Going to your local liquor store and buying the same bottle of wine once a week is not going to turn you into a wine expert. At home with a steak or family and friends, the right bottle of wine can turn a good night into a great one. But finding the perfect bottle for your palate can be expensive and time-consuming, especially if you can't tell your Pinot's from your Barolo's. Now, there is a way to get the right bottles for your palate, your meals, and your wallet.
Wine subscription clubs often start with tastings, and through your ratings, evolve to select the wines that you'll like. Just like Spotify, they start to identify trends and curate wines for you. It's a trial-and-error process, but they end up sending you the music you wish you heard years ago or the wine you've been waiting for all your life.
Here's what the best wine clubs on the market have to offer.
Winc
Winc is a wine club that focuses on trendy wines and starts you off with 4 bottles starting at $12.99 each. At 4 bottles a month, this is the one to go for if you're ready to start big! Every month, your box will range from $52 to $59. You can skip whenever you want, and if you order 12 or more bottles from their marketplace, you get 10% off.
Bright Cellars
With Bright Cellars, you start with a slightly more in-depth quiz, where they also ask you how adventurous you'd like to be. You can choose to keep getting what you like, or let them branch out a little if you're ready for something new! With your first 4 bottles at $20 each, they give you descriptions, tasting notes, and suggested food pairings.
Tasting Room
Tasting Room has the shortest quiz because they want you to discover your palate by actually tasting wine; for just $6.95, they send you 6 mini-bottles of wine before your regular shipments. That's less than the price of a glass at any bar or vineyard! With the mini-bottles, you can figure out what you don't like fast, so you won't get a full bottle of Cab Sav before you realize you're more of a Gamay fan.
Firstleaf
Firstleaf has the most in-depth quiz of them all, so if you know you love Layer Cake's Shiraz and can't even stomach the sight of Barefoot Moscato, this is the one for you. They have discounts on bottles of wine but send you more than four, so if you anticipate drinking bottles galore, Firstleaf's got you covered.
A wine club is the best way to grow your wine knowledge. If you want to start legitimately enjoying your wine, bringing the best bottles of wine to parties, and impressing the pros at wine tastings, a subscription is the best way to go.
All of them will get you on your way to becoming a wine connoisseur but Topdust is offering loyal readers a discount to Tasting Room by Lot18. At only $6.95 to start, it's the best way to dip your toes into the barrel before you know if you're ready to dive deep into wine culture.
