The 7 Best Wine Clubs of 2022: Top Wine Subscription Boxes Reviewed

If you’ve ever browsed a wine website or wandered aimlessly among the bottles at your local wine shop, then you’ll know that picking out the perfect bottle of wine can be a daunting process. Because while our colleagues at Robb Report might be true wine connoisseurs, we just really like drinking the stuff. So if you’re looking for a list of the best wine clubs according to a world-renowned sommelier, we can’t help you. Instead, we’ve decided to evaluate wine clubs from the perspective of normal wine lovers like you.

Behold: the anti-wine snob’s review of the best wine subscription boxes.

Whether you’re buying a gift for a wine lover or a bottle (or 10) to be enjoyed at home, there are so many different options. White or red? Merlot or pinot noir? Organic or natural? An expensive bottle of aged wine or a deliciously affordable rose with a twist-off cap? In short, if you want to find a wine you love but don’t have the time nor the money to try every single bottle on the shelf, it’s past time you signed up for a wine club instead. We’re living in the golden age of subscription boxes, and the best wine clubs are a great way to treat yourself. 

Because there are so many wine clubs to choose from, our resident at-home-wine-drinker and E-Commerce & Special Projects Editor Tyler Schoeber took it upon himself to test all of the very best wine clubs worth considering in 2022. And while it was most certainly a process, it was a fun one at that. Over the course of the past two years (yes, that includes quarantine), Tyler has tested around 10 different wine clubs and has only chosen a couple that are worth subscribing to today. Of course, we also have some honorable mentions we have not yet tried but felt were worth letting our readers know about.

The Best Wine Clubs At a Glance

1. Best Overall: Firstleaf Wine Club — first 6 bottles for $39.95 plus free shipping

2. Runner Up: Winc — first 4 bottles for $29.95

3. Best Bang for Your Buck: Splash Wine Subscription — starting at $39.00 for your first order of 6 bottles

4. The OG: Wine of the Month Club — starting at $27.96 per month for two bottles

5. Best for Pairing: Blue Apron Wine Club — $75.99 per month for 6 bottles

6. Most Creative: SommSelect Monthly Wine Club — $99 per month for 4 bottles

7. Best for Tasting: Vinebox — starting at $45 per box

What Are Wine Clubs?

Honestly, this is quite an understandable question. What is a wine club? 

Wine clubs are simply an effortless way to pick up delicious red and white wines you otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity of stumbling upon in your local wine shop. These aren’t your classic Sutter Homes, Woodbridge’s and Josh bottles, instead, the majority of wine clubs offer picks you typically haven’t heard of, allowing users to experience new favorites they haven’t yet tasted.

A wine club may, on average, cost a little bit more than pulling your ten-buck bottle of wine off the shelf in the store. But, by signing up for a wine club, you aren’t simply buying one or more bottles of wine, you’re buying years of experience from sommeliers who can really taste the difference and whose passion it is to find wines that people love. Furthermore, the best wine clubs even offer personalized recommendations for you to ensure you love every bottle that arrives on your doorstep.

Wine clubs’ monthly subscriptions vary widely in price, from $40 services offering cheap table wines to $2,000 boxes for genuine collectors. Because there are so many different wine clubs available, it’s easy to pick a club that’s perfectly suited to your needs (and, if we’re being honest, your level of sophistication). We tested a lot of wine clubs to bring you this guide (and drank a lot of wine in the process).

Based on our experience, we believe wine subscription boxes can be placed in four distinct categories:

• Clubs Featuring Wines for Drinking – These are the cheapest wine clubs that regularly deliver a variety of bottles meant to be enjoyed right away. Think tasty table wines and rosés instead of rare vintages.
• Clubs Featuring Wines for Collectors – These are the most expensive wine clubs. They deliver rare bottles meant to be stored in your wine cellar for special occasions. (You do have a wine celllar, right?)
• Niche Wine Clubs – These clubs deliver wines that are all organic, vegan, natural or biodynamic.
• Personalized Wine Clubs – In our experience, the best wine clubs for most people fall into this category. Wine clubs like Firstleaf and Winc have customers take a quiz to determine their tastes, then send personalized boxes of wine.

