Join a Wine Club like 4 Seasons Wine from an email "special offer"? I don't think so....

A friend writes that he received a "special offer" by email to get a case of unspecified wine for $69.95. He wanted to know if this sounded good. (As it happens, he lives in Oklahoma, which still forbids import of wines such as from wine clubs or wineries.)

My response, which may be useful/interesting to you/friends.


4 Seasons Wine is a wine club - you join and they send you wines every month or quarter for a set fee -- they decide the wines.

Me, I wouldn't join a random wine club over the transom like this. There are too many wine clubs with solid reps, like the California Connoisseur's Club, and the Wall Street Journal Wine Club, and the SF Chronicle Wine Club. 

Equally good are wine clubs of wineries you visit and like their wines.

Bummer about Oklahoma's liquor laws. The Supremes invalidated these laws a couple of years ago, but states like OK have been dragging their feet and coming up with excuses, in response to those holding the legislature's leash, namely the liquor distribution companies. This is corruption as basic and ugly as any.

PS People you know in other states can mail you (or ship you by UPS or FedEx) booze from their states; the laws refer to commercial entities -- wineries -- shipping wine into their state. UPS and FedEx generally don't even ask what's in the package (and if they do, say "Olive Oil"), nor do they care as long as it doesn't blow up.