Best International Wine Clubs

Nakedwines.com isn't a new wine club, but we've only recently formally reviewed them. And we're sorry we waited. We were absolutely impressed with the 6-bottle introductory shipment we received. Before we get into that, it's important to know that Nakedwines.com isn't exactly a regular wine club, it's more of a wine-buying membership where your membership fees go toward your wine purchases and any unspent funds are fully refundable.

There are so many reasons to love Nakedwines.com and we outline them all in our full review, but here is a sampling of our favorite features:

A huge variety of wine is available. No matter what your existing wine preferences are, or how much wine tasting your way through the world you want to do, you'll find you can create a fantastic International wine subscription with their inventory. All kinds of red wine, white wine, sparkling and champagne are available. Every wine is described so you know if it's on the sweeter side, the drier side, or somewhere in between. Wine prices vary widely from $8 (a deeply discounted member price) to $45 with a great selection under $15.

You pick your own wine with the benefit of other members' ratings. This isn't just a personalized pick-em-yourself wine club, they make recommendations based on how you've rated your previous wines, but those ratings are shared with their customers, and the public, so you can pick only the most popular ones if you want.

You have a relationship with the winemakers. Your monthly deposits ensure there are funds to pay independent winemakers for the gems they produce. The winemakers are grateful for this way of working, as it allows them to be creative and guarantees them an income. We know this because when you comment on one of their wines, good or bad, odds are good you'll get a helpful or grateful response from the winemaker directly. It makes you feel good about buying your wine from Nakedwines.com.

A great introductory deal. We love it when wine clubs offer an low-cost offer to try their wares and Nakedwines.com has two options for you: a six-bottle deal for $49.99 or a 12-bottle deal for $89.99. Note: You don't get to pick the wines in this deal, so you may not love everything the way you would if you picked your own wine.

The California Wine Club (one of our favorites) also has an International wine club... who knew? This wine club highlights a new wine region around the world each month and comes with all the benefits of being a member of the most customer-centric wine club around.

Benefits of membership include: Each shipment includes a travelogue, Uncorked®, which is your guide to the featured region, plus insight to the region's wine scene, wine tips, wine luminary interviews and more; a 100% satisfaction guarantee; Savings up to 50% when you reorder your favorite wines; and a personal wine consultant you can call at any time for help with wines you've received or wines you'd like to buy.

Overview: This is the entry-level wine club from the International Wine of the Month Club, but unlike some other wine clubs in this price range you'll always receive Estate-bottled wines. Also for a wine club in this price range you get excellent tasting notes and winery information for every wine that's shipped.

What We Love: Unlike some other wine clubs which focus on acquiring closeout wines to ship to their members, this wine club cares a great deal about coming up with consistent selections befitting their reputation of 25 years in the business. Their tasting panel includes proprietor Kris Calef, wine professionals, and everyday wine drinkers, so they excel at finding palate-friendly wines with wide appeal.

Wine Club Gift Info: Wine club gifting is an area that this company excels at. They give you the most options of any two-bottle wine club, from when you pay for each shipment, to all of the standard customizations, gift notice options, etc. The first shipment of all gifts includes organza-wrapped bottles for an extra touch.

Gold Medal Wine Club also makes an appearance on many of our best wine club lists. They consistently deliver excellent quality (usually California) wine and they have excellent gift packaging which makes you look good when you give wine.

Their International wine club takes it a step further. Each quarterly shipment contains three bottles of wine from a single wine region somewhere in the world. We've received delightful shipments from Portugal, France, and Italy over the years. The full-color brochure that accompanies each shipment fills you in on the region, the winery, and the wines you'll be drinking, and it includes recipe pairing ideas.

The best feature of this wine club? You can upgrade it to include a Gourmet Adventure package which includes sweet and savory foodstuffs from the featured region. We've received teas, spices, cookies, honey, and so much more.

Overview: Among all of the case clubs (12 bottles, typically shipped quarterly), this 90+ International wine club is among the best two deals. The other focuses only on California wine, but this one takes you on a journey around the world. Enjoy eclectic wines at the best prices you'll find.

What We Love: It's so easy to get into a wine rut and stick with what you know. Wired For Wine ® helps you break out of that rut in a low-cost, satisfaction guaranteed way so you can find new wines to love. Also, when compared with similarly-priced case clubs, this one stands out for wine quality in a big way.

Overview: A rare French wine club featuring affordable selections from a variety of wine regions within France. They tend to work with smaller producers offering either exceptional value or something unusual.

What We Love: Everything you want in a wine club, especially if you love French wine. Their wine program is created by a multi-generational wine family from Bordeaux with great connections and taste in wine. Unlike some other specialty wine clubs, this one is priced perfectly.

Overview: One-of-a-kind wine tasting club which delivers wine by the glass instead of in full size bottles so you can taste your way through sommelier-selected grown up juice. Reorder full bottles or more glasses of what you love. Now delivered quarterly.

What We Love: We especially love that sommelier Tyler Kennedy picks the wine — and it shows. We’ve been super impressed with the quality of each wine we’ve received. The unusual selection genuinely seems like a somm picked the wines. We also love the pricing which rewards bigger customers.

Wine Club Gift Info: This is, by far, our favorite wine club gift for adventurous drinkers, light drinkers, and even wine professionals. In addition to a top-notch sommelier-curated wine selection, the packaging is novel and fun, and really well-constructed. Save big with longer subscriptions and when you double the order for two people to enjoy.

Overview: An affordably-priced personalized wine club that learns what you like as you receive, drink, and rate six bottle shipments. International, domestic, and award-winning wine from a thoroughly modern wine subscription box service.

What We Love: Compared with other wine subscriptions in this price category, we think Firstleaf has nailed ease-of-use, presentation, and offers reasonably-interesting wines. We also really like that they identify the body, acidity, sweetness, fruitiness, and tannin level for each wine they sell. You can review the wine before it is shipped and swap out wines that have characteristics you don't like.

Wine Club Gift Info: Since Firstleaf is a personalized wine subscription, gifts are given as electronic gift cards. This gives the recipient the chance to customize the wine selection, as they're meant to do. Gift cards are issued in denominations of $25-200. We recommend at least $100 to make sure he or she doesn't have to pay for any part of the first box.

Overview: Each shipment of this wine club includes a selection of wine from a single wine region. Sometimes that region is defined narrowly, like Southern France, and sometimes it’s more broad, like South America.

What We Love: This is a fun way to discover wine regions around the world in an affordable way. Vinesse’s wine tasting notes all include cellaring information, which we find lacking in most other subscriptions’ educational materials.

Overview: A surprisingly high-quality affordable wine club offering a comprehensive range of wine regions, grape varieties, and wine styles. 90+ Cellars is a modern-day négociant, sourcing wine at all different stages of production to produce wine at very low prices.

What We Love: We've been fans of the Ninety Plus brand since we started working in the wine business. We especially love the affordable pricing, which allows wine shoppers on a budget to explore premium wine regions and the grapes they're known for.