Califonia Wine Club Recommendation?

Hi All,

For the holidays this year I'm considering getting my parents a three month membership to a California wine club. They took a trip to Napa a few months ago and enjoyed themselves immensely so I thought this would be a nice way for them to remember their trip.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a reputable club? I'm not necessarily looking for one that sells cult wines, but I also don't want a club that going to put an over priced bottle of Kendall-Jackson in shipping box.

Thanks!

I'm not currently a member (I used to be), but I believe this locally-based company might fit your interests. I understand it's owned by some of the same people who run the very good wine program at Geja's Cafe.

http://www.atasteofcalifornia.com/

Edit: Given that it's based in Illinois, I'm assuming they're not affected by the laws discussed downthread.

If you like Ridge wines, they have a nice club:
http://www.ridgewine.com/

I have a couple of recs:

Cline Cellars:

http://www.clinecellars.com/club/description.cfm

Fabulous winery and although some of their mass-produced wines are available in Chicago they most often include bottles rarely available here in their quarterly shipments. We get the 2-bottles quarterly option and it runs with shipping between $50 and $60.

Another fabulous option is Gloria Ferrer which has some really neat sparkling wines to go with their still reds and whites. GF is our favorite winery to visit in CA. We went with the quarterly option again and it's between $45 and $70 every shipment all told.

http://www.gloriaferrer.com/Pages.php?Page=WineClub

Now, if you really want to go with something special and don't mimd spending between $90 and $120 on a quarterly basis, go ahead and get the Aretsa wine clib RED ONLY option for some truly unique outstanding wines which I've only seen one varietal of in Chicago ever. These wines are among the best I've ever had. And, if you go for the mixed wines (red and white) it's chaeper bt. $65 and $80 per quarter.

http://www.artesawinery.com/wines/club/

Bster

If you wish this gift to go beyond the 3 months indicated, I would suggest joining a wine club affiliated with a winery as IL HB 429 will be law as of June 30th, 2008. At that time, you will not be able to have wine purchases from out of state retailers & wine clubs (and some smaller winery too) delivered to you here in Illinois.
Good luck

Since you are asking for advice, I'd suggest finding a trusted IL wine retailer
and purchasing the wine from them and save yourself the shipping costs...

SWRA Press Release

This is horrible. Did not know the new law applied to direct-from-the- winery wine clubs.

What if we took some of those poor dogs Michael Vick and friends tortured. Then had some of our favorite Chicagoland chefs from some GNRs prepare a vast array of culinary delights with delectable foie gras. Washing the foie gras down with some fabulous Zins & Cabs shipped directly from CA wineries and retailers to Illinois consumers. Whilst the pit bulls dine on all Illinois & Chicago politicians associated with these special interest group laws and ordinances.

I would pay big $$$ for such an event. With all monies equally divided amongst the SWRA; various animal shelters (not PETA); and Foie Gras Farmers of America.


Bster

I belong to the Trefethen Club; we enjoy the shipments very much.

Bster wrote:SWRA Press Release

This is horrible. Did not know the new law applied to direct-from-the- winery wine clubs.

The new law does not prevent shipments directly from an out-of-state winery to a household in Illinois. This is precisely the issue address in the recent Supreme Court ruling. The new Illinois law prevents shipments from out-of-state retailers to households in Illinois. Retailers includes wine-of-the-month clubs. (I presume wine clubs from a vineyard are ok, but I am not 100% sure.)

For more discussion on the new Illinois law, see:
http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=15573

mhill95149 wrote:If you wish this gift to go beyond the 3 months indicated, I would suggest joining a wine club affiliated with a winery as IL HB 429 will be law as of June 30th, 2008. At that time, you will not be able to have wine purchases from out of state retailers & wine clubs (and some smaller winery too) delivered to you here in Illinois.
Good luck

Since you are asking for advice, I'd suggest finding a trusted IL wine retailer
and purchasing the wine from them and save yourself the shipping costs...

It's very likely this will be struck down by any federal court.

Thanks for the replies all! I am aware of the new law taking affect this summer, which is why I figured I'd limit the membership to three months if I was not buying directly from a winery.

