11 New Clubs For Wine Newbies and Somm Wannabes
Jul 19, 2017

Wine clubs that deliver wine to your front door have been around longer than the internet. The first were mail-order clubs, akin to a book of the month club. Then they began migrating online. Now, there’s a new breed of wine clubs that uses technology and algorithms to pinpoint the best wine for you. Think Stitch Fix or Amazon for wine, with personalization as the new mantra.

Here are 11 new-wave wine clubs worth considering, whether you’re a wine newbie or a somm wannabe.

Plonk Wine Club

The name plonk — slang for bad bulk wine — is tongue in cheek. Founder Etty Lewensztain’s goal is to help you discover a world of organic, sustainable and biodynamic wine, and introduce you to offbeat varietals, such as zweigelt and alicante bouschet, which should appeal to malbec and cab lovers. Like all these wine clubs, the offerings include white, red or both, and a single varietal two-pack option, which gives you one bottle of cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or sauvignon blanc, and a second bottle of something different, with a similar style or flavor profile. Delivery options range from a single case ($95) to monthly case deliveries ($1,080), with wine notes, wine-pairings and a Plonk corkscrew.

The sips: We were delighted with the range and quality of wines, from an awesome Mendocino roussanne, marsanne and viognier blend to a beguiling Austrian red zweigelt and red Portuguese blend. We’d trust Lewensztain to choose more wines for us. Details: www.plonkwineclub.com