Ready to see our favorites? Find the 7 best wine clubs to consider now.

1. Firstleaf Wine Club

BEST OVERALL

Best For: Any casual wine lover looking for a subscription with a great deal to start off with.

Why We Chose It: Firstleaf is essentially the wine club of all wine clubs in 2022. It’s a must to consider when trying a new wine club.

• Lowest Price: $39.95 for 6 bottles of wine
• Quiz for Starting: Yes
• Flexibility: Change quantity and frequency or cancel at any time

Firstleaf doesn’t just send you the leftover wine they were able to buy cheaply from wholesalers. Instead, this top-rated wine club sends you award-winning bottles from celebrated wine regions around the world, although most of the selections come from the United States. Plus, if you aren’t 100% happy with any of the bottles you are sent, they’ll help you find a replacement at no additional cost to you or discount the cost of your next wine box.

To make sure you’re getting the best possible wines for you, the whole process begins with a short quiz to ensure a mix of bottles matched specifically to your tastes turns up at your door. This was great for us because when Tyler tried Firstleaf, he was sipping in the summer, meaning he didn’t want any red wines for the time being. So, Firstleaf didn’t send him any. You simply rate each of the wines using a thumbs up or down approach and wait for your next personalized order of wine to arrive by mail.

Our experience with Firstleaf had us incredibly impressed. Each wine comes with an info card so you can learn more about the vineyard and tasting notes. Overall, we found that Firstleaf combines the great tastes of the best online wine clubs with a great customer experience.

If you want to discover award-winning wines that you won’t find at your local liquor store, then this might be the subscription box you’ve been waiting for. Finally, new customers can now sign up for Firstleaf and order their first box for just $40, half the usual price (after the first month, the price goes up to $80 for six bottles). You can cancel at any time if you’re not happy with the service, but we’re confident wine lovers will be satisfied.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Flexible
• Accurate quiz
• Delicious picks

Cons:

• Goes up to $80 for six bottles for second shipment and each thereafter

2. Winc

RUNNER UP

Best For: Folks looking for an easy, membership-free online wine subscription option.

Why We Chose It: Fast shipping with delicious wines. Plus, no membership is great for folks who don’t want to be held down.

• Lowest Price: $32.95 for 4 wines
• Quiz for Starting: Yes
• Flexibility: No membership needed, skip months, cancel whenever and don’t pay for bottles you dislike

Winc works like a never-ending quest to discover your favorite bottle of wine in the whole world. To start, you’ll be asked to answer six questions to assess your wine preferences. After your palate is assessed, you’ll be sent only the wines that are best suited to your taste buds. After drinking the first box, you’ll be asked to rate what you liked or didn’t like about the wine you received, and the process continues until you feel you’re satisfied. Or, you can simply snag Winc once and leave it at that. You don’t even need a membership.

Winc offers a truly international tour of fine wine. When we tried Winc for ourselves, we were shocked at some of the bottles we received. Expect red and white wines from the world’s premier winemaking regions such as France, Italy and Northern California, but also features up-and-coming wineries from South Africa, Portugal and Argentina. We also appreciate this wine club’s flexibility, as Winc allows you to skip months, cancel at your leisure and never pay for a bottle that you aren’t satisfied with.

We’ve gotta be real with you guys for a moment though, we love Winc just as much as we love Firstleaf. Experience and quality are overall in the exact same realm, but Firstleaf is taking the cake for us right now because of that low-to-start price point. But, just because you see Winc in the second spot doesn’t mean we like it any less than Firstleaf. The two are incredibly comparable, Firstleaf just takes the cake when it comes to that price.

