Customer Service

Wine Club Membership

Individual and Business Wine Gifts

General Questions About The California Wine Club

Customer Service

How long does it take to ship the wine?

Depending on where the shipping address is located in the United States, new wine club, wine store and wine gift orders typically ship two business days after your order is received.   If you choose to expedite a shipment by using air delivery, these orders ship one business day after your order is received. Please note that in order to protect the wine, we may delay a shipment in response to extreme weather conditions.


Will I receive a tracking notification?

You will receive a tracking notification via email once the wine club delivery is en route with the local carrier in your area. Please remember an adult signature is required for delivery.


Why does someone over the age of 21 have to sign for the delivery?

It is required by law that someone over the age of 21 sign to receive the wine, since wine is a controlled alcoholic beverage. Returned packages will incur a $40 to $80 reship fee depending on shipment size. We recommend a business address for deliveries. Call The California Wine Club's Personal Wine Consultants at 1-800-777-4443 and ask about other alternatives for delivery.


What if no one is available to sign for the wine delivery?

The carriers will make at least two attempts to deliver a wine package.  If no one is home to sign for the package, the carrier will leave a note on the door with further instructions to receive the package.  Carriers impose fees for address changes, redirects and reships. Fees range from $18 to $80 depending on pack size.  We recommend using a business address for wine shipments and ask that you contact us anytime to hold or reschedule a delivery for you.


How do I cancel The California Wine Club?

Individuals can cancel their memberships with The California Wine Club at any time with no hidden fees or charges. Simply log in to your account to make the change. You may also call us, chat with us online or send us an email to info@cawineclub.com. To cancel via the website, just log on to the My Account page and click "Make Changes to My Existing Membership".


Wine Club Membership

How does the wine club work?

Each month The California Wine Club features different artisan wineries and hand-selects their best wines for our wine club members. These wines along with Uncorked®, our guide to the wines, are then shipped to wine club members all across the country. You may choose to join as a wine club member for yourself, or you may send a wine club gift membership to someone else.


When do you bill my credit card?

If you are subscribing to The California Wine Club for yourself, you'll be billed automatically right before we ship your wines to you.  If you choose to receive your wines every other month or quarterly, you will only be billed during the months you are scheduled to receive your wine club delivery. If you are sending a wine club gift, you'll be billed up front for the total number of gift shipments you wish to give.


How much is a wine club membership?

Our wine club subscriptions range in price and start at $43.45. Two bottle ground shipping costs in the Premier Series are $16, plus $5 handling and tax is extra where applicable.  You can just pay as you go or save by prepaying for a set number of shipments. There are no membership fees and you can cancel anytime.

 


Can I get only red wine, or white wine?

Absolutely, just let us know and we can send you red only, white only, 3 bottles or 4! We will customize your wine club membership to fit your needs.


What is a wine club level?

The California Wine Club offers a variety of wines, and price points, to fit nearly every taste and budget. The wines are then featured in one of our six wine club levels featuring handcrafted wines from California and even around the world.  Our Wine Club Guide provides an easy way to visually compare each club level.


What if I don't like the wine?

Although wine tastes vary from person to person, we stand behind our selections with our wine club's Love It Guarantee. If you get a bad, broken or disliked wine, we will immediately reship a replacement.


Can I reorder wine from a past wine club feature?

YES! The California Wine Club partners directly with each winery so our savings are passed to you. Wine club reorders are available while supplies last, and always at a discount off of the normal retail price. Reorder your favorites here.


Individual and Business Wine Gifts

How does your business gift program work?

We offer several branding options to make your business gift stand out. From custom cellar crates and gift cards, to bottle tags and web pages, we can create something memorable for you.  Whether you have one business gift to send, or 1,000, you will be assigned one of our business gift consultants to discuss your specific needs and take care of everything for you. 


Are there discounts available for volume wine gift purchases?

Yes! We have many Corporate wine gift  options and pricing to meet all your needs. Call us at 1-800-777-4443 and we'll work with you to create wine gifts tailored to your specific requirements.


What kind of businesses give client gifts?

There are many types of business that benefit from sending client gifts.  Realtors find that a gift of handcrafted wine makes a welcome Closing Gift, and is a unique way to thank someone for a referral.  Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers and hundreds of small independent businesses also rely on referrals to grow their own businesses. Plus, a gift of handcrafted wine is a tasteful way to reward employees.  For anyone looking to say "thank you", a gift of handcrafted wine is appreciated and remembered.


General Questions About The California Wine Club

How do most people hear about The California Wine Club?

Since 1990 we have been steadily growing our wine of the month club, mostly due to referrals by happy wine club members. Our secret is that nobody loses, everybody wins! Our wine of the month club members win by getting to experience great wine they can't find in their local area. Our wineries win because they get some wonderful exposure to thousands of wine enthusiasts!


How did The California Wine Club get started?

California is home to thousands of small family wineries handcrafting extraordinary wine in quantities too limited to be found in local stores or shops. In 1990, wine club founders Bruce and Pam Boring discovered that these winemaking families were the most passionate in the wine world and that their wines were the hidden gems of wine country. The wine club has since distinguished itself by taking great care in selecting only the finest wineries as partners and by featuring only the best wine from each.


Why work with small wineries?

