When many people travel, a highlight is sampling wine from the region they are visiting. But when your budget (or vacation time) doesn’t allow you to travel, you can still get a taste of fine wine. Wine clubs allow you the opportunity to travel around the world without ever leaving your home.

What is a Wine Club?

Wine clubs operate on the same basic premise as many at-home clubs. After selecting a theme, the wine club carefully selects and ships you several bottles of wine each month. Some clubs focus on different regions; each month you are treated to wine from different local wine bottlers across the country. Others take you on a world tour, sending you wine from a different country each month. And still others focus of varieties of wines; one month you might be sent bottles of Chardonnay, while the next you are treated to Merlot. And, of course, there are select clubs which focus on sending you wines with the highest ratings.

Why Should I Join a Wine Club?

One of the biggest draws of wine clubs is that the wine is delivered right to your door. Even if you live in an area that boasts a wide selection of wines, not all wines are always available in your region. Wine clubs bring the bottles from the vineyards right to you. Wine clubs allow you to sample wines that you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to taste. Not many of us have the opportunity (or finances) to travel to small vineyards around the country and around the world. But many of the world’s best wines come from these small vineyards. Wine clubs make these wines accessible to everyone. Wine clubs are also an economical way to build your wine cellar or to simply sample a wide variety of wines. While costs vary from club to club, most plans deliver two or three bottles of wine per month for as little as $40.

A number of wine clubs are also educational. Along with your wine each month, you receive information about the type of wine, the region or vineyard it came from, and ideal food pairings for your wine. How else could you learn about the grapes grown on the top of a volcano and when you should serve a Chardonnay instead of a Pinot Noir? Subscriptions to wine clubs also make great gifts. Many clubs are marketed specifically as gifts, and offer incentives along with the wine, such as crackers, cheese, or fruit that comes from the same region.