I've been curious about wine clubs for years now, but I always end up thinking: what happens if I don't like the bottles? I didn't love the idea of getting a bunch of wine I had never tried before and risking hating it. Plus, most of the wine-of-the-month clubs I had seen when my husband and I took a vacation to Napa a few years ago were really expensive. OK, maybe $35 a bottle is fine for some people, but that's way out of my price range, and honestly, I don't even know enough about wine to feel like it's worth it. Tannins? No idea. I can see the colors and know I like red. That's about it. So when I heard about Tasting Room, a monthly wine club that sends you a mini at-home tasting kit to help create a wine profile for your preferences (even if you don't know what those are), I thought it sounded different from other wine subscriptions I had seen.

I did some research and found out that Tasting Room lets you chose white, red, or mixed, and has you rate bottles so it can keep sending you shipments that you'll actually like. They send 6 bottles every month, which felt like not too many or too few, and the best part is because they have close relationships with vineyards, the bottles are $12 each! That's even cheaper than my usual liquor store brand. The first mini-bottle tasting kit was only $6.95, so I decided to take the plunge and sign up.

When the kit arrived at my door, my husband and I had so much fun pouring each of the five little bottles (seriously, they were so cute) and tasting them like we were sommeliers! All we had to do was rate how much we liked each, and Tasting Room had all the information it needed to send us a shipment of full-sized bottles they were sure we would like. My favorite part is all the information they gave us about the wines, so we could really learn about vineyards, what "full-bodied" tastes like, or that Chardonnay is buttery and Pinot Grigio has a sweet but tart taste.

We've had Tasting Room for five months now, and have never gotten a single bottle we didn't love! I was so skeptical at first, but their rating system and wine profiles really work to figure out what kinds of wines you'll like most. Plus, we've started having a little dinner party every month when our shipment comes in. They give us information on what food pairs well with the wine and why, so we can make a new recipe and show off our new wine knowledge to our friends. It's been really nice to always have a bottle on hand when we get a last minute invite and don't want to show up empty handed, or just for a rainy day when we want to watch a movie and don't want to drive to the liquor store.

Tasting Room has been such an easy but surprisingly powerful way to increase our quality of life. It's almost like a new hobby for my husband and me and has given us something new to look forward to and to learn every few weeks. Plus, it's so affordable, I even gave it to my son as a present for his 28th birthday (but the wines are so high quality and unique, I'm letting him think it's more expensive than it is!). He told me it's been his most-used present ever, and refining his wine palette is helping him feel more like an adult. Now we always have an excuse to chat, comparing what wines we each got from Tasting Room and talking about how we're going to use them (my husband and I for dinner parties, my son for romantic dates!). I'm so glad I took the risk and tried something new; it's been beyond worth it.

Ready for your free wine profile? Try our personalized wine tasting kit for $6.95 (over 80% OFF)!