Firstleaf Wine Club is one of the largest services of its kind on the market today, and they use a detailed quizzing and rating system to pair you with the best wines possible for your personal taste preferences.
While there are a few similar services on the market today, the Firstleaf Wine Club is unique in a number of ways. As such, many people seek out a Firstleaf Wine Club review to better understand the service.
This detailed guide will highlight the many features and benefits that Firstleaf has to offer, and help you decide whether it is the right wine club for you!
Things To Consider When Choosing a Wine Club
There are many different options on the market today when it comes to online-based wine subscription services, and comparing them all can be confusing to many wine enthusiasts. There are a few key factors that should be considered when looking at any of these options.
First, the price and value that the service provides should be taken into consideration. It is important to choose a wine club that is well within your budget, and the value of the wines received compared to the price paid should also be considered.
Another important consideration to make is the reputation and reliability of any given company. With so many different online companies emerging every year, choosing a trusted wine club with an established history is the best way to avoid any issues.
The theme of the wine club, as well as the styles of wine that are included, should also be taken into consideration, as both can vary greatly depending on the company. Certain wine clubs focus on one part of the world, while others put an emphasis on exploration.
Online-based subscription wine clubs are best for wine enthusiasts who are a bit adventurous and enjoy being surprised each month or quarter with new bottle selections. They make for a great way to fill out wine coolers, and larger cellar areas as well.
These services are also great from an educational perspective, as they often include helpful information like tasting notes and wine pairings. Signing up for one of these services is a great way to broaden your horizons while developing your palate for different styles of wine.
Many of these online-based wine clubs do not make for great options when it comes to wine enthusiasts with specific taste preferences. While some services allow customers to hand-pick bottles from their website, most include “mystery bottles” that come as a surprise.
Introducing Firstleaf Wine Club
Firstleaf Wine Club is one of the most popular online-based wine subscription services on the market today. It has risen to popularity partially due to the unique quizzing and reviewing system that is far more in-depth than its competitors.
The initial tasting quiz for new customers is 13 questions, which is more than double the length of other similar services on the market today. Having more information about your palate and taste preferences allows Firstleaf to produce more accurate pairings that are suited to you.
Many customers enjoy this level of personalization, while others prefer to try a number of different wines without a quiz, allowing them to learn as they enjoy new wines. While the quizzing element of Firstleaf may not be for everyone, the rating system is universally applauded.
After each shipment of wine, customers fill out a detailed rating form regarding each of the wines. This gives customers a chance to let Firstleaf know what they did right, and what they did wrong while developing a deeper understanding of each customer’s tasting preferences.
While there are a number of other online-based wine subscription services that use a rating system, the majority of them are only used to reflect the quality of the wines. Firstleaf uses these ratings to match each customer with wines better suited for them in the future.
Firstleaf Wine Club Pros:
- Detailed quizzing system pairs customers with appropriate wine styles
- Established brand with a history of good customer service
- Moderately priced service with some great values
- Great return policy that gives unsatisfied customers store credit
- Huge pool of different wines to choose from compared to other services
- Simple and intuitive online interface is easy to use and navigate
Firstleaf Wine Club Cons:
- Not all customers enjoy the detailed 13-question initial quiz
- Six bottles of wine per shipment are too much for more casual wine enthusiasts
- Not a large variety of household names or well-known labels
Features and Benefits of Firstleaf Wine Club
Each wine club on the market today employs a slightly different business model, and each has its own unique benefits and drawbacks.
To help you make the best decision for you, we have highlighted five of Firstleaf Wine Club’s most important features and benefits.
Personalized Quizzing and Rating System
One of the first things that many customers notice when navigating the Firstleaf website is the fact that they prominently feature a 13-question quiz for new customers. This detailed quiz allows Firstleaf to gather data about each customer’s taste preferences.
While there are a number of other services on the market that use a quizzing system to better match wines with their customers, none is nearly as detailed as the Firstleaf quiz. By using such a detailed quiz, Firstleaf can better understand each customer’s taste preferences.
By matching each customer with wines that are well suited to their palates, Firstleaf starts to narrow down more specific tasting preferences very early on compared to other services. From there, they continue to refine selections until they find the best choices.
For example, if a customer specifies that they prefer red wines with medium acidity and low tannins, Firstleaf may begin by sending them multiple bottles of Pinot Noir. While each bottle may fit the customer’s guidelines, each may have different qualities and layers of taste.
Firstleaf then uses its rating system to further refine selections and continue to dial in which wines are the best fit for each customer. In the above example, the customer would report back to Firstleaf on which bottles of Pinot Noir they preferred, and why.
By taking into account each customer rating, Firstleaf works to keep finding new bottles of wine that are well suited to each customer. They categorize each tasting element of each bottle using parameters like body, sweetness, acidity, and tannin.
This scientific approach to breaking down the characteristics of each bottle of wine is very useful for finding the best bottles for each customer, though some argue that it closes certain doors for newer wine enthusiasts.
By only drinking bottles of wine that suit your initial tasting preferences, it can be tough to “broaden your horizons” when it comes to the world of wine. Many people believe that it is important to try many different styles of wine to develop a more well-rounded palette.
For this reason, some wine enthusiasts prefer to use services that use more of a “mystery box” approach. These wine subscriptions often feature bottles from all over the world, thus exposing customers to all types of new wine styles.
