Firstleaf vs Nakedwines.com
Not sure which personalized wine subscription you want to join? This page compares Firstleaf and Nakedwines.com side-by-side using my detailed ratings system. The ratings are based on my experiences with each club — including tasting the wine over multiple shipments.
Which is better, Firstleaf or Nakedwines.com?
I prefer Nakedwines.com to Firstleaf, but these two subscriptions offer very different experiences and I can’t say which you’d actually prefer. Please review this head-to-head comparison of Nakedwines.com and Firstleaf to see which wine subscription is more suitable for your preferences. See why.
What are the key differences between Firstleaf and Nakedwines.com?
The biggest differences between Firstleaf and Nakedwines.com are: Cost per shipment, Satisfaction guarantee, Number of bottles per shipment, Quality of wine, Price of wine, Educational materials, Convenience features, Giftworthiness
What are the key similarities between Firstleaf and Nakedwines.com?
Firstleaf and Nakedwines.com are quite similar in these areas: Delivery frequency
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.
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Firstleaf |
Nakedwines.com |
| Do they ship to you? | |
|---|---|
| AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY | AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MD, ME, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NY, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OK, OR, PA, SC, SD, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY |
| Overall rating This rating reflects all of the wine club elements below and is weighted for personalized wine clubs. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 4.4 stars | 5 stars |
| Wine styles | |
| Choose any: Red, white, or mixed with an option to add rosé & sparkling | Choose any: Red, white, rosé, and sparkling |
| Wine regions | |
| Choose either or both: USA, International | Choose wine from around the world |
| What to know | |
| Firstleaf is an algorithm-based personalized wine club where you have limited ability to intervene in the selection. By delivering a range of wine grapes, regions, and styles, Firstleaf is always a top contender for a personalized wine subscription. One of Firstleaf’s strong suits is their huge breadth of inventory. There are hundreds of different wines available at any time, increasing the odds you’ll get something you like. Firstleaf relies heavily on slick marketing which says their wines all being award-winning, but this isn’t a good measure of a wine club. |
Nakedwines.com is not a typical wine subscription in that they do not auto-ship your wines. Each month you deposit $40 and when you’re ready, you order as much wine as you want (at least 6 bottles). Nakedwines.com’s relationship with independent winemakers makes it unique. I also love that they give you so much information to help you decide which wines to try. Unlike their competitors, any unspent funds are fully refundable (and they’ll also credit bottles you didn’t like). It should be easier to sign up for a membership without getting the introductory six-pack deal. |
| Best wine clubs The editorial lists where I include this wine club and its ranking on that list. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| |
| Personalization Rating This rating reflects the degree of personalization available, not how well I think they do at matching wines to my taste preferences. Why? Each service requires a number of shipments before they hone in on your tastes (usually at least 3 shipments) and the quality of the personalization is, well, personal. Some services might be really good at your tasting profile but terrible at mine (and vice versa). This is why I don’t rate the ability of wine clubs to personalize your selection, rather I share my own experiences and let you be the judge. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 4 stars | 5 stars |
| Starting with a quiz during signup, Firstleaf uses an algorithm to match your personal tastes. Their ability to match gets better over time, when you rate the wines you receive. If they recommend something you don’t want to try, you can swap out that bottle. You can make up to six swaps per shipment. If you aren’t sure if you’re getting the most out of your Firstleaf subscription, you can ask for free help from a certified wine professional who can make changes to your settings behind the scenes to enhance your experience. I was never super impressed with the matching of the wines I received, but I recently re-took the quiz and found their recommendations to be much more spot on than my original results. I believe this reflects what they’ve learned from their previous customers. |
Unlike other personalized wine clubs, Nakedwines.com does NOT start with a quiz. Quite the opposite... you start with a bundle of six bottles they choose. Their personalization comes in two forms: 1) you pick every wine you orders and 2) As you rate wines, the store reflects your preferences. I have never used Nakedwines.com recommendations to choose wine — I like to personalize my wine shipments by picking my own wine. Given the amount of data they have about customers and what they like (or don’t), I would bet they are good at guessing which wines you might like based on how you’ve rated previous wines you purchased from them. And if they’re not, they’ll give you all of your money back... so there’s nothing to lose. |
| |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| Number of Bottles | |
| 6 | 6 (minimum bottles per order) |
| Delivery Frequency | |
| Monthly | Monthly |
| Introductory Offer | |
Deal 6 bottles for $44.95 |
Deal Save $100 on 6 bottles + $20 |
| |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| Firstleaf (6 bottles) | Nakedwines.com (6 bottles) |
| Total Price per Shipment | |
| $94.93 | You deposit $40 each month and spend it when you want to. Your price per shipment will vary depending on the wines you put in the box. |
