Winery Clubs - in any of them?

Off an on member of Ridge ATP. Since they don't ship to MA. I have to have a good shipping situation to make it work.

I'm currently in the Mueller wine club. I've been in Navarro, Handley and Wine Access, which I liked quite a bit.

I belong to the California Wine Club (http://www.cawineclub.com/. I get one shipment a month of CA wines and once a quarter from their international selections. Over time, I have come to realize that the wines I get reflect the preference and tastes of whomever does the selection. So they are starting to run together without much differentiation. Interesting, I really like their international selections as they are very different and expose different wine making techniques (e.g., German Pinot Noir). I almost dropped them when they send me a post card indicating that "due to popular demand, we are increasing our quarterly international club selections to once a month (unless you call to continue quarterly shipments)." Say what?! Reminded me of sleazy magazine subscription tactics. All though in their favor, when I realized months later that I never received a shipment (after reconciling my wine log to my wine rack to my credit card bill), they actually shipped me a replacement shipment for no charge. I'll probably keep them since it's like Christmas every month when I get my wine!

Dave

Through the years I have been a member of many wine clubs. I have dropped most. It seems to me that when a small winery is purchased by one of the "big boys" they increase their wine portfolio and I begin receiving wine that I do not care for. I prefer to be on lists where I am contacted and able to select the wines I wish. Most of these are "allocated". As the years go by I have noticed my palate has become more limited in it's preferences. There are a few grapes and wine styles with which I am enamoured. Wines from many other grapes don't hold my interest.

I thought I would resurrect this thread since I'm late to most of these older discussions, but still think they are interesting.
While living in California, wine clubs were like potato chips for me. You couldn't have just one! *sigh* Since moving back to Indiana, I have scaled back mainly due to the fact that some wineries just will not ship to this state (bummer for me!) - but also to help ease the pain on my pocket book. I find the nice thing about wine clubs is that I know I'll be getting good wine every few months which is great since I can't find them in the local stores. I am pretty particular about the wine clubs I choose, however. The main criteria is I have to like every wine I taste when in the tasting room so I don't end up getting shipments of wine I don't care for. Surprisingly, it does happen and the following wine clubs haven't failed to ship me something I don't like.

Current wine clubs I have:
Tobin James - Ya'll already know about this one! *grins*
Meeker - if you like "Big Reds" this is the club for you.
Yoakim Bridge - husband and wife outfit that produces incredibly good CA Zins and they have since expanded to include other reds

Past clubs I belonged to include:
Rosenblum
Trentadue
Testarossa
David Bruce
If any of these start shipping to Indiana in the future, I may rejoin. David Bruce hands down has my very favorite Pinot. I find that I compare every other Pinot I taste to that of David Bruce, because it's that good! I was disappointed that they wouldn't ship to Indiana but you can, on occasion, find one or two of their wines in local stores so I'm not completely deprived.

Hi Karen-
I haven't "seen" you here previously, so a welcome from a fellow Hoosier is in order. The shipping situation here is not good, but I'm finding more wineries doing so over the last year or two. If you need any retailer recs in the Indianapolis area send me a PM and I'll give you my thoughts as a former Indy area part time ITBer.
Again, welcome back.
'Winger

ex-Hoosier (long ex, but anyway) here.

I liked the comment that wine clubs are just like potato chips.

I am now down to two...I think at one point I had six or seven. I've kept Signorello (still love about everything they make) and a newish winery, Hope and Grace-also awesome.

If I won the lottery, I would probably join the Beaulieu reserve club, Stags Leap Wine Cellars, Clos Du Val, Freemark Abbey...and probably more.

...to give me 50% off of Loire, German riesling, Austrian, and Burgundy producers of my choosing!

That's what the bargain bin is for!

Nope, never. I never found a winery anywhere in the world where I would get a constant stream of 'product' every couple of months: there are just too many damn wines around the world to be tied hostage to one where you get wines every few months from the same one. Perhaps if DRC had one, or some other Burgundy producer seeling Grand Cru at prices 90% off retail...yeah, I'd jump all over that one!