Quality Wines With Great Value
Another feature that has helped make Firstleaf Wine Club one of the most popular players in the online wine delivery subscription space is its large portfolio of high-quality wines from all over the world.
Many of the wines featured in Firstleaf subscription boxes are of very high quality, and many of them represent incredible value as well. They feature bottles of wine from some of the most popular wine regions on earth and tend to stick to lesser-known labels.
By selecting wines that are not internationally recognizable or famous, Firstleaf is able to offer its members incredible value when it comes to the quality of wine that is delivered for the price. Many bottles are of high enough quality that they are confused with more expensive labels.
Firstleaf is well known for having one of the best introductory offers in the wine subscription business, as it includes six bottles of wine for under $45. Shipping is included with this introductory offer, bringing the bottle cost to under nine dollars each.
After the initial introductory offer, the cost of each Firstleaf shipment increases to just under $90. The shipping cost is not included in this price, and the cost of shipping varies depending on where you are located in the country.
Six bottles are included in each shipment, bringing the bottle cost to somewhere between $15 and $18 each depending on the shipping cost to your particular region. Shipments can arrive monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly depending on how you set up your membership.
Online Interface and Ease of Use
One of the first things that pop out to many customers when navigating through the Firstleaf website is how simple and intuitive it is to use. This is one of the strongest features of Firstleaf and something they have worked hard at refining over the years.
There are many different companies on the market today offering similar services to Firstleaf, and nearly all of them are online-based. The ease of use of each website is one of the biggest factors when it comes to choosing the best service for you.
From the very beginning, the online interface of Firstleaf makes it simple to navigate through the signup process. The online quiz is also very simple to navigate, and starts with simple questions such as “do you usually prefer red or white wine?”
Another main factor that separates the Firstleaf website from other similar services is the fact that it includes an educational section called “Wine School.” This free resource covers a variety of wine topics to better educate customers.
Topics in Firstleaf’s Wine School include everything from wine and meat pairings to Italian wine region guides, and they break down complicated wine topics into simple-to-understand guides. Firstleaf is one of the only companies to include an educational service like this.
100% Satisfaction Guarantee
There is a certain amount of risk that is associated with purchasing any bottle of wine. When purchasing a bottle from a local retailer or winery, the customer is risking the fact that they will enjoy the wine, as wine can not be returned.
Firstleaf uses a 100 percent money-back guarantee to completely eliminate the element of risk in the wine purchasing process. Customers are able to receive a full refund in the form of online store credit for any bottle of wine that they do not enjoy for any reason.
This makes it easy for new customers to trust Firstleaf, and oftentimes the money-back guarantee is not necessary. The quizzing element of Firstleaf works to help pair customers with bottles of wine that they are very likely to enjoy.
Established Reputation and Reliability
The Firstleaf Wine club has been around since the year 2016, making it one of the more established players in the online-based wine subscription game. In that time, Firstleaf has gained a reputation for quality business practices and good customer service.
Trustpilot is an independent website where users submit reviews of different products and services in an effort to establish an unbiased and neutral rating system. Firstleaf has received over 500 reviews on Trustpilot, and the vast majority of them are positive.
Of the over 500 customer reviews on Trustpilot, 73 percent of them are five-star ratings. Another 18 percent of reviews are four stars, and only four percent of all customers rated Firstleaf as a one-star experience.
There are also a number of independent reviews of the Firstleaf wine club across a variety of different wine blogs, and the vast majority of them are positive. Their established reputation along with the money-back guarantee makes Firstleaf one of the best options around.
Firstleaf Wine Club Alternatives
While Firstleaf is one of the best options currently on the market when it comes to online-based wine delivery subscription services, it is far from the only one. There are a number of other services that offer slightly different takes on the wine delivery business model.
Winc Wine Club is another service that uses a quizzing system to better match customers with bottles of wine that are suited for them. This can be compared to a “scaled down” version of Firstleaf, both in terms of bottles included and the actual quiz itself.
While Firstleaf uses an in-depth quiz that includes 13 different questions, Winc Wine Club uses a much more simple quiz that only includes five simple questions. Only four bottles are included in each shipment, while Firstleaf includes six bottles in each delivery.
Naked Wines is a very interesting wine delivery service that uses a unique business model to connect with small and independent winemakers to provide them funding before each harvest season. This allows them to source a variety of quality wines at very low prices.
Naked Wine is a great choice for customers who like to support small and independent business owners, and it is also a great way to feel more connected to the winemaking process. Winemakers provide periodic updates throughout the growing season, giving each bottle a personalized touch and feel.
SommSelect is a curated wine service that allows customers to choose from four different membership levels. Each membership subscription included worldly bottles of wine that are hand selected by French sommeliers and international wine professionals.
This makes SommSelect one of the best services for serious wine enthusiasts who prefer to stick with bottles of wine from traditionally prominent wine regions. It is also one of the best options for those who prefer old-world bottles of dry wine.
Firstleaf Wine Club Review – Conclusion
With so many different wine delivery services out there on the market today, it can be tough to choose which service is best suited for your needs.
Firstleaf is one of the best options for those who enjoy personalized recommendations, as their 13-question tasting quiz is one of the most thorough wine quizzes on the market.
The rating system employed by Firstleaf also ensures that wine selections continue to improve as more user feedback is received.
Click here to check out Firstleaf’s top-notch website and user interface, and see for yourself if it is right for you!
