Online wine clubs are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason – we online shop for basically everything else, why not have our wines come to us too? It’s a great opportunity to explore different wines available across the country and globe without ever leaving the comforts of your own home.
I’ve joined a couple of these online wine clubs across the past couple of years, but quickly ended up cancelling. Every time I’d get a new shipment of wine it was the same thing: a burst of excitement followed by a twinge of disappointment. I loved the idea of having a box of mystery wine delivered to my doorstep; it was the same feeling of anticipation I got as a kid when my mom let my sister and I pick out a grab bag from the local store.
But when it came down to it, I just wasn’t enjoying the wines enough for the price I was paying. That doesn’t speak to the quality of wine you get from these clubs, it’s just that I’ve become quite partial to Virginia wines, so I wasn’t always impressed with a Cabernet Sauvignon from California or a Pinotage from South Africa. They were fine, but I’d rather pop open a bottle of Virginia Petit Verdot!
So I was extremely excited to discover Club Vino! Same exact concept, except all the wines are local! This is great for me especially, since there are so many VA wineries that are a 3+ hour drive from me, so planning visits can be a bit challenging. Needless to say, I signed up!
I should pause and mention that this post is not sponsored in any way; they probably don’t even know I’m member!
I got my first shipment recently, so I wanted to dive in with my first impressions. First, I should note that I signed up for the mixed box. You can choose between all whites, all reds, or a mix. I usually would sign up for all reds because those are my faves, and there’s a lot of white wines that are just too sweet for me. But I decided to go with the mix in order to get a better variety and also have a chance to try rosés and sparkling wines.
When the box came, I got that same feeling of anticipation I always get, but this time I was even more excited knowing that these were all going to be from my beloved Virginia wineries! I took the box over to my kitchen table, and impatiently tore through the first box. Inside was another box (such torture)! I love the design, it’s simple and clean. Finally, I opened up my mystery box…
…and laughed. Only because, I *JUST* went to Pearmund Cellars and Delaplane Cellars for the first time a couple weeks ago, so their wines were already still pretty fresh in my mind. But that’s not Club Vino’s fault (unless they’re following me on Instagram and decided to play a trick on me)! At least I know I’ll like the wine! If this represents the quality of wines I can expect to continue to get, then I’m a happy camper.
That said, I do have two initial notes on my first shipment of wines.
First is that there are two whites and one red in this box; I’m not exactly surprised since whites are typically cheaper and also it’s Summer time, but I was hoping for a little more of a mix (maybe throw in one rosé or sparkling wine).
The second is that there are two wines from Pearmund Cellars; my initial reaction was that I’d rather have three wines from three different wineries. But I thought about that a little more later on, and I’ve been going back and forth on the matter. I think if there were two wines from the same vineyard and it had been one I’d never visited, it might have been nice to get a taste of more than one of the wines they have to offer, almost like my own at-home tasting. I’ll have to see what I get in future shipments before I decide what I’d prefer!
For now, I’m still really glad this club exists and I’m looking forward to more VA wines coming to me instead of me coming to them! Jury’s still out if I’m going to keep my selection set as a mix. I’ll give it a few months before I decide. If there are too many white wines in each selection I may need to switch to all reds!
Virginia Vine 