Wine Clubs

[karen]

I was talking to a friend the other day about wine clubs and I was astonished to find out he belongs to a dozen or so wine clubs.  Each month a winery sends him wine. I don't belong to a wine club but I am curious to find out how many of you are.  What are the advantages, and is it worth it to belong?

[VinRaptor]

  I prefer to buy my wines after first tasting them; it seems that paying to have somebody else's choices shipped to me for a monthly fee is, however obviously adventurous, more of a gamble than appeals to me. Given that time is both my most precious and most rapidly dwindling resource, here's my approach: driving to the local wine shops for tastings, buying the occasional lottery ticket (if I'm going to Bakersfield, I'm going on the state's dime), and lying down at night, closing my eyes, and gambling that the cycle will repeat is enough testing of Probability Theory for me. Oh, and the occasional bet with a fellow trout fisherman on first/biggest/most fish caught is fun, too; after all, gotta have a proper excuse for trying all those fine white wines. That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it. Be Well; Carpe Vinum!

[BigRed]

On the other side of the coin, many wine clubs offer hard to find wines and they sometimes release them to club members before they release them to the public for purchase. I use to belong to a few clubs; some were good, some not so good. If you are thinking about joining, I'd recommend signing up with a winery that you know and trust, meaning that you have had their wines before and like them. Otherwise you might get stuck getting wines every month that you don't like. VinRaptor has a good point in that it is always good to taste the wine before purchasing.  Unfortunately, you can't do that with a wine club.

[karen]

Great advice BigRed and VR. I don't want to get stuck with wine I don't like.  Maybe I'll consider trying just one wine club with a winery that I truely love.  I don't think wine clubs have contracts, do they?  Like, you don't have to commit to a year, do you?  I hope not.

[BigRed]

That might be a good way to go about it.  Don't comit to more than one and select one that you like.  I don't think wineries have contracts on how long you are a member, but you might want to check with the winery directly before signing up.

[MikeDillon]

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