Are mailing lists worth it?

I have been on three mailing lists, now on two, and probably soon to be one. With the excess juice it is beginning to seem ridiculous to order wine from the winery, pay a ridiculous amount to have it shipped 2-day air and then find it on a wine store shelf. I just got my Karl Lawrence mailer and always get 6 bottles, 4 cabs and 2 Aldin, a Bordeaux blend. The cab is $48, $5 under normal since I have been a long time participant. Shipping for the wine to Missouri is $56 or $9.33 per bottle. The wine is nice, more new world style than I usually enjoy, but always had a place in my cellar. Do mailing lists make sense or are they playing into our "I feel special" emotion. I for one am beginning to wonder. There is so much good wine out there that paying the premium prices and then finding the wines on local shelves does not make sense. I am driven me to give up my "elite" status.
Walt

I've never felt the need to join a mailing list, but then I've been lucky enough to a) live in places with great retail outlets and b) not enjoy the wine that gets sold primarily through mailing lists

But, I can see that the primary logic would be to secure availability to things you might not otherwise get, which does not seem to be the case here.

I agree with Rahsahn. I would never join a wine club if I had to pay shipping, but as the Napa clubs I am a member of are about a half hour drive away (a drive I do for other reasons anyway), I don't mind.

The biggest issue for me is I probably don't need to be buying more wine, anyway. Plus, it does tie you to a particular winery. In a couple of cases, the wines are not widely distributed (Elizabeth Spenser Winery in Rutherford), but on the other hand, Hess Collection is pretty available. (on yet another had, I love Hess Collection's wine parties and their art collection is in itself worth the drive to see).

Walt,
I was on a lot of the original cult lists; no longer.
And the reasons are many; change in preferences, stupid money, continuing obligation, etc.
I'm on two now: Rhys, because I think Kevin's wines will always be in short supply and I believe they will age into something quite wonderful and Edmunds St. John, because Steve makes the best wine in the U.S.
No more lists for me.
Best, Jim

Walt,
I was on a lot of the original cult lists; no longer.
And the reasons are many; change in preferences, stupid money, continuing obligation, etc.
I'm on two now: Rhys, because I think Kevin's wines will always be in short supply and I believe they will age into something quite wonderful and Edmunds St. John, because Steve makes the best wine in the U.S.
No more lists for me.
Best, Jim

Jim,
I think I will stay on Dehlinger because every once in a while you want a big west coast PN for outdoor grilled meat. All others have bit the dirt. I also buy 1-2 cases a year from Steve, hard to beat for pure fruit and ageability.
Walt

I'm in one wine club at the moment because I happen to enjoy that winery's wine a lot and the events the winery sponsors. I get anywhere from 20%-35% discount on stuff and sometimes there are fire sales. I cannot get the wine for those prices at retail. And, since it costs nothing to join except the price of the wine that you buy, I would probably join another wine club if I found a place which tickled my fancy with a similar set-up.

The one big difference between our situations is that I can drive to most Napa and Sonoma wineries in less than an hour, pick up my hooch, and then have a nice day. Shipping is not a factor.

There is plenty of wine out there, so there is really no need to be in a club or on a mailing list unless you really like the wine that's being offered. Good wine is an indulgence so it depends on how indulgent you want to be.

Now, I do stay on 10-15 mailing lists which do not involve buying anything on a regular basis just to get invites to events (PlumpJack comes to mind) or to take advantage of said fire sales (Homewood's $5.00 unfiltered Carignane is recalled fondl).

I'm on quite a few lists. Almost all of the wines I buy are not on my local shelves. Some Williams Selyem are but at a large premium. I get wine that I want, I save money and I know they've been properly handled.

In fact, I'm waiting to get on a couple more; Switchback Ridge in particular.

Since I travel to CA a lot, there is very little need for lists as well except for those wineries that I can't get from so I share three lists with a friend

(1) Tobin James
(2) V. Sattui
(3) Stag's Leap (not sure why we keep this one.....)

Wine at retail (such as The Wine Club) is so much cheaper than buying in Napa at the winery but everytime you go you do buy a bit so that covers my needs for the other wineries. Besides, it kinda fun in the off-seasons to go up into the wineries and poke around.

Walt,

(chiming in a little late... lots of work and other crap)

I've gotten myself down to about 2 mailing lists from west coast wineries, but if I had a little more spendable cash, and was drinking my wines a little faster, I'd probably be on one or two more... more to support terrific small winemakers and to get wines that I can not get here in Tenn, rather than for feeling special or otherwise.

Like Jim, I've dropped out of all the cult wine lists that I have been on (except Turley... where all but a few bottles each 6 months goes into other's cellars rather than my own - I have family and friends who love to get Turley).

Scherrer Winery in CA is the other that I purchase from... love their zins (and future pricing), as well as just about everything else Fred produces... pinot (he once worked for Dehlinger), cab and even the occasional chrdonnay.

If I could, I'd be on St. Innocent - enjoy the wines that I've previously purchased.

Otherwise, my money would go to Chambers Street Wines and a few others tracking down those wonderful, yet unhearlded (except here and Wine Therapy) bottles deserving of purchase.

Mike

I'm on a few mailing lists where I have some form of contact with the winemaker or owners. I feel a special kinship under these circumstances when I open a bottle of their wine. It's also fun to relate stories to guests regarding the wines I am serving. I also get to share a couple of friends' allocations on mailing lists I am not on. Rhys is one of them that I share, and it's for the same reason as Florida Jim.