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Best wine for under $40

Seems like as it scales it may get more difficult to manage but you’d also be able to just buy in bulk knowing that you had sales on that product and plan accordingly. Plus buying more probably gets you case drops price wise as a store for those bottles and increases your margin on each member for the month.

I guess dealing with customer complaints/contact issues could be annoying?
 
We are members of a natural wine and pizza club locally. The wine is from a great shop, Domestique, and the pizza is from Sonny’s. Every month you get either 3 or 6 bottles and a free pizza. We ended up loving a lot of the wines and going in and buying cases worth.
 
i have no doubt there is more to it than just buying more of a wine each month but also tons of places do it and that's the exact business they are in
 
Is it a recurring charge or do you opt in every month? There are a few shops up here with different models and while the recurring charge seems more business friendly, having the consumer option to opt in or not is each month (or select 3 v 6 v 12 bottle) via email definitely seems customer friendly
 
TownieDeac said:
We are members of a natural wine and pizza club locally. The wine is from a great shop, Domestique, and the pizza is from Sonny’s. Every month you get either 3 or 6 bottles and a free pizza. We ended up loving a lot of the wines and going in and buying cases worth.
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damn, pizza club

sweet
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
i have no doubt there is more to it than just buying more of a wine each month but also tons of places do it and that's the exact business they are in
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Yeah exactly. I’d imagine the major additional hassle is data management and the labor costs associated with actually getting folks the wine.
 
This set up has pricing tiers, so you can buy an annual subscription where the monthly cost is less or for 3 or 6 months where the monthly cost is more. We did a year the first time around and six months this latest time.

Sonny’s also hosts an event called Abbondanza 4x a year which is a three hour tasting from a ton of natural producers, and there’s free pizza there as well. Great place to go party and pick up some wine for gifts or to take home.
 
We also live a ten min walk from the shop so we always picked up in person but they have delivery options too.
 
a local cafe actually just launched a wine club, so I guess I don't know why a wine shop would have more barriers to something like that than a coffee shop (which does serve wine)
 
Demonbeck said:
Catena Malbec is always a good bet for around $20.

Ridge has several under $40 that are wonderful.
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both usually available at Total Wine and worth it

Ridge has such good Zinfandels - so good with smoked meat or braised short ribs
 
Yeah I think the Three Valleys from Ridge is solid wine and fantastic for everyday drinking. I'm not normally a big Zin/California blend fan and it's such an easy option.
 
DeacWatcher said:
Wine clubs are defs the way to go. We have been with Benzinger since 2014 for the really good stuff and Cameron Hughes for a couple of years for decent cheap wine and beyond.
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Are you talking about De Negoce for the Cameron Hughes one? If not, check it out. It's not really a club, but it's interesting and some very good wines have come out of it. Better if you have room to cellar, since they are virtually all brand spanking new and many aren't ready to drink, but even the flops have been fine, at worst.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
On the natural front in the New England area, Oyster River Winery out of Maine is making delicious & fresh wine on an annual basis. The two biggest hits for me are the Morphos (made from local indigenous varieties from Maine) and the Morphos rose (sourced Merlot from Long Island). Both should be avaiable in the $20-30 range - used to be the same price but a wind storm sheared open a tank from the rose and they lost a substantial amount of their wine so the price went up.
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Like, good, or surprisingly good for Maine? You seem to be into otherwise good wines, so this has piqued my curiosity.
 
I'd say surprisingly good for American wine from random regions. It's meant to be drunk pretty fresh and is firmly in the natural wine/slightly funky/petnat category. Fresh apples and citrus and an easy drinker with low ABV easy to throw back at brunch or picnic. If your palate is more towards "traditional" wine I'd say this may not be your favorite wine but if you're into the more natural scene it's good QPR and a fun style. I mean it wouldn't be confused for upper tier bubbles or anything.
 
Should be fun to try. Did you find it in random places in Maine, or did you visit the winery? The winery is pretty far east and out of my typical Maine range but I might make a side trip. I had no idea there was anything decent in Maine, I just assumed it was all fruit wines like NJ and the crappier MD wines. I like to try anything except that Linganore type nonsense. I mean hell Gouda still gives me shit for insisting they make (some) world class wine in Missouri.
 
I've found it in the Boston area but haven't made it up to the winery yet. It's all over the natural wine bars in Boston/Cambridge when it releases (sells out pretty quickly). The bottle variation is higher than other wines I've had but I enjoy both the regular Morphos and the Rose for sure. I've read the winery itself is basically out in the middle of nowhere off the interstate and is just a barn with some picnic tables.
 
Wakeforest22890 said:
I've found it in the Boston area but haven't made it up to the winery yet. It's all over the natural wine bars in Boston/Cambridge when it releases (sells out pretty quickly). The bottle variation is higher than other wines I've had but I enjoy both the regular Morphos and the Rose for sure. I've read the winery itself is basically out in the middle of nowhere off the interstate and is just a barn with some picnic tables.
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Yeah it's like an hour east of Augusta. Near Rockport so plenty of other things to do, I just tend to go into the woods after hitting Portland. I'll have to look for it next time I am up there--you have made me quite curious.
 
Just got my half case of wine in from the most recent Last Bottle marathon (free shipping, post a bunch of wine one at a time on the app and it’s only up until it sells out):

Brimoncourt NV Blanc de Blancs ($35 champagne)
Worlds End Chardonnay 2016 ($15 cali chard)
J Moreau 1er Cru Chablis 2018
Louis Michel 1er Cru Chablis 2019
Bargeton CDP 2019
Terre Nere 2016 Brunello

Most excited about the Chablis, just setting the reds aside for a while. Anytime I see deals on 2016 piedmont or Tuscany reds I jump on them. Just a really great year across the board there from the wines I’ve had.
 
currently making blackberry wine from a kit purchased from Brewsy.com

I have no illusions the wine will be good - I'll be happy with drinkable. We'll see how the fermentation goes!
 
A zoom, discord, or even chat wine tasting would be fun.
 
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