Review | Bright Cellars Wine Subscription Box

Look, I’m going to level with you. I LOVE wine. I’ve known about Bright Cellars for months and months and hadn’t allowed myself to subscribe, but when I got an offer for 50% off my first shipment, I just couldn’t resist! 

Bright Cellars is a wine club, but it’s not your run-of-the-mill wine club. It’s specially curated just for you and your palette! When you sign up, you complete a 7-question taste evaluation – an algorithm that breaks down your taste preferences. You can also select whether you’d prefer whites, reds, or a combination of the two. Then, they select 4 wines that they think you’ll love! Here’s a peek at a few of the quiz questions:

Click to try it for yourself!

I felt like my wine matches were spot on! Once you’ve completed the quiz and placed your order, you’re assigned a wine concierge. This will be the person who assures that you have a great experience, they’re your go-to person for any questions or comments, and they’re willing to just chat with you about wine! My concierge (Maria) is very friendly and I quickly received an email from her introducing herself, which was a very nice touch.

Shipping is FAST. I placed my order on Tuesday night around 7 PM and woke up this morning (Saturday) to a big ol’ box of wine in my kitchen. It was packaged so that the bottles were very secure and I love that they individually wrap each bottle and hold the tissue together with adorable wine quote stickers!

My favorite sticker reads, “Spilling wine is the adult version of letting go of your balloon.”

Once you’ve received your shipment and tried the wines, you’re able to sign into the Bright Cellars website and rate each bottle. The idea is that as time goes on, they’ll learn more about your taste preferences and be able to send the perfect wine your way. Pretty cool, huh?

My October shipment!

I think that what Bright Cellars is doing is pretty genius and I’m excited to try my new vino! Here’s a breakdown of my experience with them thus far…

Pros

1. It’s a curated experience just for you and your tastebuds!
2. Their website is easy to use and navigate.
3. From what I’ve seen so far, they have a very friendly, helpful staff.
4. Wine is packaged with care and shipped fast.
5. You’re able to rate wine for better future matches.
6. “Delight Guarantee” – If you’re sent a bottle that you don’t love, your wine concierge will help you select a free replacement bottle for the next month.
7. Their branding is cute!
8. You can skip a month or cancel at any time. (I LOVE when skipping a month is an option.)
9. They have a rewards system in place that allows you to earn extra bottles for referring friends!

Cons

1. While on the one hand, I appreciate the effort to save trees (if that’s why), I have to say, I didn’t love that there was nothing in the box besides wine. In my previous experience with wine clubs, I’ve always gotten tasting notes with the shipment, which I really loved. It’s fun to look over the notes and read about the wine while you’re tasting. To be fair, Bright Cellars does offer this information on their website, but I’d personally prefer a notecard.

I feel that the price is more of a neutral for my budget than a pro or con. Each monthly shipment of 4 bottles is $60 + $8 shipping. $68/4= $17/bottle, which is about how much I typically spend on a bottle at the store, give or take a few bucks. While I’d love to see the price come down a bit, I do feel that it’s reasonable for the experience you’re getting, especially considering they have a “delight guarantee” and an opportunity to earn extra bottles.

As I mentioned before, I received this shipment for 50% off – totaling $38 with shipping, which works out to $9.50/bottle. Now that’s a price I can get down with!

And guess what? I have good news for you – you can get your first shipment for 50% off too by using this link! Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Cheers!

xx, JoAnna

P.S. They’re a fairly new company, so show them some social media love and follow them on Facebook and Twitter!