Pros:

• Extremely flexible
• Affordable
• Great quiz
• Delicious wines

Cons:

• Not as affordable starting price as Firstleaf

3. Splash Wine Subscription

BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Best For: Those who love a good deal.

Why We Chose It: Splash is cheap, fast, easy and delicious.

• Lowest Price: $39 plus free shipping for 6 wines
• Quiz for Starting: No
• Flexibility: Can cancel whenever, multiple delivery options

The Splash Wine Subscription is one of the most inexpensive on our list. When you sign up for this wine club, you’ll have the option of receiving either six or 15 bottles every month, every other month or every quarter. You can also choose the type of wine you like to drink, as the subscription is available in all red wine, all white wine or a mix of the two.

There are two levels to the Splash Wine Subscription. The basic level, which costs just $59.00, features delicious wines from vineyards around the world with a broad appeal to all wine drinkers. The second only costs $30.00 more and comes with premium wines that can be enjoyed right away or aged in a wine cellar. With both of these options, you can save $20 on your first shipment, bringing your first order down to just $39.00 for six bottles of wine starting. And, of course, Splash offers free shipping.

When we tried the Splash Wine Subscription service, we had an incredibly positive experience. Not every single bottle included in this wine club blew us away, but they do offer a lot of wine for your money. Tyler had the experience of snagging a 15-pack three times during quarantine for him and his roommates at the time so they wouldn’t have to leave the apartment in the midst of the pandemic. For people who prefer table wines to complex vintages that cost $50 or more, this is a great option.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Delicious selections
• Flexible

Cons:

• If you go for the larger quantity it might even feel like too much wine

Read More: Best Cheap Wines

4. Wine of the Month Club

THE O.G.

Best For: Those who want to stick to the basics.

Why We Chose It: Wine of the Month Club started the idea of a wine club. We couldn’t not include them.

• Lowest Price: Starting at $25 for 2 wines
• Quiz for Starting: No
• Flexibility: Never pay for a wine you don’t like

The Wine of the Month Club is the longest-running wine club in America, which means this company knows a thing or two about good wine.

This online wine club has a focus on value-oriented wines and has memberships starting at just around $25 a month. Each monthly delivery contains two bottles of wine for you to enjoy. For a more complete experience, each package also includes plenty of information about the wine, including who made it, where it’s from and a guide to enjoying the bottle to the fullest with everything from what to look for in the wine itself, how to store it and what to pair with a white wine compared to a red wine.

This budget-friendly option makes things simple. This isn’t just one of the best wine clubs ever created; it’s the wine club.

Upon testing, we were very impressed with the selections but not as much with the quantity. Sure, we could have opted for a larger amount of wine, but the price pushes up a little too much for our liking. Newer brands tend to offer free shipping, but Wine of the Month Club does not, which lead to bottles costing a lot more than you might have originally thought.

Pros:

• Delicious picks
• Options offering as little as two bottles
• Never pay for wine you dislike

Cons:

• A little pricy
• No free shipping

Read More: The 11 Coolest-Looking Wine Refrigerators to Help You Get the Most Out of Your Wine Collection

5. Blue Apron Wine Club

BEST FOR PAIRING

Best For: Folks who love pairing wine with food.

Why We Chose It: Blue Apron is a brand that’s dominating the world of meal subscription services and their wine club isn’t anything to mess around with either.

• Lowest Price: $75.99 for 6 bottles
• Quiz for Starting: No
• Flexibility: Can only be canceled by the cutoff date

That’s right, your favorite meal delivery service Blue Apron also delivers wine directly from their vineyards to your doorstep. This process, which cuts out several intermediaries, allows them to offer premium wine at more affordable prices. When you sign up to their club, you’ll receive a regular delivery of six different 500ml bottles in your choice of white wine, red wine or mixed. The delivery also includes each wine’s story, pairing ideas and tasting notes to ensure you make the most of every delivery.

