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These days, subscription services are everywhere.
You can get everything from toothbrushes to toilet paper to groceries delivered to your door on a monthly basis. In fact, we’re starting to think that there’s no reason to go to a store again…But there are a few exceptions. Some of our daily shopping choices still benefit from personalized recommendations by in-store professionals. That’s actually why we love Winc — have you heard of it?
Winc is a wine subscription service that offers the best of both worlds when it comes to shopping for wine. With their easy-to-use website, you can get personalized recommendations without the hassle of hitting the wine shop.
Winc sends you a shipment of wine every month carefully curated to suit your tastes and preferences. All you have to do is take one quick quiz, and Winc handles the rest. Plus, your recommended wines get better over time, as Winc gets to know you more and more.
In other words, it’s a total game-changer for subscription wines — and we’re totally obsessed.
What’s the Deal With Winc?
Winc was founded in 2012 with a simple mission. The subscription service wanted to reinvent winemaking to skip the middlemen and go straight to the wine drinkers — regular people like Us!
For homes looking to keep their cabinets stocked with simple, delicious wines, Winc is the solution you’ve been craving. Here’s how it works:
- New users simply fill out a quiz based on their tastes. It only takes ten minutes! Don’t worry if you’re a beginner when it comes to wine — Winc adjusts to your preferences once you start reviewing bottles.
- Next, you wait for four bottles of wine to arrive at your door. For a fixed price every month, you get four high-quality, unique bottles specially suited to your tastes.
- Finally, we’ve reached the most fun step of them all — you drink your wine. As you try out each bottle, you’ll leave reviews, commenting on which you liked best. Winc’s algorithm then learns from these reviews and makes even better recommendations for future months.
It’s that simple.
What we love about Winc is that it takes the guesswork out of wine shopping. Most of Us are not expert sommeliers. We just want a good-quality wine to pair with dinner — no fuss. Winc fulfills that wish, and then some.
Explore all of Winc’s wine offerings on their easy-to-use website.
What Sets Winc Apart From the Rest?
Winc certainly isn’t the only wine subscription service, but there’s a reason that Business Insider called it “the best wine club overall” with “fantastic wine selection, reasonable prices and fast delivery.”
We don’t know about you, but we never buy something online without reading the reviews first. That’s where all the juice is!
Luckily, in Winc’s case, the user reviews agree with Business Insider. Winc is the highest-rated wine subscription service out there. Here’s what sets it apart:
Their Phenomenal Wines
Of course, a subscription service is only as good as the product it delivers, and Winc soars in that department.
Winc makes all their wines in-house with a focus on high-quality, crowd-pleasing flavor profiles. Winc makes wine for the people — not for critics — and we think their wine is a refreshing take on an antiquated industry.
Whether you’re looking for whites, reds or rosés, we promise there’s a Winc wine out there for you.
Take Winc’s quiz to discover your palate profile today!
Their Customer Service
You might be wondering what happens when you don’t like a bottle of wine from Winc. Winc puts so much faith in its algorithm that they’re happy to replace any bottle! Their customer service team works diligently to correct any errors, so you never have to wait long to hear back from them.
What’s more — Winc’s customer service team consists of real people, not robots. That means you get a personalized and smooth experience, no matter what you need.
Their Fast Shipping
Another reason to love Winc more than those other wine subscription services is their shipping speeds. The second you finish that first quiz, Winc gets to work on your order. In no time at all, these bottles travel from your computer right to your doorstep.
If there’s another service that works as efficiently as Winc, we haven’t seen it!
Are the Wines From Winc Actually Good?
Like we said before, we wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about Winc if the wines weren’t so incredibly tasty. Winc has an unparalleled selection of housemade wines sure to satisfy every wine drinker in your home.
How does Winc produce such a wide assortment of quality bottles? Well, first and foremost, they do things differently.
They’re Innovative
Winc’s winemaking process is the new industry standard. It’s a modern approach to an ancient tradition.
Winc is always searching for new flavors and new production practices to suit our always-evolving lives. Winc’s team of experts source grapes from Australia, Argentina, the California Coast, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and Spain and are always experimenting to discover new profiles.
That strategy has paid off in spades! Some of Winc’s most popular wines have become beloved brands in their own right, including Summer Water, Folly of the Beast and Lost Poet. You might have even seen some of those bottles in a few celebrity Instagram posts!
