If you’re looking for the best premium wine club, it’s probably because you’ve either grown accustomed to great quality wine and want more of it, or you’re ready to upgrade your current wine club experience to a higher level.
Great news, when you decide to move up the pricing tiers, you can actually get much bang for not a lot more buck. A premium wine of the month club really focuses on exceptional wine.
These premium wine clubs feature higher-end French or Italian wines, boutique California wines, an occasional bubbly selection, and typically are priced at, or slightly below, retail. We like this category of wine clubs because the focus is less on squeezing every dollar of profit out of the membership, and more on delivering fun wines that the owners and winemakers themselves like to drink.
Signature Series
Overview: This wine club, one of our favorites, features hard-to-access, ultra-premium, mostly red wine, from California’s boutique family wineries. An important thing to note: not all bottles shipped in this club have the same general cost. Instead of getting two $75 bottles, you might get a $140 and a $35 bottle. No matter how much it retails for, you’ll always get interesting wine from the Signature Series.
What We Love: We love the wine we’ve received from this club, in fact, it’s on our Editor’s Picks list because we’d sign up for this one. Also, they reward volume purchasing! If you can afford it, by upgrading to the 4-bottle per shipment program you can save up to $11 per bottle. Get a preview of the killer selection in their online wine store.
Could Be Better: As a general rule, we think The California Wine Club has little they can do to improve. Whether you’re buying for yourself or as a gift, they’ve really done a lot to create a wine club worth joining.
Garagiste Series Wine Club
Overview: Garagiste is a term which describes up-and-coming winemakers who toil away creating artisanal wines in their, well not usually, garages. If you’re someone who wants to be up on the latest and greatest future stars of California winemaking, try the mostly red wine selection of Garagiste wines from the Gold Medal Wine Club.
What We Love: We look forward to discovering new wineries from all over California. We know we’re getting very good wine at below-retail prices and helping small family businesses grow.
Could Be Better: Like other Gold Medal Wine Club series, we’d really like to see more information about the winemaking and viticulture in the educational materials.
Champagne Club
Overview: We already go weak in the knees for great champagne, but the shipment we received has us wishing the next shipment would get here sooner. A mouth-watering way to explore the region of Champagne, particularly from boutique grower houses that rarely export to the United States.
What We Love: A delightful and decadent way to treat yourself (or pamper a lucky gift recipient), Henri’s Reserve is a playful yet sophisticated true Champagne Club, featuring top-notch small producers.
Could Be Better: It would be the best Champagne Club ever if they really stepped up the rewards of membership. We’ve been told they’re working on it.
Diamond Series
Overview: This quarterly wine club features true luxury wines rated 93+ and finds California wines so exclusive that the club is limited to 500 members. You get collector-level access without the hassle of doing your own research. A lot of wines (and wine clubs) call themselves “super premium” but most of them fail to live up to the hype, this one does.
What We Love: This wine club ships mostly red wine and occasionally a stunning white at prices well below retail. We love seeing superstars like Blackbird Red Blend from Calistoga, Odette Estate Cabernet Sauvingon from Stag’s Leap District, and the 97-point Matetic Syrah from Chile. You can shop these luxury wines online at their store.
Could Be Better: As a general rule, we think Gold Medal Wine Club has little they can do to improve. Whether you’re buying for yourself or as a gift, they’ve really done a lot to create a wine club worth joining.
WINC Wine Club
by WINC
When we talk about Winc (formerly Club W), we generally refer to the amazing value you get for being a Winc member. This is because their primary audience is looking for inexpensive but good-quality wine (much of the selection is priced at $13 per bottle and they offer free shipping when there are four or more bottles in a shipment).
Because this is the Best Premium Wine Clubs page, we get to talk about their awesome higher-level wines! Winc sources their own fruit and makes their own wine and they pick really great wine regions like Napa, Santa Barbara County, and leading regions around the world for their International selections.
We have found that starting around $19 per bottle, Winc is delivering outstanding value. We ourselves are wine club members at high-end wineries in the regions Winc specializes in, and we find the Winc wines often deliver equal-quality and equally enjoyable wines at 30–40% below winery retail prices.
To get their premium selections, you sign up with the normal process, saving $25 when you click from our website, and take their palate profile quiz. Then you ignore their recommendations and pick your own wines, focusing on those higher-end options. We highly recommend the Porter & Plot wines (Pinot Noir, Grenache Blanc, and Dolcetto) along with all of the other premium selections.
The Collectors Series
by International Wine of the Month Club
Overview: Our favorite series offered by The International Wine of the Month Club, we really dig the interesting, high-end, European-focused wines that arrive at our door. We’ve been able to find Italian and French red wines we enjoy courtesy of this wine club, which helps us understand the wine from these countries in a more nuanced way.
