There are many ways to have your favorite wines and spirits delivered to your doorstep, but for true aficionados, variety and discovery are the spice of life. These days, luckily, loving great wine — and a little adventure — doesn’t have to come with an aristocratic price tag. May 25 is National Wine Day, but joining an affordable wine club will bring a steady flow of new wines from the world’s best vintners to your doorstep throughout the year. Many are chosen specifically for each customer through samples and starter questions about interests and favorite flavors. We’ve even included one club for oenophiles who’d like a more opulent tasting experience.
Prices and availability are subject to change.
Related: Unique Gift Ideas For Women Who Love Wine
Best Introductory Offer: Laithwaites Wine Club
Laithwaites offers top estate wines with detailed tasting notes and a 100% guarantee on every bottle. Deep discounts and a free gift with the first shipment come standard. Bottles delivered: 12 every 3 months Cost per shipment: $160; $50 introductory offer (free shipping) for 6 bottles plus 2 bonus wines Shipping cost: $20 What it offers: Highly customizable selections and a deal on the first shipment that’s hard to beat.
Related: The Best Places to Buy Wine Online
Best for Flexibility: Winc Wine Club
With truly budget-friendly prices, a low free-shipping threshold, and flexibility that allows members to tailor orders and skip a month at any time, Winc is one of the best value wine clubs around. Bottles delivered: 3 or more Cost per shipment: Varies by selection; bottles start at $13, with discounts available for members and large orders Shipping cost: Free with 4 bottles What it offers: Personalized curation. Answer a few questions, and wines will be chosen to match your tastes; rate these selections to further customize your profile.
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Best for the Money: Wine of the Month Club
The original wine club, Wine of the Month Club, has been allowing club members to choose between the best affordable wines from across the country and around the world since 1972. Bottles delivered: 2, 6, or 12 monthly, bimonthly, or quarterlyCost per shipment: Starting at $38 a monthShipping cost: Varies by number of bottles, weight, and location What it offers: Something for every palate and every budget, with 11 different club options available for delivery. There are Mystery Case subscription boxes for the truly adventurous.
Best for Beginners: Wine Insiders
Wine Insiders club members can choose a case of reds or whites, or opt for a mix of the two. Sign-up perks are significant and include deep savings as well as fancy swag, such as a lever pull corkscrew set with the second shipment. Bottles delivered: 12 every 12 weeks, plus bonus winter and summer shipmentsCost per shipment: $140; $89 introductory offer (free shipping) for 12 bottles plus 3 bonus bottlesShipping cost: $20 What it offers: Exposure to a wide variety of wines. Customers who don’t want to join the club can still shop for individual bottles or preselected “packs” of wines.
Best for Gift Giving: Vinesse Wines
In addition to its great wine club and various club gift subscriptions, Vinesse offers a sampler option: Choose from large selection of wines for a fair price and fill out a gift card to send to a friend or loved one. Bottles delivered: 12 Cost per shipment: Starting at $100 for 12 bottles Shipping cost: Included What it offers: A fabulous way to fill the wine racks of friends and loved ones. The sampler can stand alone as a one-time delivery, or it can be given as a subscription gift with four shipments a year.
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Best for Free Shipping: Cellars Wine Club
Cellars Wine Club offers wine lovers 12 different subscription services, but what they all have in common is that shipping is included in the price. Sample wines from both the classic wine-producing regions and emerging hotspots with the most popular wine club option, the Premium Club. Bottles delivered: 2 monthly, bimonthly, or quarterlyCost per shipment: $49 Shipping cost: Free What it offers: A low-frills focus on quality wines, without membership costs, hidden fees, or extra for shipping, even for only two bottles.
Best for Personalized Picks: Bright Cellars
Two MIT grads developed a special algorithm to rate wines for Bright Cellars, which compares 18 unique attributes to your personal preferences. All it takes is a seven-question quiz to get started. Bottles delivered: 4 monthly Cost per shipment: $80 Shipping cost: $8 What it offers: Mathematical matching of wine lovers and the wines they’re most likely to prefer. It’s a good opportunity to try new wines while cutting back on the risk of being disappointed with your discoveries.
Best for Tasting: Tasting Room
With Tasting Room by Lot18, club members receive a personalized selection of mini-bottles ($15) to sample. Shipments of full-size bottles are based on their tasting experience.
Bottles delivered: 6 or 12 Cost per shipment: $150 for 12 bottles or $75 for 6, plus shipping.Shipping cost: $20 for 12 bottles What it offers: A highly customized “wine profile” grounded in proven preferences, as opposed to simple surveys.
