Wine Clubs From A Consumer's Point Of View

Yesterday I talked about what a winery gets out of having a wine club. Today I'm going to talk about the other half of that question: What a consumer gets out of a wine club. Next time, I'll start on some of the wine clubs I have belonged to and thier benefits and drawbacks.

From the consumer's perspective, a wine club gains them several things -

• Cheaper Wine - All wine clubs grant discounts over the SRP of their wines. The de-facto standard for winery sponsored wine clubs is 20%. This is usually on all wine, not just the regular shipment, and is also usually in addition to volume discounts. Upon occasion, I have joined wine clubs strictly for this discount.
• Better Wine - Most wine clubs at smaller winerys will have wines that are only available to wine club members. These are usually very small batches that were the pet project of the wine maker, or from vineyards that produced a limited amount of fruit. I have also joined wine clubs strictly for access to these wines.
• Futures Access - Winery's sell futures. Some only sell futures to wine club members. What a wine future is, is you get to buy today a wine that is not yet released. Usually at a discount above and beyond your club discount. Why would you want to do this? Well, some wines sell out before they are released; so the only way you can get them is to buy a future. Another reason is cost; most wines will sell at a multiple of the future price upon release. If you can pay $25 today for a $75.00 wine next year, it can really save you some cash.
• Saved Effort - Not everyone lives conveniently close to a winery that they can easily drop by and taste the new wines as they are released. A wine club guarantees that you will receive the new wines for your tasting pleasure without having to visit the winery.
• Access To Old Wine - Winery's typically hold back a portion of each release in the "library" these wines are usually offered first to wine club members when they have peaked.
• Exposure To Different Wines - Since you do not choose the wines that get shipped to you, you will get exposed to wines or styles (or even winery's in some cases) that you have not tried before
• Special Events - Some winery's have barrel tastings, food pairing seminars, customer appreciation events, etc. that are only available to wine club members.