We looked for clubs that ship quality wines and offer good value, but the best subscription services tend to be quite expensive. We’ve also outlined some common pitfalls you should be aware of before signing up, and we offer advice on how to choose a wine club if our recommended choices don’t meet your specific needs.
Our choice
Access to wines
It’s one of the best clubs to learn about wine, with sum-picked bottles starting around $25. Wine Access’ customer service and temperature-controlled shipping stood out, but it only ships four to six times a year.
Choose Wine Access if you want bottles selected by sommeliers and you can’t wait to learn more about the wine you’re drinking. This club immediately stood out for its transparency about the selection process, wine lineup, educational materials, and free temperature-controlled delivery (a rarity among most subscription services). Of its five club options, we tested the Discovery Club, which includes six bottles of wine focused on a changing quarterly theme. Each wine comes with a detailed information page, which provides an overview of the winemaker and the region, as well as tasting notes and suggested wine pairings.
Although we would have preferred a bit more variety with the selection of red wines in our order, it’s clear that Wine Access puts a lot of thought into its club experience. We haven’t tested its Wine Folly Wine Club, but we think it would be another great option for wine lovers who want to learn more about specific regions and styles of wine. Of the wine clubs we tested, Wine Access’ customer service was also the best, and this club ships to most states. It also offers gift cards in a range of denominations.
Our choice
SumSelect
SommSelect is another great club to learn about wine, with sommelier-selected bottles starting around $25. This one is a better choice if you prefer monthly shipping or want to create your own case. Customer service is less responsive, however, and there are fewer a la carte bottles under $30.
If you want more frequent shipments than you get from Wine Access, SommSelect is another great option for sommelier-chosen wines. We tested its cheapest club, The Explore 4, which includes four monthly bottles focused on a changing theme. We liked all of the wines in our expedition and appreciated the varied styles and regional representation of the bottles we received. Like Wine Access, SommSelect provided detailed information about the wines from its shipments. If you prefer to choose your own wines, SommSelect has another club that allows you to build your own case (Wine Access also allows you to purchase cases, but not as part of a subscription). SommSelect also offers organized club gift boxes, if you want to send wine as a gift or if you don’t want to commit to a subscription. For a fee, to prevent spoilage, SommSelect ships its wine using an ice pack during the summer months; it is one of the few wine clubs that offers this option. Unlike Wine Access customer service, SommSelect’s was slower to respond (every time we called, we had to leave a voicemail and wait for a representative to answer).
Budget choice
Martha Stewart Wine Co. Wine Club
This is the best club for stocking up on inexpensive everyday wines (bottles average around $13), with 12 shipments every 12 weeks. Selections were mostly decent, but this service seems less personalized than our other recommendations.
Purchase options
*At the time of publication, the price was $90.
If you entertain often and have room to store a lot of bottles at once, the Martha Stewart Wine Co. Wine Club may be right for you. Of all the subscription services we’ve tested, this club offers the lowest price per bottle – just $13 after your initial order, which is less per bottle than at most algorithm-based clubs, like the Winc heavily marketed. The Martha Stewart Club ships orders immediately after you sign up (which is great if you need a bunch of bottles in a jiffy). The wines from this club were neither trendy nor revolutionary, but they were good quality bottles (and better than the ones we received from Winc). We enjoyed many wines and thought they would be suitable for serving guests at a dinner party. There were a handful of duds, but considering how many bottles you get at a time, we don’t think this is a dealbreaker.
The Martha Stewart Wine Co. Wine Club provides a brief overview of each wine, along with wine pairing suggestions (more detailed information is provided on the website). If you plan to have your order shipped to your work address (if no one will be home to show ID and sign for your delivery), keep in mind that the box may be too heavy for some people can lift it by themselves. If you don’t want to commit to the club subscription but still want a lot of bottles delivered for an evening, you can also purchase unique themed wine packs.
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