Maybe I misread, but I was expecting to get bottles of wine that were from different wineries around the world, not from the same exact distributer of (AWDirect). I did get further clarification after cancelling my subscription from the representative:

On our website, you will find that we explain the following. "We focus on finding unique, hidden gems from small vineyards from all over the world, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, and South America." I do want to explain the difference between a winery and a vineyard since you mentioned that you were expecting to receive wines from different wineries all over the world. A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines grown for wine-making while a winery is a licensed building or property that produces its own wine. What Bright Cellars does, as I quoted, is source grapes from vineyards all over the world to create our own wines. We do not advertise that we sell wines from other wineries across the world.

After sourcing grapes from small vineyards across the world, we bring the fermented juice from these grapes to our wine suppliers in the United States. AWDirect is one of our wine suppliers which means that they take the internationally sourced fermented juice from the grapes and they simply bottle, age and store our wines. Our wine concierges and Sommelier do sample these wines and we can make changes if we decide to so that we can provide our members with the best product. As our website states, "only 1 in 12 wines we taste at Bright Cellars make it into monthly collections. Your matches are selected from these collections of the best to fit you."

Bright Cellars does not, as you put it, "re-brand unoriginal bottles for money". The wines we are creating are entirely our own. Our labels (Forty Winks, Burrasca, Folk & Fable, etc.) were created by our team and company leaders. Yes, each label is associated with a different region. For example, our Burrasca label is one of our Italian labels. The reason it is labeled as such is because the wines under this label are made with grapes grown and fermented in Italy. The same concept applies to our other brands meaning you are indeed receiving wines that are internationally sourced and originally made by us.

I hope I have cleared things up, Brittany. I apologize for any confusion that may have stemmed from this review. I can assure you that we work hard to provide our members with unique wines they'll love and that we are very transparent in our process. I can also assure you that you are receiving a quality, original product. If you have further questions, please feel free to let me know!
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Essentially, it is all the same wine, all the same distributer and they just rebrand and send it to you. If you enjoy the wine and want to keep supporting one very large distributer, continue the subscription. If you want to expand your taste and support smaller wineries who put pride into their wines, sign up for Winestyr.

I've canceled my subscription after a polite, lengthy exchange with one of the concierges about how Bright Cellars selects their wines. I was taken aback by how frequently I would receive wines from the same label (not the same exact wine, but like a pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, red blend, etc. etc. All from the same label). I'd only been a subscriber for about 6 months and had gotten as many as 6 wines from one label already, which wasn't the variety I was expecting.

Then the concierge explained that the labels on each bottle of wine aren't labels from wineries at all, but are labels devised BY BRIGHT CELLARS to market the wine that they source NOT from "small wineries around the world" like the website says, but from a supplier called AWDirect. Let me explain what the concierge explained to me, with quotes from our conversation, so you know what you're getting:

- First, AWDirect receives the wines from a "wine supplier or maker" (meaning, I presume, this supplier could be many more steps removed from the actual vineyard producing the wine).
- Then AWDirect cultivates and ages the wine "with their own processes," sending perioc samples to Bright Cellars for evaluation. BC can "request adjustments be made to certain wines if we would like to see more specific flavors."
- When BC is satisfied with AWDirect's product, they label the wines under various Bright Cellars labels such as Forty Winks, Burrasca, Folk & Fable, or Castele de Varao (the labels themselves don't reference BC, which I find very suspicious... why not be transparent about who is labeling the wines?). They determine which label to use based on region, and "can slightly alter the way they taste to fit that brand's description... Since we have the ability to alter the wines slightly we're able to make them taste similar."
- Then BC ships us our boxes of wine that we think are sourced directly from small vineyards around the world, but have in fact been passed from one supplier to another, aged and altered by multiple different handlers, and adjusted by BC to apparently fit our tastes better.

I don't know about you, but that isn't what I signed up for.

I should have come to look for reviews before pushing the button on their "quiz" that came in on my twitter feed. It would have saved me some aggravation. However, I did use my Am/Ex for the transaction and when the company emailed me to say they were giving me a full refund, but did not, I filed a dispute with Am/EX to make sure I would get my full refund. Bottom line: terrible customer service. And I am writing this review to warn others of my experience. Below is a copy of the email I sent to Bright Cellars regarding my "experience" and my dissatisfaction. In response, they promised (but did not deliver) a FULL REFUND and immediate cancellation:

To Bright Cellars-
I am astounded by this terrible service. Your business is a sham. When I was first informed by your company that the wine was about to be shipped I inquired about an alternative date. Your company informed me that the wine was sent and would arrive on a date that I would still be out of town. Terrible customer service! The dates you chose to deliver were hot days. And apparently the only "protection" used is a piece of paper around the bottle! This is absurd and completely un-customary for any other wine club I have belonged to. I should have looked at the reviews first! Two Stars out of five stars: https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.brightcellars.com And not surprisingly, there were references to spoiled wine. Makes sense if proper packaging and handling is absent from your shipment methods.

This review echos the problems of your poor communication regarding delivery dates as well as the near-impossible efforts to CANCEL THE SUBSCRIPTION. Again, UNACCEPTABLE. http://www.tarynstake.com/2015/10/bright-cellars-review.html

Here is a review that points out that bright cellars is the work of novices and does not deliver as promised http://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/12/10/*******/best-wine-club-delivery-online

I expected good customer service and well-notified delivery date/s as is customary with other wine clubs I have belonged to. Your service is substandard. Communication from your company is substandard. Reviews of your business reveals that your product/s can also be rated as substandard.

I am requesting that the returned shipment to you will NOT be resent to me. I am also asking that a full refund to my American Express Card be credited. And I am requesting that whatever subscription to me be CANCELLED IMMEDIATELY. I do not want to do business with you. I consider your service substandard and a mis-represented scam with products that reviewers consider poor quality, and some are referred to as spoilage.