Reply With QuoteWe've been members for 10 years or so, never had a bad bottle, the events are well with the effort. Only down side is they shut their French warehouse so no longer have that excuse to go to France...
Any members on here? Is it worth joining? http://www.thewinesociety.com/
Seems there is a lot going on and the wine prices seem reasonable. Apparently a non profit organisation, unlike Laithwaites et al.
We've been members for 10 years or so, never had a bad bottle, the events are well with the effort. Only down side is they shut their French warehouse so no longer have that excuse to go to France...
Have been a member for a while now and I rate them, good customer service and the range is good and caters to lots of price brackets. I haven't had any issues and the events/tastings are well organised.
P.S. Quite like Naked Wines as well
P.P.S. I might drink too much wine
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The wife has been a member for over 30 years. Being a co-op you get the feeling that they are focussed on good wine and steering you to the right one rather than wringing a profit out of you. They also do a good range of foodie Christmas gifts and hampers a big help when you are stuck. Her share ranks with the GMT II as one of our better investments.
Last edited by raysablade; 14th May 2017 at 10:33.
They have a fantastic "damage/replace/refund" policy, and have great wines.
You can buy cheaper sometimes, but you won't get better service.
If you are in to "En Primeur" purchases - during great years and the attendant oversubscription - you can pick several choices, and get the option of taking all, or just some of allocations that come your way.
You can't do that with commercial enterprises.
Al
A friend is a member and he used to run wine clubs around London. He really rates them. I'm going to join, it only costs £40 and there is no obligation to buy. Busy as has been mentioned as a co-op it's all about the wine and the members.
Yes and yes! I live near the showroom which is an Aladdin's cave but even as a mail order proposition they're brilliant. Their 'own brand' stuff is great - and that's just the start.
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My wife and I were given "membership" as a wedding present 29 years ago, and we still use it today.
As has been mentioned, they have some great wines, and good tasting/ background notes. They also have a section of interesting and unusual fortified wines.
By no means the cheapest, but access to quality wines, to suit most budgets, and as has been mentioned, run as a co-operative.
Well worth the "share".
Good luck, and hope you enjoy the journey
I've been a member for probably just under 20 years. Don't use it so much nowadays as it doesn't make sense to send wine in the opposite direction (and we also increasingly buy direct from producers). I've had some lovely wines from them.
Thanks for the replies. Will give it a go on these recommendations!
I worked in wine retail for several years, and had friends who were (thoroughly contented) Wine Society members. I always had great respect for their list, and was always impressed by the wines of theirs that I got to drink. Their customer service was impressive too, from what I could gather.
Well this thread has just cost me a few quid!
I'm sure you won't regret it!
I may be wildly wrong, but there may be some sort of referral discount that could be applied for by the person/ shareholder who suggested it to you?
Originally Posted by Kirk280
Excellent- I've not bought membership yet as I was distracted by a 2 year old Daughter - referrals would be welcome! 🍷
I'll drop you a PM in the morning.
^^ Me too?
Cheers, like the sound of this
Goat
No problem, David.
Good man Alan mate
Been a member for 20+ years and love it. Their own Society's claret is excellent.
I didn't even know something like this existed, hook me up for a referral as I'll be joining ASAP.
I've been a member for 30 years. Great value - they are non-profit making so no rip-offs although that probably means no spurious BOGOF offers. Great customer service and fast delivery. I can recommend the en-primeur offers.
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I am. Great value and good selection
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I've just joined....
I'm about to join. Some good chap (or gal, although they are few and far between) couldn't send me a referral could they? (I don't know if it means you get anything out of it but I can only assume it does). Much obliged.
I'd be happy to, as a kind member here did the same to me.
I got no extra perks, neither did he!
I'll drop you a PM
If anyone can refer me I'd be very grateful
Ian
I see that you can join online. What difference does having a referral make, please?
I got a referral from a kind member on here. It made no difference!
Referrers get entered in a monthly draw.
I've just received a letter from the Chief Exec thanking me for proposing a new member; no mention of a draw.
My wife got one of those £60 off vouchers for Naked Wines; turns out you can only use it toward set cases. So we bought their premium box and last night I tried them. First bottle of Shiraz was ok. Second bottle was poor, life is too short for poor wine so I only had half a glass. Third bottle was foul - one sip and it went down the drain!
Back to the Wine Society for me!
I can see no reason to go anywhere else!
Christmas is coming - keep it for mulled wine. And then feed it to somebody else.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
+1. I have learnt my lesson!
I'm about to join, if anyone would benefit from referring me, let me know :)
I’m not sure there are any benefits, but happy to refer you if you like! I’ll pm you my details.
If it's not corked or damaged in any way it should be good for cooking as well.
I poured the crap wine down the drain in a fit of rage / mild disappointment.
Many moons ago it was more like a closed club than a co op. You needed to be referred by an existing member to get in. They then had a problem with massive amounts of octogenarian doctors all dying around the same time so made it much more lax.
You can still be referred but I'm not sure anybody benefits. It's a strange situation where they have well in excess of a hundred years history on one hand and try and keep the traditions alive, whilst on the other they try and appeal to a tech savvy younger audience who are just starting to move on from the Blossom Hill type, fruit forward crowd pleasers that most people start off on.
On the whole they do a very good job, although are better for their own brand and cheaper wines in the £6-£15 bracket, than they are for expensive Claret and the like. They've plenty of choice in the upper ranges but tend not to be the cheapest on the net.
They highlight certain areas every few months and it's worth paying attention to their recommendations, as they tend to be the wines that the buyers are passionate about rather than stock they're trying to big up to clear shelves, like other clubs and merchants tend to do.
Last edited by coldwarkid; 23rd September 2017 at 19:53.
Much appreciated mate. There's a monthly draw so you might get something out of it, hopefully :)
Visited their shop in Stevenage last week. Covers a large area with some 5000+ wines on the shelves. Many cases of sale wines available at present though not for mail order. Some four large warehouses lie behind the retail outlet giving an indication of the size of the operation. Staff both knowledgeable and very helpful. Worth a visit if your in the region.
Definitely. Used to enjoy looking through the huge catalogue and selecting a dozen bottles. Sadly cut down to the point where it wasn't worth ordering. They've even stopped contacting me! (I think membership is for life.)
Went to a couple of their wine tastings which were enjoyable and informative without going all Gilly Goilden/Oz Clarke.
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