Newspaper wine clubs – are they any good? NYT jumps in
With red ink pouring onto many balance sheets, newspapers are now offering to pour something red in your glass: wine.
The Wall Street Journal has done it. So has the San Francisco Chronicle. And the Financial Times and the Times of London. Now the New York Times jumps into the pool with the announcement yesterday that they will be starting the New York Times Wine Club.
Two levels are available: The Times Sampler, six wines “for everyday drinking” for $90, or The Times Reserve, a selection of six wines “ideal to serve on special occasions” for $180. Intervals are monthly to quarterly.
The press release states “The New York Times Wine Club is operated independently of The Times’s critics or other members of the news department.” Global Wine Company, chosen to run the wine club, will “source wines directly from wineries, with no private label or bulk wines.” The dedicated club Web site “includes recipe pairings and links to additional food and wine content on www.NYTimes.com.”
Wines & Vines reported in June that California regulatory authorities have called such clubs “illegal” since unlicensed parties are profiting from the sale of liquor.
But the most pressing question for consumers remains: are any of these clubs any good? Just yesterday, a reader wrote in wondering about the quality of the WSJ club. Unfortunately, I have no first-hand experience. In theory, a club from a winery, shop, or newspaper could inform and educate with new wines that people might not discover on their own as well as sourcing incredible deals since the wines are essentially pre-sold. But clubs could also send a bitter, tannic wine to someone who likes only sweet, for example. The biggest drawback with many clubs, it would seem, is the lack of feedback ability from the consumer to the retailer as boxes arrive automatically. In a good store, a knowledgeable staff member can listen to consumer preferences and adjust a selection accordingly.
Hit the comments with your actual wine club experiences!
On August 14th, 2009 at 6:28 am ,Steve Raye wrote:
I was intrigued by the concept and signed up when WSJ first launched and signed up. Actually, I had the opportunity to meet with and get some first hand input on the program from several of the folks from Laithwaites (the U.K. company behind the selection and logistics end of the business) at the U.S. Drinks Conference in London last October. (transparency: my company is one of the organizers of the USDC.)
And I was more than pleasantly surprised. Being on the branding end of of the wine business, I’m sort of biased toward recognizable names with traditional distribution. But there were quite a few wines in the red sampler subscription that impressed me enough to subsequently buy by the case. Whoever was doing the selection had a very similar taste preference to mine: distinctively varietal, high quality, good balance, value and drinkable now. Most of the wines net out after shipping around $15-20/btl. which I think is a very good deal.
I had tried Geerlings and Wade several years ago, and while the wines were technically good, they didn’t seem to fit my palate.
That’s one person’s opinion…I look forward to reading others.
On August 14th, 2009 at 8:50 am ,Dylan wrote:
“The New York Times Wine Club is operated independently of The Times’s critics or other members of the news department.†Notwithstanding its dependance on the NYT brand. I’ve never been a part of a wine club through one of the popular publications, but I will say this. It seems like a great way to extend the audience lifestyle aspect of the brand while generating more revenue. As a side note, I love their visualization of the glass and wine within the logo.
On August 14th, 2009 at 9:02 am ,Daniel Posner wrote:
Not that I care too much, as none of the other wine clubs appeared to pickup much steam, but I am really unsure how this legal.
On August 14th, 2009 at 10:05 am ,Charlie Olken wrote:
Wine clubs only have value if one prefers to have someone else do the selecting for you. There are reasons why people might feel that way, and, if they do, then it is hard to justify questioning their judgment.
But, left unanswered in most of these wine clubs is the question of how the wines are chosen, who is choosing them and
whether the selection process is free of bias and conflict of interest.
I would be a lot more convinced of clubs’ value if I found the answers to those questions to be satisfactory as to competence and independence.
Finally, there is the question of cost. Because “clubs” ship wine in small quantities and the wines sent are often available in stores in any event, wines from clubs cost more than wines one buys in a store.
