Updated 5/4/20
The Sip is a bi-monthly champagne tasting subscription box for people wanting to discover new varieties of sparkling wine! Each box includes mini bottles of luxury sparkling wine for you to sample, and contains everything from well-known brands to limited editions of new varietals.
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This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About The Sip Society
The Subscription Box: The Sip Society
The Cost: $59.95 bi-monthly. Save with an annual subscription.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get $5 off each of your first 6 boxes!
CODE: HOMESIP
The Products: 2-3 mini bottles of sparkling wine, a tasting guide, and a fun extra gift
Ships to: Most of the US for free! (some liquor laws vary by state)
Good to Know: Bi-monthly subscribers get a $5 credit towards a full-size bottle with every 2 boxes received, while annual subscribers get a $25 credit towards a full-size bottle with their 1-year purchase, with an additional $10 bonus at the end of the year. Boxes are sent every other month (January, March, May, July, September, and November) and are billed on the 2nd of that month. Shipping occurs on the 20th of each month listed.
The Sip Society March 2020 Review
The Sip curates luxury sparkling wines and champagnes from around the world and delivers them straight to your door - how can you resist that idea? I'm by no means a wine connoisseur, but I'm an enthusiastic lover of all things bubbly. This was my first month receiving a box from The Sip, and I was so excited to try some new sparkling wines!
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The box included a detailed tasting guide for the sparkling wines included in the box this month, as well as two cards with extra information. The theme this month is "Floral, Fruity, and Fun" - perfect for spring! I love the focus on education and experimentation in this box - I especially liked the flow chart showing the traditional method of creating champagne! There is also a recipe for a champagne cocktail, which I thought was a nice addition to the booklet.
First up are the cute extras included in the box!
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The Sip Koozie
How adorable is this tiny champagne bottle koozie? I don't know how often I'll use this item, but if I ever find myself toting a mini bottle to a picnic, I'll be sure to tuck it in this handy sleeve to keep it cold. The koozie is made out of insulated material and features a zipper on the back.
The Sip Spout
We also received a plastic spout to help with pouring the champagne out of the bottles. See below for how I used this in action!
Dried Flowers
There was no information included on what these vials of dried flowers are, but I am assuming that they go along with the cocktail recipe in the booklet. The recipe calls for butterfly pea tea and edible flowers, so I think that's what we have here. The vials are sealed with cork and are awfully cute!
Now, let's get tasting!
Pommery Champagne Pop, 187 mL - Estimated Value $11.00 (Buy a four-pack of these mini bottles here for $43.99)
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First up is an extra-dry champagne from Pommery. The booklet tells me to expect floral, creamy, citrus flavors from this wine, and I definitely agree with those notes! The first sip tasted very floral, with just a hint of sweetness. To me, it tasted very much like the traditional champagne of toasts everywhere, and it had a very strong chardonnay flavor. Although it is listed as an extra-dry, I felt like it was too sweet and heavy for my personal taste, and it's not particularly a champagne that I'll look for in the future.
This was the only bottle of the three we received that had an actual wire cage and cork closure, which I appreciated! Having the real cork-popping experience when drinking this made it feel a little bit fancier and more special!
Banfi Rosa Regale Sparkling Red, 187 mL - Retail Value $8.99 (A full-size bottle retails for $13.99 in Colorado here; cost varies per location)
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This was the bottle that caught my attention first when I opened the box! I've tried red sparkling wine once before, and it was such a unique taste that I was excited to try this one - the color is just so pretty. This was a very sweet wine, with definite fruit-forward flavors. I tasted a lot of raspberry and strawberry, and it felt like I was drinking juice! It was extremely easy to drink, and I would classify this sparkling wine in the "porch-pounder" category, as in it's the perfect beverage to sip away on as you enjoy good summertime weather from your porch!
The bottle had a twist-off cap that was designed to look like a cork underneath the foil - clever! This was the only bottle of the three that the pouring spout fit into, so I tried it out here.
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The pouring spout made it so there were almost no bubbles whatsoever - I thought that perhaps something was wrong with this bottle when I first tried it! The photo above was taken right after pouring, and you can see that there is no fizz or foam at the top.
I then took the spout off and poured just straight from the bottle for comparison:
What a crazy difference the spout made!! I have been caught unawares by champagne fizzing over the top of my glass too many times, so I'm excited to have this handy little tool to help with that problem.
Chandon Sweet Star, 187 mL - Retail Value $7.99 (A full-size bottle retails for $24.00 here)
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This was my favorite wine out of the bunch! It was light and fizzy, and had a great citrus flavor. Although it is made up of the same grape varietals as the Pommery champagne (pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay), it had a very different taste - the Chandon was much lighter and didn't have such a strong chardonnay taste. Although it's listed as a demi-sec, which is sweeter on the scale than the extra-dry Pommery, I actually felt like this wine tasted less sweet.
This bottle had unique packaging - it came in an aluminum can with a twist-off top, rather than a glass bottle. This would be perfect for taking with you to the park or to the beach, or any other areas where you are not allowed to have glass bottles. I also think this would make the perfect mimosa champagne - I might have to pick up a bottle to test out that theory!
Verdict: I thought this such a fun box! I loved the experience of tasting different champagnes and sparkling wines from home - I felt a tiny bit like I was in Napa Valley on a wine tour. I also really appreciated that all three wines tied into the theme, as it made the whole tasting experience more cohesive. For $54.99 we received a tasting guide, three 187 mL bottles of sparkling wine, a mini bottle koozie, a pouring spout, and two glass vials of dried flowers/tea. The total retail values for the bottles comes to $27.98 which is half the cost of the box, leaving $27.01 for the remaining items. I think the price is a little high for the value of the contents, so I look forward to seeing how this box continues to evolve in the future.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, you will receive the May/June box.
ACTIVE DEAL: Get $5 off each of your first 6 boxes!
CODE: HOMESIP
Value Breakdown: This box costs $54.99 + free shipping, which means that each of the six items (counting both vials as 1 item) in the box has an average cost of $9.17.
For more options like this, check out our list of the best wine subscription boxes as recommended by MSA readers like you!
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What did you think of the March/April 2020 delivery from The Sip? Let us know in the comments!
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