Club Vino

By Amy Gunderson

May 29, 2008

Wineries strike profit gold by selling directly to consumers through clubs. Before you fall for the tasting room hard-sell, consider options including boutique vintners’ sought after allocation lists, retailer offerings and exclusive clubs that get wine-swillers access to dedicated production from top winemakers.

In 1990, there were less than 2,000 wineries in the United States. Nearly 20 years later, there are more than 5,500, and as the number of wineries has grown, so have the number of wine clubs. Not all wine clubs are created equal, but whether you are an avid wine collector or simply looking to build a modest cellar, a club can be a worthwhile investment. Identify the winning attributes, and you’ll be on track to gain access to the best wines in the country.

Pick the right club, or right mix of clubs

Wine club memberships generally fall into one of four categories, each with their own qualities: winery clubs, allocations, retailer clubs and finally, the experience club. Depending on your aim, you may belong to one or even all four at any given time. Think of it as if you’re managing your financial portfolio. You want to fill your cellar with quality, variety and one-of-a-kind bottles, so diversify your memberships to strike the right balance.

Winery Clubs

Generally, a winery’s club will offer a selection of wines shipped from the winery on a preset schedule with no fee over and above the cost of the wines and shipping to join. Whether the winery has a large production or is more boutique in nature, most will also offer members perks. Expect exclusive invitations to dinners and membership parties, discounts on reorders and event tickets, free or discounted tours and tastings and limited wines sold only to club members. These “winery only” bottles are where the true value lies since these are wines you cannot find at your local retailer or favorite restaurant. Judge the quality of the club on the number of limited edition wines offered, but you’ll find that even the largest wineries offer unique wines to club members. For example, Beringer Vineyards, a grocery store staple, includes limited-production chardonnay, zinfandel and even cabernet sauvignon that aren’t available in general distribution.

Getting on the best lists

Wine Allocations

An allocation or list membership allows you the chance to purchase a set number of bottles of a vintage during a given time period. Instead of shipping wines automatically, wineries offer list subscribers a first come, first-serve opportunity to purchase bottles of what are often very small production quantities (less than 10,000 cases). That said, getting onto some lists can prove quite challenging. Take Harlan Estate and Colgin Cellars, two Napa Valley heavy hitters. If you contact these wineries today, you will be graciously added to a list that may have you waiting for that first allocation for the next five—or even ten—years. Once you’ve managed to move from the waiting list to allocation, you’ll want to exercise your options early and often. The more you purchase one year, the more you will be allotted in future vintages. At Colgin, expect to pay $350 to $475 per bottle, and $500 for a bottle of Harlan Estate. Pass on your subscription and you risk losing your allocation in future vintages. Napa wineries aren’t the only ones that sell by allocation, of course. Other examples are Sea Smoke from Santa Rita Hills, Williams Selyem in Sonoma, and Red Car in Santa Maria, Calif.

Retailer Clubs

If you want to be introduced to new wines or a variety of wine styles, look to a brick and mortar wine store. San Francisco-based K&L Wine Merchants, who have made a name for themselves as one of the best wine retailers in the country, have a variety of clubs designed to give their customers an introduction to new or unknown gems. Membership here can augment the Old World and Imports section of your cellar since retailers can offer wines from their entire inventory. Their Signature Red Collection Club recently shipped Chateauneuf-du-Pape and a Bordeaux to members for less than $30 each. Oregon retailer Avalon Wine has several wine clubs dedicated to northwest finds, including one that will send you Oregon-only wines and another dedicated to reserve pinot noirs, a staple of the region. Unlike a winery club or allocation, this isn’t about access or exclusivity, but rather discovery. Think of it as an automated way to get your wine merchants best buys. Look for retailers that have made a strong name as an authority in the industry, and you likely won’t be duped into buying bad selections.

The other segment is the growing number of online retailer and group clubs. Think Wine.com, Bottlenotes.com, the Forbes Wine Club and Vinfolio. In general, each of these online options have a choice of clubs that will send you wines within a set price range, and also options on the frequency of shipments and number of bottles in each delivery. Overall, it can be a crapshoot, since you never know what you’re getting and might only be able to narrow down your selections by red and white. Your best strategy may be to target clubs that offer a narrower selection rather than clubs with names like “premium” and “platinum.” For instance, Vinfolio has a pinot noir club and a European club, while Forbes offers a “Killer Cabernet” selection. If you opt for the online club route, keep your pioneering spirit on hand. If all else fails and these wines fall flat, you can easily cancel your membership.

The $150,000 wine club

Experience Clubs

In recent years, a new type of club has arisen to feed the would-be-winemaker in all of us. Take San Francisco’s CrushPad. This winemaking facility helps the average wine consumer source fruit from top vineyards, crush it, age it, bottle it and essentially become their own winemaker. The investment yields approximately 25 cases per barrel and takes 12 to 24 months from harvest to bottle depending on the grape variety selected.

Five things to know before joining a wine club

There is also partial vineyard ownership. Wine gurus tout Mendoza, Argentina as the next Napa Valley. From enterprising ex-pats David Garrett and Michael Evans comes the Vines of Mendoza. In addition to an Argentine wine club and Mendoza tasting room, they sell vineyard estate land that can be planted and managed by their team. They will even make your wine for you and ship it to a U.S. address. Or for the ultimate in clubs, limited to just 400 members, consider the Napa Valley Reserve, a new club from Bill Harlan (of Harlan Estate and Bond fame). A $150,000 initial buy-in purchases access to prime vineyards, a state-of-the-art winery facility and top winemaking staff; the cost of finished wines are additional. When you consider that the purchase of one acre of choice Napa Valley vineyard land is at least $300,000 before winemaking staff and crush facility, the Reserve is an attractive way to own a piece of Napa and get one-of-a-kind wines for your cellar. The perks are in the intangibles, such as being introduced to some of the most well-known names in the wine industry like noted enologist Michel Rolland and winemaker Bob Levy.

The big players

Colgin Cellars The Napa Valley cult wine producer with a stellar record since its founding in 1992.

K&L Wine Merchants The San Francisco wine retailer with strong Bordeaux selections.

Wally’s Los Angeles’ wine retailer of choice.

Broadbent Selections Wine Club Importer Bartholomew Broadbent, son of esteemed wine writer Michael Broadbent, has a portfolio of wines from Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

The Vines of Mendoza Part wine club, part vineyard management company, part destination, Vines of Mendoza is the connection to Argentine wines.

Napa Valley Reserve The ultimate in wine clubs and vineyard membership.

CrushPad Democratizing winemaking, San Francisco’s urban winemaking facility.

Destination Cellars provides their members with exclusive access to some of the most prestigious wineries around the world.