Top 7 Wine Subscription Services for Home Delivery Chris Lehoux, February 2, 2024February 4, 2024 Content is created by CNN Underscored’s team of editors who work independently from the CNN newsroom. When you buy through links on our site, CNN and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Learn more Love having wine delivered directly to your front door? You’re not alone, and that’s why wine subscriptions have become so popular. A simple and convenient way to try different wines without leaving the house, it’s also an excellent way to hone your taste buds while you sip. “Chosen wisely, wine clubs can expand your taste and lead you on compelling adventures,” says Alice Feiring, a wine specialist and the author and creator of the natural wine newsletter The Feiring Line. “But they can also be a terrific disappointment and waste of money.” We compared seven different wine subscriptions to give you a better idea of the differences between them — it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. One caveat: Though has been a hugely popular online pick, we decided not to include it after the company filed for bankruptcy right after the new year. Ready to start sipping? Here’s everything you need to know about these popular wine subscriptions. (Of course, if you’re not a drinker, you can also look into other subscription services that may be more to your tastes, like coffee subscriptions and snack subscriptions.) Firstleaf Best wine subscription Not only is Firstleaf our most affordable option but it offers tons of personal customization. We also like that it uses a clever algorithm to help you figure out your tastes, then suggests bottles you might enjoy going forward. SommSelect Best wine subscription for sommelier picks SommSelect is all about giving you access to experts who can not only choose quality bottles but help figure out what tastes best to you. Each delivery is based on a theme, so you can try all kinds of wines based on things like regions or grape variety. From $109 at SommSelect Club Cutrer Best wine subscription from a California winery Do you like to stick to California bottles? Club Cutrer is the perfect way to get intimate with all the wines this respected Russian River Valley winery creates throughout the year. You can also add extra bottles to your subscription order at a nice discount and get reduced prices on tours and tastings if you visit in person. From $135 at Club Cutrer Wine Access Best wine subscription for education Wine Access helps you learn more about what wines you like, as well as wine in general, by offering access to a free podcast to taste along to. And the MyCellar feature lets you rate your deliveries so you can easily buy your faves again or get notified when a bottle from a producer you enjoyed is available. Henri’s Reserve Best wine subscription for Champagne If Champagne is your go-to, Henri’s Reserve is a trusted partner for high-end sparklers from France’s best private terroir. Here you’ll get gorgeous bottles you’d never find at your local wine store, and free shipping is included in all deliveries, so you can always add more bubbly with no fear of paying extra. From $150 at Henri’s Reserve Woman-Owned Wineries Best wine subscription from female winemakers Even though only 14% of the chief winemakers in California are women, this remarkable subscription service highlights their work. Every month, you’ll receive a selection from a different female-led winery according to your tastes, along with detailed information about all the notable people behind the wines. Buy from Woman-Owned Wineries starting at $107 Naked WinesA great wine subscription for interacting with winemakers Get closely acquainted with your favored wines from across the globe by becoming an Angel investor with Naked Wines. Your subscription fee aids independent winemakers and also allows you to buy bottles at their production costs – you can even directly interact with the winemakers. From $40 at Naked Wines If you’re searching for a cost-effective solution, Firstleaf offers both quality and value. Your introductory shipment is priced at $45 for six bottles, and subsequent shipments of six bottles will start at $90. Beyond affordable prices, we appreciate Firstleaf for its elaborate customization features and its capacity to adapt to our preferences over time, a refreshing departure from standard box subscriptions. To initiate the process, you complete an online questionnaire that ranges from basic questions (such as red or white?) to your adventurous spirit, and then further explores your food preferences, like mushrooms or buttered toast. Upon digesting your answers, the Firstleaf algorithm recommends bottles that align with your given profile. Upon receiving your wines, you have the opportunity to tweak future shipments by rating each bottle on the Firstleaf website. The in-built AI modifies your preferences based on your ratings, a process that purportedly improves with consistent use. While more detailed feedback on the backend workings of