Best wine clubs 2024: The most exciting wine delivery services bringing bottles straight to your doorstep
Discover delicious red, white, rosé and sparkling wine at home with our pick of the best wine clubs
Subscription services have enjoyed a serious boom over the past year, and the best wine clubs and wine subscription services are no exception. Lockdown saw more of us buying our wine online than ever before, and with the usual retailers struggling to cope with demand, dedicated wine clubs stepped up with altogether more interesting wine offerings.
Indeed, what could be better than a bottle (or 12) of carefully curated wine delivered to your door to enjoy with family and friends? With in-house wine experts handpicking bottles just for subscribers, signing up to a wine club means you can enjoy hard-to-find wines, great-value bottles or simply something you’d never pick yourself. Wine clubs also make brilliant gifts for any wine lover who appreciates being introduced to a tipple or two.
With so many subscriptions available, it can be hard to decide which wine club might be right for you. Allow us to help with our pick of the best wine subscription services you can sign up for right now.
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Best Wine Clubs: At a glance
- Most affordable wine club | Savage Vines Monthly Subscription
- Best natural wine club | The Natural Wine Club Shop Cuvee
- Best English wine club | Corkk Mixed Subscription
- Best Wine Club for Beginners | The Virgin Discovery Wine Club
How to choose the best wine club for you
What is a wine club?
A wine club, or wine subscription, is a service that delivers bottles of wine direct to your door on a regular basis, be it weekly, fortnightly, monthly or longer. You usually pay a set fee for each box, and most subscriptions can be tailored to your tastes or budget.
What type of wine club or subscription should I look for?
Think about how much and what type of wine you intend to drink, as well as what you want to get from a subscription.
Are you looking for a delivery box that means you’ll never have to consider the mediocre Cab Sav in the corner shop again? If so, we’d point you towards one of the big-case subscriptions, where you’ll receive a random selection of six or 12 bottles each month for a set price.
Or perhaps you’re interested in increasing your wine knowledge and exploring new, exciting wines? If so, there are a range of wine clubs that let you sample different regions and lesser-known grape varieties in an affordable and educational way. These are often supplemented by online tutorials and tastings.
How much should I spend?
This comes down to quantity and quality. It’s easy to drop over £100 on a case of everyday super-drinkable wine that could see you through a couple of months. But if you choose to spend more per bottle (with a smaller case), you’ll be able to experience more unusual and premium wines, which you can really savour and enjoy.
As a general guide, most wine clubs cost upwards of £30 a month for a couple of bottles. But the more you spend, the more you’ll save, as most subscriptions offer bigger discounts per bottle for large orders and delivery will usually cost the same whether you buy two bottles or 12.
How we test wine clubs
We test all our wine clubs as a normal customer would, from picking the monthly wines we fancy (where relevant), to experiencing the doorstep delivery service. As part of our testing, we look at the variety of wines available, the ease of using the website and service, and the cost of the subscription and delivery.
When it comes to tasting the goods, we personally taste each of the wines delivered and rate them as we would in our other wine category tests – according to aromas and tasting notes. We also consider how exciting, unusual, premium and drinkable the wines included in our subscription are. Another factor we rate our entrants on is how interesting any accompanying information is. For example, a good wine subscription will usually have tasting notes provided and a way to record any favourites for future repurchasing. Value for money, education and individuality are all important factors to ensure our list features the very best clubs around.
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The best wine clubs you can subscribe to in 2024
1. Savage Vines Monthly Wine Subscription: The most affordable wine club
Price: From £30 (for two bottles) | Buy now from Savage Vines
The popular monthly wine club from environmentally conscious independent Savage Vines is a brilliant way to try new wines without too much commitment. Subscriptions start at just two bottles per month and Savage Vines’ wine experts pick exciting new bottles directly from small, family-run vineyards, with a focus on organic and biodynamic growers.
Each box contains a wine map detailing the wine’s origins, along with comprehensive and approachable tasting notes and food pairing suggestions. What’s more, on the day of your wine delivery, you’ll receive a link to the Savage Vines podcast talking you through your new wine.
Members recently received a glorious Torrontés from Argentina brimming with lemon zest, pineapple and delicate florals. There was also an exciting 2017 Blaufrnkisch – a powerful native Austrian grape that brings plum pudding vibes, tempered by heady French oak. Subscribers are entitled to a generous 25% off individual wines from the Savage Wines shop, too, so you can stock up on the wines you’ve loved.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling monthly or fixed 3-, 6-, 12-month subscription; Number of bottles: 2, 3, 6 or 12; Average price per bottle: £15
2. The Natural Wine Club from Shop Cuvée: The best natural wine club
Price: £110 (six bottles every month) | Buy now from Shop Cuvée
Natural wine, with its cool labels and funky ferments, is all about experimentation – for the winemaker and the wine drinker. These wines are produced with low intervention, meaning they are left to do their thing and are free from pesticides, fungicides, additives and sulfites throughout the growing and winemaking process.
For the uninitiated, signing up to Shop Cuve’s club is a smart idea. Its sommeliers have a knack for picking the most drinkable, inventive wines without any of the negatives associated with natural wine (gritty and rather too funky tasting). Natural wine is bold, energetic, often cloudy and unfiltered. So prepare yourself for anything from an Appletiser-esque Pet Nat to a juice-bomb of a Sangiovese with prominent violet notes.
