After consultation with the DABS this story has been revised as of September 27th. As of this date the “wine of the month club” legislation proposed in this year’s changes to Utah’s liquor laws have not yet come into effect. Once they do, we will have the *full* and formal scoop.
The service described below offered by Utah-based broker Vin 7000 is in essence one of curated wine collections – made possibly existing special ordering processes. As the company write:
“Products are acquired legally using the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services’ special order system that has been in place for several years. Customers may currently select from six wine clubs to join, and their regular shipments are delivered for free to the Utah State Liquor Store of their choice. These are typically limited production wines that are not otherwise available in Utah. Some selections may only be available to club members and are from the vintners’ collections of library and special release wines.”
To purchase one of the curated wine collections you’ll find yourself placing a special order directly through the DABS website. If you’ve never been through this process previously, things aren’t as byzantine as you might imagine. Vin 7000 provide the following guide to the DABS site and system.
Speaking from personal experience, things tend to run smoothly when a broker has the end product already registered on the DABS system. You can expect to wait four to six weeks for the good stuff to arrive in the Beehive. A fun quirk of the whole affair – the website doesn’t actually require you to hand over your credit card. Remember online booze sales aren’t legal. Indeed, you’l only find yourself handing over the plastic when you actually appear in person to snag your wine. It’s basically the honor system.
Onto the product itself then, the current curated collectiosn being offered by the Summit county broker include:
- Buoncristiani Family Winery | Napa Valley, CA
- French Wine Club | Champagne and Bordeaux
- Russian River Vineyards | Sonoma County, CA
- Leo Steen Wines | Sonoma County, CA
- Andrew Murray Vineyards | Santa Barbara County, CA
- Natalie’s Estate Winery | Oregon and Washington
These can function as a fun way to special order several unique bottles all at once – rather than commit to a full case of one single wine. You can read more here: https://www.vin7000.com/clubs.
Via press release, Vin 7000 founder Maggie Heile writes: “The core of our business model is to understand what wine drinkers in Utah want and what they think they can’t get here. We creatively innovate within the regulatory framework to make these available. Because we know many Utah wine enthusiasts are seeking the opportunity to discover high-quality, boutique, new wines via club memberships, we are stepping in, as a broker, to offer memberships to select wine clubs within our portfolio. We have thoughtfully launched the program with six wine clubs from small producers that represent a range of varietals, regions, wine-making styles, and price points. These wines are some of the finest that each region has to offer.”
If you want to taste the products that Vin 7000 are brokering – the company are participating in the Park City Wine Festival coming up in just a few days time (September 29th to October 1st). Ticket holders for the grand tastings will enjoy samplings from each of the six clubs and meet vintner Matt Buoncristiani of Napa Valley’s Buoncristiani Family Winery.
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Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you! I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC. I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.
I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV. Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune. I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand. What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.
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