Large Personal Wine Cellar

Wine Clubs (and Online Stores) for Connoisseurs

Wine Journey: Beginner · Enthusiast · Connoisseur

Those of us who really love wine go out of our way to find unusual and high-end selections, because the joy and satisfaction of an excellent bottle of wine is (often) worth its price. Using an alchemy of critical ratings and our own tasting experience, I find myself seeking out the best wines produced today.

There are two basic groups of people buying expensive wine, and I differentiate between them based on whether they want to have the wine selected for them or they want to research their wine themselves. Luxury wine clubs are perfect for the former and there are some great online buying opportunities for the latter.

FYI: I find great wine deals so you don’t have to. To keep me on the hunt, I earn a commission when you buy wine based on my recommendations.

Luxury Wine Clubs for Connoisseurs

Typically the hardest part about buying the best wines produced is access. If you don’t have an industry connection, the best stuff is usually out of reach. This is because it’s typically produced in limited quantities and those in the know get the first crack at the inventory.

Did you know that some industry insiders run wine clubs? That means that there are always wines available to their wine club members which might not be available to anyone else. Here are a few wine clubs for connoisseurs I recommend.

Wine Access Connoisseurs
Wine Access Collectors
Wine Access Decanter Magazine Rare Luxuries

Start at Wine Access

Wine Access subscriptions are unrivaled in their access to great wine and surprisingly affordable prices (and beloved by NYTime’s WireCutter staff). But that's not why you’re on this page, you're here because you want their ultra-premium and hard-to-find wines via subscription.

Save $25 on each of your first two shipments when you sign up for an ongoing subscription. No coupon code is needed, the discount is automatically applied at checkout when you use my links.

Connoisseur’s Club: $150 per shipment

This wine club focuses on small-production wines of distinct character and impeccable pedigree worthy of the name Connoisseur. These wines are great for special-occasions and discovery of the world’s best wine regions.

Unlike other high-end wine clubs ($60+ a bottle), this subscription isn’t California-specific and therefore you can expect to discover the world’s best red wines. The most recent shipment I received contained a Margaux (Bordeaux) and Merlot (Sonoma) from a 100-point winemaker. These wines have a retail value of $210 ($65 + $145), offered at a substantial discount of $150 for the shipment.

Read my Connoisseurs Club review, shop it, or give it

Collector’s Club: $250-400 per shipment

The Wine Access Collector’s Club offers “Truly prestigious wines from the world’s blue-chip wine estates—direct from each coveted cellar to your door.”

Shrouded in mystery, Wine Access will provide precious little information about what they’re offering in this ultra luxe club — not even how many bottles are in each shipment.

Shop it

Champagne Club: $200-250 per shipment

The Wine Access Champagne Club offers a mix of ultra-premium and grower Champagne, and as per the raison d’être of Wine Access — they’re usually wines the rest of the American wine drinking public would never see if not for them.

Read my Champagne Club review, shop it, or give it

Michelin Club: $160-200 per shipment

Wine Access is the official Wine Partner for the MICHELIN Guide. Each shipment of the Wine Access Michelin Club features a different MICHELIN-starred restaurant and is a collaboration between the wine team at Wine Access and the team at the featured restaurant. This is always an interesting assortment of wine for the curious wine lover.

Read my Michelin Wine Club review, shop it, or give it

Aged Napa Cabs for Connoisseurs

Aged Cabernet Series by The California Wine Club: $278 per shipment

The most popular club at The California Wine Club is their most affordable one, but they offer an excellent line-up of more premium subscriptions, too. The superlative among them is their Aged Cab series.

Each shipment contains two bottles of pre-aged Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon for $278 per box, plus $14 shipping to most states. As the name implies, these are not new releases, these are perfectly cellared (8-12 years) at the winery. These library selections are ready to drink when they arrive, or you can continue hold them to your preference.

Save 50% on your first shipment with promo code WCRHALF or, if you’re giving a gift, check my Aged Cab review for current deals.

Read my Aged Cabernet Series review or shop it

Diamond Series Napa & Sonoma Wine for Connoisseurs

Diamond Club by Gold Medal Wine Club: $185-215 per shipment

Like The California Wine Club, Gold Medal Wine Club has amazing connections with California’s best small wineries. And like, The California Wine Club, their most popular club is their most affordable, but they also offer an interesting assortment of premium clubs.

When only the finest California wine will do (not cult wines), the Diamond Club at Gold Medal is where to start. Each shipment includes two bottles from premium regions like Napa Valley and Sonoma, delivered quarterly. You can drink most of their selections right away, or age them to your preference.

This is an exclusive wine club! Limited to 500 members.

Read my Diamond Club review or shop it

Italian Wines for Connoisseurs Ultra-Premium Italian Wines for Connoisseurs

French & Italian Wine Collectors’ Clubs by Roscioli: 1.000-2.000€

Roscioli, a local legend in Roma, is doing something rather special with their wine club — they’re focusing on exceptional wine that doesn’t find it’s way to the US very often, collaborating with winemakers for unique offerings, and they’ve even produced their own wine made in the ancient Roman way — in an underground amphora.