Wine regions tend to be new and exciting, too. Expect biodynamic wines from Austria, Hungary, Germany and Australia to pop up a lot, due to their prevalence of indy wineries. The expert team picks a selection of the best seasonal wines each month; they can be any colour and makeup, so you don’t have to spend any time figuring out what you want.
All wines are sent in biodegradable packaging and you can pause your subscription whenever you like.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling, monthly; Number of bottles: 3 or 6; Average price per bottle: £18
3. Corkk The English Wine Box Monthly Mixed Case Subscription: The best English wine club
Price: From £60 (for three bottles) | Buy now from Corkk
The English wine scene is tremendous right now, so why not dive right in with a subscription to Corkk’s English Wine Box? This subscription delivers a wonderfully scintillating selection of three, six or 12 bottles of the best English varietals going each month and supports small, homegrown producers too.
English sparkling wines have been receiving international acclaim for some time now – the UK’s climate and growing conditions in the South East in particular just seem to produce stellar fizz – but our still wines are also beginning to make their mark on the global stage. Corkk’s subscription allows you to receive top examples of Bacchus, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and many more, so there’s no fear of failure in trying out an unknown or unusual bottle. Boxes may also include star bottles from better-known producers too, such as Balfour Hush Heath and Bolney.
We fell head over heels for the Wiston Brut NV in a recent mixed case. It was new to us and a blend of 2014, 2013 and 2009 vintages created a complex, mature fizz with bags of yellow apple and toasted nuts. It rivals many Champagnes, and we’ll be searching it out again. We like that each box contains thoughtful and interesting tasting notes and info on the grower, plus hints as to how best to enjoy the wines. Lovely stuff.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling monthly; Number of bottles: 3, 6 or 12; Average price per bottle: £20
4. The Virgin Discovery Wine Club: The best wine club for beginners
Price: £108 (12 bottles every four months) | Buy now from Virgin Wines
For anyone quite new to the world of wine, the Virgin Discovery Wine Club is a good place to start if you want to familiarise yourself with popular wine styles, as well as how to store, taste and pair food. While you shouldn’t expect to receive small-batch indy wines from Croatia, you will get the opportunity to get to grips with classic examples of great Malbec, Chardonnay and Italian Pinot Grigio.
The membership allows you to make notes online for each wine you try, so when your next box is coming up, you can adjust your preferences accordingly: no Chardonnay or just reds for winter, for example. The thing we really like about Virgin’s offering is that the information is so accessible. Even if you know nothing about wine, this subscription will teach you and does so in a very unpretentious way.
The price is also pretty good, and every wine we tried from the box was a great example of its grape and region. However, if for some reason you don’t enjoy one of your bottles, they’ll refund you and note your preference. Better still, if you do love a specific wine, you can repurchase it from the website at a 15% discount. We highly recommend the Sail Chardonnay 2020 from South Australia, which is youthful, crisp and just right for summer seafood.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling, every 4 months; Number of bottles: 12; Average price per bottle: £6
5. Wanderlust Wines Platinum Wine Club: The best wine club for adventurous drinkers
Price: £200 (10 bottles every two months) | Buy now from Wanderlust Wines
If you’re looking for interesting wines from off of the beaten track, Wanderlust Wine is a top choice. This small team of wine experts are passionate about finding lesser-known grapes and indy producers from undiscovered regions and have a range of subscriptions to suit different budgets.
Wanderlust’s highest-tier subscription, the Platinum package, delivers ten bottles of hard-to-find organic and/or biodynamic sparkling, whites and reds, with an average bottle price of £20. This includes some attractive older vintages and a good few naturals thrown in for fun. Each box gives you the lowdown on every wine and producer, with easy-to-digest tasting notes and food pairing suggestions.
Highlights of a recent Platinum box included an Italian sparkling rose blend from Bardolino – Villa Calicantus Sollazzo Frizzante Rosato – which uses forgotten winemaking techniques to produce the crunchiest, most refreshing fizzy pink we’ve enjoyed for a while. This, alongside a classic 2019 Chardonnay from Oregon with big, complex fruits and florals, and a stunning natural red from Slovenia, gives a good representation of what to expect from a subscription.
There’s also an option to repurchase bottles you’ve enjoyed at a 12.5% member discount.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling, every 2 months; Number of bottles: 4, 8 or 10; Average price per bottle: £12-£20
6. Spanish Wines Direct Wine Club Quarterly Case: The best for Spanish wines
Price: £105 (12 bottles every three months) | Buy now from Spanish Wines Direct
The pressure on the hospitality industry over the last 18 months has been significant. But if there’s one upside, it’s that many restaurants have changed the way they operate, allowing more of us to enjoy their fabulous food and drink at home. One such example is bar and restaurant group Ultracomida in West Wales, which switched its focus from serving up Northern Spanish fare to operating an online deli and wine club.
It allows customers nationwide to sign up for quarterly cases of impeccably sourced Spanish wines, delivered direct to their door. Opt for red, white or mixed cases and enjoy thoughtfully selected wines from across the Spanish winemaking regions.
We were blown away by the 1860 Sauvignon Blanc from Almansa. It’s not something you expect from Spain and was luscious, with green smoke and lime. Another highlight was the Pincerna Rosado, which had a deep rosy hue bursting with fresh, dry fruited florals and zing perfect for enjoying in the sun.
We love that this box allows you to explore and support small independent winemakers, rather than relying on the usual Spanish suspects. The online shop is something to behold, so do check it out.
Key details – Subscription length: Rolling, every 3 months; Number of bottles: 12; Average price per bottle: £9