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Best Perks: WSJwine Club
In partnership with The Wall Street Journal, the WSJwine Discovery Club offers a nice introductory price for frugal wine fans, along with two additional award-winning reds no matter which wine selection — red, white, or mixed — you choose for your subscription service. Bottles delivered: 12 every 3 monthsCost per shipment: $160; $70 introductory offer ($20 shipping) for 12 bottles plus 2 bonus bottlesShipping cost: $20 What it offers: A good selection of wines from around the world at very competitive prices. Wine club deals, rewards, and upgrades offer additional ways for WSJwine Club members to save.
Best for Millennials: Wine Awesomeness
At Wine Awesomeness, anyone can become a wine expert. Each slickly packaged shipment takes customers on a curated journey through the world’s wine regions. Bottles delivered: 3 or 6 monthly Cost per shipment: $49 for 3 bottles, $84 for 6 Shipping cost: Free What it offers: A wine “adventure.” With each shipment, club members receive a free magazine, complete with incredibly detailed tasting notes, recipe pairings, and backstories on the wines received.
Best for Napa Wines: Winemaker’s Circle
This wine club option offered by Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars brings the best of the famed vintner’s Napa Valley selections to your doorstep. Bottles delivered: 5 or 6 in March, May, October, and December Cost per shipment: $319 on average Shipping cost: Varies by location; 3 shipping tiers What it offers: A West Coast wine experience. In addition to wine club deals on purchases, subscribers get free access to in-person events like wine tastings and discounts on tours, so this club is especially good for locals.
Best for Organic Wines: Plonk Wine Club
Enjoy professionally curated, award-winning wines from a broad range of regions and profiles with Plonk. If you’re an aficionado of organic and biodynamic wines, you may have found your perfect fit. Bottles delivered: 4, 6, or 12 monthlyCost per shipment: $110 for 4 bottles; $160 for 6, $285 for 12 bottlesShipping cost: Free What it offers: Expert tasting notes and recipes for pairing. With the four-bottle club option, customers can also purchase short-term subscriptions — great for gifting.
Best for International Wines: International Wine of the Month Club
Rare and boutique wines are curated by a two-tiered tasting panel at the International Wine of the Month Club. Four subscription box options cater to connoisseurs of all stripes — from cultured palates to collectors. Bottles delivered: 2 monthly Cost per shipment: $42-$75, depending on club selection Shipping cost: $13 What it offers: An introduction to a world of wine. Includes international selections from two different wineries with every delivery.
Best for Small Vintners: California Wine Club
Small, family wineries and artisans are the featured favorites here. And, with the California Wine Club’s Premier Series membership, a different vintner is showcased each month. The Premier Series is the brand’s original wine club and the most popular option of its six subscription services. Bottles delivered: 2 monthlyCost per shipment: $43 Shipping cost: Varies by locationWhat it offers: Small-batch, hand-selected wines. Members also get VIP access to tours and tastings at California Wine Club’s featured wineries.
Best for Regional Wines: Naked Wines
A truly unique, crowdfunded approach to wine, Naked Wines offers big savings on bottles from boutique wineries. Fund local winemakers with every bottle you buy. Bottles delivered: Customer’s choiceCost per shipment: Deposit $40 into your account every month and spend whatever you like. Shipping cost: varies, usually ranges between free and $10 in mainland U.S. (special rates for Hawaii and Alaska) What it offers: Savings of up to 60% on small-batch regional wines. “Angel” investors know they’re making a difference by supporting independents.
Best for French Wine: SomMailier
With SomMailier, customers enjoy exclusive French wines not available in the United States, curated by a renowned French master sommelier. Bottles delivered: 3, 6, or 12 every 3 monthsCost per shipment: $110 for 3 bottles; $209 for 6 bottles; $399 for 12 Shipping cost: Varies by location What it offers: Handcrafted French wines that are unique to their locality and often unavailable outside that region. Subscribers who find themselves in Bordeaux can take advantage of an invitation to tour SomMailier’s founding family’s vineyards.
Best for Delivery to Canada: WineCollective
Just 1% of the wines tasted by team experts make it into the WineCollective, which offers several subscriptions available in Canada. Bottles delivered: 2, 4, or 6 monthly Cost per shipment: CA$60-$140 Shipping cost: CA$15 (may increase for rural and remote locations) What it offers: The very best affordable wines from around the world available on the Canadian wholesale market. Send a gift subscription for as many months as you’d like to a special neighbor in the North.
Best for Premium Wines: Gold Medal Wine Club
Along with its many less expensive wine club options, Gold Medal Wine Club offers a Diamond Wine Club membership for an exclusive few. Limited to 500 recipients, this high-end club serves up top-tier wines rated 93 and above. Bottles delivered: 2 or 4 every 3 monthsCost per shipment: $185-$215 for 2 bottles; $352-$409 for 4 bottlesShipping cost: Varies; buyer can make shipping arrangements or pick up where available. What it offers: Exclusive premium wines. Gold Medal’s Diamond Wine Club is impossibly posh but not absolutely impossible to afford.
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