What We Love: More than anything, we love surprise factor of these wines. Every time we open a box, we sort of grimace at the prospect of drinking a Rhone red or an Barolo (wines that we typically don’t enjoy because of our own palate preferences), but we’re always surprised at how the wines are enjoyable anyway, and usually much better than we were expecting.
Could Be Better: We’d love to see four-bottle shipments offered by this wine club as a way to help mitigate the cost. The company offers a reliable, quality-driven service, so you don’t really get deals on the wine in the shipments. At the level of The Collectors Series (which we think has an over-inflated name), the discount aspect of the wine club is not a primary concern.
Reserve Selections
Overview: This Reserve wine club offers ultra-premium, luxury red wines from California, Oregon, and Washington and offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Curated by a winemaker who finds out about great wines from other winemakers, not distributors. Who needs sommelier access when you’ve got winemaker access?
What We Love: There aren’t an unlimited number of wine clubs featuring the Pacific Northwest, much less a company that offers three different levels to choose from, so we like the niche Uncorked Ventures is filling. We also like that it’s a small family business with a strong passion for wine.
Could Be Better: We know Mark at Uncorked Ventures is fixated on making wine and finding a great wine to ship out to his loyal members, but we’d love to see the website updated regularly with past shipment information and an introductory offer.
Aged Cabernet Series
Overview: This wine club is perfect for Cabernet lovers who lack the patience to cellar red wines and those who want to explore aged wine with a Satisfaction Guarantee. Each shipment contains two bottles of perfectly-cellared, mostly Napa, California Cabernet Sauvignon that’s ready to drink now.
What We Love: We like that they bring you a variety of aged Cabernet Sauvignon, at different levels of quality from exceptional to rarified. Each shipment explores the different wine regions of Napa Valley and Sonoma County, like Oakville, Alexander Valley, Atlas Peak, Howell Mountain, and Spring Mountain District. We also love that you can buy Cabernet online in their store.
Could Be Better: As a general rule, we think The California Wine Club has little they can do to improve. Whether you’re buying for yourself or as a gift, they’ve really done a lot to create a wine club worth joining.
Mixed Wine Club
Overview: The Plonk wine club has always been among our favorites because of the proprietor’s preference for quirky but delectable wines. Etty Lewensztain sources interesting wines made from grapes and regions you’ve never heard of (and some you have). Whether you choose four or twelve bottles you’ll be glad you picked Plonk.
What We Love: Lately we’ve come to think of Plonk as the “Somm club” that isn’t run by a sommelier. With a focus on wines under $30 that will delight any curious wine drinker, we think the value is top notch. Also, unlike most wine clubs, if you’re thinking of going red-only or white-only, you’ll actually get four different selections (three of each if you upgrade to 12 bottles).
Could Be Better: When it comes to Plonk we have little to ask for in the improvement department. Because the wines are so great, we’d really like to see a more gift-worthy version of the subscription which includes gift wrap and maybe even store credits so gift recipients can order more of their favorites.
Cellar Select
Overview: Grapeseed Wine started out as a way to have customers help fund one-time wine productions by acclaimed winemakers, but now it’s a premium wine club, too. Get preferred pricing on all of their new releases and enjoy helping stellar winemakers stretch their winemaking creativity.
What We Love: We’re big fans of any group that has exclusive wines because they produced them (as opposed to buying out a full production of someone else’s wine)
Could Be Better: We’d like to see more options available, particularly for gifting, but also for delivery frequency. We’re looking forward to the next release of Grapeseed wines to augment the selection.
Wine by the Glass Club
by VineBox
Overview: One-of-a-kind wine tasting club which delivers wine by the glass instead of in full-size bottles so you can taste your way through sommelier-selected grown-up juice. Reorder full bottles or more glasses of what you love. Now delivered quarterly.
What We Love: We especially love that sommelier Tyler Kennedy picks the wine — and it shows. We’ve been super impressed with the quality of each wine we’ve received. The unusual selection genuinely seems like a somm picked the wines. We also love the pricing which rewards bigger customers.
Could Be Better: Given the care taken to select interesting wine, we want more more information about the wine regions, the wineries, and the winemakers in the tasting notes.
Special Selections
Overview: This Special Selections wine club offers ultra-premium, red wines from California, Oregon, and Washington and offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Curated by a winemaker who finds out about great wines from other winemakers, not distributors. Who needs sommelier access when you’ve got winemaker access?
What We Love: We’re quite impressed with most of the past selections from Uncorked Ventures, especially as they include some of our favorite West Coast wine-growing regions. There’s always a richness to the selections that sometimes is missing from other wine clubs.
Could Be Better: We know Mark at Uncorked Ventures is fixated on making wine and finding a great wine to ship out to his loyal members, but we’d love to see the website updated regularly with past shipment information and an introductory offer.
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