So let's talk about wine clubs first. I currently belong to six clubs. They range from David Bruce's club that has no scheduled shipments to J. Lohr's that has two bottles a month if you pick up the shipments at their tasting room or six bottles quarterly if they ship it to you. Wine clubs have some advantages and some disadvantages. The primary advantage is the cost of wine. Club members typically get a 20 percent discount off the regular price of the wine. If you have your wine shipped to you, it's probably a wash; the discount covers the cost of shipping. If you pick up your wine yourself, the discount is more noticeable.
The second advantage is that you sometimes have access to wines that won't be available to anyone else. Some very small production wines are put into club distribution, and if any bottles are left over, they're sold in the tasting room. This is a nice way to collect a fairly eclectic variety of wines.
The downside, usually you have to take what they are allocating for that shipment. So if you don't care for Cabs and this shipment is a pair of Cabs, most likely you're stuck with something that you won't like. A couple of wineries that I've been to will let you swap out wines for something you want, but most won't.
Some wineries specialize in one or two varietals. Sonoma-Cutrer, for instance, produces only Pinots and Chardonnays. Others have a wide variety of wines that they produce. I was a member of the Blackstone wine club for a while and they covered just about all the bases. That translates to the potential of getting some good wines that you might not normally have considered, but then again, you might not have considered then because you prefer to concentrate your purchases on just a couple of varietals. If that's the case, consider joining only those wine clubs that focus on the varietals you prefer.
Another advantage of wine clubs is free tastings, tours, and special events. This is particularly beneficial if you live in relative proximity to the winery. It is of little value if you live further away and don't make regular trips to the wine regions. If you live nearby, though, it's nice to drop by and have a taste when you need to buy a new bottle of a favorite. I live fairly close to the wine club that I most recently joined, Cinnabar in Saratoga. It's quite easy for me to drop in. I've been twice in the past couple of weeks to introduce the wines to first my SO (significant other) and then to my son, in town on a visit from Illinois. It didn't cost anything for the tastings (as opposed to their usual $10) and my wine purchases were discounted by 30 percent (usually 20%, but Cinnabar offers their shipments wines at 30% off for additional purchases). The bonus with Cinnabar is the quality of their wines and varietals that I typically like. More about Cinnabar in another post.
So, for locals, wine clubs can be a great way to reduce your wine buying bill while getting some otherwise unavailable wines. If you live far from the wineries, however, the advantages aren't as persuasive. It might be better for some to monitor the websites of wineries you like and look for deals on wines you know, or take advantage of free shipping offers when made available. You can also "friend" wineries on Facebook and keep tabs on their special offers that way. Or continue monitoring this blog for recommendations on wines to order from what might be, for you, previously unknown wineries. There's a lot of good wine out there and I intend to help you find it.
Welcome to the Wine Buying Guide
As a wine enthusiast living in the San Francisco Bay area, I have the luxury of being able to head off to local wineries at a moments notice to taste or buy wines. As a result, my wine collection is a mixture of wine club offerings and limited release wines that I've picked up at the wineries and are usually available only at those wineries. I realize, however, that not everyone has that opportunity. Their source of wines is typically the local grocery or package store where they either buy an old standard, look for a recommended wine, or employ a hit or miss strategy for trying new wines. With the growth of the internet, online wine purchasing opportunities are now plentiful. The question, though, is what to buy. Yes, just about all of the wineries now offer their products through internet sales, but which of those wines are worth the effort and shipping costs? This blog is dedicated to providing information for wine lovers to assist them in their online buying decisions. As I visit local wineries, I will relate my findings through the blog to give readers an idea of what wines I find that I'd recommend to others. These are usually wines that I buy myself, or wish I could buy if I had an unlimited budget for wine purchases. Each entry will provide information about the location of the winery, varietals with which the winery specializes, the costs of the wines, website links, and my own recommendations. If they have had their wines rated by some of the better known reviewers, such as Robert Parker, I will mention that also, as well as the winery's own tasting notes, if they are particularly helpful or entertaining. To give you a sense of my tastes, I tend toward Pinot Noirs and Zinfandels. I've run across numerous other varietals that I enjoy, but I'm always particularly interested in Pinots and Zins. A good Cabernet Sauvigon or Chardonnay hits the spot, too. Favorites include Kunde Century Vines Zinfandel, Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay, La Crema Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, and Valley of the Moon Old Vine Zin. The trouble here is, unless you've visited the winery, you've probably not tasted these wines. There are many wonderful, small production wines out there and I hope to pass on my favorites through this forum.
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