As a long time Copain fan, I’m biased, but I honestly don’t think these are fair comparisons. If you like the style of Copain pinot, the better comparison for the wines you mention is to Copains Tous or Les Voisins series (my opinion).
I have been part of the “club” and will remain so. I like that I can make a selection of wines I want one time, be charged later when they actually ship, and I assume I can always add or even change a bit after tasting the wines. I know Pinot is “it” these days, but I have to express a little sacrilege, and say that the Copain Syrahs are in the very top tier of California syrah, and absolutely world class wines.
They have what is the ultimate holy grail: direct purchase from the producers (at least in Burgundy). Small, exclusive lists that most of us could never hope to attain. I’d hardly call Copain trying to serve their customers, and establish some stability in yearly sales “uppity”
FWIW, I chose to simply do my order through the Copain website, instead of mailng the sheet back. Pretty simple and you can affix to each wine what you want and then save. Nice and easy.
I have been on the Copain list for as long as I can remember (opened a 2003 Broken Leg two nights ago - corked unfortunately) and have more Copain in my cellar than any other wine, but at this point I think I may just drop off. The prior change to the club format resulted in me getting wines I didn’t really want and I was thinking about dropping off anyway.
I never really figured out there release schedule under the club and it was a pain to have to contact the winery each time to tell them I didn’t want the wines they were automatically sending me. Free shipping also does nothing for me since I live nearby. Sounds like the new program might be easier but I have been trying to cut down on my wine purchases anyway. Going to have to think about this.
i think this is a much more palatable model for many people. i’ve been a very happy customer and certainly plan to follow these guys for the long haul.
in this program, is it 12 svds only, or can you mix in the appellation offerings?
Once you sign up for the SVD membership you can pretty much add any additional wines you want. I am also in the camp that this new program is leaps and bounds better than the old program.
In the past they’ve been pretty flexible on substitutions of lower-level bottlings for SVDs in club shipments, so I would expect that to continue - but you should probably call to confirm.
Give Copain credit…the new club seems like a positive step forward, and they seem to have put a lot of thought into making the experience user-friendly based on member input. I thought last year’s version was a wine for me, but I agree the rules were poorly communicated and purchases required a call to arrange, which was a hassle. Copain seems to have corrected these issues, and my only question for the program would be how we will know what date our cards are charged each fall. This is important, since my budget is tight and the health of my marriage is unfortunately linked to the prudent use the AmEx. I’ll ask Ezra, unless someone answers beforehand it in this thread, since Ezra will undoubtedly spend a lot of time answering questions in the coming days.
On another note: the tenor of this thread regarding Club Copain seems more reasonable compared to the responses to the club rollout last year. Must mean the changes are generally positively received.
I didn’t get the email yet, but I logged on to my account today and the club option was one of the menu items. I’m definitely in favor of this program, although I hope I get the ability to increase my current selection of any given wine when they are released throughout the year.
Not necessarily. Some of us have just lost interest and moved on. I guess this new scheme is probably less odious than the prior one, but worse than the one before that, and worse than the one before that one too. And after yet another rollout of the marketing agreement du jour, what credibility does Copain have that this one will continue to accrue benefits to customers long term? IMO, there is no credibility left.
Super easy. Logged in to my account, looked over the list of wines being released this year (together with descriptions and tasting notes). Filled in a dozen bottles I know I want, out of about 8 wines for the year. Hit save. Will certainly buy more later, but this is as simple and convenient as it gets. Bravo!
I get your point now Lewis, and I got it then. However, as always, you were/are respectful and thoughtful about your reasoning, and I understand why you chose to move on. I enjoy the wines (Syrahs and Kiser pinots) enough I put up with the confusion, but I get why others might not. Your feedback on wines such as Copain has always been valuable.
What disapointed me last year was the needlessly nasty tone…some guy actually resorted to misspelling my name in a feminine way to get under my skin. Obviously, I had no choice but to suurrender.
Understand that our own enjoyment of (and loyalty to) the product might blind us to things that might annoy others. We all must admit that the first year of the club was problematic. However, it seems to be headed in the right direction, and maybe with a bit of stability and consistency Copain will return to credibility in the eyes of lost customers.
Great points. Unfortunately, the reality is in this day and age, you often don’t get a ‘second chance’ with some folks. It’s understandable both ways - understandable that some customers might be ‘put off’ by confusing instructions or having to jump through too many hoops; and understandable that the company might try to ‘make things right’ any way they can.
It seems to me that the deal they are offering seems ‘fair’ assuming you want to commit to a case a year. With the vast number of different SKU’s they offer, this doesn’t seem that extreme at all, and the free shipping on 3 bottles at a time or more seems quite fair. Do you know if they offer this free shipping on non-SVD wines? I’d be curious to hear . . .
I have no difficulty understanding why someone would have been annoyed last year when the Wine Club program was instituted. I reacted to the language I quoted because it came off to me as unnecessarily dramatic. It seemed far too angst-ridden to have been written by someone who has “moved on.”
From my point of view, Copain’s efforts to make the Wine Club more user friendly and beneficial to its members is to be applauded. Maybe other people don’t feel that way, and that is fine for them as far a I’m concerned. It’s the whining that irritates me.
I got the envelope also.
Whatever the “program” I’ve generally had good luck with Copain. Certainly within the top 10 CA wineries for me. The issue is too many bottles. Even one case per year is pushing it. There are lots of wonderful bottles competing for cellar space so I will have to back off and just pick up a few here and there at retail.
Sorry, Brad, but you are wrong in your interpretation. I have no angst, no whining, and no interest. I’ve moved on. But that is just me, and I’m not trying to change the mind of those who buy Copain wines. I think the quality of the pinots is generally excellent, perhaps Top 5 among California pinot noir producers, or very close to Top 5. Just my $0.02.
