Biggest isn’t always best!! Choice – these days it seems limitless. With both new and established wine retailers popping up online, on the high street and within supermarkets, it is hard to decide how and where to buy your wine.
It can be overwhelming and time is a precious commodity ‒ trawling through various websites can seem a vacuous minefield and not all of us have the knowledge to confidently self-select from aisles upon aisles of wine. So without chancing a Russian roulette styled selection, how can you buy wine with assurance?
For many, a Wine Club can provide that haven from the stresses of restocking your wine supplies. The appeal of a subscription service where the wines are preselected by experts and delivered to your door is plain to see, making it a straightforward and hassle-free process for you.
These Wine Clubs offer you the opportunity to expand your wine knowledge, explore different styles from interesting winemakers and regions with many also offering tasting notes and food-matching tips too. But again, the choice in Wine Club subscriptions can be mind-boggling, with many companies flooding a simple google search. BEWARE though, not all that glitters is gold!
Many subscriptions offer the earth and can fall disappointingly short, tempting you with crazy introductory offers but in reality, is the result of inflated pricing vs exaggerated discounting. Keep your eyes peeled too for joining fees or hidden tie-ins – BOLD tag lines and hard-to-find small print.
Even familiar companies have their caveats. For example, Laithwaites, one of the largest online wine retailers, claims to have the biggest Wine Club on the market with around 100,000 members. With that number of customers though you must question if the personal touch is lacking? Wines packed and despatched on this scale are catering to the masses, requiring industrial-sized wineries to churn out vast bottle runs. With a focus on gimmicky discounts (a kickback of buying in bulk) the devil is very often in the detail… The question is, do you want to drink bulk or drink better?
So here is my solution to this wine-buying conundrum: if drinking quality wines from smaller-scale producers who have more of a vine-to-bottle approach is what you seek, then you are better suited to a long-established and quality-conscious Wine Club.
Tanners Wines has been shining the light on sustainability, quality and personal service since its establishment in 1842 and these core values have stood the test of time. I was recently asked how long the Tanners Wine Club, Wine in Time, has been running – a bit of detective work suggests the summer of 1997 saw the dawning of the service. Some customers have been part of the Wine in Time Club since its inception and have been enjoying regular wine deliveries ever since – such loyalty suggests we are doing something right! With no surprise joining fees or tricky tie-ins either, this is a club that offers many members peace of mind.
The service may have evolved over its 26 years but at its heart are great wines, interesting seasonal food pairings and good, old-fashioned value for money! Core principles which I am sure customers will continue to savour for many more years to come…
If you wish to learn more about Wine in Time, are ready to join the club now, or looking for a gift subscription for your favourite wine lover, click below. I look forward to welcoming you soon.
