Club W is a wine subscription box that re-imagines the traditional wine club. They offer a regularly changing selection of unique, small production wines that are sourced directly from vineyards and winemakers.
When you sign up to join Club W, you take a short, fun “palate profile” quiz that helps determine your taste in wine. Based on your answers, Club W makes bottle recommendations for you every month. You can go along with their recommendations or choose your own bottles from their regularly changing selection.
If you don’t log in to make your monthly bottle selection, your recommended wines will be sent by default. You can skip a month at any time.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Club W
The Cost: 3 bottles per month start at $39 + $6 flat rate shipping. (Shipping is free on orders of 6 or more bottles.)
The Products: Small-lot wines sourced directly from vineyards and wine makers.
Ships to: All US states EXCEPT: AK, AL, AR, DE, HI, KY, MS, OK, PA, RI, DS, and UT
Check out our previous Club W Reviews or visit the Drink Subscription Box Directory for more boozy boxes!
Club W includes a tasting card for each of the wines in your shipment. Each card includes a description of the wine, tasting notes, and information about the flavor profile.
Printed on the back of each tasting card is a suggested recipe pairing.
2015 WKND American Sparkling White Blend
I’ve noticed in the comments section of my previous Club W reviews that quite a few MSA readers are fans of sweet wines. My taste generally veers towards wines that are dry, crisp, or fruity, but since December is filled with lots of desserts and holiday baking, I thought I’d expand my vino horizons and test out some of Club W’s sweeter offerings.
The first bottle I selected this month is a Prosecco-style American sparkling wine. It’s lightly sweet, bubbly, and pairs well with breakfast foods like French toast and pancakes. On the nose, there are hints of grapefruit, white peach, wet stone, and lemon. I’m planning to save this bottle for a holiday breakfast. I think it will pair really well with something like these Brown Butter Winter Citrus Pancakes.
Steel Kitten is Club W’s first dessert wine. To make it, they paired up with Duff Goldman, Chef, and Ace of Cakes. It’s made with Syrah grapes and fortified with brandy. I’m a big fan of dessert wine, so I jumped at the opportunity to give this wine a try. It has aromas of “plum, chocolate-covered raisin, and strawberry shortcake” and flavors of “raisin, dark chocolate, and chocolate-covered coffee beans.” I like this wine a lot, and I’m excited to have it on hand for upcoming holiday meals. I think it’s nice to be able to offer guests dessert wine!
2013 Everything Nice White Wine- $13
Reading the description of this wine on the Club W site, it’s clear that it’s a sweet wine lover’s dream! “This sweet wine smells of fruit cocktail, guava, and citrus blossom, tastes of candied fruit, and glides like syrup over your tongue.” This wine pairs well with cheese, spicy foods, and, of course, desserts. The Club W recommended recipe pairing is Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake with Lemon Zest, which sounded fantastic to me!
Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake with Lemon Zest
Each month, I look forward to trying one of the Club W recipe pairings. This month, I decided to make Sweetened Condensed Milk Cake with Lemon Zest, Club W’s pairing suggestion for the 2013 Everything Nice White Wine.
The recipe was very simple. In a large bowl, I combined eggs with condensed milk, melted butter, salt, and flour. The recipe also called for lemon zest and vanilla, but I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to make a couple of small changes. Instead of adding lemon and vanilla, I added a splash of rosewater and some dried tart cherries.
I poured the batter into a prepared bundt pan and baked it at 350. After about an hour, I removed it from the oven.
I allowed the cake to cool and released it from the pan. To finish of the bundt, I decided to top it with a simple glaze made from powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
This bundt recipe is definitely a keeper! It was so simple to make and turned out soft, moist, and flavorful.
I really liked my addition of cherries and rosewater, and I think I’ll try it again soon with some different add-ins.
Verdict: I had a lot of fun mixing up my wine selection this month and trying out some of Club W’s sweeter offerings. I think it’s exciting that Club W just released their first dessert wine, and I’m pleased to see that they’re now starting to dabble in sparkling wines, too. I’m going to enjoy pouring dessert wine for my holiday guests, and I can’t wait to sample the WKND blend at my holiday breakfast!
Do you subscribe to Club W? Which bottles did you pick this month?
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