Laithwaites Wine Club Review (From a Paying Customer)

I joined the Laithwaites Wine Club and paid out of my own pocket to become a member and give you this Laithwaites Wine Club Review.

Below I’m going to share with you some General Info, the Pros and Cons, and my personal experience with the Laithwaites Wine Club.  Including pictures of everything I received.  (see below)

Founded by Tony Laithwaite and established in 1969, Laithwaites Wine has been around for a long time in the wine industry.  They pride themselves in going out and looking for smaller, individually produced wines.

They feel that the most satisfying wines are not mass produced.

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As a Laithwaites Wine Club affiliate, I wanted to give you this honest review of what I think is a good club and a good deal.  Although most of my review is positive there are few suggestions on what could be improved.

In the interest of keeping the “honest” in Honest Wine Reviews, if you click through and make a purchase, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you, which helps me to pay for the costs of running this site.  I only recommend wine clubs that I believe provide good value to my readers.  I purchased this club myself and am pleased to share this review, including both the Pros and the Cons.

All in all, definitely worth the money!

Laithwaites Wine Club Review – General Info

• Delivery is available to over 40 states.  (See Shipping and Delivery Under Customer Support)

• Laithwaites Wine Club is a Better Business Bureau accredited business.

• The introductory case is highly discounted (currently $69.99).

• You can choose All Reds, All Whites, or a Mixed Case.

• Laithwaites Wine has been a Wine Merchant of the Year Award Winner at the International Wine Challenge.

Laithwaites Wine Club Review – Cons

• Delivery Limitation– The Laithwaites Wine Club is an “every 3-month” wine club.  This means there’s no option for a monthly or quarterly cases.

• Shipping – It would have been great if Laithwaites included the $19.99 shipping in the price of the first delivery.

• Accepting Delivery – Because it’s alcohol, you have to be home to accept delivery.  Fed-Ex won’t leave it at your front door (maybe that’s a pro?).  You can also arrange to pick it up at Fed-Ex.  And, you must be 21 or older to sign for delivery.  Fed-Ex may also ask you to confirm you’re not under the influence of alcohol at the time of delivery.

Laithwaites Wine Club Review – Pros

There’s definitely a lot of Pros with this club.  What follows are what I think are the best reasons to join the Laithwaites Wine Club.

• Exclusivity – Because the Laithwaites Wine Club seeks out small winemakers, you probably won’t find these unique wines at your local store.  Whether you’re a wine lover or just getting started, you’ll enjoy sharing your hard to find wines with friends and family.  It’s like having a personal wine concierge picking out wines for you to try.

• Convenience – Your case is delivered right to your door.  And, I’ve personally experienced the club holding up on a delivery for a short time (on purpose due to weather) so the wine wouldn’t freeze before it got to me.  Also, if you decide the club isn’t right for you, you can cancel at any time.  No pressure!

• Extras and Information – You get detailed expert tasting notes with your wines that include information about where the wine came from.  They really help you learn a lot about wine, too.

• Cost – The price point of the first delivery is awesome!  It works out to about $5.00 a bottle.  That’s because as of 2024, they’re throwing in two extra bottles (Super Tuscans) for a total of 14 in your first case.  After the first delivery you get guaranteed savings with each 12-bottle case for only $164.99.  (Which is still only $13.75 a bottle, a really good price for Artisan Wines in my opinion.)

• Bonus Gifts – Updated for 2024, you also get some nice welcome gifts (worth $64.97)

• Customer Service – Their customer service is tops.  I’ve never had an issue with them.  I know of someone who only likes dessert wines, which they don’t include.  When that person asked them about dessert wines, they were told the truth and not pressured into joining the club.  And as I mentioned above, they appear to watch the weather and try not to deliver your wine in harsh conditions.

• And finally, Laithwaites Wine Club offers a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Laithwaites Wine Club Review – My Personal Experience

When you go to the order page, you’ll see that there’s just one page to enter all your info and choose the type of wines you want.  You can choose between All Reds, All Whites, or Mixed.

Also, you have the option to create an online account, which I did.  I would suggest doing this because you get emails about your order status.

Plus, when you create an online account you can:

• Manage your club membership online.
• Sort, search and view your wines for easier reordering purposes.
• Securely store your delivery and payment info.

As you are entering your information don’t be surprised if you get a message with the name and location of the retailer that will be building your case to ship to you.

I like that they did that because if there had been any issues (there wasn’t), I had the retailer’s name and location.  Just don’t be alarmed if the message pops up a bit unexpectedly.

Here’s what it looked like for me (I blurred out my personal information):

Click Above Image for Larger Picture

After you’ve entered all your information you click on the Place Order button at the bottom to place your order and join the club.  Very Simple.

Once that’s done, you are taken to the order Thank You page (picture below) where you can Print your Order Summary and see all the information about your order.

You’ll also get an email confirmation immediately after you place your order with the Order Number and the Estimated Ship Date.

Here’s a picture of the Thank You page:

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And here’s a picture of the Print Order Summary page:

Click Above Image for Larger Picture

Another thing I liked is when they start to process your order, you can see which wines are going into your case.  You just have to go into your account, if you created one when you signed up.

After a few days I got an email that my wine had been shipped.  Around the same time I got an automated call from FedEx, letting me know my wine would be arriving the next day.  I was really impressed how fast my wine came.  I ordered it on a Friday night and it came the next Friday afternoon.  Often times, wine clubs take 10-14 days so this was definitely a fast turnaround.

My wine arrived on the day promised with no damage.

Inside the box, everything was in great shape.  The box contained the wine and a 16 page brochure with everything you need to know about the club including customer service, what to expect, tips, information about the top 10 grapes and more.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, so below you’ll find pictures of the box I received and everything inside.

Click on any picture below for a Larger Image:

Conclusion

No surprises, quick delivery, good quality and a great deal.  The tasting notes are a great bonus!  I like knowing more about what I’m drinking.

I’ve since tasted all of the wines and liked each one a lot.

Overall, I think this is a great club and I’m definitely pleased with it.  You get to try unique wines at a great price.

Update:  I’ve had several deliveries and so far have enjoyed all the wines I’ve been sent.  A few standouts have been The Black Crown Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington, Domaine du Mistral Cotes-du-Rhone from France and The Full Fifteen Australian Red Wine.

I was also sent a hard cover binder for all the tasting notes.  Plus, they sent an instruction sheet on The Art of Decanting.  The instruction sheet covered the difference between decanting young reds vs. mature reds.  Great Club!

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