Looking to explore the world of wine or delve deeper into different regions and types? If so, you might be considering joining a wine club, like Winc.
Winc is a direct-to-consumer wine delivery service that specializes in curating small-lot wines directly from vineyards and wineries to ensure the best quality product possible. They even go as far as to make their own wine.
Winc is my first wine club experience, and although I wasn’t sure if it would be for me, I was pleasantly surprised.
In this review, we’ve explained what you can expect from a Winc subscription, including joining the service, and ordering and receiving wine. We’ve also rated some of the wines they have available, and judged the overall value of Winc wine club.
Winc overview
| Name | Winc Wine Club |
| How it works | Monthly fee which becomes credit towards wine purchases, and does not expire |
| Minimum order | Three bottles |
| Rating | 4 (out of 5) |
| Price | Check on Winc |
Contents
- How Winc works
- Delivery
- Winc wine reviews
- The difference between Winc and other wine clubs
- Verdict: should you join Winc?
How Winc works
First, we’ll explain a bit about how Winc works, and what you can expect from the process of signing up and using your membership.
The quiz
When joining Winc, you begin the process by taking a wine preference quiz.
Whether you are new to the world of wine or a seasoned wine consumer, the quiz helps delve into what you like and what you want from your wine club experience.
The quiz is comprised of a few different sections. First, you choose whether you prefer red, white, rosé, or sparkling wines (or a combination), and then you have the chance to select different flavor profiles that you like, if you have any preferences in this area.
You’re then asked what wine regions you are interested in, and the quiz also enquires about your favorite kinds of foods.
This process helps to determine what types of wine would work best for you. Once it’s done, a list of recommended wines will be presented to you. You can change your preferences at any time, and you can pick and choose any wine, whether recommended or not, to then purchase through Winc.
The membership
As a Winc member, you’ll pay a monthly fee, which then becomes a credit toward your future wine purchases. The fee and the credit are dollar for dollar, so the entirety of your monthly fee goes towards the bottles you decide to buy.
You can skip a month at any time if you don’t wish to purchase wine on a monthly basis. Unused credits never expire and can be combined with future credits for larger orders.
The Winc website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. You can browse the website for any type of wine, including different categories, regions, and styles, or you can search for top picks that are chosen by the Winc team.
Winc does a good job making the wine buying process quite straightforward, and also very affordable. They have a significant under $20 per bottle section, so you can make your credit stretch a lot further than you would when buying wine from a store.
They also have much more expensive bottles if you want to pick wine for a special occasion. The options are endless – even if you stay with Winc for a really long time, you’ll always find new wines to try.
Ordering
There is a minimum of three bottles per order with Winc, which is a bit of a downside if you’re the only wine drinker at home, or if you don’t drink wine that often.
All Winc wines are sold at a discounted price, and shipping is free with the purchase of four or more bottles, regardless of the total spent per box.
Once you place your first order, your homepage will become personalized. When you return you can rate the wines you tried and other recommendations will come up based on your ratings, helping you find more similar wines to sample.
The wine
Winc source their wines from their own vineyard and a host of well-known and well-respected wine producers. They have names like Summer Water, Folly of the Beast, Lost Poet, Porter & Plot, The Wonderful Wine Co., and Finke’s, amongst others.
Delivery
Once your box is delivered, you will receive information cards with tasting notes of your wine, the details of the making of those wines, and recipes and pairing recommendations.
You can also find tasting notes and pairing recommendations on their website should you want to know more before purchasing a particular bottle.
The wine is delivered in a Winc box via FedEx. The downside to this is that you must be present for the delivery and show a valid ID to receive your box.
If you are not present at the time of delivery, they will only try two more times before you must go online and select a pickup location. These locations are often listed on the FedEx website.
This can be frustrating when trying to get your package and, unfortunately, there are no other options for delivery. The delivery status update is usually unreliable, so it is difficult to know what day and when the delivery will be coming to your door, which can prove especially difficult for people who are not home during the average workday. This is the one area I think Winc should strive to improve.
Winc wine reviews
I recently received my most recent Winc box, and below I’ve looked at a few of my favorite wines from the shipment.
To start off, it was a straightforward process to place my order, and the box arrived two days later. Winc makes it easy to combine your credits, and since I tend to purchase larger orders less frequently, this works great for me.
I ordered a few bottles of red, including one of the newer organic wines Winc offers, a few bottles of rosé, and a sparkling white wine.
Porter & Plot Cabernet Sauvignon
My favorite red from the box was the Porter & Plot Cabernet Sauvignon from California, which is a delicious full bodied, dry red.
This Cabernet is made with low sugar and a low sulfur, so you are less likely to have a wine headache after partaking. It has a deep, rich, earthy flavor with undertones of chocolate, dark berries, and spices like anise.
