Winc Reviews

What It’s Like to Subscribe to Winc

Read reviews further down the page, too, for more personal experiences.

How Winc Works

Joining Winc is easy. When you subscribe through MSA your first box comes with a major discount. First fill out their short palette quiz and then Winc will pair you with four wines that their sommeliers have curated to fit your preferences. You’re not limited just to their recommendations - if you explore the shop, you can replace or add any bottles you find to your box. If you want more than four bottles you can keep adding, and if you order 12 or more you get an extra 10% off.

Your first box comes with an introduction to wines that helps you learn the vocab of the wine world - acidity, oxidation, tannins - if you want to learn, Winc is there for you. But you don’t need to know much, most wines have easy to follow descriptions and you just need to tell winc how you would rate each bottle after you’ve tasted it. Winc will take your feedback and keep recommending you better wines over time.

Your membership renews each month where you will be charged and receive credits towards your next box. Winc recommends you wines every month but as with your first box you can always customize your wines by keeping, replacing, or adding to their recommendations.

Example Winc Wine Bottles

The exact wines available in the Winc store will rotate continually throughout the year, but to give you an example of the range here are some wines we saw in the store at Members only prices:

• 2019 Wonderful Wine Co. White Blend for $16.99
• 2020 Pacificana Chardonnay for $12.99
• 2018 Fog Land Merlot for $14.99
• 2020 Summer Water Rosé for $17.99
• 2019 Le Fermier Cabernet Sauvignon for $18.99
• House of Luck Saké for $24.99
• 2020 Baseline Chardonnay for $34.99

Winc features

Winc Pros and Cons

Pros

• Wide range of wines to explore with clear tasting notes
• You don’t have to be an expert to find wines you’ll enjoy
• Recommendations become more accurate after you rate a few wines
• More wines being added all the time

Cons

• Your favorite might not be around forever
• If you don’t drink at least four bottles a month, credits can accumulate
• A la carte shopping is not working due to site malfunctions
• While most people have good experiences, if you need support then service levels have decreased lately

What Else You Should Know About Winc

Shipping wine can be convenient but it could also introduce headaches if you don’t plan ahead. Make sure someone 21 or over is there to sign for it - in most places they won’t leave alcohol on your doorstep if no one is home, and in the winter you wouldn’t want them to in case the wine freezes and explodes in the box.

One good option is to have your wine shipped either to your place of work or to a pick up location where someone will be there to receive it and you can go pick it up at your convenience.

Is Winc Worth It?

After reviewing Winc numerous times and reviewing subscriber ratings, we can confidently say that a Winc membership is worth it. The recommendations keep the quality high so you can explore with less risk and the price per bottle is worth it for the quality, guides, and convenience.

If you are not a frequent wine drinker or your alcohol budget generally is not at least $60 per month already, then it may be better to stick with a la carte purchases rather than a subscription, unless you are hoping to expand your wine collection or try more wines in the future.

How Winc Compares to Other Top Wine Subscriptions

Winc VS Firstleaf: These wine subscriptions are very similar - both have you take a quiz, match wines to your preferences, have connoisseur curations, and ship monthly. You can customize your box for both brands and you can get credit for bottles that miss the mark. Firstleaf ships six bottles standard compared to Winc’s four. Winc is a bit more affordable with most bottles priced at $12.99 compared to Firstleaf’s $15 price, however Firstleaf focuses more on delivering past award-winning wines rather than exploring new wines.

Winc VS Bright Cellars: Bright Cellars is another similar wine subscription that uses a quiz and tasting notes to pair you with wines you might love, with a delight guarantee to ship a replacement bottle if you don’t like something you received. Bright Cellars is more global than Winc and the price reflects that at $20 per bottle compared to $12.99 at Winc.

Winc VS Vine Oh!: Vine Oh is a much more casual wine experience designed for women that focuses much less on personalization and much more on the fun side of drinking. It is priced similarly to Winc but your only customization is whether you want Reds, Whites, Both, or sweet wines.