these ratings after a basic like or dislike would have been beneficial, we appreciate the provision of a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Firstleaf commits to refunding the cost of a bottle that doesn’t meet your expectation. The folks at SommSelect do not question your wine expertise; they simply wish to enhance it with the seasoned guidance of their team of sommeliers, led by editorial director David Lynch, the former wine director and general manager at Babbo. We sampled their most economical and popular membership, the Explore 4, priced at $109 per month for four bottles. Each bottle is selected in line with a specific theme, such as Wines of Croatia or A Sparkling Wine World Tour. Our inaugural box, curated from the Finger Lakes, comprised two whites and two reds. However, there’s potential for variety like a specific grape type or a fundamental theme like “sparkling.” This flexible structure allows you to uncover diverse bottles you might not have selected individually. Other monthly club options include the Somm 6 with six bottles ($204) and the Somm 6 Reds ($225). Want something a little more exciting? SommSelect’s Blind 6 Club ($220) comes with six beautiful bottles wrapped in black tissue paper to hide the labels and a “blinding” kit to help you taste them and take notes. For anyone trying to keep prices down, it’s important to note that though the Explore 4 is still $109, you have to pay $25 for shipping, which the company claims includes added insurance. The other club options include free shipping. We also signed up for SommSelect’s Daily Discoveries, a newsletter that spotlights wines its sommeliers are especially excited about. Sonoma Cutrer is a well-respected, organic vineyard located in the Russian River Valley. We especially liked knowing exactly where our bottles were coming from as well as the expectation of quality craftsmanship from the Sonoma-based estate. Club Cutrer offers two options that will arrive at your door every February, May and October: Chardonnay Lovers and Winemaker’s Selection, and you can choose from four (from $135), six (from $210) or 12 (from $300) bottles. We chose the four-bottle Winemaker’s Selection, and though the first shipment was not in time for the winery’s limited production Pinot Noir, we received one Founder’s Reserve Chardonnay and a Grand Cuvée sparkling in our box. Not sure what to choose? A quiz focusing on preferred flavors, like zesty lemon and dark chocolate, will help you figure out the best membership level and varietals. In addition to your three deliveries per year, you’ll also get special membership pricing if you’d like to supplement your shipments with customized bottles from the website. And if you live close by or choose to visit the region, you can take advantage of free tasting events and an annual winery tour. If you place as much importance on learning about wine as you do on consuming it, Wine Access offers incredible value. Their nine distinct clubs dispatch bottles quarterly, providing options such as the luxurious WA Connoisseurs (starting at $150 for two bottles) and WA Collectors (starting at $150 for a single bottle), or the more budget-friendly Wine for Normal People (beginning at $150 for six bottles). I had the pleasure of sampling the ($120 for four bottles delivered six times a year). The package entails access to the Unfiltered podcast, led by wine connoisseur and social media influencer Amanda McCrossin, alongside videos and print stories detailing each bottle, allowing for an enhanced tasting experience. The podcast added enjoyable insight to my learning process. Additional features that make Wine Access a great choice include flexible delivery dates and the opportunity to save 10% by adding wines to your club order without incurring additional shipping costs. You’ll also have access to the “My Cellar” feature on the site, in which you can rate your bottles, reorder favourites, and receive notifications about new wines from a preferred producer. Furthermore, it offers you the chance to discover wines similar to those you’ve enjoyed during your tastings. For those with a preference for French bubbly, Henri’s Reserve provides an intriguing way to expand your knowledge about Champagne beyond commonly known brands. The delivered bottles carry the guarantee of France’s most credible terroir, with a particular focus on largely undiscovered private estates not typically found in your local wine shop. The Champagne Club comprises three levels and delivers two bottles per month, with options to pay annually ($1,800), bi-monthly ($900), or quarterly ($600). Alternatively, you can choose a pay-as-you-go plan at $150 per shipment. Fortunately, all deliveries include shipping, making the pay-as-you-go option even more attractive. The primary offering from Henri’s Reserve Champagne Club is the quality of the Champagne. Each bottle is handpicked by Robert Houde, the former head sommelier at Charlie Trotter, and Ruth Frantz, the president of Henri’s Reserve. Their selections have