If you’re already a Blue Apron customer, then this service is perfect for you. But even if you’re not, Blue Apron’s pairing notes make it easy to pair an unknown bottle of wine with the perfect dish. If you believe a bottle of wine is best served with a meal, grab your Chinese cleaver and start cooking. This is the best wine club for you.

Upon testing Blue Apron’s wine subscription service, we were really into the pairings. We gathered tons of information on what to sip each bottle with and learned a lot about how each wine was made. Plus, each wine was delicious. Here’s the issue: the bottles are tiny. As mentioned, each is 500ml, which Blue Apron says is the perfect serving size for two people. Something we’ve always thought? A regularly-sized bottle of wine isn’t even enough for two people. So, we don’t agree with you there, Blue Apron.

Plus, $75.99 for 6 bottles isn’t the worst deal in the world, but when you think about it, it absolutely is when you’re getting way less wine than you anticipated. Sure, they’re totally clear with what you’re getting, but we need to be even more clear: these are tiny, tiny bottles.

Pros:

• Great selections
• Great pairings
• Perfect for Blue Apron lovers
• Lots of unique options

Cons:

• Small bottles
• Pricy

Read More: 10 Most Popular Plant-Based Meal Kits That Deliver Right to Your Door

6. SommSelect Monthly Wine Club

MOST CREATIVE

Best For: Those with an expensive palate for delicious wines as well as collectors.

Why We Chose It: Because fancy wine drinkers deserve a spot in the wine club world, too.

• Lowest Price: $99 for 4 wines
• Quiz for Starting: No
• Flexibility: None we’re aware of

The SommSelect Monthly Wine Clubs are curated by master sommelier Ian Cauble, who shot to fame thanks to the Netflix documentary Somm. The company offers four different types of wine clubs, depending on your preference. The cheapest of the clubs is called “The Explore 4” and costs $99 per month for four bottles. We had the opportunity of trying this option out and really enjoyed each individual bottle. Each box has a unique theme, from the best wines for the season to exploring the intricacies of a specific wine variety. All in all, we found that this is a great way to learn more about wine and a great option for wine enthusiasts.

Because we aren’t serious wine drinkers, we wouldn’t consider this to be the best option for casual wine lovers. Don’t get us wrong, we loved our experience, but $25 a bottle simply doesn’t do it for those of us sipping in a lower key format than most. If we had some extra money to spend, maybe we’d consider snagging SommSelect more frequently, but we don’t feel it is worth every penny when there are so many other affordable wine clubs offering equally delicious wines.

That said, for those wine enthusiasts out there who are ready to spend an arm and a leg each month, this is a killer option.

Pros:

• Fancy, delicious picks
• Let’s you learn more about wine
• Four subscription options
• Easy-to-use website

Cons:

• Pricy
• Not for casual wine drinkers
• Unsure about flexibility offers

7. Vinebox

BEST FOR TASTING

Best For: Those interested in tasting wine without buying the bottle.

Why We Chose It: Although they’re technically no longer offering a subscription service, Vinebox is still a top tier option to consider.

• Lowest Price: $45 for a 3-pack
• Quiz for Starting: No
• Flexibility: Not a subscription

This is one of the more interesting selections among the best wine clubs. Each of the deliveries you receive from Vinebox comes with a number of brand-specific glass tubes, which give you the chance to taste a variety of red and white wines with each purchase. When a particular tasting speaks to your taste buds, you can then order regular bottles.

To make it more fun, the tubes kind of look like test tubes from high school science class. This really hones into the idea of actually testing each individual wine, making you think harder about what you’re drinking and how you actually feel about it.

Vinebox was recently taken over by Sugarwish and as of now, they currently technically do not offer any subscription services, but they do still offer affordable tasting options you can buy as frequently or as infrequently as you desire.

We tested Vinebox a few months back when they were still a wine subscription service and have come to the conclusion that it is one of the most exciting ways to try new wine in our modern society. That said, we wish they were still a subscription service, because the prices seem to have gone up after being newly taken over by Sugarwish.

