how to join a wine club

Hello all,

I'm new to the wine "world" - and with that have discovered the wine club.
I'm interested in finding a wine club that would be a good fit for me.

I've been doing some research - which is how I've found all of you! -
I'm looking for some more information which will help me become the wine connoisseur I hope to become.

I found this article - which I found informative and interesting - which are both characteristics of what I'm looking for
http://www.halogenguides.com/living/guide/club-vino

Does anyone recommend this article? Or something similar? Or can you point me in the right direction to learn all about wine?

Much appreciated,
Cait

Hi Cait!

Welcome to a very interesting "world" of wine!

Before you join a wine club... Have you come across and had an opportunity to browse through a few well regarded books on wine? There are some very fascinating, very informative and lavishly illustrated wine books out there. My suggestion would be to not jump into a wine club right away but collect a bit of knowledge first.

One book I have had in my library for years is Hugh Johnson's, "World Atlas of Wine". It will definitely and quickly expand your horizons as to the wines and vineyards throughout the world and will whet your appetite for trying wines that you can find in your local wine store without leaving the selection (and cost) to someone else. It's good to have a mentor some of the time but part of the fun and pleasure of getting into wines is trying them out and finding out your own likes and dislikes. You might "get burned" by a poor bottle once in a while but there are many publications (such as "Wine Spectator" and Hugh Johnson's "Pocket Wine Book", just to scratch the surface of what's available in book stores or on-line). These will give you some confidence and help you avoid wasting your money on poor wines.

Good Luck!

[Jenise]

Cait,

I hardly know of a mail-order wine club that is in existence to do other than to sell you wine. They are not teachers, and even if you could find a club that professed to help you learn about wines from all around the world, your purchase would still only expose you to two wines a month, where you could go to a fine wine store in your area and purchase (without paying draconian shipping fees) many more. There, you might also find a wine clerk to make a pal out of, who will listen to what you liked about wines you've already tried and steer you to wines that will be the next step in expanding your horizons.

One of the best ways to learn more about wine is to join a group that holds monthly (or even more often) wine tastings. There's huge value in tasting several of the same kind of wine side by side. Contrast makes a lot of attributes more apparent than they'd be in one wine alone. Again, your local wine store people will be likely to know what's available in your area (they might even supply the wine). Also, wine appreciation is taught through many community college programs.

And as Chuck said, read. Buy thee a book. The one he reccomends was also my first wine reference book, so I love that publication, but you may be looking for a more rudimentary how-to book. What to look for in wine, how to interpret what you taste and see. The Atlas won't do that, but I've heard good things about books by Andrea Immer and the unfortunately-named Wine Tasting for Dummies.

Good luck with your quest.

Hi Cait, and welcome.

I agree with Jenise that the best way to learn about wine is to get together with others and open up some bottles. If you don't know of a tasting group in your area, you can always have some friends over and ask everyone to bring a bottle. It's the best way to sample a range of wines without having to pay for and drink (or throw away) all of that wine yourself and its a heck of a lot of fun.

Books are good for learning about how wine is made and how differences in origin affect the final product. Really, though, you can get an awful lot of that off of the internet these days. Between sites like this and articles from newspaper sites (the NY Times has a weekly wine column as does the Sacramento Bee and many others) you can learn quite a bit.

Let us know what you think and we'll help out any way we can.

Just wanted to say thanks all for your responses and help!

At least I'll have a nice glass of Sancerre during my research

Just wanted to say thanks all for your responses and help!

At least I'll have a nice glass of Sancerre during my research

Heck, if you're drinking Sancerre, you already know far more than the average person!!

I have always wondered precisely why anyone would want to join a wine club. Such clubs automatically limit your choice of wines (be that weekly, monthly or whatever) to those wines they have decided to sell. Might be fine wines but not, in the end, of your own choice.

Would it not be better, even for those just "getting into" wine, to find the store or stores near them that they most trust and enjoy, to attend their tastings, to talk with the salespeople, to compare tasting notes with friends, even to see what is available from those critics you most value. And a heckuva lot more fun as well>

Best
Rogov