I’m not really a wine club guy. I like to pick which wines I want, how many I want and when I want them delivered. That being said, I am frequently asked to recommend a wine club.
Fortunately, my wife Lisa likes getting to know wineries through their clubs and has joined a number of them over the years including Alexandria Nicole, DiStefano, Dusted Valley, Efeste, L’Ecole, Ravenswood and Navarro Vineyards.
Joining a wine club typically means agreeing to buy 2-4 shipments of wine per year from the winery. In many cases, you select a level of involvement (i.e. the number of bottles shipped) and sometimes have a say in what wines are shipped (all reds, all whites, mixed, etc). The best wine clubs offer a wide variety of well-made wines at fair prices – added benefits like free tastings, discount pricing, tickets to winery events and access to hard-to-find bottles are icing on the cake.
Navarro Vineyards is all that and more.
Located in the Anderson Valley, Navarro has been producing exceptional, fairly-priced wines since 1974. The winery is best known for its range of Pinot Noirs, including the showstopper Deep End Blend (available through futures). They also produce an age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon and a delicious Zinfandel, and their whites are noteworthy with a one-of-a-kind Riesling, Gewurztaminer and Muscat Blanc. Even their nonalcoholic grape juice is great to have on hand at parties.
Joining their wine club obligates you to twice yearly shipments of six bottles, sent in June and November. Average cost is $100 per shipment. In addition to the wines, the winery has been known to sneak a gift into the Fall club shipment. In years past we have received herbs and jam, a cutting board, a cookbook and other thoughtful items.
Finally Navarro is just a great place to visit when traveling through the Anderson Valley. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, the wines are great and the scenery is amazing. If you can’t make it to Navarro in person, be sure to check out the Babydoll Lamb Cam in January to watch the ewes with their newborns.
I would love to hear about your favorite wine club. What makes it special to you?
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I’ll need to check this out next time I’m up there tasting. I also like Drew and Philips Hill from the AV.
Drew and Philips Hill are new to me. Thanks for the tip.
Phillips Hill was recommended to us by William Allen at Two Shepherds. We stopped there and at Toulos. Both are worth the effort to find. Foursight was another recommendation in A.V. They are about 20min off 128 and you need an appt. but again, highly recommended. Cheers
Tom, we made our first visit to Anderson Valley last month and I am now really bummed we didn’t have time to visit Navarro, as they were on my ‘short’ list. We will definitely fix that next trip. I belong to several wine clubs and my favorite is Harvest Moon in Santa Rosa. It’s a ‘roll your own” kind of club where they give you a list of a dozen or so wines to choose from four times per year. You choose the quantity (minimum of 2 bottles per shipment) of the wines you want with increasing discounts for increased quantities. They don’t dstribute their wines in the Midwest so I’m getting wines I can’t get otherwise and have control over the Club selections.
Harvest Moon sounds interersting. Thanks!