Wine clubs Take your pick from a raft of options

BRITAIN is becoming a nation of smart drinkers. We’re consuming slightly less alcohol but the quality of what we’re drinking is going up. We’re choosing to drink at home more than we used to as well, which is why it may be worth considering a scheme that delivers a box of booze straight to your door.

There are some brilliant reasons to nip down to the local supermarket to pick up a bottle – the main one being price. There’s no denying the likes of Asda, Marks & Spencer and Aldi are producing delicious drops at great rates.

But for those looking for something a bit different – perhaps wine is a passion of yours or you want to ensure there’s always a good bottle ready and waiting – there are a variety of clubs out there.

Honest Grapes’ Premier Crew wine club (honestgrapes.co.uk) is free to join, and once you have, you’ll receive a rather lovely Taste Lab Kit (think test tubes of fine wine and a notebook of questions). From here, you input your info online for a taste profile to help you select wines. And there’s no commitment to spend every month – just keep your “wine bank” regularly topped up and spend it whenever you choose.

Wine merchants Tanners (tannerswines.co.uk) offer flexible deliveries, so you can sign up to a case of 12 (six different bottles) from £90, and choose whether you’d like a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly delivery. Laithwaites (laithwaites.co.uk) offers a similar service, with wines delivered from familyrun wineries. Introductory cases cost £47.88, with further deliveries costing from £74.99 (12 bottles) or £47.49 (six bottles).

Over at Le Petit Ballon, Jean-Michel Deluc – former sommelier at The Ritz – selects his favourite two wines each month, which you can glug or gift, from £24.90. Or, for a one-off fee to The Daily Drinker (thedailydrinker.co.uk) – also available through Not On the High Street (notonthehighstreet.com) – you can pay upwards from £180 and gift two or more deliveries of six wines.

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