Pros:

• Fun way to taste new wines
• Delicious picks
• Cool bottles

Cons:

• No longer a subscription service
• Pricy under new ownership

Honorable Mentions

There are so many wine clubs we’ve tried that couldn’t make our top seven in addition to wine clubs we want to try but haven’t yet. Find some of our highlights below and see if any pique your fancy.

Bright Cellars Monthly Wine Club

By completing a comprehensive taste profile, Bright Cellars is a personalized wine subscription service that matches your tastes with a range of wines you’re sure to love. They believe in their algorithm so much that if there’s ever a bottle you don’t love, they’ll help you pick out a free replacement and include it in your next delivery.

Inside your monthly delivery, you’ll receive four different wines which are sourced from all over the world, including destinations like Spain, Portugal and South America. Plus, you can be confident you’ll like Bright Cellars’ choices, as only one out of every twelve bottles tasted makes it onto their approved list of wines.

Plonk Wine Club

Most of the best online wine clubs have an elegant or self-explanatory name. And then there’s Plonk. But don’t let the name scare you off, as this is a fantastic wine subscription service with a range of options for wine lovers. With the choice of a red wine, a white wine and a mixed wine club to join, the Plonk Wine Club has every possible combination and angle covered. You’ll also get to choose between four or 12 bottle deliveries, and you’ll receive a handy corkscrew in your first delivery to ensure you’ve always got a way into a bottle when you need it.

Each delivery includes comprehensive tasting notes from the experts along with recipe pairings so you can make the most out of every bottle. Plonk also lets you build your own custom box, which is a level of control that even the best wine clubs don’t offer at this time.

Read More: Best Boxed Wines

Primal Wine Club

Have you ever tried some the best natural wine? This type of wine is made in small batches using either organically or biodynamically grown grapes with little to no intervention in the cellar. Another requirement for creating natural wines is the use of native yeast. Plus, the liquid is bottled unfiltered with no additional sulfites. The result is a fun and funky wine that changes with every vintage.

The Primal Wine Club is a great introduction to natural wines. Every month, the wine subscription will deliver a box of three, six or 12 bottles of red or white natural wines to your doorstep. If you happen to find a bottle you really enjoy, every included product is also available for purchase individually on the Primal Wine website.

The Grand Tour Monthly Subscription by Verve Wine

Created by master sommelier Dustin Wilson and his company called Verve Wine, The Grand Tour is a wonderful way to learn about wines around the world. Each month, a box will arrive on your doorstep with two reds and two whites from a specific country or region. (Rose and sparkling wines occasionally make an appearance, too.) The box is completed by intricate tasting notes that also give brief information about the region featured, creating an educational experience with every box ordered. In this way, you’ll slowly start to learn the difference between a Bordeaux and a vinho verde, and you’ll hopefully no longer default to merlot or chardonnay when the wine list is in your hands.

Viticole Wine Club

The Viticole Wine Club was created by master sommelier Brian McClintic, who works closely with small, organic producers around the world to create exclusive vintages for wine club members. These bottles are produced only in small quantities for the boxes that ship directly to your door. Because of this model, members of the Viticole Wine Club must pay monthly for 24 bottles of wine which arrive in two shipments annually.

Twelve bottles arrive in the spring, and the other 12 arrive in the fall. In addition, new members must pay one or two months in advance of receiving their first shipment to ensure the quantities produced by the wineries can fill each and every box. It’s also important to note that this wine subscription service also occasionally includes cider in addition to the standard white wine and red wine blends.

Fatcork Wine Club

Do you love nothing more than a bottle of bubbly? Then Fatcork is where you need to be. This premium club offers quarterly deliveries of champagne. The included bottles are selected based on the season. When you join the club, you get a choice of three, four or six different bottles per delivery, and your membership can be canceled or modified at any time. Each delivery is also accompanied by a range of information to ensure you get the most out of each bottle.

