Wine Club Reviews

To join a wine club, or not to join a wine club, that is the question!

Wine clubs can be great for exploring new wines you wouldn't normally find at your local wine shop. They can also be a great place to get ripped off. In this section we feature wine club reviews of some our favorites that offer wine mostly under the $20 price point.

A current trend in these clubs (for example, Club W, NakedWines.com, 90 Plus Cellars and The Italian Wine Club) is to offer private label wine that can't be found anywhere else. This has several advantages for the club – higher margins, no price comparisons, no one competing for inventory, etc. This isn't all bad for the consumer either, assuming the wine is good, as those lower margins should get passed on to you. The key then is finding the good wine and that’s what we're here to help you do!

More traditional clubs (like the Plonk Wine Club and Global Wine Cellars) try to accomplish the same thing by sourcing wine from smaller, unknown wineries. While this can be a great, you also have to be careful you're not overpaying as small production means no economies of scale and more expensive wine. We've got wine club reviews of our favorite traditional clubs in this section as well.

One more note, and this isn't specific to wine clubs but also to any wine shipped through the mail -- heat is wine's worst enemy! Even wine exposed to 80 degree temps for short periods of time can be completely ruined. Although inconvenient, make sure that your chosen wine club is active in applying their heat holds during the summer months. Remember that it's not just the temperature in your area that is a concern, but all the areas your wine must travel through to get to you.

Even better than relying on a club's heat hold policy is the option to pause your shipments over the summer. You can also check our our article on How To Buy Wine Online for more hints as well as some strategies for actually taking delivery of your wine if your working all day and not available to sign for it.

Read on for wine club reviews of some of our favorites offering inexpensive, but good, wine!