A wine club is a developing extension of modern wine culture. Wine clubs are designed to provide customers with a series of wine bottles on a monthly or quarterly basis that they would otherwise have to find and purchase on their own. Wine clubs often behave in a themed manner, providing recipients with red wines, white wines, or a mixture of the two. Wine clubs are most frequently offered by vineyards or specialty wine shops, but they can also be found as independent bodies. [1]
Paul Kalemkiarian, Sr. created the Wine of the Month Club in 1972 while managing a small liquor store in Palos Verdes Estates, California. [2] A 'The Wine Club' opened in 1985 in Los Angeles. [3]
In 1992, Gold Medal Wine Club was created by Linda and David Chesterfield, which focuses on featuring only boutique wineries in CA, OR, WA and internationally. [4]
In 2003, 24% of all direct wine sales in the US were made through wine clubs. [5] By 2006, there were approximately 800 official wine clubs in the United States. [6] In the UK, in 2005, Direct Wines, a leader in wine clubs and wine deliveries, accounted for only 2,5% of domestic wine sales. [7]
Many sommeliers created their own wine clubs to offer a way for their customers to buy directly from their lists (Ashley Ragovin with PourThis [now defunct], Brian McClintic with Viticole Wine, Rajat Parr with Glug Club, Ian Cauble with SommSelect). [8] After the San Francisco Chronicle , KQED , Sunset Magazine , Forbes and The Wall Street Journal , The New York Times launched its own wine club in August 2009. The wine club was operated by Global Wine Company [now defunct]. [9] In 2009, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control ruled it illegal for third-party wine online vendors and newspapers wine clubs to benefit from wine sales since they do not hold the appropriate licence. [10] Playboy launched its own wine club through a licensing agreement with internet wine merchant Barclay's Wine in 2012, [11] and Martha Stewart launched her wine club in 2017, [12] followed by NPR the same year. [13]
In 2018, The Grape Reserve created a wine club focusing on lesser known wine varieties and regions. In 2019, the supermarket chain Aldi launched a wine club in the UK. [14] In January 2020, the apéritif club startup Haus raised $4.5 million. [15] Wine club software gradually became a feature of wine sales software, [16] since most wine club sales happen through ecommerce websites. [17]
In March 2020, the state of Utah authorized a state-controlled form of wine clubs. [18]
Most wine clubs involve all red bottles, all white bottles, or a combination of both, known as "mixed" clubs. However, there have arisen many stylistic variations in what wines are shipped (including grape varietals and wine regions and how many bottles. Various wine clubs can have a set theme or many themes that alternate with each shipment. The cost range for wine clubs is vast since wine itself can range vastly in price. The type of wines being selected for club shipments and the number of bottles, as well as the frequency of shipping, will influence the overall cost of a wine club. [1] Common wine clubs are created by wineries themselves, wine stores, online wine retailers, or large media companies such as the New York Times and the WSJ Wine Club, among others.
A wine club can offer access to high-end-wine culture. [8] Some clubs like Winc (formerly Club W) and Firstleaf hand out a short quiz to its new members before suggesting bottles based on their answers. The Plonk Wine Club and Vegan Wines focus on biodynamic and organic wines. Wine of England and Club Vini only include wine from one particular country. Many wine clubs curate their selections by themes. The Napa Valley Reserve is an exclusive, $150,000-membership-fee wine club. [19]
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of tanks known as tank farms. Wineries may have existed as long as 8,000 years ago.
GALLO is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo of the Gallo family, and is the largest exporter of California wines. It is the largest wine producer in the world, producing over 3% of the world's entire annual supply of 35 billion bottles with an annual revenue of $5.3 billion it is also the largest family-owned winery in the United States. Gallo provides about 3,500 jobs to Modesto residents and 2,500 jobs in other parts of the state, country, and world.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
Wine has been produced in the United States since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. As of 2023, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 80.8% of all US wine. The North American continent is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.