This is the perfect date night wine, pairing well with a nice steak frites or a slow simmered bolognese. This is also a great wine to sip while reading a good book on a night in.
Summer Water Rosé
Summer Water Rosé is a staple in my Winc boxes, especially in the summer – it’s the epitome of the perfect warm-weather wine.
This rosé is light and fruity, while also dry and low sugar. It has a beautiful bright fruit flavor showcasing notes of orange peel, grapefruit, and strawberry.
This is the perfect sushi night wine with friends. It could also pair great with a summer crab cake with a local corn succotash or a fresh tomato and burrata salad. Summer Water would be a great wine to take on a French inspired picnic or to a friend’s pool party.
Finke’s Brut Sparkling White Wine
The sparkling white wine I purchased was Finke’s Brut Sparkling White Wine from California.
It is a light, dry sparkling wine with a bright citrus and apple flavor that is perfect for special occasions. It has undertones of stone fruit and has the perfect balance of fruity flavor and acidity.
I brought it for a friend’s birthday, and it was the perfect pre-dinner celebratory drink. It pairs so well with oysters on the half shell or a delicious cheese and charcuterie board. It would absolutely go well with a beautiful seafood pasta or other light, delicious meals. Finke’s brut is the quintessential party drink at an amazing price.
The Wonderful Wine Co. Syrah
Another great option from my box is the organic, sustainably farmed, and vegan friendly The Wonderful Wine Co. Syrah from Spain.
This is a great option if you’re looking specifically for organic, vegan-friendly wine.
Syrah is a delicious medium bodied dry red with notes of dark fruit, like fig, black cherry, and cranberry. This is an easy drinking wine that pairs great with take out, like Pad Thai or Lamb Kofte with a light yogurt dressing. It is delicious and easy to drink on nearly any occasion.
The difference between Winc and other wine clubs
Like other wine clubs, Winc has a preliminary wine quiz to determine the best wines for you based on your individual preferences. However, you do have the option to go ahead and choose the wines you want to try, regardless of whether they’re recommended or not, and buy as many or as few bottles as you would like.
On the other hand, Firstleaf and Bright Cellars are algorithm-based wine clubs that adjust the bottles chosen for you based on your quiz results and ratings of the wine they send you over time. This process takes time and, as you try the wines sent to you, your box becomes more personalized based on the wines you enjoy.
When compared to Winc, Naked Wines is more of an online wine store that offers the option to do a monthly subscription. They’re more for the customer who knows what they want, but wants it at a more affordable price and delivered to their door.
Verdict: should you join Winc?
Overall value
⭐⭐⭐⭐
- Great selection of quality wines.
- Excellent value for money.
- Very flexible – easy to skip a month and keep the credit.
- Good choice of vegan and sustainable wines.
- Shipping process with Fedex is a bit tricky sometimes.
Winc has an impressive collection of wines from across the globe and of all varieties, and their collection of whites is as vast as their reds. They offer a significant number of sustainably sourced, organic, and vegan wines, which is unusual for most wine clubs. This is their main selling point in my opinion, other than the value for money they offer.
Winc’s variety and selection makes the wine buying process stress free and fun. They also make a point to run special offers, their most recent offer being $11 bottles for their 11th birthday when you bundle 12 bottles. It’s an amazing deal – this is something I really appreciate and try to take advantage of when I can.
So, is Winc for you? If you are a wine lover who wants to get recommendations, but also wants to be able to choose the wines you want with the flexibility to switch or change them, this is the perfect wine subscription for you.
You have complete control over how much you buy and what kinds of wine you purchase, which is my favorite part. However, if you are someone who prefers to have a box of wine curated for you based on your preferences, then this might not be what you are looking for.
The wines I have tried from Winc have been exquisite, as well as very good value for money.
I would rate Winc four out of five overall, losing points due to the difficulty with shipment tracking and delivery, although shipping is usually very quick. Also, Winc takes a bit more effort to use when compared to some other clubs that send you a personalized box of wine each month.
Overall, if you are a wine lover, I would definitely recommend giving Winc a try, especially if you have the time available to choose wines to order, based on Winc’s excellent recommendations.
About the author
Hi, I’m Taylor, and some of my favorite things are reading, writing, being outdoors and around animals, all things food, and, of course, wine. I have had a love for wine since I was old enough to drink.
It all started when I would travel to Canada with my family – we started trying different vineyards in Canada, where my stepfather is from. They have this specialty wine called ice wine – they leave the grapes on the vine until the first frost and then make wine with it. Since then, I have become obsessed with wine. I even attended a preliminary sommelier course in Montreal and learned so much more about the vast and incredible world of wine. I currently live in northern Connecticut, right in the middle of Connecticut wine trail country.