If you’re here for a highly detailed Wine of the Month Club review from a paying customer, you’re in the right place! In this review, I’m going to cover the price, pros and cons, features and exactly what gets shipped to you with your Wine of the Month Club subscription.
I’ll also be sharing an “unboxing” showing you everything I received inside the box that was shipped to me.
Be sure to check out my individual reviews and pictures of the wines I received. They’re down towards the bottom of the page.
Overview of the Club and How it Works
The Wine of the Month Club is the oldest mail order wine club in America. It was started in 1972 by Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. in his Palos Verdes wine shop in California. It’s often referred to as the Original Wine of the Month Club as there’s plenty of other clubs that bill themselves as giving you the wine of the month. However, this club was the first.
It’s now run by his son, Paul Jr., who is continuing the same traditions and practices his father pioneered in the industry.
The Wine of the Month Club is designed to appeal to all types of wine drinkers, from value oriented consumers to collectors of fine wines. There’s a membership level for each level of wine consumer. And, if you’re new to wine drinking, the Classic Series is great for “learning as you drink” since they give you tasting notes and educational material about the wine you’re drinking.
The way the club subscription works is you purchase the club level that appeals most to you and then with each delivery you are shipped the best wines selected for the club (out of hundreds) for their high quality and value.
One of the things they’re especially proud of is their “Raving Fan Customer Service Policy.” If you don’t like a wine they send you, they’ll either replace it or refund you.
When I purchased this club, I chose the Classic Series Wine Club since I’m on a budget and like to find great wines at lower prices. In just a bit, I’ll detail the different club levels that are available to you.
The Wine of the Month Club also sells wines individually, wine clubs as gifts, gift baskets, accessories and more, which you can order online. I’ll go into more detail on the gift subscriptions shortly.
Wine of the Month Club Review Video
Wine of the Month Club Subscription Levels
Below are the three main subscription levels that you get with this club.
These three are the ones I would suggest looking into first as they make up the core of some of their other club memberships.
#1 – The Classic Series Membership
- This is the original club started in 1972. Only 1% of the 400 wines they review each month make it into this club.
- The wines in this club are chosen for their value and would normally be found for $12.00 to $15.00 in a local wine shop.
- With each delivery you get two bottles delivered to you.
- You can choose (1 red 1 white), (2 reds) or (2 whites).
- You can choose a delivery frequency of monthly, every other month, or every third month.
- The cost is $23.96 plus tax and shipping.
#2 – The Vintners Series Membership
- The wines in this club represent a higher level of craftsmanship with an expanded set of varietals and regions.
- The wines in this club are chosen for their higher level of quality and would normally be found for $18.00 to $20.00 in a local wine shop.
- With each delivery you get two bottles delivered to you.
- You can choose (1 red 1 white), (2 reds) or (2 whites).
- You can choose a delivery frequency of monthly, every other month, or every third month.
- The cost is $33.96 plus tax and shipping.
#3 – The Limited Series Membership
- The wines in this club are considered special occasion fine wines and are of premium quality and limited production.
- The wines in this club are chosen as classic collectible wines and would normally be found for $25.00 to $30.00 in a local wine shop.
- With each delivery you get two bottles delivered to you.
- You can choose (1 red 1 white), (2 reds) or (2 whites).
- You can choose a delivery frequency of monthly, every other month, or every third month.
- The cost is $44.96 plus tax and shipping.
Additional Clubs
As I mentioned above, there are additional clubs that the Wine of the Month Club offers.
Below are the additional subscription levels that you can sign up for:
The California Wine Series Membership
- This is a 2 bottle, red wine only membership that costs $26.95 for each delivery (plus tax and shipping).
- Delivery frequency is monthly, every other month, or every third month.
- The wines in this membership are all from California, including the Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara regions (plus others).
- This club seeks out the best value wines from California.
The Napa Series Membership
- This is a 2 bottle membership that costs $49.99 for each delivery (plus tax and shipping).
- Delivery frequency is every other month (only).
- The wines in this membership are all from Napa Valley, California.
- This club seeks out wines from Napa that are considered expressive and unique.
The Rosé Series Membership
- This is a 2 bottle membership that costs $39.99 for each delivery (plus tax and shipping).
- Delivery frequency is every other month (only).
- The wines in this membership are Rosés (only).
- This club seeks out the best Rosés from all over the world.
The Bordeaux Series Membership
- This is a 2 bottle membership that costs $49.99 for each delivery (plus tax and shipping).
- Delivery frequency is every other month (only).
- The wines in this membership are all from Bordeaux, France.
- This club seeks out the best value wines from Bordeaux and their sub-districts.
The Cellar Series Membership
- This is a 6 bottle membership that costs $71.88, $101.88 or $134.88 (plus tax and shipping) depending on the club level you choose for each delivery.
- You can choose all reds, all whites, or reds and whites (comes as 4 reds, 2 whites).
- Delivery frequency is every other month (only).
- You choose the quality level of your wines based on a club level (Classic, Vintners or Limited) which sets the overall price of each delivery.
