by Jenise » Sat Mar 21, 2020 9:45 am
Jelana, John tells you right. Clubbing is not the best way to taste wine for the reasons he says. Attractive as the idea of wine showing up on your doorstep is, I'll put it more harshly: most of those "clubs" (i.e. Naked Wines, Alaska Airlines Wine Club, Martha Stewart wine club) just slough off questionable, surplus industrial quality wine made or bottled for the purpose of catering to the clueless. They'll blow a lot of smoke up your skirt trying to make you feel like you've joined the world of great wine collectors, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
That said, many good producers have 'clubs'. If there's a winery you especially love, inquire about their club wherein you agree to let them autoship wine directly to you on some basis of your choosing--a case a year, 2 bottles every two months or what have you.
ALSO, and best for learning and honing your palate, good independent wine stores also have wine clubs. One in my town owned and directed by a very knowledgeable wine geek and former distributor offers several options, one specific to good value Washington wines (I live in Washington), one specific to interesting things from "around the world", and one oriented to more exclusive bottles generally in the $50-$100 category. He provides information with each club release so as you taste the wines you can read along and learn.
But further to that, you can make your own 'club' by simply finding a dependable wine geek who works in a good independent wine store who can mentor you. Once he or she understands your palate, they can specifically recommend wines suited to both your palate and budget.
That's exactly what I did X-many years ago when a bottle of French chardonnay upended my life. I lived in California at the time and thought I understood Chardonnay. A chardonnay from France's Burgundy region at a fine restaurant in Paris made me realize what a rube I was. That bottle was a Swarovsky crystal compared to the dull glass I'd been drinking at home. So I started hanging out in wine stores, and I also joined one of the internet's very first wine communities. I read every tasting note everyone posted, and eventually 'adopted' certain of the posters as my secret mentors to follow. I would try to chase down the same bottles to taste, and learned to identify the things they described. Then I started writing my own tasting notes, which is an excellent way to force yourself to think about what you taste as you taste it.
You've already made one of those big leaps by joining WLDG: congratulations! Everybody here will be happy to be your new mentors. There isn't as much traffic online as there used to be (before Facebook, et al), but there are wonderful new options like Cellar Tracker. JOIN IT. Then, buy a wine you haven't had before at a good wine store, then as or after you taste it come here to discuss it and/or go look it up on Cellar Tracker and read all the TNs posted by others who have tasted the same wine. Your wine knowledge will improve exponentially in no time.
My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov
