Okay, so here's the skinny on these big-name wine clubs! The Zagat Guide is a publication. They don't have a liquor license, and they don't want to get into that business, so they've contracted with a third party to fulfill their wine club orders/shipments. The third party is a successful wine club provider in the UK that's been providing wines to a HUGE membership for many years.

They source wines from around the world, and then share their great finds with their club members, and their clients' club members, too.

It's important you know this! It's not a sign that the quality will be bad or that you shouldn't trust the Zagat Wine Club... The Zagat Guide trusts them with their reputation and we think you can trust them, too.

Now, onto normal Wine Club value-talk. The introductory offer is a great way for you to try-before-you-buy. You're getting 15 bottles of good-quality wine at around $6 per bottle, plus a free binder for your ever-important tasting notes.

After the introductory offer where you’ll receive a case (12 bottles) of wine every quarter for $139.99. Because of the way the private-label company works, there is some crossover between what's available for distribution to wine club members across their wine clubs, but that each wine club gets a few unique bottles to set it apart from the others. It's unclear whether or not the Zagat Wine Club has any wines picked by anyone at Zagat itself though.

We’ve broken down the pricing below so it’s easier to understand:

We like quarterly case-clubs because you save on shipping and it's better for the environment to send out fewer shipments each year.

Something we noticed: the Mixed case appears to be 8 reds and 4 whites. You can also choose Red-only and White-only if you want.

Last Updated: 3/26/2013