They’re In-House Brands
Since 2012, Winc has produced 736 wines. *We’ll pause here for dramatic effect.*
Rather than sourcing bottles from other winemakers and marking them up, Winc makes everything in-house. Their wine is sourced and created by Winc winemakers across the world to bring in quality flavors from every corner of the planet.
This new, direct take on winemaking works better for the average consumer. You get fresher wine for a fraction of the cost, and you never have to compromise on taste!
That’s what a team of expert sommeliers working behind the scenes can do. Winc’s directors of winemaking, Ryan Zotovich and Robert Daugherty, see to it that every bottle available on the site is of the utmost quality.
They Make Data-Driven Decisions
What’s great about Winc is that there’s an open communication system between the winemakers and the people drinking the wine.
In the old days, if you didn’t love a bottle of wine or wanted to give feedback on it, you were met with a closed door. Thankfully, the internet has made it possible for regular wine drinkers to share their opinions on their bottles, and Winc’s site makes that process even easier.
Winc’s winemakers pay close attention to reviews at large and make changes based on user feedback. Their goal is to create wines that people love, and the data that comes through reviews is what enables them to do just that.
So far, Winc has collected over 5 million reviews, ensuring that their wines keep getting better and better.
There Are Plenty of Options
What may suit one wine drinker may not suit another. There’s a wide variety of flavors, colors and regions when it comes to wine. Winc goes out of its way to produce bottles that suit every taste.
If you’re new to the world of wine, you might only know if you prefer white or red. That’s totally fine! Winc’s site is simple and delineates wines that fall under each color so you always know what you’re getting.
If you’re more experienced with wine and know you prefer dry wines to sweet ones, Winc includes all the palette details with each of their bottles so you can pick one that best suits your preferences.
Each bottle listed on Winc’s website includes an easy-to-understand scale of flavor and tasting notes. You can explore reviews and learn more about the type of grapes that produced the wine. You can even find out what temperature to keep the wine at and the best food pairings.
In short, there are tons of options for wine drinkers of all kinds. If you’re a beginner, Winc makes it easy to learn more about the wine and the grape. If you’re an expert, you can nerd out on all the details that make a wine great. There’s something for everyone!
How is Winc’s Customer Service?
The quality of the product is important, but in our opinion, it’s not enough to make for a truly novel brand. Most consumers expect companies to be readily available to help with order issues, questions, and comments, and we’re thrilled to say that Winc totally passes that test.
They’re Speedy and Responsive
Winc was made for the internet. A true digital native, the brand is readily available to help customers quickly and efficiently.
If you chat with them during business hours, you’ll get someone on the line within a minute. If you contact them via email or text, you’ll get a reply within a day.
It can be so frustrating when you feel like you’ve wasted your money on a brand that doesn’t have time to help you with an order. Winc is not that brand.
They’re Transparent
Like we said before, Winc’s customer service team is made up of real people. In our experience, they’re always willing to go above and beyond to get an answer to your question.
If you have a question about a specific bottle and how it was produced, Winc’s team will go deep, sourcing detailed information on the appellation and terroir of their wines to help you make an informed decision.
They’ll even work with their top experts to get you personalized info. Tarini Shrikhande, Winc’s Director of Brand said that their team has a direct line with their winemakers:
“If you’re extra curious about a particular wine or have uncommon dietary restrictions, reach out to a member of our customer service team, and they’ll source an answer directly from (our winemakers) Ryan and Robert.”
How’s that for customer service?
Pausing and Canceling Is Easy
There’s nothing worse than a subscription service that doesn’t take no for an answer. Have you ever had that experience? Where you try to cancel or pause a service and still find yourself getting billed and dealing with deliveries?
Winc’s been there, too.
That’s why they make it easy to cancel or pause deliveries. Whether you’re moving, doing a dry month, or just looking to take a break, Winc has a no strings attached policy.
There Are Tons of Ways To Get in Touch
Winc’s customer service options are like a choose your own adventure book.
On days when you don’t want to talk to anyone on the phone (or in real life, for that matter), you can email, text, or chat with their customer service team.
On days when you’d like to hear someone’s voice, you can call Winc.
We honestly can’t think of many other digital subscription services that make it so easy to get the help you need.
You’ll Receive a Personalized Response
People’s taste buds are like snowflakes — totally unique. That’s why Winc has real people on their customer service team.
