Vinebox.
By the glass, monthly wine club. Great, unique wines that probably haven't hit Safeway shelves. In pretty vials with educational cards. They had my attention.
While I didn't buy it for myself (already guilty about my bi-yearly wine club shipment...), it got me thinking about the model for selling wine by the glass. When I consider my own wine habits, it makes a lot of sense:
- I like the "discovery" in trying a new wine / from a new place / etc.
- I want to drink a glass with dinner sometimes...but no more
- I hate feeling like I wasted good wine when it spoils
Additionally, buying a bottle can feel like an investment - wine by the glass feels like a treat.
I've seen other versions of wine-by-the-glass in grocery stores (Underwood cans comes to mind) but the format doesn't seem to have proliferated outside of a few select brand / wine clubs. But I wonder, as consumers shift towards more sustainable products (and packaging for that matter), as smaller wineries fight to get in front of consumers, as the food / beverage industry feeds a growing consumer preference for innovation, if we will see more wineries signing up for wine-by-the-glass clubs, or experimenting with packaging.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could open a wine "flight" with dinner, instead of a bottle? As long as retailers can keep the formatting affordable, I would bet on seeing more from this space in the next few years!
Reading your post about the wine by the glass reminded me of stack wine:
ReplyDeletehttp://drinkstack.com/
It is focusing on a different issue than Vinebox. Vinebox seems to be about trying new wines and learning, while stack wine is about being able to easily take and consume wine on the go. It be awesome to see a combination of the two. Stack wine comes in a pack of stack-able, shatterproof, wine glasses. The wine seems pretty plain and run of the mill though. If it was combined with nicer wine, I'd love to bring many different varieties of wine in stack-able cups on train rides to San Francisco as I eat my Chipotle burrito (I'm classy like that).
I actually signed up for Vinebox in February because of a good promotion, but today I received an apologetic email telling me that my first shipment is delayed by two weeks.
ReplyDelete"We are experiencing increased shipping delays due to our growth over the holidays. We were humbled by the response from our existing members, new members, and gift givers in the recent months. Good problems, but we understand not ideal when your shipment is delayed. "
They also offered me 20 dollar credit for the next shipment, but as a first-time customer, my experience hasn't been very smooth so far. I am disappointed because now I won't receive my first box until this class ends. But if you are interested, I will let you know how it goes when I receive my first box.