Philly’s Best Wine Clubs: Your Guide to Curated Bottles and Exclusive Sips
Let the wine experts take the guesswork out of your next bottle with wine club subscriptions offering unique selections and exclusive perks.
Bottles featured in Pray Tell’s wine club / Photograph courtesy of Pray Tell
Sharon Thompson-Schill is a neuroscience professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a frequent restaurant-goer, visiting upwards of 100 restaurants per year. She and her husband, chef Ian Moroney, are the creative minds behind Carl & Friends, a story-driven dinner series that often features wine pairings from local producers, bottle shops, and curators.
“The paradox of choice”: That’s a phrase psychologists use to describe the somewhat counterintuitive negative consequences of having too many options. Standing in front of a wall of wine bottles can have exactly that effect. Research shows one way to reduce the mental toll that too many choices can take on you is to delegate some of your choices. My suggestion: Leave your wine selection decisions to the professionals by joining any of the many wine clubs in Philadelphia.
There are wine clubs popping up all over town, sometimes in places that might surprise you — like pizza shops and coffee roasters. Each club has a particular focus, whether it be its own wines (in the case of local wineries) or a particular region or style of winemaking. The membership details (numbers of bottles, commitment or not) vary from club to club as well. This list will help guide you through the only wine decision left to make: Which wine club to join? Or, do what I did and join a bunch!
Wine Stores and Wine Bars
Supérette’s wine bottle selection / Photograph by Chloé Pantazi-Wolber
When your reputation is wine, start a wine club. Makes sense. And one of the first wine clubs I learned about is the Vernick Wine Club, which began back in 2020 and is still going strong today. But even in this category, there is still room for growth, as evidenced by the brand-new club just launched at Tria’s Washington West location. Members enjoy curated subscription-based bottle collections alongside wine-based programming at these locations.
Vernick Wine, Rittenhouse
The ethos of the Vernick Wine Club is “real wine, made by real people.” You can expect wines from small producers who farm sustainably and make wines with minimal intervention. Wine club members receive four bottles each month. Vernick offers flexible enrollment options, but most members sign up for a year at $100 per month (and receive one month free). Each month, you receive an email from wine director Michael Brakebill with stories about the producers, along with pairing selections. 2029 Walnut Street.
Supérette, East Passyunk
Chloe Grigri and Vincent Stipo, the dynamic duo behind wine-focused hot spots including Bella Vista’s Le Caveau and Rittenhouse’s Superfolie, just opened their first East Passyunk location. Supérette continues the trend of French-focused wines and snacks reflecting the Grigri family’s Southern French background — but unlike the other locations, it includes a cave à manger (wine shop). They’ve wasted no time in planning their first wine club, called Cou Cou, that should launch in May. Members can choose from two different packages: Party Pack or Collectors Club. Subscribe to the Supérette newsletter or follow along on Instagram to be an inaugural Cou Cou member. 1538 East Passyunk Avenue.
Jet Wine Bar, Grad Hospital
Jet’s wine club offers an extension of the Jet Wine Bar experience, where you’ll find underrepresented, under-appreciated, underdog regions and grapes. Owner Jill Weber says, “Deliciousness is paramount, but beyond that we love to present wines from the ancient world.” Weber writes a blog post each month that gives members an understanding of the producer, grape, and wine, and, for added fun, includes a four-song playlist. There are two options for membership: a two-bottle subscription for $55 per month or a three-bottle subscription with a cheese pairing from Third Wheel Cheese for $89 per month. Members receive bottle discounts, reservations at the wine garden, and early purchase options for special wine-tasting events. 1525 South Street.
Tria Cafe Wash West, Washington Square
Tria Wash West just opened a mini but mighty bottle shop stocked with gems hand-picked by wine director Lauren Harris, and they are rolling out a new wine club. Members can elect to get two bottles for $60 or three bottles for $90 that can be picked up at either Tria location. Members also enjoy a 10 percent discount in the Wash West Wine Nook, invitations to exclusive members-only events, and one free wine class per year. Harris describes her approach as “low key and lighthearted,” and her newsletter includes pairing suggestions including “sunny picnic” or “movie night.” 1137 Spruce Street.