| Price per Bottle Including Shipping | |
| $15.82 | Variable (You choose your wine and how many bottles) |
| Price per Shipment | |
| $79.98 | Variable (You choose your wine and how many bottles) |
| Shipping Cost | |
| $14.95 | Shipping is $9.99 for orders less than $100. Shipping is free for orders over $100 except in Hawaii ($70 per box) and Alaska ($130 per box). |
| Price per Bottle Before Shipping | |
| $13.33 | $8.99 - $39.99 (You choose your wine) |
| |
| Firstleaf Wine Review | Nakedwines.com Wine Review |
| Quality of Wine This rating reflects how the wine is sourced and produced, as well as how it compares to similar wine clubs. | |
| 3.5 stars | 4.25 stars |
| Firstleaf wines are "private label" of generally equal quality to similarly-priced wine clubs. They offer a broad range of styles and wine regions, and the quality from each area varies slightly. While they claim their wines are award-winning, I believe this is a misdirection as these competitions are not comprehensive. | Nakedwines.com wines are often mistaken for private label, but since Nakedwines.com is a winery, that is not accurate. They offer wine at a variety of prices and the quality varies with price. In general, their $15 wines are better than those of similarly-priced wine clubs. |
| Price of Wine | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 3.5 stars | 5 stars |
| Firstleaf wine club wines are private label or exclusive so prices can’t be verified. The wine seems appropriately priced, based on my experience with similarly-priced wine clubs. | Nakedwines.com wines are exclusive so prices can’t be verified, however you are able to buy wine from them without a subscription, those prices seem fair, and members get a substantial discount. The wine seems very fairly priced based on my experience with similar wines from other sources. |
| |
| Satisfaction Guarantee This rating reflects the quality of the club’s satisfaction guarantee, not my guarantee of your satisfaction. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 5 stars | 5 stars |
| If you don’t like a wine you receive, you can contact customer service to get a credit applied to your account. "If for any reason you’re not satisfied with a bottle, we’ll credit you for it, where legal. Just reach out to us at service@firstleaf.club within 30 days of delivery. We’ll credit you in the form of store credit for any disliked bottles! Please note - this excludes shipping charges." |
If you don’t like a wine you receive, you can contact customer service to get a credit applied to your account. "You get your money back. We only charge you for the wine you love, guaranteed. Just email us at chat@nakedwines.com or call us at 1-800-813-4882." |
| Customer Service Record This rating is a mix of my own experiences with their customer service team and general ratings from across the web over time. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 4 stars | 5 stars |
| Firstleaf has an impressive customer service record as recorded online. I subtracted two stars because I have had my own problems with not getting the wines I swapped out or getting a shipment right away when I wanted to wait for it. That said they always make it right without a fuss. | Nakedwines.com has an impressive customer service record as recorded online. I have not personally needed their customer service team’s assistance yet. |
| Educational Materials This rating reflects how much information you get about the wine you receive. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 3 stars | 4.5 stars |
| In addition to finding information about each of your wines on the Firstleaf website, they also send out fun wine tasting cards for each wine in your box. They provide a limited view into the wine region and the grapes in the wine, but their other wine info is helpful: Body, Acidity, Sweetness, Fruit, and Tannins. They also offer generalized food pairing ideas and a place to put your own tasting notes. | The wine information for Nakedwines.com wines is all online. They offer excellent information about each wine, including info that is useful both before you buy it and when you are ready to drink it. In addition to details about the winemaker and the wine itself, they also provide storage information, service information, and food pairing suggestions. |
| Convenience A subscription should be easier than shopping at the store. That means you have control over when and where deliveries occur and that it is easy to make changes to your account online. | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| 5 stars | 5 stars |
| Choose a delivery date? | |
| Yes | Yes, you only get wine when you place an order |
| Skip a shipment any time? | |
| Yes, skip shipments whenever you want | You decide when you want wine, so no need to skip shipments. You can pause deposits if needed. |
| Fully manage account online | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Cancel online | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Choose alternate delivery location | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Get SMS delivery updates from the club | |
| No | No |
| Get email delivery updates from the club | |
| Yes | Yes |
| Email reminders before card is charged | |
| Yes | Yes |
| |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| Get free shipping | |
| Increase your shipment to 12 bottles and get free shipping. You’ll get two each of six different wines in each box. | n/a |
| Switch delivery frequency | |
| Switch to deliveries every other month or quarterly, in addition to delivery on demand | n/a |
Good for Gifts? | |
| Firstleaf | Nakedwines.com |
| Giftworthiness | |
| 2.5 stars | 2.5 stars |
| Gift options? | |
| Yes | No |
| Gift format | |
| Electronic gift card | n/a |
| Gift wrap | |
| No | No |
| Gift notification | |
| Yes, an email is sent at time of purchase | n/a |
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.
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