The idea of random wines that you cannot find in Total Wine or even a local wine shop coming straight to your door seems very appealing to me. Of course, due to shipping laws, when I mean to your front door I mean to a business door so that someone will be there on normal business hours to sign for it. Here is how they describe themselves:
“Now choosing your wine is as easy as choosing a restaurant”
30 years ago Zagat Survey was born out of a wine tasting group — a weekly get-together with good friends. Wines sipped and rated, notes scribbled. Much lively debate. Talk often turned to recent dining experiences — the good, the bad and the ugly. What if we could rate restaurants in the same way as we were rating wines? To share things we liked, things we didn’t.
Today thousands of Zagat surveyors worldwide help guide each other to better restaurants. But for many choosing the right wine remains a daunting challenge. Zagat Wine is set to change that …
Confidence in whatever you choose
While we’ve been guiding you to better restaurants, wine merchant Tony Laithwaite has spent the last 40 years recommending the best wine buys. He has put small estates and new regions firmly on the wine map, and his customers ahead of the game.
As with the Zagat Guide, these recommendations are based on personal research. Tony and his team spend their lives in the vineyards and amongst the barrels. This direct approach allows you to share the adventure and benefits of an insider’s world. Like us, he understands that price is not a true guide to quality. Often a new discovery brings the greatest pleasure.
It’s a philosophy that has seen Tony’s company named Decanter Magazine’s Independent Wine Merchant of the Year — and saw Which? (the U.K.’s independent consumer watchdog) describe Laithwaites Wine as “just what customers are looking for in a wine merchant.”
The start of something special …
As a part of the Zagat Wine community, you can explore hundreds of special small-production wines from around the world. And as this community develops, you’ll be able to share your wine experiences, and access reviews and ratings from fellow customers.
The best way to enjoy these is through the Zagat Wine Club , with a special introductory offer that saves you $110 on your first case.
I have been doing the Zagat Wine club for two shipments and did one shipment of their Red’s that they had on sale. The very first shipment with the introductory offer of saving over $110 is a great deal. With shipping, your first shipment for me was around $94 and they even threw in 3 more bottles. So that is 15 bottles for $94, you can’t beat that.
On the second shipment it went up to $168 for a shipment of 12 bottles.
For the quality of wine, so far the quality and variety of the wines have been very good. I have reviewed a couple on here so far. I have hardly touched my second shipment but have pretty much finished the entire first shipment.
Usually the shipment is from different regions. For example in my last shipment, I received 2 bottles of Bordeaux from France, 2 bottles of the Cuvee I reviewed from California, 2 bottles of Merlot from Chile (reviewed), and 2 wines from Australia and so on. I think you get the point, this wine club hits almost every major wine region and gives you different types to try.
They also send you a binder and sheets that go with each wine for you to make notes on and to tell you more detail behind the wine, which I really like.
The website is not so easy to use and is pretty dull on the member site. In fact, I recommended some friends and family to join and if you register it you get credits for them signing up and none of the people I referred got invites. They also give you telemarketing calls to tell you about specials, but I just ignore them.
Overall, it is definitely worth trying. The wines are good, the price isn’t horrible for the case but I am currently trying out other wine clubs and seeing if they are better or not. Looking around at other clubs it looks like Zagat is behind on some technological upgrades.
~ Justin