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Club W vs Bright Cellars vs Wine Awesomeness – June 2016

Lindsey Morse
ByLindsey MorseJul 8, 2016 | 1 comment

collage wine

Bright Cellars
3.3 overall rating
7 Ratings | 4 Reviews

This month, I reviewed wine boxes from Club W, Bright Cellars, and Wine Awesomeness. To see how the subscriptions compare, I’ve outlined what I received from each subscription below.

Read on to see the wines I received this month and to find out which box came out on top for me this month!

ClubW-June-2016-Box

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. Club W suggests bottles for you based on a “palate profile quiz” you take when you join. You can decide to receive the bottles they suggest for you, or you can pick your own wines from their ever-changing collection. Club W wines start at $13 each, and shipping is free on orders of 4 or more bottles. You can skip a shipment at any time.

ClubW-June-2016-Open

(Note that Club W is in the process of re-branding as Winc. As of now, the packaging has been changed, but orders can still be placed and managed through Club W.)

COUPON: $20 off your first order, no coupon required, just use this link!

Ships to: All US states EXCEPT AK, AL, AR, DE, HI, KY, MS, OK, PA, RI, DS, and UT

Check out the full Club W June review here!

Keep track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription box list or wishlist!

ClubW-June-2016-AllWines

2015 New Native Sauvignon Blanc– $13

2014 Chop Shop Cabernet Sauvignon– $13 

2015 Greensmith White Blend– $19

2015 Sauvetage Rosé– $13

I picked my wines this month, so none of the bottles were a surprise. Standout bottles for me from this box were the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Greensmith White blend. Considering the price point, I thought the Cab was excellent. It was big and juicy, and a great food wine. The Greensmith was delicious, also, with a nice minerality and flavors of stone fruit and lychee.

Club W is one of the few subscriptions that allows you to hand pick your wines, so it’s great for wine drinkers who know what they like (or don’t like). If you don’t want to receive a box of mystery wine, Club W is a great choice. They send informative and well-designed cards to accompany every bottle, and each wine comes with a suggested recipe pairing. Best of all, if you ever receive a bottle you don’t like, Club W will provide you with a credit for a replacement bottle of your choosing.

BrightCellars-June-2016-BoxSide

Bright Cellars was founded by a couple of MIT grads with a passion for wine and technology, and the subscription is designed with both of those interests in mind. When you sign up for a subscription, you take a “taste palate quiz” that helps pinpoint your taste in wine. Your monthly wines are then selected using a proprietary algorithm that “scores each wine by comparing 18 attributes to your preferences, matching you with your monthly experience.” You can choose the ratio of red to white you receive in each box by adjusting your preferences online. Also, interestingly, Bright Cellars doesn’t hire sommeliers to help influence wine buying. Instead, they crowd source their wine selections by relying on the tastes of their team. (Office wine tastings? Wouldn’t that be a fun perk of working at Bright Cellars!) Shipments contain 4 bottles and cost $60 + $8 shipping.

BrightCellars-June-2016-BoxWines1

COUPON: Receive a $30 credit towards your first box!, no coupon required, just use this link!

Ships to: US states where it is legal to receive wine by mail. If you’re uncertain whether you can receive wine shipments, contact the Bright Cellars Wine Concierge at [email protected].

Check out the full Bright Cellars June review here!

Keep track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription box list or wishlist!

BrightCellars-June-2016-Wines

Mira Vos Malbec 2014

Adrift Chenin Blanc 2013

Alto Verde Sauvignon Blanc 2015

Piazza Bianco Inzolia 2014

I’ve received two boxes from Bright Cellars, and I’ve been really impressed with their picks overall. This month, the Malbec missed the mark for me (my husband liked it, though), but I really liked all of the whites I received. I was also excited to receive a bottle of Inzolia, which is a type of Italian white wine I’d never even heard of before receiving this box. It was citrusy with a touch of fruit and nuts, and it paired deliciously with Spaghetti alla Primavera! I love discovering new wine varietals, and I’ll certainly keep an eye of for Inzolia from now on!

