Saving Time and Money on Quality Wine

I love good wine. At the end of a long day, nothing goes better with dinner than a great Chianti or Bordeaux. But, as I found my taste in wine evolving, so did the cost. I am always looking to learn about good wines, trying new ones, and saving money. Last week, I found a new way to do all three that I am trying out.

Typical Wine Clubs

After hearing about it from a friend, I decided to join Club W. Like most wine clubs, Club W sends you a monthly wine selection. However, Club W is different from most clubs. The typical wine club will send you a half case (6 bottles) or a full case (12 bottles) of a new wine each month. You don’t get a lot of say in how it works beyond that.

You sign up for 3, 6, or 12 months up front. Typical wine clubs cost from $40 to well over $100 per month, so signing up will cost at least $120 up front, but could be more than $1200.

Enter Club W

Club W

In Club W, I get three bottles per month. I can always add more, but three is the minimum. I don’t need 6-12 bottles per month, so this is great for me. There is no subscription where I have to pay for 3, 6, or 12 months in advance. You just sign up and pay as you go.

The best part, though, is how the wine selection works. Rather than get six bottles of the same wine, Club W sends you different wines so you can try new things and learn about new styles of wine and regions.

Each month, the Club W staff picks 12 wines from around the world and orders them directly from the vineyard. There is no $5 distributor markup, and Club W passes that savings on to the end customer. When you sign up, you fill out a short profile on the types of wine you like. Based on that profile, you are matched with three of the 12 wines. It is very simple.

Going out of town? You can skip a month with no penalty. Want to cancel or suspend your subscription, no worries. It takes about 15 seconds do to so online. You just have to make sure to cancel it before your next order ships.

How It Saves Money

Sure, you can buy a bottle of crappy wine for $5. But is it very good? I would rather spend more and enjoy it more. If you to go the liquor store and buy three good bottles, you can easily spend $10-$20 per bottle plus tax. You also don’t always know what to get, so sometimes you spend more on something that turns out to be a waste. You also spent the time to drive, shop, buy, and drive home. It is nice to have someone do it all for you.

Club W costs $39 per month and has free shipping. They only charge tax in some states. Compared to the liquor store, you could easily save $5 or more per bottle and will likely find something more unique and better from Club W.

Give It a Shot

Club W did not pay me to write this. I just think it is an awesome idea and I am using it myself. If you decide to give it a shot, though, I get free wine for suggesting the site to friends. Make sure to sign up through my link or use referral code 674918.

Happy wine drinking!

Image by  L.C.Nøttaasen/flickr

9 thoughts on “Saving Time and Money on Quality Wine”

  1. I’ll have to give them a look. My buddy got his girlfriend a subscription to the Virgin Wine Club, but I think it is only one bottle per month. I like the idea of staff picking the wine, because I can’t even pretend like I’m an expert.

  2. Jenna from Adaptu

    Like the suggestion.  I’ve been trying out higher end box wines, for sustainability purposes.  Trying to get over the “cheap” feeling…

  3. Have to agree completely on the quality issue–it’s simply not worth paying a low price for something that only tastes like alcohol, or worse.

    Down here, we have a place called ABC Fine Wine & Spirits.  They have a members club that is free, gives 10% off bottles, reward point for cash discounts, and member specials.  I’ve picked up bottles of La Crema Pino Noir for as low as $13 there when other places it would cost $21+.  Same for Santa Margherita Pino Grigio–as low as $15 when I’ve seen it for as much as $27.  It’s great because not only is it free, it’s right near my house, and they also have wine tastings there with some really good wines that I’ve never tried before.

    1. A local grocery store does 20% of 6 bottles or more (mix and match), but 10% off each bottle is pretty cool for the one off buy.

  4. Admittedly, there are some diamonds in the rough were price is involved. There’s a brand called black box that is very solid, even though it’s a box wine. 

    1. Box wines are making a comeback. A lot of environmentally friendly people are looking to boxes as a more sustainable container than glass.

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