Smaller production wineries are usually more about  "passion" and less about "profit". They are hands-on, dedicated farmers who spend their days doing what they love -- making great wine -- that's their single goal! Most of these wineries are too small to distribute on a large scale, so The California Wine Club brings these magnificent wines to you. You'll never have to miss out on some incredible wines just because you don't live near the winery!


How do small wineries benefit from being featured by The California Wine Club?

Seventy to eighty percent of California's wineries are "mom & pop" operations producing between 5,000 and 15,000 cases per year . These small wineries often have very little time and budget for marketing or distribution. That is where The California Wine Club comes in. We introduce their wine, name and story to thousands of wine lovers with one shipment.

"We are grateful for The California Wine Club's support of California's small family winemakers. By featuring these small wineries, sharing their stories and their wines with wine enthusiasts across America, The California Wine Club has extended the presence of Family Winemakers of California and its members far beyond the scope of our own outreach efforts." - Paul Kronenberg, President, Family Winemakers of California


Why join a wine club?

Selecting a great bottle of wine from thousands of pretty labels with a variety of price ranges in traditional wine stores is a difficult task even for the most passionate of wine enthusiasts.

With a wine shop or grocery store you never really know what you're going to get. By joining a wine club like The California Wine Club, you are ensured that the wine has been tasted and "vetted" for you. We are like friends recommending great wine to other friends! Every wine we feature comes from a real-working artisan winery. And with our Love It Guarantee you are assured "never to get burned." Most of the bottles found on wine store shelves come from one of three major corporate wine producers and when you get a bad bottle, you can't return it to the store.


What makes The California Wine Club different from other wine clubs?

We personally visit each winery, meet the families, the winemakers and then select two bottles of their best. You can be assured that every wine comes from a small, real-working winery. Unlike other clubs we do not make our own wine, bottle it with pretty labels and pass it off as someone else's.  Our credo? We only feature wines in our wine club that we would serve in our home to family and friends.


Are all the wines you feature organic?

We feature small, artisan wineries that use sustainable practices in their vineyards. While many follow organic practices in the vineyard, and some follow even more extensive biodynamic practices, not all have been certified organic, which is a long, complicated, and expensive process.

Curious about the different distinctions? See our blog post: Natural, Organic, and Biodynamic wine, explained.


Are all the wines you feature “natural” wines?

This may feel like a fad, but the truth is, artisan winemakers have been making natural wines for decades.

While there is no official designation, certification, or rules for natural wines, The Oxford Companion to Wine defines it as:

  • Grapes grown by small-scale, independent producers.
  • Grapes hand-picked from sustainable, organic, or biodynamic vineyards.
  • Wine fermented with native yeasts (no added yeast).
  • No additives included in fermentation (like sugar).
  • Little or no sulfites are added.
  • Natural winemaking methods also include organic farming, dry farming or using drip irrigation, hand-sorting fruit, minimal intervention, and bottling wines unfiltered and unfined.

The small, artisan wineries we feature use sustainable farming methods and low-intervention winemaking to craft natural wines and it’s been that way since we started The California Wine Club in 1990. So, if you’re curious about a “natural” wine, don’t buy the hype and instead buy from small, artisan producers.


Are all the wines you feature vegan?

Most wines are vegan. And although some wineries do go to the expense of having their wines certified as Vegan, most small wineries simply don’t bother. Although it is uncommon, egg whites or isinglass (from fish bladders) may be used as fining agents (which clarify wine). If wine is not labeled vegan by the winery, we can’t guarantee whether or not it may have been exposed to egg whites or isinglass during the fining process.


Can I only get wines with no added sugar?

Most small production wineries do not add sugar to their wines. An extremely small percentage of wineries in cool climate regions may be permitted to add sugar during fermentation. This regulated addition of sugar increases the final alcohol in a wine If the grapes did not achieve desired ripeness. This process is called chaptalization and it is not allowed in California.


Are all the wines you feature gluten free?

There is a possibility of wheat contamination during the fining process or when aging in oak barrels sealed with wheat paste. Wine can be labeled “gluten-free” if they have not been made with gluten-containing grains and having less than 20 parts per million (ppm) gluten. This includes the vast majority of wines.


Why are there stickers on the bottles of wine featured?

The club sticker ensures our wine club members, and those they share the wine with, know where the wine originated from.  We've grown by word-of-mouth because people like what they taste, and they tell their friends (or share a bottle!).

The most important reasons for the wine club and award stickers is for our winery partners. The wineries we feature are proud of the wines, their awards and they are proud to be part of our wine club.  We often get calls from wineries telling us how one of our customers, or someone who tried their wine, tracked them down for a visit in wine country because of the wine we sent.  When the customer tells the winery they received their wine through The California Wine Club, that makes the winery happy to know our partnership worked and it makes us thrilled to know that these small wineries are introducing their wines and wineries to consumers they would otherwise not know. 


Our Wine Club Levels

Premier
Series

Our original and most popular wine club level features handcrafted award-winning wines from small family wineries.
Shipments start at $43.45.

Signature
Series

For collectors and connoisseurs who wish to experience California's highest rated and most coveted wines.
Shipments start at $139.

International
Series

A fun wine club adventure featuring handcrafted wines from around the world.
Shipments start at $86.

Aged Cabernet
Series

The ultimate reward in fine viticulture featuring Napa Valley's most prestigious Cabernets aged 7 - 12 years.
Shipments start at $271.

Pacific Northwest
Series

Limited-production wines from the exciting regions of Oregon and Washington.
Shipments start at $86.