Wine Club Recommendations?

[Retiredron]

Given the current Covid 19 stay at home order in PA I want to join a wine club for the first time. I would value any recommendations for wine clubs that have reasonably priced ($25 or less) CA, OR, and/or WA state reds. Thanks so much.

[sfmdk240]

I subscribe to Foot of the Bed Cellars. https://footofthebed.com Their price point is about $15 per bottle, shipped in packs of 3, plus shipping. This comes out to around $65-70 per shipment. Their deal is they find smaller wineries up and down the West Coast who have additional barrels of wine they did not bottle themselves. Foot of the Bed then bottles the wines under their own label and ships. Each wine comes with a description and tasting parings. Every shipment is different so it keeps things interesting. You can get it monthly, or every few months like I do. I have not ever been disappointed.

[mighty72]

when I was in PA, you could not ship wines from out of state to your home. You had to ship to one of the state liquor store and pick up from there. Is that no longer true? You should check before you order anything.

[alex_686]

I am a little skeptical of the NPR wine club. They have a "Up First Pinot Grigio 2018" - which in theory pairs wells with their 6 am news program..... But I have never tried it. Has anybody?

https://www.nprwineclub.org/

[oldcomputerguy]

This page has a list of states and whether or not one can get alcoholic beverages shipped in.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/financial ... tutes.aspx

[Steelersfan]

when I was in PA, you could not ship wines from out of state to your home. You had to ship to one of the state liquor store and pick up from there. Is that no longer true? You should check before you order anything.

You can now ship wine to addresses in Pennsylvania and have been able to for several years. But verify whoever you are purchasing from does ship there.

[Silverado]

Pedroncelli in Sonoma County is very good. They make a wide variety of wines, but the Zinfandels are quite good. And they do a blend, Friends Red, that is crazy good value, as is their Classico. Don’t tell them, but it’s worth a few bucks more.

We’ve been members for several years, and in my opinion, it is a great value with tons of variety. Their base club is not too many bottles per year.

As noted, be sure to check shipping restrictions.

[rustymutt]

Bogle Old growth Zin. Just finished a bottle, and if you like Zins, then this is great one. Forgive me for I have zinned.

[lazydavid]

I've been a member of Naked Wines for about five years now. They're a little bit different from most wine clubs, in that they take your money every month, and don't send you anything unless you ask. Wait that sounds bad. Let me explain.

You pay monthly dues (mine are $40/mo, there may be other options), and in return receive a credit to your account in the same amount. This money from all subscribers is pooled and used to provide operating loans to independent winemakers to help them harvest their crop and produce finished wines. The resultant wine is then sold exclusively to members at pretty reasonable prices. Every month there will be a featured bottle that is free if you buy at least 11 others of any kind, and there are various variety collections available at a discount. I tend to order 12-15 bottles at a time (including the free one), 3 or so times a year. This usually wipes out my accumulated credit and I wind up spending a little on top of it. This year is a little different, because I had one order in January that used just credit, and then another special preorder case in February which used the rest of my credit plus about $80.

I've been pretty happy with it overall, and even found a new favorite winemaker (Karen Birmingham). Of course, I've also gotten some wines I haven't liked, but they immediately provide a full credit for those, so very little risk. Of course they have a referral program, so feel free to ping me if this sounds like you. Not affiliated with them in any way other than the $600 or so I spend with them every year.

[z0r]

I live in Eugene OR and visit local places around Eugene and Salem. I think you could almost throw a dart and get something good around here, if you wanted to try a single winery. I guess a single winery carries some risk in that you won't align with the taste that the winemaker is going for. But if that sounds good, why not look for something local in PA? You can probably order over the phone and do curbside pickup to keep some distance, ours is doing that.

The more obscure ones are often a better value, for example Saginaw vineyard south of Eugene. Big, sweet, fruity is their thing with some novelty wines too. But they don't ship outside of OR/WA (sorry!)

[Shackleton]

I’m also a member of NakedWines.com and highly recommend them.

[Dregob]

Too obvious a suggestion.....

https://boglewinery.com/

[barreg]

I'd recommend selecting a wine club from a winery that you know you like the wines. Too many wine clubs just are unloading random wines of varying to poor quality.

[milo minderbinder]

Not exactly a wine club but WTSO can be good. Do your own research on the wines and pricing before buying though.

[z0r]

I'd recommend selecting a wine club from a winery that you know you like the wines. Too many wine clubs just are unloading random wines of varying to poor quality.

that's a great idea. say you ran into a good Oregon pinot noir in a random wine store, chances are the wine club selection from that winery will blow you away, it'll be their even better stuff that never gets distributed to stores

[Retiredron]

Thanks for all the great suggestions.