- The point of this membership is to allow you to purchase extra wines that you can keep in your wine cellar.
- I view this as a great option to expand on one of the three basic clubs (Classic, Vintners or Limited) if you’re interested in spending more.
The Case Club Membership
- This is a 12 bottle membership that costs $143.76, $173.76 or $236.76 (plus tax and shipping) depending on the club level you choose for each delivery that allows you to mix and match the club level.
- You get 8 reds and 4 whites (only).
- Delivery frequency is quarterly (only).
- You choose the quality level of your wines based on a club level (Classic, Classic & Vintners, or Vintners & Limited) which sets the overall price of each delivery.
- The point of this membership is to allow you to purchase cases of wines and mix and/or mix and match club levels.
Facts About the Memberships
Shipping – The Wine of the Month Club ships to all states in the US, except for Utah. There are special restrictions for Alabama and Massachusetts that require you to pick up your delivery at a partner store.
The shipping cost is based on the zone your state is in, along with the number of bottles you purchase and total weight.
There are eight zones, plus Alaska and Hawaii which are shipped via FedEx 2-Day.
How Do I Cancel? – You are not locked in and can cancel your membership at any time by contacting them online, in writing, or over the phone. There’s no penalties or fees to cancel. There’s no contract either.
Referrals – You can refer your friends and get a free gift.
Putting Shipments on Hold – You can delay or skip shipments just by calling and letting them know.
Privacy – They don’t share, rent or sell your email address. They do share it with the shippers so you can get tracking info. They don’t share your postal address with anyone.
Wine Education – With every Classic Series delivery, you get a newsletter that explains all about the wine you’re receiving and what foods to pair it with.
Membership Price – There are no fees, dues or hidden charges to be a member of one of the clubs. You just pay for the wine, shipping and your state’s sales tax.
Wine of the Month Club Gift Memberships
As I mentioned above, the Wine of the Month Club also offers Gift Memberships that you can give to someone as a gift.
All their clubs that I’ve listed are available as gift memberships.
You can choose a limited duration for the gift membership, including 4-months, 6-months or 1-year. I like this option because there’s no question or surprises about how long the gift is for.
With the gift memberships, the gift recipient gets their wine in a “beautiful linen Burgundy box.” They also get a gift card that you personalize for them.
The club also offers other gifts as one-offs, including wine gift baskets, assortments, gift certificates, accessories and more. Great for the holidays or special occasions.
Website Usage
I found the Wine of the Month Club website easy to use and navigate.
It allows you to find what you need quickly and offers downloadable tasting notes, plenty of videos and many different items to shop for.
Customer Service
Probably one of the best things about the club and is that the owner gives out his personal email address on the site in case you have a problem. He encourages you to let him know when something’s being done wrong and when something’s being done well.
Also, while you are trying to place your order, there’s a chat box that comes up in case you have any immediate questions. At the top of all the pages of the website there’s an icon to open the chat box as well.
Finally, their 800 number is listed on the top right of all the pages in case you need to call for customer service.
Pros and Cons
All wine clubs have their pros and cons and from what I’ve experienced with all the different clubs I’ve tried, each one is different from the next.
So with that said, here’s what I think are the main pros and cons of the Wine of the Month Club:
Pros
- Quality – I was pleased with the high quality wines I received.
- Cost – No contract. Very good cost/quality ratio in my opinion.
- Choice – You have great options on type and frequency.
- Budget Friendly – While some of the membership levels allow you to purchase up to a case at a time, two wines per month is perfect for me. I was glad that was an option. (Other wine clubs I’ve seen have a minimum of 12.)
- Longevity – A wine club has to be good to be around for as long as they have (since 1972).
- Selection – They work with lesser known wineries which means the wines you receive might be more unique then the typical wines you’d find in stores. Plus they have rare and collectible wines.
- Flexibility – You can delay or skip a shipment. Perfect if you’re going to be away from home or money’s tight that month.
Cons
- Shipping Costs – It’s a bit expensive to ship to the east coast, however, they do get it to you pretty quick.
- Taking Delivery – By law you have to be home to sign for the wine. (This applies to all wine clubs, as far as I know.)
- Availability – Several subscription levels, but not all are available all the time.
- First Shipment Not Free – Some wine clubs don’t charge you for their first shipment.
The Order Process
As you can see from the video above, the order process was quick and straightforward. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to go through many screens to complete my order. Being able to click on one button to copy my shipping info over to my billing info was great! No one likes to enter that stuff twice.
I also liked the fact that I was able to calculate my shipping costs before moving on to the final order confirmation. Plus, I was able to see what my state tax was going to be. “No surprises” is a good thing!
And finally, I was pleased that when I made some entry errors on the order form, I wasn’t forced to re-enter the fields that I entered correctly.
In addition to that, the site kept me on the same page to fix my mistakes and clearly marked the errors I made.
Wine of the Month Club Pictures
Although the video above shows things pretty clearly, I did take a couple pictures to show a little more detail on a couple of things.