Kendall-Jackson Vineyard Estates is a vineyard and winery, under the Kendall-Jackson brand, located in Santa Rosa, California in the Sonoma Valley wine country. As of 2010 Kendall-Jackson was the highest-selling brand of "super-premium" wine in the United States, often compared in blind tastings to 1er Cru wines of Volnay, Burgundy.
Jess Stonestreet Jackson Jr. was an American billionaire wine entrepreneur, lawyer, racehorse owner, and businessman. He started the Kendall-Jackson wine business with his first wife, Jane Kendall (Wadlow) Jackson. The family's 1974 purchase of an 80-acre (32 ha) pear and walnut orchard in Lakeport, California was converted to a vineyard. As of 2010, Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay was one of the most popular wines on the market.
Although viticulture and the cultivation of grapes for table consumption has a long history in Japan, domestic wine production using locally produced grapes only really began with the adoption of Western culture during the Meiji restoration in the second half of the 19th century.
Virginia wine refers to wine made primarily from grapes grown in the commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia has hot humid summers that can be challenging to viticulture, and only within the last twenty years has the industry developed beyond novelty status. By tonnage, Vitis vinifera varieties represents 75% of total production. French hybrid varieties account for nearly 20% of total wine grape production in the commonwealth, while American varietals make up only about 5% of the total. As of 2012, the top 5 varietals produced are Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Vidal blanc and Viognier.
The U.S. state of Oregon has an extensive history of laws regulating the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, dating back to 1844. It has been an alcoholic beverage control state, with the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission holding a monopoly over the sale of all distilled beverages, since Prohibition. Today, there are thriving industries producing beer, wine, and liquor in the state. Alcohol may be purchased between 7 a.m. and 2:30 a.m for consumption at the premise it was sold at, or between 6 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. if it is bought and taken off premise. In 2020, Oregon began allowing the sale of alcohol via home delivery services. As of 2007, consumption of spirits was on the rise while beer consumption held steady. That same year, 11% of beer sold in Oregon was brewed in-state, the highest figure in the United States.
Domaine de Bargylus is a wine estate on the slopes of the Coastal Mountain Range in Syria. These mountains, known as Mount Bargylus in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, produced notable wines up until the rise of Islam. Domaine de Bargylus is managed by two brothers Karim and Sandro Saadé, with the assistance of renowned consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt. It has been cited by wine critic Jancis Robinson as "arguably the finest wine of the Eastern Mediterranean".
Wine of the Month Club is the oldest sustained mail order wine club in the United States, having been founded in 1972 by Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. and succeeded in ownership by his son Paul Kalemkiarian Jr. in 1989. Located in Monrovia, California, the Club delivers two bottles of wine, one domestic, one international, to the doors of members nationwide every month, every other month, or every quarter. The Club aims to expose members to a broad range of grape varieties and wine regions. Those wines that are featured have had to endure a series of appraisals by the owner and cellarmaster Paul Jr., based on both their quality and their price. Ultimately, only twelve of 300–400 or so wines that are evaluated each month are selected. The club also offers wine gifts and made-to-order food and wine gift baskets. Along with wine shipments, customers are sent the Wine of the Month Club's monthly newsletter which provides extensive background information for each of the featured wines.
Leeuwin Estate is an Australian winery and restaurant based in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
Charles Shaw is an American brand of bargain-priced wine. Largely made from California grapes, Charles Shaw wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, Valdiguié in the style of Beaujolais nouveau, and limited quantities of Pinot Grigio.
Four Seasons Wines Limited is an Indian winery which was established in 2006, based in Bangalore, India. It produces wines from grapes grown around Sahyadri valley in Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of United Spirits Limited (USL), which is itself part of the United Breweries Group. Four Seasons Wines manufactures and markets wines in India. It provides red, white, and rosé wines. Four Seasons Wines markets its wines under two brand names: Zinzi and Four Seasons.
Consilience Wines is a family-owned winery located in Solvang, California, and was established in 1994.
Lone Buffalo Vineyards is a winery in Auburn, California in the United States.
Traveling Vineyard is an American multi-level marketing company based in Ipswich, Massachusetts, that sells wine. The company was founded in 2001, and in 2010 it was purchased by Richard Libby and restructured.
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