Recommend Wine of the Month Club

Personally, I'm picky about the wines I give to friends and family. I would probably make up a fancy (proclamation) letter telling them they are entitled to one bottle of wine a month for the next 6 months, and then I would go out each month and pick something nice and send it to them. If they live nearby, it's a good excuse to stop by and say HI! If you're lucky, they'll pop the cork while you're there and you'll get to share some good times over a (hopefully) good bottle of wine.

Ed

I enjoy choosing my own, so no direct experience. Having known people who have joined these clubs, however, I've be especially leery of those clubs that offer "rare" ,"boutique" , "very hard to find" wines for reasonable prices. What it looks like you usually get is some relabeled plonk no one else wants. What I'd do instead is one of the following:

1) Some reputable wineries have their own WOTM clubs. If you find a winery you (or rather they) like, see if you can do that. 2) While I've never joined, some reputable retailers also have their own WOTM clubs (I know I've seen at klwines.com). I would think that they would (a) be choosing fromtheir regular stock and (b) hoping to add to their regular customer base. 3) While I understand it's kind of cool to get a package with a new wine every month, a LOT of your money goes for shipping (a typical retailer shipping from CA to NY ground will charge $25-40 a case, while a single bottle is probably $10). You might consider getting your parent a one time gift of 6 to 12 bottles from a good retailer. Chambers Street Wines in NYC is well-known for putting together interesting assortments, and most other good retailers would do the same. If they mainly like reds,you could do one left-bank Bdx, one right-bank, one Cal Cab, one Cal Merlot, one Shiraz, one Ca Syrah, one N. Rhone, one S. Rhone, one Tuscan, one Piedmont Nebbiolo, etc. If they prefer whites, then....

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Great. Thanks for your advice; it makes much sense.

does Chamber Street Wines have a website?

-goro-

chambersstwines.com

I don't see the samplers on the site right now, but if you call or email I bet they have them. If you can give them some clues re tastes.

If they put you together a case, see if they'll do a "cheatsheet" for your parents (grapes, etc). My friend Marc Hanes is working there now, he'd give them tons of info.

Just looking at their "under $10" page, you could get a case & a half of very good wines for about $180 with shipping. Took me 5 minutes to pick these (take off 10% for case discount, add in shipping):

Red Altos Las Hormigas 2004 Mendoza Malbec $8.99 Candido 2000 Salice Salentino $7.49  Cline 2003 California Zinfandel $9.99  Graham Beck 2004 Western Cape Pinotage $9.99    Haut-Guiraud 2001 Côtes de Bourg $8.99  Hérétiques/Guillaume Delcoeur (Iché) 2004 VDP de l'Hérault (my perenial QPR fave) $7.99  Lafond 2004 Côtes-du-Rhône $8.99  Lyeth 2002 California L de Lyeth Cabernet Sauvignon $9.99  Oupia 2003 Minervois $9.99  Pepperwood Grove 2004 California Pinot Noir $8.49  Quinta de Cabriz 2003 Dâo $6.99  Sablonnettes 2004 Anjou Gamay Les Copines Aussi $6.99 

White Arca Nova 2004 Vinho Verde $6.99  Charles 2002 Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Beau Les Vignes de Deffend $9.99  Haut Rian 2004 Bordeaux (I recently talked about how good this is, but Matt Kramer used it as an exemplar of great value white Bdx in last WS, so sure it will sell out soon) $8.49  Pépière 2004 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Sur (great, great, wine) $9.99 

Sparkling Astoria NV Prosecco del Veneto $7.99 

Rose Oupia 2004 Minervois Rosé $8.99 

If you would like to know more about Piedmont wine, I recommend you this site:

Bye guys :-) !!!!!!!

excellent. thanks for the boatload of help. In particular of steering me clear of the WotM clubs. These ideas are much better.

-goro-