First, here’s a picture of the box that arrived:
Next is a picture of the tasting notes that went with the two wines I received. I thought that would be worth showing so you can see the level of detail they give you with the tasting notes.
I also go into further detail on each of the wines, with a tasting and review of both of them. You’ll see that below the tasting notes picture.
The Wines I Received
With the club I chose (the Classic Series), you get two wines per month. Here’s an up-close picture of the two bottles I received.
For my first shipment I received a bottle of Mezzacorona Chardonnay and a bottle of Matchbook Red Blend.
I tasted both these wines and here’s my review of each:
Mezzacorona Chardonnay
After opening the twist top and giving the wine a healthy pour into my glass, I was treated to a lovely whiff of honeysuckle and peach.
In the glass, this wine was brassy, yet light and left lots of dancing reflections on the table.
On the palate, there was a nice note of peach along with some tropical fruits and just a hint of spice. Quite tasty!
The finish was long-lasting and enjoyable.
Overall, a delicious Chardonnay from the Alto Adige area of Northeastern Italy that I would feel very comfortable recommending to friends and family.
This wine retails for $15.99 and club members can get re-orders for just $6.99.
That reorder price is quite a steal, given this wine’s quality.
Matchbook Red Blend
Next up was the Matchbook Tinto Rey Red Blend from California. I’ve tasted too many red blends to count so I was curious to see how this one stacked up.
I was especially interested as the blend was quite original: 51% Tempranillo, 20% Syrah, 15% Petite Verdot, 10% Graciano (a new varietal to me!) and 4% Tannat, which you don’t see very often. A unique blend with quite the Spanish influence!
In the glass, this wine was quite dark which is typical for most red blends. Hardly any light was able to shine through the glass.
Its aroma was rich with notes of cafe mocha and earthy black fruits. Not much sting of alcohol in the nose, which was appreciated.
The taste was both silky and fruity, with a nice balance of lighter versus darker red fruits, including plum, cherry and blackberry. There was also a little spice in there as well.
The finish was quite long lasting and enjoyable with soft tannins that stayed out of the way of the wine’s rich flavors. I think that with the wine being a 2013, it had enough time to age and soften up the tannins.
Overall, an excellent red table wine that would pair quite nicely with any red meat. Very enjoyable!
This wine retails for $18.99 and club members can get re-orders for $7.99. Honestly, I’ve had red wines at 5X that price that weren’t nearly as good.
My Verdict
Overall, I am quite pleased with the Wine of the Month Club. What the club does exceptionally well is deliver great tasting wines that have an excellent ratio of quality to value.
Let’s be honest, we’re all looking for the best wines at the lowest prices and none of us want to waste money on bad wine.
The thing with all wine clubs is that shipping costs are what can really make it not worth it. However, these wines make up for it in quality and the re-order prices can really allow you to stock up on good, unique wines at very reasonable prices.
So, having personally been through the order process, having experienced their quick delivery time-frame and having tasted the wines, I can confidently recommend the Wine of the Month Club to friends, family, and you, the reader of this review.
Another Shipment from the Wine of the Month Club
Now that I’ve been a part of the Wine of the Month Club for a while and am receiving my monthly shipments, I thought I’d share a quick review of two nice bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon and a surprising Rose they included in my recent deliveries:
Sin Mancha Cabernet Sauvignon
Review:
Sin Mancha Cabernet Sauvignon pours dark and presents large, slow-falling legs in the glass.
Noticeable from a good two feet away from the glass, this wine’s aroma is quite enjoyable with notes of cocao and spice.
The taste is classic Cabernet with a silky mouthfeel and subtle tannins.
Finish is medium in length.
Overall, I found this to be an elegant wine that drank quite well when paired with a grilled ribeye a good friend and I shared. We of course shared the wine as well!
Chalk Hill Rose
Review:
Chalk Hill Rose from the Sonoma Coast is a dark rose, in terms of its color. When poured and the glass is tipped and spun, the wine reveals several quick falling legs.
The wine’s aroma is delicate and lovely, with notes of violet, rose petals and light cherry.
On the palate, Chalk Hill’s taste is light with hints of strawberry and melon. Finish is medium in length and is carried more so by the flavors than the tannins. Delicious!
I love when a wine surprises me and this one did. It made me think I was drinking a light Pinot Noir versus a Rose and I found the wine’s flavors elegant and tasty. It would pair just fine with chicken, seafood and even a vegan friendly dish. Overall, a great choice for the club!
Crusted Pie Cabernet Sauvignon
Review:
Crusted Pie Cabernet Sauvignon is a limited release from Bianchi Vineyards in Paso Robles, California, USA.
This wine is described as medium magenta in color and gave forth light aromas of licorice, violets and cherry. Quite elegant on the nose.
It’s taste was smooth and enjoyable with earthy flavors of cherry and vanilla.
Tannins were very lush and developed slowly behind my upper lip.
It’s finish was long and enjoyable, fully carried by the flavors.
Overall, this wine was very enjoyable, a smooth sipper and an easy choice for taking to a dinner party.
I could easily see this wine served with any grilled red meat. Delicious and another great choice for the club!