graced the menus of highly sought-after global restaurants such as French Laundry, Per Se, and Eleven Madison Park. Based on a research at Santa Clara University, only a small 14% of California’s wineries are led by women. That’s why we’re huge fans of the Wine Club from Women Owned Wineries, which each month offers a hand-picked selection of bottles from a unique woman winemaker. With a range of subscription options, you can select your frequency and even preferred grape varietal, such as the Classic Club offering three bottles at $107/month, the Double Your Pleasure subscription at $199/month for six bottles, the Red Wine Lovers package which gives you three red bottles bi-monthly at $218/month, or the Seasonal Club that sends out three bottles four times a year for $107 per shipment. We were thrilled with our first shipment which featured three exquisite bottles from Camp Rose Cellars based in Sonoma, California, and are eagerly anticipating our next delivery. Each shipment comes at a fixed cost of $25, but if you spot additional bottles on the site that catch your eye, you can add them on to your order at a 10% discount. A non-alcoholic option, the Less is More Club ($97 per shipment), is also available for those who prefer to enjoy without the alcohol, and comes with free shipping. The package comes with detailed background information on each featured female winemaker, and the website also hosts an extensive online directory with details on about 600 women winemakers. Naked Wines seeks to bring you into the heart of the process through crowdfunding, providing a platform for you to engage directly with winemakers and providing a more affordable and personalized selection. With your Angel subscription of $40/month, a dedicated team of wine connoisseurs selects quality, independent winemakers, thereby granting you access to exclusive wines from around the globe at a more affordable price. For your first purchase, Naked Wines has a special offer of six bottles for $40 with this voucher, translating to a $100 saving. Your monthly Angel subscription of $40 goes towards your choice of bottles sold as close to wholesale prices as possible. If you enjoy what you’re sipping, you have the opportunity to directly thank the winemaker, fostering a global community through technology. Naked Wines also empowers consumers by directly funding winemakers. With a plethora of subscriptions available, determining the right one can be challenging. Every service has its unique features such as cost, delivery frequency, covered regions, and vino type. Therefore, there is a significant amount to ponder before making a selection. Edouard Bourgeois, the wine director at Pressoir Wine, a New York City-based wine-lover community, believes a wine subscription should mirror the subscriber’s budget and taste preferences. In essence, a great wine subscription should operate like a sommelier, prioritizing the customer’s interests. Leah Adint, Erath Winery’s chief winemaker, posits that certain individual desires can influence your wine sampling. “Are you interested in wines from one producer or multiple ones? Factors like the winery’s heritage, sustainability practices, single vineyards, or blends can help you navigate through the vast array of online wine clubs,” she explains. Understanding your preferences is crucial, but it’s also vital to ensure that the wines you get are of high quality—this involves inquiring about their wine selection process and who chooses the wines. Trust is a key factor here. As per Michele Pravda, the owner of Smith & Vine, a local Carroll Garden, Brooklyn wine shop, “Trust in your club or subscription source is essential. Are they sampling the wines themselves? Do they have a broad selection of producers and distributors to choose from to keep the subscription diverse and engaging over time?” And if you’re asking all these questions but getting no answers, you may want to take a hard pass. “Look for a real live person and a name or a store behind the club. You want someone who has something to lose if the drinker is disappointed,” adds Feiring. A few other things to keep in mind are shipping and cancellation policies. You may be offered a great deal, but shipping to your specific state could make things a lot more expensive. “Make sure you know the final cost of each shipment before you sign up,” adds Adint. “Also make sure you can cancel if you change your mind — no one likes being stuck in a subscription that charges you or makes it difficult to cancel.” Note: The prices above reflect the retailers’ listed price at the time of publication. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com About the Author: Chris Lehoux Meet Chris Lehoux, an experienced wine connoisseur and dedicated blogger with a deep passion for all things wine-related. With years of expertise in the industry, Chris shares insightful wine reviews, valuable wine tasting tips, expert pairing advice, and captivating tales of vineyard visits. 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