Ooh, thank you very much! I'd love to get some recs for the Indy area (southside if possible) for good retailers. My dad works down in Bloomington and just introduced me to Sahara Mart which surprisingly had a very good selection of CA wines. I was disappointed they didn't have a store up here! LOL

Hi Karen-
I haven't "seen" you here previously, so a welcome from a fellow Hoosier is in order. The shipping situation here is not good, but I'm finding more wineries doing so over the last year or two. If you need any retailer recs in the Indianapolis area send me a PM and I'll give you my thoughts as a former Indy area part time ITBer.
Again, welcome back.
'Winger

LOL I hear that about winning the lottery to enable additional wine clubs. They are addictive, aren't they?

Where is Signorello? I'm heading out to CA for the annual barrel tasting event in the Russian River area next week and would love to discover some new wineries. We have a bad habit of always going to our favorites, so we need to try to get a few new ones in there if possible! So many wineries, so little time!

ex-Hoosier (long ex, but anyway) here.

I liked the comment that wine clubs are just like potato chips.

I am now down to two...I think at one point I had six or seven. I've kept Signorello (still love about everything they make) and a newish winery, Hope and Grace-also awesome.

If I won the lottery, I would probably join the Beaulieu reserve club, Stags Leap Wine Cellars, Clos Du Val, Freemark Abbey...and probably more.

Not much point in my joining one - they won't ship to this misbegotten State anyway.

I'd love to join a wine club but, living in Maryland, I'm in the same boat as Mr. 1,000! I did just have some wine I bought in Napa shipped to my office but that's generally a no-no. I had to make special arrangements and I don't want to go down that road again for a while, let alone 4 times a year as with some wine clubs.

I belong to two: Montelena and Rodney Strong. No complaints, and I get access to wines I want to buy that I either couldn't find at all, or at reduced prices.

-Paul W.

I belong to two: Montelena and Rodney Strong. No complaints, and I get access to wines I want to buy that I either couldn't find at all, or at reduced prices.

-Paul W.

Yum, I rather like Rodney Strong. I think we'll be paying them another visit during barrel tasting next week. I've been there once several years ago and remember liking everything, but didn't join the club at that time. Rodney Strong Chardonnay is a staple item in my house since I can actually find it in the store here.

[Jenise]

Where is Signorello? I'm heading out to CA

Is or at least used to be pretty much the opposite in style from the Tobin James wines you like. More acidic and European in style.

Jenise nails it re: description. The winemaker is Corsican from France (and stereotypically gruff ) but the style is quite restrained by Napa standards. That doesn't mean the wines lack fruit and ripeness...for the estate wines we are talking about west-facing slopes on the eastern edge of the valley so there is full afternoon sun exposure. The Syrah we had last weekend certainly had fruit. But, the cabernets should really not be drunk upon release...they are better with two or three years (or more) of bottle age.

They are located north of the City of Napa in the southern part of the valley (Oak Knoll Appellation, to be precise). Quite a long drive from the Russian River Valley.

Since nobody will ship into Oklahoma, not much point for me.

Many years ago I belonged to Bonny Doon's D.E.W.N. (Distinctive Esoteric Wine Network). Twice a year you got a few bottles of Randall's "experiments" and filled out the case with whatever. Then it became a felony in Massachusetts, and that was the end of that.

I dropped out of Glenora Cellars Forbidden Fruit club (Finger Lakes) and Chateau Montelena (when they were going to automatically charge me for two bottles of the estate Cabernet Sauvignon at $124 each). I am thinking of joining the Terroirs at Babcock Winery because short of going to the winery, it is the only way to get the Nook and Cranny Syrah and I like their Pinot Noirs too.

The one wine club I belong to is Lieb Family Cellars on the North Fork of Long Island. Being a "platinum" club member I am signed up to purchase a full case of wine 3 times a year, that being in the fall, winter, and spring. I love this club for a bunch of reasons. Firstly, the winery is fairly close to home. I almost always take a drive out when it's close to case time so I can taste through the wines (free for club members) and pick out exactly what I want in my case. Also, the winery has a varied product line that runs the gamut from a very decent under $10 Merlot to an excellent $45. Meritage, with lots of excellent wines in between including a very tasty Blanc de Blanc.

Us club folks also get a 20% discount on all wine purchases and invites to special events which are free for platinumies! In fact, on Sunday the wife and I will be enjoying ourselves at the "Winter Soiree" which features live music, wine tastings, barrel tastings of unreleased wines, fruit & veggies, cheese, and a Chocolate Fondue Fountain! This, is my idea of a worthy wine club!