Kim

jpschust wrote:

mhill95149 wrote:If you wish this gift to go beyond the 3 months indicated, I would suggest joining a wine club affiliated with a winery as IL HB 429 will be law as of June 30th, 2008. At that time, you will not be able to have wine purchases from out of state retailers & wine clubs (and some smaller winery too) delivered to you here in Illinois.
Good luck

Since you are asking for advice, I'd suggest finding a trusted IL wine retailer
and purchasing the wine from them and save yourself the shipping costs...

It's very likely this will be struck down by any federal court.

Should be and will be..... big difference!
Let's hope the federal judges are wino

Anyone have any strong opinions on good wine clubs to join or perhaps a better question, if wine clubs are typically worth the cost/commitment?

I am relatively new to wine (3-5 years) and typically just roam through Binnys picking up a few things here or there...I know this is a California thread, but open to various regions and varietals.

Just curious if anyone has had good luck in the past beyond what has been posted up thread.

I'll opine.

My experience with wine clubs is that, for the most part, they are not worth the commitment. We joined several clubs after a Napa visit (Far Niente, Schramsberg, Robert Craig) and I stopped them all either due to cost or that I could easily find their wines in my town - and at much better price points.

The only one I have kept is Sineann (Yamhill County, Oregon) because I love their wines and and I never see them on the shelves in my town.

If you are into library options (previously released vintages) and large format bottles or plan to be in Napa often, then a wine club and the commensurate discount benefits may work well for you.

If you just like good wine and are willing to shop around, you are probably best suited at Binny's.

I wish I had a Binny's in my town!

Davooda

Bperellis wrote:Anyone have any strong opinions on good wine clubs to join or perhaps a better question, if wine clubs are typically worth the cost/commitment?

I am relatively new to wine (3-5 years) and typically just roam through Binnys picking up a few things here or there...I know this is a California thread, but open to various regions and varietals.

Just curious if anyone has had good luck in the past beyond what has been posted up thread.

You might also check out some of the local wine club/tasting options. I highly recommend the wine club at In Fine Spirits. You generally get two bottles per month (sometimes one). The cost depends on whether you sign up for 3-month or 12-months at a time. Call to verify the price, but my recollection is that it's around $40/month for the 3-month plan; discounted if buy the 12-month plan. The wines were all interesting and from smaller producers.

Are wine clubs worth the cost/commitment? I think clubs from very good wineries are nice because you typically get wine that is hard to get or impossible to get otherwise. I'm sure there are clubs that sell fairly uninteresting, overpriced wines.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, appreciate

I've joined a couple wine clubs over the years, but only those that are associated with a single vineyard that I've visited and whose wines I enjoy. If you consider this route, I'd suggest pick a vineyard with which you have a personal connection. Maybe their sparkling wine was served at your wedding or maybe you have visited there. Also, make sure it's a vineyard whose wines aren't widely available here in Chicago.

For example, I've been a member of Iron Horse's Corral Club for about a decade. Although they're best known as a sparkling wine producer, they have some excellent still wines that you don't see very frequently here in Chicago. I first visited them in person because I wanted to try some of those still wines. It's been years since I last visited the vineyard, but I have fond memories every time I receive a box from them.

Some of the winery-affiliated wine clubs offer special programs for their club members. For example, Iron Horse does an annual harvest party for members. (I think it was free when I first joined and now costs about $50 per person.) Other friends of mine belonged to the club of a winery (forget which one) that had a small B&B attached to it, where reservations were only available to club members.

This is a bit out of the California topic, but if you're looking for ways to expose yourself to new wines I'd take a look at Perman Wine Selections (http://www.permanwine.com/). Craig usually does a 6 or 12 pack at reasonable prices and are always well selected. You might not always like them (as with any wine "club") but they're always good selections.

Before Sideways made it cool we belonged to the wine club from the Los Olivos Tasting Room. It was quite customizable, and we liked the surprise of not knowing what we'd get. Now we belong to a few wine clubs from producers we particularly like.

http://site.thelosolivostastingroom.com/
"We also feature a very consumer friendly wine club that allows you to select quantity, frequency and price range of the wines we select to ship to you. Since our inventory is constantly changing, our club members never receive the same wine twice (unless so requested)"