The Bright Cellars subscription cost breaks down to $17 per bottle, which I think is fair. That’s maybe a bit more than I’d pay for an “everyday wine” in the store, but I feel okay about the price since Bright Cellars guarantees that subscribers will like their wines. If you ever receive a bottle you don’t like, Bright Cellars will include a complementary replacement bottle in your next shipment.

WineAwesomeness-June-2016-Box

Wine Awesomeness specializes in rare and unusual wines, and their curatorial team is led by a Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year! They seek out “the coolest, craveworthiest wines” and send “vino you don’t see everyday, but will want to drink everyday.” There’s no quiz with Wine Awesomeness, and the bottles you receive are not tailored to your taste; however, you can pick whether you want to receive all reds, all whites (with a chance of rosé or bubbly), or a mix (with a chance of rosé or bubbly). Wine Awesomeness costs $45 per month for 3 bottles.

WineAwesomeness-June-2016-Inside

COUPON: Get your first box free - just pay $22.50 shipping, no coupon required, just use this link!

Ships to: US (Including states where most other alcohol subscriptions don’t ship, like PA and OK!)

Check out the full Wine Awesomeness June review here!

Keep track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription box list or wish list!

WineAwesomeness-June-2016-Bottles

Proud Pour “The Oyster” Sauvignon Blanc 2014

Heinz Eifel Dry Riesling “Mosaik” 2014

Eikendal Cuvee Rosé 2014

I enjoyed all of the bottles that were included in my Wine Awesomeness box this month, but the standout wine for me has to be “The Oyster.” Thanks to Wine Awesomeness, I learned that over-harvesting and pollution have wiped out 85% of oyster reefs worldwide. For each bottle of “The Oyster” sold, Proud Pour will help combat this problem by restoring 100 wild oysters. “The Oyster” had flavors of peach and nectarine and was a little creamier than a lot of Sauvignon Blancs I’ve had before. It was a really tasty wine, and I love that it helps support a worthy cause!

I really like that Wine Awesomeness seeks out rare and unusual wines, and I think this subscription is perfect for adventurous drinkers and wine nerds. There’s a lot of information about each wine in the provided booklet, and I like that Wine Awesomeness sends out a recipe pairing for each of their bottles. The cost breaks down to $15 per bottle.

The Verdict: It’s so much fun to compare the different wine subscriptions and look back at the bottles I received this month. I received great bottles in each of the 4 boxes, but I think my favorite box this month has to be Wine Awesomeness. They sent some interesting and delicious wines, and I love that one of them gives back to charity. I also want to give props to Club W’s Sauvetage Rosé for the delightfully beachy label. It’s perfect for summer!

WineRoundup-June-2016-BoxWinner

Favorite box: Wine Awesomeness

WineRoundup-June-2016-WineWinner

Top bottle: Proud Pour “The Oyster” Sauvignon Blanc 2014 (from Wine Awesomeness)

WineRoundup-June-2016-LabelWinner

Best label: 2015 Sauvetage Rosé– $13 (from Club W)

Do you subscribe to Club WBright Cellars, or Wine Awesomeness? What was your favorite bottle this month?

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A subscription box that sends you 4 bottles of wine custom matched to your palette based upon our wine quiz. Each month, you'll get 4 bottles of wine ($20/each).

Lindsey Morse
Lindsey Morse

Lindsey is a professional baker, cold brew coffee addict, and rosé aficionado who loves writing about food and wine. When she’s not sharing her love of subscription boxes with the world, you’ll find her in the podcasting studio, perfecting her cake decorating techniques, or cursing her way through the New York Times daily crossword puzzle. 


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1 comment

Casey

Thanks for the great comparison! My boyfriend and I have been talking about subscribing to a wine box. I see the reviews pop up on here every once in a while, but it’s so great to have this type of side-by-side comparison to learn the differences between each subscription. Will definitely make our decision easier.

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