They may have an algorithm working some magic behind the scenes, but Winc understands that a human touch goes a long way. On those personalized replies, Shrikhande said:
“All responses are sent from a real person. You might find we begin with standardized responses as we understand your issue, but our agents always personalize their replies to address the specific outreach.”
We don’t know about you, but that’s a refreshing take on customer service to us.
Is Winc Sustainable?
Like many people, we’re asking more from our brands these days regarding sustainability. Subscription services especially are under new scrutiny, given how much packaging tends to arrive with the delivery.
Winc considers sustainability holistically, from how they produce their wines to the way bottles arrive on your doorstep.
Let’s start with the vineyard. By the end of 2021, Winc produced 125k cases of sustainably farmed wines. What does that mean exactly? Winc produces its wine with minimal intervention, meaning 90% of the work happens on the vineyard and in the soil, without the need for lots of sugars and sulfites.
Director of Winemaking Ryan Zotovich believes timing is everything:
“If you’re picking the right thing from the right place at the right time, you don’t need all that other stuff.”
Less really is more, and whenever possible, Winc organically farms its grapes.
Now that’s just how the wine is produced. What comes after?
Winc has moved to make impressive strides on their carbon footprint. The brand has reduced its carbon footprint by almost 50% by using flexitanks and bulk shipping from overseas. The packaging that arrives carrying your wine is made from 70% post-consumer recycled materials and is 100% recyclable.
What’s more, the brand is committed to a greener future and has contributed $66,000 in environmental giving through their partnership with 1% for the Planet, an organization that skims companies’ earnings to donate to environmental causes.
We love a wine that makes us feel as good as it tastes.
Is Winc’s Membership Worth It?
By now, we hope you understand why we put our full stamp of approval behind Winc. Their unique business model and philosophy on winemaking make for a truly exemplary experience for any wine drinker.
We think it’s the best price on the market for wine of this quality.
Starting at $29.95 a month, a Winc membership is affordable and provides customers with the option to choose their wine. It doesn’t take a math genius to divide that price by four and see the incredible savings you’ll enjoy by doing your wine shopping with Winc.
Paired with the convenience of a delivery subscription service, we’re sure that once you go Winc, you’ll never go back.
Start your Winc subscription today and start receiving four bottles a month.
What if I Just Want to Shop à la Carte?
In your journey with Winc, you may discover that you absolutely love one brand of wine and want to purchase it directly. Can you?
Not yet. The brand is working towards providing a la carte shopping sometime in 2022, but you can only purchase via a subscription for now. However, some of their fan favorites like Summer Water, Lost Poet, and Folly of the Beast are available in stores if you want to pick up a bottle IRL.
Conclusion: Is a Winc Wine Subscription Worth It?
Winc is the wine club we recommend to all of our friends.
With unparalleled customer service, quality wines made in-house, and speedy and convenient shipping, Winc is the wine subscription service you’ve been seeking.
A quick recap of all the topics we touched on today:
- Winc sits at the intersection of tech and taste, using a sophisticated algorithm to make personalized recommendations based on your palette. It gets smarter over time and is designed to work for beginners and experts.
- Winc’s customer service team works diligently to deal with any issues efficiently. If you don’t like a bottle, they’ll send you a new one. If you want to take a break, they’ll pause your account — no strings attached. There are real humans behind Winc’s customer service team, so you can get the 1:1 help you may need.
- For the price point, you cannot beat Winc’s quality. By making their brands in-house and paying close attention to user reviews, Winc’s expert winemakers prioritize sustainably-farmed and delicious wines.
- There’s a wine for everyone on Winc’s website. Red, white, rose, sparkling. Dry, sweet. Full, medium-bodied. If you can think of it, Winc has found the grape. Their wines come from all over the world to arrive on your doorstep.
- Winc is committed to being a part of the change regarding sustainable farming and ethical packaging. All of their materials are recyclable, and the brand is committed to producing more low-sulfur and organic products.
- Winc is working on creating an a la carte option to give wine lovers even more options for purchasing their bottles.
All in all, we wholeheartedly believe in Winc’s mission to reinvent the wine industry. With innovation at the heart of everything they do, Winc is a great investment for keeping your wine fridge stocked.
Take the test to discover your personal flavor palette, and let Winc’s algorithm do the rest. Then relax, wait, and enjoy the magic of four bottles showing up at your door, especially chosen for you.
You deserve it.
