Review : Sommailier wine club, is it worth it?

Sommailier is a wine club destined to bring exclusive French wine to the doorsteps of people living in the US.

Its name SomMailier is a mix between “sommelier”, someone who knows a lot about wines and will help with the food pairing and Mail… This pun is intended because the wines are delivered from France directly to the US with explanatory cards about the wines, the wineries and suggestions about the food pairing.

Overall Rank: 9/10

This post contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase after clicking the link I may receive compensation.

What is SomMailier?

Sommailier is a family affair.

The CEO, Laurent Yung comes from a family of winemakers.

Their family has been working in vineyards for over 5 generations. They first started out in the Mediterranean and expanded.

The vineyard for them is really important, mostly because it is a “love story between a man and his soil ; with trust in nature and acceptance of fate. You may suffer in winemaking, but you’ll never end this sacred relationship. The vineyard on which you were born and raised will be a part of you forever.”

This motto perfectly describes the terroir effect French winemakers, and especially Bordeaux winemakers, pride themselves on.

Today the family vineyards lie in the Bordeaux region and covers 1000 hectares.

Laurent Yung moved to San Diego in 2013 and has been living there ever since with his wife and children. There, he missed French wine and noticed a lack of places where he could go and buy some.

Moreover, he didn’t just want French wine. Winemaking had always been very important in his family, he wanted “family wine”

This is when SomMailier was born. SomMailier delivers wines from small-batch, family wineries in France to the US.

How does Sommailier wine club work?

Its is kind of easy and straightforward like they explain it on their website.

You choose the number of bottles (3, 6 or 12) you want delivered on your doorstep every three months. You also choose if you want only white or red wines or both.

• Club “C’est la vie” bundle is the 3-bottle option at $110 per shipment, making it $36 a bottle
• Club “Rendez-vous” bundle is the 6-bottle option at $209 per shipment, making it $35 a bottle
• Club “Et Voilà” is the 12-bottle option at $399 per shipment, making it $33 a bottle

Every three month, your bundle is shipped and arrives with explanatory facts : information about the winery including the family story (family is important to the Yungs), the location of the winerie, the wine aging process and of course the food pairing suggestions… It really seems you went on a tour of the winerie and brought bottles back!

Sometimes, on the label of the bottles, you can get additional information about how to serve the wine and other pairing ideas.

You can cancel free of charge at any time, which makes it the perfect gift too, because you can only send one.

On the contrary, if you enjoyed a bottle and want to buy it again, you can do so with discounted price.

What are the ups and downs?

The delivery is quick and the wines are well protected. Moreover, if a bottle has turned, you will either get a new bottle sent to you or a refund.

This can either serve as a gift to a wine lover and make him discover French wine differently or can turn into a subscription and surprise your guests with fresh French imported wines.

I really like the exclusivity and how their choice of wines reflects on their values : the love for soil and family. It really makes the whole thing authentic and trustworthy.

Moreover, they can organize exclusive tours of their partner-wineries if you’re ever planning on coming to France. And I think that’s a great move. You really feel part of a club!

It was difficult to find a really negative thing about this wine club, but I guess I could highlight two things :

• the price, which seemed in the upper part of the price range, but it is still in the price range (I checked), especially for small-batch wineries that produce qualitative wines. And the explanatory sheets and discounts on the wine cellar counterpoise this first impression.
• the fact that shipping is free of charge above 12 bottles only (so keep it in mind if you’re ordering bottles)

Is this club for me?

Well it all depends on what you are looking for!

If you’re looking for authenticity and trust in a wine, you should definitely go ahead. You can check more reviews on their website as well and they’re all very positive.

If you’re looking for “big and famous winerie names”, this wine club won’t have them. They are more about promoting the family, small-batch wineries.

This is actually what I love best about them, because you get to know the real French wines and this is how you discover treasures…

And by the way, if it’s not for you, you can cancel free of charge at any time.

All in all, you should be a French wine lover and want to know more about French wine and the French regions. It can also serve as a one-time gift to a friend.

It’ll definitely bring authenticity and exclusivity to your wine cellar or on your dinner table. And you’ll get to taste wines made by small families “who have nothing to prove”. I really like that, you get to connect with people, and isn’t wine all about sharing?

Let me know in the comments when you sign up and give your honest opinion to help others as well.