Although I've been aware of wine clubs for a long time, until recently I'd never been part of one. Several wine shops I've frequented through the years offered wine club subscriptions, and there are many online clubs as well. The clubs often have different price points, different lengths of subscriptions, and they can make a fun gift for someone who is really into wine.

I recently received a sample one-month Gold level subscription to the Gold Medal Wine Club, which focusses on limited-production wines from California. There are four different club tiers: Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and International. All the wines they send as part of their subscription packages are rated 85 points or higher or have won top medals at various competitions. In my sample shipment I received a bottle of Bradford Mountain Grist Vineyard Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel 2004 (which retails for around $35) and a bottle of Belvedere Russian River Valley chardonnay sonoma County 2005 (which retails for around $20), both of which I will be writing about this week. The cost of a Gold-level membership is between $39-$43 per shipment. From the shipment I received, I found it to be a good value. Good wines, a gift card, an informative newsletter, and the ability to reorder these wines in half or full cases.

The fine folks at Domaine547 also offer a wine club. A three-month subscription will run you $220 and contain at least two bottles of wine that correspond to a theme such as "Cabernet Sauvignon" or a specific country or region. A pay-as-you go option is also available. Previous shipments have included wines such as 2005 Orin Swift "The Prisoner" 2005 Vinum Cellars "PETS" Petite Sirah, 2004 Seventy Five Wine Company "Amber Knolls Vineyard" Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Camus-Bruchon Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Pimentiers Pinot Noir, and 2005 TR Elliott "Queste" Russian River Valley Pinot Noir.

Wine.com also offers a wine club with different tiers, starting at $19.99 a month (plus shipping) for the basic "Discovery" club. You can choose two bottles of red wine, or a bottle of red and white wine.

If you search for "wine club" online, you will get dozens of results, and it's just impossible for me to list them all, but I thought these three ideas would get you started. If you have a favorite online wine club, by all means let me know in the comments section! I'll gladly update this entry with reader suggestions.