Rvised and Updated on December 26, 2020
Let’s be honest: 2020 was a real Cluster Yuck in so many ways. But it did focus wider attention on buying wines online and made home deliveries of your favorite vino easier than ever.
But the real story in the wine world was the greater availability of high-end, highly allocated wines once restricted to sales from the winery, wine clubs, and to restaurants.
Additionally, many small, family owned wineries on the West Coast relied on sales from their tastings rooms and to restaurants. When those avenues began to close down, the best option was for them to seek out online wine retailers.
Every morning throughout the year another once impossible to buy wines like Ridge, Spottswoode, Silver Oak, Lail and Chateau d’Yquem are dangled before my eyes. And many high end Bordeaux, Rhone and Italian wines that were centerpieces on wine lists are now offered online.
Yes, we are seeing current vintages, not old unwanted stock. Well-established and famous wines, not private, custom labels.
Not bulk wine packaged with cute names and artsy labels. These typically show up on many subscription box clubs which did nothing to distinguish themselves in terms of selections during the pandemic.
Online wine retailers selling authentic wines, not the subscription box clubs, are where the action is today.
This past week I saw deals for Groth Reserve Cabernet, 2017 Lail Blueprint Cabernet, Pride Mountain Cab Franc, Dominus, Heitz Cellars, Booker, Clos du Val, Pine Ridge, Whitehall Lane, Vine Cliff, and Silver Oak. Suddenly it seems several websites are offering Heitz and Silver Oak Cabs at discounted prices.
I was particularly intrigued to see special deals on wines from Rams’ Gate, Lang & Reed, Three Sticks, Amuse Bouche, Paradigm, Arnot-Roberts, Larkmead, La Sirena, Frank Family, Ridge and Eden Rift.
As the year went by, more and more California and Northwest wines normally on strict allocation to wine club members appeared in an online sale.
Selections are now more exciting on the import scene as well with special deals on super Chateauneuf-du-Pape from 2017 and 2018,Condrieu, Chianti, Barolo, Brunello….you name it. Big named Burgundy, Rhone and Bordeaux wines once dominating restaurant wine lists are now being offered online and destined to be stashed away in home wine cellars.
For the crack team involved in this blog it has been exciting to follow some 36 candidates, each claiming to have the best hand curated deals for members, exclusive offerings of super values, rare wines and great vintages and the next cult wine.
I’ll go into a little more detail below to explain why I’m suspicious of many of these wine box subscription programs. Those that ask a few questions about your taste preference and claim to be able to”curate” wines especially for you are blowing smoke.
You can do better looking elsewhere.
So here are the top 10 most exciting sites performing best in 2020.
To lean more about each, click on my name and read the brilliant reviews at http://www.winereviewonline.com
http://www.winespies.com
http://www.wtso.com
http://www.lastbottlewines.com
http://www.cawineclub.com
http://www.garagistewine.com
http://www.sommselect.com
http://www.wineExpress.com
http://www.invino.com
http://www.wine.com
www. wineaccess.com
My top 10 wine club sites offer real wines.
Wines from most subscription box clubs, like nakedwines.com are special, custom made wines. Not available elsewhere. So the market price is meaningless.
Looking over the other USA candidates, it is time to remove web retailers with subscription boxes who have nothing much to offer. Martha Stewart? Yes, she has to go.
So, to mix metaphors, let’s begin by throwing the following wine clubs off the island:
http://www.somMailer.com This one is relatively new and has no track record. I dont think much of the wines selected. They are ok and he provides good background.
www.wineinsiders.com A no-brainer here because the prices are simply ludicrous, unless you think $29.99 for a Gascogne white or $39.99 for a common Bordeaux Superieur are awesome deals. My favorite 2019 Gascogne white from Jean Paul retails for $7.99. Neither coupons or Groupon offers with a 15 bottle introductory cases can save this one.
www.marthastewartwine.com Yes, we are throwing Martha, our much-beloved entertainment expert, to the sideline. To be frank, there is no evidence her good taste is invoked here. since she sold the brand. The wines selected are common and appear on several other sites. And there are a number of over-priced private label wines with cute names. This is a sad case of a celebrity branding a wine club and then allowing others to take over and opt for ordinary, over-priced wine.
No way Martha could have chosen or hand curated such mediocre wines. Sad, but a fail.
www.vinesse.com. Has been around for 20 years, but has failed to keep pace. Recent offering of 6 “World Class Wines” for $29.99 plus 2 Pinot Noirs as a bonus suggests it is waking up. No discounts on the few, real wines offered. Sad CA selection (3 Zins, 0 Sauvignon Blanc) and no wines rated over 90 by anybody. Something named Plank Walker is your top Napa Cab? Really? Prices start at $19.99 a bottle. Gone!
While we are at it:
Before air travel came to a standstill, almost all airline wine clubs like the United Airlines wine club uses vinesse for its member wine deals. So does Alaskan Airlines. Unless you are totally desperate for miles and mediocre wines, forget these clubs.
www.wsjwines.com This site once offered members well-chosen wines. But now the Wall Street Journal seems to have outsourced the wine selection process to another website and the wines are quite unexciting. Best advice is to sign up for the 15 bottle introductory offer for $69.59. Then cancel the minute the box arrives.
And before we close, we have also dismissed as losers the wine clubs from national geographic, AARP, Walmart, Hound & Hare, and my local pet store.
Oh, and the NRA, can you believe it, also has a wine club. This is no cheap shot: the wines offered are way off target.
Norm Roby's Unfiltered Guide to Savvy Wine Shopping 