Reasons To Join A Wine Club

If you love to drink the “nectar of the gods” then joining a wine of the month club can provide you with more than just a few benefits. Many people are choosing wine as their hobby because it is considered slightly more refined than “kegger parties” or “making homemade lye soap”.

Joining a wine of the month club offers the opportunity to meet other enthusiasts and taste a lot of wines you may otherwise never have the chance to try.

More and more independent vineyards and bottlers are increasing their market share through self-promotion via wine clubs and mailings. If you are considering joining a wine club, I have listed the top 5 benefits for you to read. This way you are able to see that joining a wine club can bring much more to your table than just “a bottle of the good stuff”.

1. Your wine will arrive in an inconspicuous brown wrapper; perfect if you happen to have nosy neighbors.

• Wine clubs all deliver their goods in plain UPS brown boxes so the nosy folks in your neighborhood can’t keep count of how bottles of the living grape you are actually receiving. Now when others grouse about trying to get rid of that nearby ABC store, you won’t become quite as upset.

2. Impress your friends. People will be amazed at your wine collection, which will have some rare and unusual bottles – but you’ll know that you really didn’t spend a lot on your collection. You can tell friends that those bottles of small-bottling Petite Syrah in your cellar cost hundreds (they didn’t cost you hundreds, but they don’t have to know that).

3. Make Money….You can now stage your own wine tasting at home and hey, feel free to make a few bucks by charging a small fee for the food and drink served. You can use the money to buy a totally cool wine rack.

4. Saves Time and Effort…A wine club selection keeps your own shelves well stocked, and this beats the heck out of dashing to the nearest grocery to find a $5 bottle to serve unexpected dinner guests. Come to think of it, if they are that unexpected, they might deserve the $2.50 special at the end of the grocery shelves after all.

5. Ha-Ha Time….Wine club benefits include the ability to play dozens of new practical jokes…

• You will be the only one who knows the exact features and description of the wine in the bottle, so if you decide to challenge friends to a wine taste off…….hey, you’ll beat the experts. A really good wine connoisseur may know the aromas and flavors but he sure as heck will not know exactly when and where it was bottled…..only you will know that it is from McQuiqqleburry Lantern Vineyards….

• Trick wine snobs at dinner parties – refill some good bottles with cheap stuff you go ton closeout at the grocery store. Give these to the wine snobs at your next dinner party or tasting. Give everybody else the good stuff.

Chances are better than average that as your other guests rave about the great taste of the good wine, these folks will be raving right along with them. The most pretentious ones in the group will fall over their tongues trying to match the comments of others. If you can keep from rolling on the floor with laughter, it makes a really great moment to talk about later.

When you are passionate about wine you begin collecting it. Sometimes you become a member of a wine enthusiast club and now are acquiring rare wines. As your collection increases over time storing it can become a problem. A cabinet can really easily be transformed into a budget home wine cellar to age your growing collection.

As eager as you may be to start, don't skip the planning phase as it will help prevent heart ache later one. For instance where is the closet in relation to the rest of the house? Avoid converting a closet against an outside wall into a wine cellar. As the outside walls are in direct contact with the weather the temperature levels are not consistent and change dramatically. Choose an internal closet where your wine can be stored in a more stable atmosphere.

Make sure your wine cellar has a steady temperature, this is of critical importance to correctly store/age your collection. You don't want a jump in temperature, but a slow rise or drop will not harm the wine. Over time, this can greatly damage the wine in the bottle. When the temperature flucuates wine becomes shocked, the rule is steady constant temperature with no or minimal variations.

It's easy to spot. Look for the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. The repeated changes in temperature of the wine will fragment the cork. This variation is like having a wine cork popped every single day. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork allowing air to seep back in. Your wine will quickly spoil once it mixes with oxygen. Your wine is ruined. For wine to develop fully it must age at the correct temperature. This is usually in the range of 53-58 degrees. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month.

Add a good vapor barrier. Mold like the humid environments that are good for wine. Also keep in mind a more expensive wine cellar cooling unit for management of the temperature and humidity.

The designs are beautiful, no detail is left out. Carry that same dedication over to the next phase: wine cellar construction. Designing a wine cellar builds the value of your house! You will need to purchase a few essential items. Purchase some inexpensive wine racks from a hardware store or online retailer or storage shop. With some cheap racks you'll have a simple but very effective mini wine cellar. Wine rack designs will vary in bottle density. Price variations are more to do with aesthetics than efficiency. Individual racking is the most convenient for selecting bottles.

A great tip is to only put your wine racks on one side of the pantry. Then you may still have floor or shelf space available for wines that you purchase by the case. Building your own wine cellar at home isn't hard or pricey, and it can be a rewarding endevour. Let your wine speak for itself. However, if you don't have the space to spare, then we recommend the Cuisinart Dual Zone 15 Bottle Wine Cellar.

Now you can truly enjoy the luxury of owning your own wine cellar and aging your own wine!