Woman-Owned Wineries Wine Club

The Woman-Owned Wineries Wine Club is a great way to show support for wineries owned by women. When you join the club, you’ll receive three bottles of wine every month, all of which are sourced from woman-owned vineyards across the nation. You can also rest assured that each wine has come from a vineyard that practices ethical farming, and every bottle will be accompanied by stories about the ladies behind the wine.

What to Consider Before Subscribing to a Wine Club in 2022

One thing you need to consider is your wine consumption. How frequently do you drink wine? How often do you gift wine? Are you able to store wine you do not necessarily want to drink as soon as you receive your delivery?

At a minimum, the best wine clubs should have clear and upfront terms, meaning it’s easy to cancel, opt out of certain months and get refunds for bottles you didn’t like or missing orders. If the wine club doesn’t meet up with your consumption level, it might be best to consider ditching the idea and sticking with your local liquor store.

In addition, the best wine clubs should be passing savings on to you, their customers, by offering bottles at a lower price than what you’d find at the liquor store. In this way, top-rated wine clubs actually let you save money on wine, so if you go through more than five bottles a month, a wine club is a great option for you.

How We Tested the Best Wine Clubs

Well, that’s an easy question to answer. By drinking.

It goes without saying that 2020 was a weird, weird year. Our alcohol consumption most definitely upticked and we became a wee bit inspired after Tyler, our editor who tested all of these wine clubs, made his first Splash Wines order at the very beginning of the pandemic. This was an unintentional (intentional) 18-bottle wine delivery that lasted him, his roommates and his boyfriend at the time around a week in the beginning of quarantine. That said, he even got a viral TikTok out of it that landed on the popular meme account @betches on Instagram.

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The rest, as they say, was history. Our readers began finding more of an interest in monthly wine clubs and so did we. We began testing wine club after wine club initially through boredom, then through science. We found what we loved, what we hated and any unique qualities various wine clubs had to offer that others did not.

When testing the best wine clubs, we eventually found ourselves in sort of a routine with specific guidelines we were following, which are as follows:

• Wine Selection: Was the selection unique or did it only feature bottles you recognize from the local wine shop?
• Creativity & Uniqueness: Were there any customizable options? quizzes? What was the shape of bottle?
• Customer Experience: Was the overall navigation on site worthwhile? Was it clear regarding what we were getting? How easy was it to schedule deliveries?
• Price & Value: How much are you paying per bottle? Are you getting a good value for your dollar?

As mentioned, the SPY team has tested around 10 wine clubs since 2020. For this guide, we chose the 7 best options. We will continue to update this guide as we test new products.

About the Author: Tyler Schoeber

Tyler Schoeber is SPY’s E-Commerce & Special Projects Editor. In addition to testing wine clubs, he also is the brain behind our social media pages and even shoots a number of photo projects for SPY. In his time at SPY, Tyler has reviewed men’s cologne, the latest products from YETI, and the best men’s t-shirts in the world. He’s also tested a number of our grooming products, including bald head shavers, men’s razors, beard trimmers and more. Before joining SPY, Tyler covered stories relating to grooming, men’s fashion, travel gear and more at travel sites such as Jetsetter and Smarter Travel.

Updates: Our last update to this piece was June 8, 2022. We added a lot more details regarding our testing process, the timeline in which these wine clubs were tested and information regarding which wine clubs we did test vs which we didn’t. We narrowed the list down from 15 to 7 options to consider in total with the rest in an honorable mention section. After having tested these clubs further and rereading notes from the past, our editor decided to rearrange a number of the wine clubs based on updated findings. Splash Wines was lifted to a higher spot and SommSelect was lowered, for example. Our top two options (Firstleaf and Winc) have stayed in the same spots as they were previously. We took out a wine club we really loved from Martha Stewart, but this wine club is no longer in existence. In addition, Vinebox no longer is a wine club, but it can still be treated as one, so we decided to keep it. 

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