The convenience factor is worth it to some people, and the idea that someone is sussing out a variety of wines is worth it to others. There is nothing wrong with either of those reasons at the consumer end. The questions exist at the supply end, and until those questions are answered openly and with proof of competence and independece, the results in bottle are simply a crap shoot for the consumer.
On August 14th, 2009 at 11:25 am ,Dave H. wrote:
I would imagine the NYT is doing this in partnership with a retail establishment (even if it is a silent partner) being supported by an importer/wholesaler. If not it breaks every law that forbids the trafficking of alcoholic products through unlicensed channels.
On August 14th, 2009 at 8:49 pm ,Rory Kay wrote:
I am a former customer of The Spectator (UK mag) wine club and was pleased with their selections. Living now in the US I am unable to take part in their offers.
I just signed up for WSJ wine in part because I like the surprise concept of not making my own choices, but leaving them to someone who should know a bit abut an all pleasing selection, which frankly is hard to do!
The difference with The Spectator wine club was they advertised in their weekly magazine what they suggested, with tasting notes, and then you made your selection – mixed case as you wish etc.
This is a bit of a leap of faith on my part, but at least I can cancel if I am underwhelmed. I still think the Speccie method is the way to go – YOU choose what comes in the box.
RFK
On August 19th, 2009 at 12:37 pm ,Josh wrote:
I tried the WSJ club and it was terrible, very boring selection. I will admit, however, that they happily made me whole on shipping and generally the customer service was good.
On August 19th, 2009 at 11:35 pm ,TLC wrote:
I think that big wine clubs are a waste of time…too impersonal. I am only in one club, Sip! Mendocino, which I joined after tasting about ten flights of wine all selected by the person running the club, which she runs out of her wine shop in Hopland. They were so well chosen that I didn’t think it was a leap of faith to let this person choose three bottles for me every two months. The key is that she is focused on just the wines of Mendocino County, so she knows all of the producers intimately, and since many of them are small producers, their wines are not widely available outside of Norther CA. But these sorts of clubs are rare–most have a much wider geographic scope or are based on just one producer.
On August 21st, 2009 at 2:52 pm ,Forget journalism; We’d rather be drinking. « First Crush wrote:
[…] ink on their fingertips? I’m not sure if I care, but it makes me a little nostalgic. Dr. Vino and his readers offer some interesting perspective in the wine clubs as convenient vs. impersonal […]
On September 18th, 2009 at 9:04 am ,mike wrote:
One of the reason behind a wine club should also be educate and make members tasting different wines, wines that they dont know exist or simply never tasted before, the result is not always guaranteed, but I think this is a part of the learning curve. What is the point of joining a wine club and drink the same, usual wines? Will not be cheaper to buy them from a supermarket or over the internet? I am a member of the Italyabroad.com wine club and sometime I get wines that are not my cup of tea, however, I really like the fact that I receive wines that I would not otherwise buy and drink and it all contribute to improving my taste.
Mike
On September 25th, 2009 at 5:06 pm ,Raphael wrote:
I’ve just finished my first shipment from the New York Times wine club, and I think it’s pretty good. Most bottles I though excellent, though one disappointment was the Montepulciano, which was quite juicy and over-ripe. A highlight was the Spanish rose, from a winery called Buil & Gine in the Priorat region.
I like wine clubs (I’m part of two, in fact, the other being a Napa winery’s private club). It’s fun and eye-opening to get wines chosen by someone else. I love drinking wine, though I don’t have a lot of time to search out interesting bottles. A wine club finds generally good wine and gets it to me without a lot of work on my part.
It’s true, however, that they don’t make a lot of sense. It would be feasible to find comparable bottles at equal or lower prices by smart shopping. I live in New York City, near a few really nice wine shops, so in some ways it’s not necessary to join a wine club.
But then, wine isn’t really about making sense. I like the clubs.