Experience with wine clubs/services

I'm Bill Daley, food and wine writer for the Chicago Tribune. I'm working on a story called 'palate for hire' and I'm wondering what kind of experience you've had with wine-buying clubs and services. Did they work? Did they disappoint? What questions should people ask before joining? What do you look for to ensure a good match between your personal taste and the wine procurer's? Any spectacular find? Any disasters?
Please let me know. I can be reached via lthforum, of course, or the Chicago Tribune at 312-222-3141. My e-mail is [email protected] and I check it frequently.
Thanks.
All the best,
Bill Daley

Bill,

My husband and I are involved with a few different wine clubs, all of which we like very much. The first is with Artisan Wine Sellers, which is the Merchandise Mart's cousin to Fine Wine Brokers of Lincoln Square. I believe that this one is most like what you are referring to. Each month, they send a white and a red in the $20 price range. They are typically unusual varietals or small producers. I think it's an interesting program that has introduced us to wines we ordinarily would not have chosen. I wouldn't say that any have blown me away, but instead have increased my wine knowlege. The other two clubs are vineyard run: Landmark and Hafner. Landmark will send a package of new releases approximately 4 times a year. We then are entitled to order additional bottles if we like the release. I really love their wines, which are often hard to locate. I would love to get into the Turley club, but I heard from someone in it that it is harder to join than an exclusive country club. We are also on Hafner's list, which offers us an opportunity to buy their wine, but doesn't make scheduled shipments like Landmark's. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.

We were members of a South African Wine Club in the early-mid 1990s when South African Wines were first coming on the American market after the end of apartheid (and were very reasonably priced because few knew of the best producers). I agree with MAG that belonging was a good way of learning about the range of products. At a certain point we felt we had sufficient knowledge of South African wine that we could pick and choose ourselves. Although most of the wines were not among the rare memorable experiences, a few were, and together they did a good job of educationg our palates.

The group has since spread out to all Southern Hemisphere Wines (and is run out of Southern California, www.southernwines.com).

We belong to some clubs from wineries (most just send a mailer saying "this is what we will be releasing, please send this back with your choices and your credit card number", at least one sends special bottlings just for their club and the chance to order more) and also one from the Santa Barbara region of Calif. That one would send whatever you wanted (you'd say "I want 2 bottles a month, no more than $30 per bottle" or whatever).

One problem we had was one time we were on vacation - we had told the winery to hold our shipment until after we got back, but their shipper went and sent it. The wine sat in our vestibule in the heat and got ruined (one of our neighbors had signed for it, normally a good thing). They replaced the wine for us.

I also would suggest getting to know one of the smaller local wine merchants - Howard on Belmont, The Wine Cellar in Palatine. They really know their wines, can make good recommendations and have regular tastings. Larry at The Wine Cellar is particularly good at matching food to wine. (Note that he's a friend, but I don't get kickbacks for mentioning his skills

I also would suggest getting to know one of the smaller local wine merchants - Howard on Belmont, The Wine Cellar in Palatine. They really know their wines, can make good recommendations and have regular tastings. Larry at The Wine Cellar is particularly good at matching food to wine.

So is Liesel Bennett, who has reopened her wine shop (formerly on Halsted in Lincoln Park) in the West Loop on Washington. She is spot on about making food/wine pairing recommendations.