Derek M.

I had read online about how some customers suspected that Bright Cellars is simply a larger company that owns several smaller wineries that make subpar wine and use those wines as the basis for their supply. I was skeptical of this, owing it to pretentious wine drinkers who perhaps expected a bit too much. But after trying a shipment of wines myself, I'd have to say that they sound right.

I got four bottles. The first one I tried was "Wandering Giants." It was a mediocre wine with an okay up front flavor but absolutely no development or aftertaste. A $10 bottle at best, and that's being unfair to most $10 bottles I've tried...

Next was Vanishing Act. Appropriate name because after I tried one sip, it vanished down my sink! Strong fruity note up front, like biting into fresh fruit, but faded into that generic rotten grapes aftertaste with no complexity or development.

Then I tried Supergenre, one of the bottles that EVERYONE seems to pair with regardless of the answer on the survey. It was actually an okay wine! Some tanins up front, decent flavor but no development or complexity.

Finally I tried the wine that was my "best match." I'll give them points for that given that it was the best wine out of the bunch, but not a bottle I'd pay more than $10 for.

Overall the wines given were mediocre, lacked depth or flavor, and are basically throwaway shelf fillers that work better as cooking wines than drinking wines. And I don't think you join a wine club to cook with your wines...

Pros:
- Perhaps the algorithm they use to predict what wines you like actually works.
- Getting your wine delivered to you is very, very cool.

Cons
- Not a good value at all
- Qualify of wines does not justify the price tag
- Potentially shady business practices

Overall I would recommend going to your local liquor store and buying four different kinds of wines you've never tried before every month instead of paying for this.