Restaurants and Cafes With Bottle Shops
Le Virtù’s wine club social / Photograph by Sharon Thompson-Schill
A growing number of restaurants and cafes that are passionate about their wine offerings are bringing that passion to their neighbors in the form of a subscription-based bottle club. In my experience, these are hidden gems that sometimes aren’t known about even by regular patrons. Is one of your favorite restaurants or cafes on this list?
Le Virtù, East Passyunk
The one-year-old Le Virtù wine club is all about Italian wines, with an emphasis on wines from Abruzzo and the Italian South. Beverage manager Chris O’Brien prefers to select smaller producers with lower intervention winemaking, but will occasionally include a larger producer that he finds to be “particularly important to the region or winemaking style.” There are two wine club options: two bottles of “everyday drinking wine” for $75 or four bottles (including two for “special occasions”) for $150. There is also a “Somm’s pick” option for an additional $60.
The membership is for six months (although you can pause if needed), and members enjoy a discount on bottles in the shop. On the first Wednesday of the month, O’Brien hosts a wine club pickup/social where members can enjoy complimentary tastes of all four wines plus some additional selections while enjoying snacks from chef Andrew Wood. You’ll receive a newsletter each month with information about the wineries, many of which O’Brien has personally visited, along with details about upcoming wine dinners. He is also becoming a regular guest in the Carl & Friends Wine Dinner series if you want to get a taste of his wine offerings. 1927 East Passyunk Avenue.
Sally, Fitler Square
Didn’t know your favorite neighborhood pizza place had a wine shop? Sally’s is tucked in the back, and as of a few months ago, it’s the source of a wine club focused on the same natural, organic wines that you can expect on the restaurant’s beverage menu. General manager Katy Sosa explains, “We want to find wines that you may not find on your average shelf.” The cost of the wine club membership is $50 for two bottles — and a cheese pizza can be added on for $10. When you pick up your wine, you’ll receive a printed info sheet; they love “wine with a story” and include any information they have. Because Sally’s space is so small, there is a cap on how many members they can accommodate, but they maintain a waitlist, and when someone pauses their membership, you’ll move up the list. 2229 Spruce Street.
Luna Cafe, Kensington
Olde Kensington’s charming neighborhood cafe and coffee shop, Luna Cafe, has two different wine clubs to choose from. Their original wine club offers members individually curated bottles from the bottle shop’s rotating selection of natural, biodynamic, and organic wines, tailored to each member’s preferences and experiences with wine. There are options for two ($45), three ($65), or five ($100) bottles per month, and you can pause or cancel at any time. Luna’s Wine Club began as a passion project, a way for owner Sarah Levine to share her love of wine; over the past year, she says, “it has grown into a vibrant community, enriched by tastings, special events, and the support of our neighborhood wine lovers.” Not in the neighborhood? Luna offers local delivery for a $20 fee.
This month, Luna is launching a second wine club in partnership with Santé. Members of the Santé Wine Club enjoy a tasting event highlighting a specific theme at the cafe each month led by Santé owner Daniel Solway ($60 per month), with the option to add on a two to three bottle subscription ($110 per month including the tasting event). 1700 North 3rd Street.
Herman’s Coffee & Market, Pennsport
Long known for pop-up food vendors, great coffee, and an iconic red folding chair logo, Herman’s has just opened a bottle shop. Herman’s Wine Club offers its members exclusive wines not currently on the shelf, with options for two ($75) or four ($125) bottles per month. The Wine Club features a monthly pickup party on the first Monday of the month, where members can meet the featured importer of the month and taste all of the selected wines (plus non-club wines). Members can bring one guest to the party and enjoy a 10 percent discount on everything in the market that night. 1313 South 3rd Street.
