of it is in the Berzerker community.
May I be the first to say “polled flaw”?
No Brett Favre option.
For me: None - I have not found any club that both (a) produces a wine that I want on a regular and extensive basis, and (b) provides sufficient discounts and other benefits, to justify the commitment. I like too many different styles and producers of wines to make such a large commitment to any one. (Although looking at my purchase history of late, it looks like I make large commitments to many producers.)
This reminds me of Groucho’s comment that I would not want to be a member of any club that would accept me as a member.
Only 1
Navarro
I love their wide variety of wines, especially the whites. It’s fun to get a mystery shipment a couple of times a year to see what the new releases are. The pricing is always more than fair, there is always a hand written note on the box when it arrives, and the fall shipment always has a gift. Last year is was hand made soap, this year it was a bottle of 1996 gewürztraminer vinegar they produced.
Two, Tablas Creek their upgraded one, I like trying things I might not try otherwise, And David Caffaro both club and futures so I get 24 really good wines at an unbeatable price.
If I had room I would do the upgraded Schramsberg for the aged sparklers but my cabinets do not accommodate large bottles very well.
I really don’t see the difference between a wine club and a need-to-buy-or-get-dropped-off-mailing-list. Can somebody please explain the practical difference between those two? I understand one is automatic (wine club) and the other is not (mailing list), but one can always opt out of the wine club in the same way one can opt off the list. Is it strictly a matter of required quantity?
… anyways …
as defined in the OP, I belong to one “wine club”: Arcadian. Ta boot, Arcadian is really cool with swapping wines, if that’s your perogative.
