Wino Take Two

Remember Veteran's Day weekend when I told you about my trip to Napa?  I went to Beringer?  Joined a wine club?  

No?

OK, well, you can refresh your memory here.  Or just take my word for it: Over Veteran's Day Hubs and I went to Napa (yes we took the baby) and did a tasting at Beringer (yes I let the baby taste wine; don't judge me) and joined their wine club.

Oh.  You mean you had that part figured out by my frist paragraph?  OK, I'll just get on with it then!

We were supposed to receive our first shipment from Beringer sometime around mid-December.  About that same time Hubs had a work event/Christmas Party at Taste of Monterey.  I'm fairly certain I forgot to blog about it.  Oops!  They had some fabulous packages for wine clubs there, which included local pick up (no shipping fees) and free weekly wine tastings (yes please!).  But, since we were already members of one wine club, we couldn't really justify spending the money on another.

Alas, I'd just have to wait for my first Beringer shipment.  Eh.  It was due to arrive any day.  Right?

Well, Christmas came and went.  Still no wine.

Finally, just before New Year's, I called Beringer to check on my shipment.  They told me I had two shipments waiting to go out but that I hadn't paid yet.

Hadn't paid?  I always pay my bills on time!

I did some quick research and found the problem:  Around the time of our trip to Napa, my husband thought we'd had some fraudulent charges (we hadn't; he simply didn't recognize the way the charges showed up on the bill) so he cancelled our credit cards and we received new cards.  With new account numbers.  Hubs thought he'd put the new account on all our auto-pay accounts, but he must have missed the wine club.

By this time, I'd made a command decision.  Beringer was charging us nearly $80 per shipment for two bottles of wine, after you factored in the shipping.  With wine at those prices, I wouldn't want to drink it unless it was a special occasion, so I'd still be buying tons of wine for everyday use.

Taste of Monterey would only charge us $35 for two bottles, we wouldn't have to pay shipping, we'd get a free tasting once a week, and the wines come from a variety of local vineyards so we'd get to sample many different wines!  Oh, and the best part?  Taste of Monterey has partnered with several local restaurants and bottles of wine purchased through Taste of Monterey are exempt from corkage fees!

I cancelled the Beringer membership.  And immediately got online and started the Monterey membership.  We've since received two shipments.  We've only sampled one of those four bottles, but we were pleased!  I can't wait for our next dinner date downtown so we can take advantage of the wine tasting too...which I also plan to do with my mom when she comes to visit next month!!