These two wine clubs offer exceptional access to rare Italian wines (mostly Italian in the Collectors’ Club) and French (about a 50-50 split in the Legends Club). Both ship to the US twice per year (April and late October) and are paid in four quarterly installments. Shipping is included in the stated cost.

Collectors’ Club: 500€ per payment (1.000 € per six bottles, 166,67€ per bottle). Each shipment contains twelve different bottles of age-worthy Italian & French gems, 1.000€ (paid in 500€ installments).

Legends Club: 1.000€ per payment (2.000€ per six bottles, 333,33€ per bottle). Each shipment contains twelve different bottles of pre-aged Italian & French rarities, 2.000€ (paid in 1.000€ installments).

Quick Note: Because conversion rates change frequently (though not typically dramatically) I can’t provide a precise USD price for this wine club.

Read my Roscioli Italian Wine Club review or shop it

Champagne Club for aficionados

Champagne Club from Henri's Reserve: $150 per shipment

Two bottles per shipment and shipping is included. Two hard-to-find Champagnes in each box. Ships monthly, every other month, or quarterly. Henri's focuses on what some in the industry call "Grower" Champagnes or Family Estate Champagnes. The big Champagne houses have may wineries they buy fruit from to make their well-known (and high volume) bubbles. Family Estate Champagnes rely on their own vineyards for fruit and only produce what the land allows.

Read my Champagne Club review or shop it

Wildcrafted Wines for Connoisseurs

Wildcrafted Wines: $195 per shipment

Two to three bottles, two to three times per year. Leverages insider relationships in Napa and Sonoma, working with a select handful of pedigreed winemakers like Celia Welch, Rebekah Wineburg, and Nori Nakamura. Wildcrafted curates an enlightened selection of California gems.

Read my Wildcrafted Wines Club review or shop it

Where Connoisseurs Shop for Wine Online

Maybe you’re not excited about a wine subscription where all of the wines are chosen for you. There is still a world of wine for you that goes beyond your local wine shop. Here are some places I recommend finding the best wines online.

Wineries

A Winery Barrel Room

Did you know that in most states you can buy wine from your favorite wineries online and have it shipped right to you? Some important notes about buying wine directly from wineries:

Wine Stores

A Wine Shop IRL

It’s the digital era and you don’t have to shop at local stores anymore. If you happen to live outside a major metropolis like NYC or LA, this means you have access to wines that are only available winery-direct and in major markets. This is especially important if you’re shopping for the limited-access creme-de-la-creme. Here’s where I recommend shopping for the world’s most valuable selections of wine.

Wine Access: WineAccess is an online wine store where the inventory is curated by a team of sommeliers and wine industry professionals. You can get a sense of how they think of wine by how they organize the site. Categories listed include: Rare Allocations, The Icons, and Michelin Star Favorites.

Millesima Fine Wine: Millesima is a specialty wine seller headquartered in Bordeaux with a retail outlet in New York which handles its US operations. No matter what collectible Chateau or vintage you're looking for, odds are good they have it. And the best part is, you can buy with confidence. Their collection in France (often listed as Pre-Arrival) on their website, was all purchased directly from the Chateaux at the time of release and has been perfectly stored in the Millesima facility in Bordeaux. Back vintages and Futures are the highlight of working with a retailer like Millesima, but their inventory is shockingly broad and you'll find all kinds of treasures and gems on their site. Be warned! You may fall down the fine wine rabbit hole browsing their site like I do!

Vinfolio: Bordeaux inventory includes top vintages, First Growth, and 100-point wines; Burgundy inventory includes best vintages and Grand Cru selections; California inventory includes 100-point wines and cult classics. If it’s from a premier wine region or a legendary winery, Vinfolio probably has it for sale.

The Bounty Hunter: A curated selection of wines across a variety of price-points, with ~200 bottles over $60 from around the world, including large-format and Napa cult winery selections.

K&L Wines: A mind-bogglingly huge inventory of over 10,000 different wines (more than half of which are over $60 a bottle), K&L almost certainly has what you’re looking for from Champagne to Bordeaux, from Piedmont to Napa.

Wine.com: Its reputation is that of the Amazon of wine, and like Amazon they have products at every price point. At last check, they carry 95 different 100-point Bordeaux and 56 96+ Burgundies. They don’t stock much aged wine but they do offer more than 340 magnums and large-format bottles plus more than 220 half-bottles.

You can now shop luxury wines in my wine marketplace. With thousands of bottles in inventory, you’ll find something you can’t wait to get your hands on. Shop Bordeaux, Barolo, Champagne, Napa — or whatever makes your mouth happy.

Wine Auctions (and other Secondary Market sites)

A wine auction gavel

There is a large secondary-market for wine. People on the aforementioned allocation lists like to hold wine for a few years and sell it for a profit. Also, sometimes big wine collectors want to liquidate their holdings or reduce the size of their collection and will send those bottles to auction houses. Some well-known wine auction sites include: Sotheby's Wine & Spirits, WineBid.com, and CellarBid.com. Wine stores that also offer auctions: Vinfolio, Zachys, K&L Wine Merchants.

Like all auctions, caveat emptor. Provenance and cellaring authentication may or may not be available but all sales are final and come with a Buyer’s Premium (the auction house’s fee for holding the auction, processing your payment, and delivering the goods). CellarBid apparently does NOT charge a Buyer's Premium.