Local Wineries With Wine Clubs
Pray Tell’s wine club / Photograph courtesy of Pray Tell
Did you know that Pennsylvania is one of the top states in terms of wine production in the country? For years there have been wineries laying down roots in the counties surrounding Philadelphia, but a more recent trend is for winemakers to set up production and tasting facilities in the city, sourcing grapes from as close as southern New Jersey and as far away as the Willamette Valley for their bottles.
Pray Tell, East Kensington
When Pray Tell was started almost nine years ago in Oregon, they were operating out of a tiny, thousand-square-foot warehouse and squeezing every grape and piece of equipment into the building. That left little space for a hospitality program in general, so they sold wines mostly through distribution around the country. When owners Tom Caruso and Sydney Adams moved the whole winery 3,000 miles across the country to Philadelphia six months ago, they had the opportunity to build out an open-concept winery geared towards demystifying the winemaking process and showing their guests how special the harvest experience can be.
Enter the Pray Tell Wine Club. The wine club reflects Caruso’s approach to winemaking: “an exercise in earnest curiosity around different grape varietals, fermentation techniques, and growing regions in America.” Members receive three bottles of wine each quarter (price varies based on the bottle prices) selected around a specific theme, including current release, library, and club-exclusive bottles. Members receive 10 percent off all wines consumed in the tasting room, as well as first access to special events and merchandise. 1615 North Hancock Street.
Mural City Cellars, Fishtown
Mural City Cellars is Philadelphia’s first urban winery, where winemaker and co-owner Nicholas Ducos makes unpretentious wines sourced with grapes grown within 300 miles of the winery. Ducos describes their bottles as “patio wines,” with an emphasis on whites, rosés, and bubbles.
Members of the wine club receive three bottles of wine four times a year ($75 each quarter), and they always get something new because MCC never repeats a wine! (MCC makes 13 wines a year plus a few extra barrels specifically for wine club members.) Members also receive 15 percent off wine to go from the bottle shop and to drink in the winery, one free glass of wine on Member Mondays, and early access to new releases and special events. Ducos loves “fostering a place of community through our club” and invites you to come and meet your neighbors. 1831 Frankford Avenue.
Not-Quite-Wine-Bottle-Clubs
Bloomsday wine / Photograph by Esra Erol
Subscription-based bottle clubs are the most common form of wine club, but we may be seeing other options on the horizon. Here are two examples of variations on the wine club theme. There are also a number of private wine clubs that allow oenophiles to come together and share their love of wine (and food) that are not included on this list.
Bloomsday Restaurant & Wine Bar, Society Hill
Want to pair your wine with a good book? Bloomsday has shifted from a traditional bottle subscription wine club to a brand-new Bloomsday Book Club. Every month, members receive a book selected by their neighbors at Headhouse Books along with a bottle of wine that Bloomsday administrative director Sara May says “matches the tone or the vibe of the book.” The Book Club costs $100 to join, and for that you receive a branded Bloomsday/Headhouse Books tote, the book of the month, and the wine of the month. They host a monthly meeting to discuss the books, which members are welcome to attend — or not, if they prefer to enjoy their books and wine at home. After the first month, members pay $75 for the book and wine pairing, with the option to skip any month. 414 South 2nd Street.
Panorama, Old City
The Penn’s View Hotel’s Panorama Wine Bar was recognized with a Guinness World Record as the World’s Largest Wine Bar, with over 150 wines available by the glass from their custom-designed cruvinet. So, perhaps not surprisingly, the Panorama Wine Club focuses on glasses of wine, not bottles of wine to go. Joining the wine club costs $75 per year, for which members enjoy complimentary tastings on the last Sunday of the month (along with half-price sommelier-selected wine flights and wines by the glass). Members also enjoy 20 percent off food, beverages, and hotel stays, as well as a Member Reward program. 14 North Front Street.
