Man comparing two wine clubs

Compare Wine Clubs

There are a lot of wine clubs out there and sometimes choosing the best wine club means you’ve narrowed it down to two or three but you’re just not sure which one you’d rather join. That’s where I come in. I’ve put together head-to-head comparisons of some of the most popular wine clubs.

Before you jump into the wine club comparisons, it’s best to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. A lot of the big names in wine subscriptions — Nakedwines.com, Firstleaf, and WSJwine — offer distinctively different services. When it comes down to it, wine clubs fall into two major categories: Personalized and Curated.

Personalized Wine Clubs vs Curated Wine Clubs

Personalized wine clubs tailor the selections in your wine shipments to your personal tastes. They do this through a variety of means — letting you pick your own wine, using an algorithm which gets to know what you like and picks your wine, and having a sommelier hand-select each wine you receive to match your exact personal preferences.

On the flip side, curated wine clubs have a specific point of view about the wine they ship and are designed to help wine lovers explore the world of wine, either in a narrow way or a very broad way. Some curated clubs feature small artisan wineries, some feature organic wine. Many feature interesting wines from around the world.

The curated clubs featured on this page are 12-bottle “case clubs.” I selected this subset of curated clubs because they typically offer the most value. If you’re interested in curated clubs that aren’t 12-bottle case clubs, check out these pages: Wine Clubs for Enthusiasts & Wine Clubs for Connoisseurs.

When comparing wine clubs, it’s important to compare like with like. Here is a comparison of personalized vs curated wine clubs to help you decide which type of wine club is best for you.

Personalized Wine Clubs Curated Wine Clubs
Means: Your wine is tailored to your preferences Means: Members all receive the same wine
Perfect for: Picky drinkers who already know what they like Perfect for: Adventurous drinkers who aren’t tied to a single grape or region
Key differentiators: The degree of personalization varies by wine club (how do the wines get picked?); wine quality Key differentiators: The curation methodology (why does the wine club pick the wines it does?); wine quality; price per bottle; bottles per shipment

Personalized wine clubs to compare

  • Nakedwines.com vs...
    Completely personalized wine club where you can buy recommended wines or choose your own.
  • Winc vs...
    Completely personalized wine club where you can buy recommended wines or choose your own.
  • Picked by Wine.com vs...
    Completely personalized wine club where every bottle is picked just for you by a sommelier.
  • Firstleaf vs...
    Partially personalized wine club where you can swap out some recommended wines.
  • Bright Cellars vs...
    Partially personalized wine club where you can swap out some recommended wines.
  • TastingRoom.com vs...
    Partially personalized wine club where you can swap out some recommended wines.

Curated 12-bottle wine clubs to compare

Why aren’t there more curated clubs listed here? This comparison feature is new and for now I’m trying to help customers compare similar wine clubs. Several great case clubs exist, but don’t fit well into a side-by-side comparison because of their uniqueness.

Jessyca Frederick

Review by: Jessyca Frederick

After 15+ years trying 1000s of bottles from 100+ different wine clubs, I know what it means to be a wine club worth joining. My reviews can help you find a great wine club for you and the best wine club gifts for any budget and for any wine preference.

Feel free to ask me for a personal recommendation. I won't harvest your email address for a marketing list — I don't send marketing emails.

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