We travel a lot to wine country and one thing for sure we can expect just about each and every time we visit a tasting room, a pitch to join the winery’s wine club. Why, because the winery makes a hefty profit from wine clubs, and the person giving the pitch will usually make a nice commission for getting you to join. I always have to laugh when the host tells us their wine club is free to join. Of course it’s free. The other big laugh is “you can quit at any time.”Of course you can.
There is nothing wrong with joining a wine club, just make sure it is the right one. We have been members of various wine clubs over the years, and we have certainly learned from these experiences what to look for. The first and most important reason for joining a wine club is that it will give you access to wines you enjoy immensely at a discount, and first dibs on any hard-to-get special wines. For example, we joined the Mauritson wine club because we wanted to be able to buy their line of Rockpile wines. These wines are bottled in limited amounts and are very popular. In addition, the winery also offer “Futures”on their Rockpile wines to wine club members. This is where you taste wine from the barrel and buy the wine well before it is bottled. “Future”prices are usually significantly discounted.