Bright Cellars vs Firstleaf Comparison 2022

About Bright Cellars

Bright Cellars was created by Richard Yau and Joe Laurendi, two MIT graduates who enjoyed the drinks scene and wanted to find a way of incorporating their top-notch tech knowledge into a wine club. In 2013, Bright Cellars was launched with tasting technology for tailored shipments created by the two talented tecchies.

About Firstleaf

Wine lover Philip James started Firstleaf with a similar aim – to put his members in the center of operations with his own palate tasting technology (for which it has a patent-pending!). This state-of-the-art technology matches your preferences in a glass with its first-class inventory of labels. Firstleaf has 100,000 members across the US.

Bright Cellars Main Benefits Overall

The signature benefit of Bright Cellars is its tasting technology specially devised by its founders to create personalized palate profiles for each member. This takes place with a quick quiz that dives into what you like in a red or white and – presto – you have a shiny, new taste profile that informs what goes into each of your shipments.

You also have the chance to rate each bottle as you go along which seamlessly updates your profile which means your next shipment will be just as suited to your tastes. Wines cover all the major regions, varietals, and styles.

Firstleaf Main Benefits Overall 

Similarly, Firstleaf’s highlight is its advanced tasting tech which ensures your order will be customized and packed with the labels you love most. After you reply to a short but probing quiz about our wine tastes, your answers are “crunched up” and turned into a personal profile that the club matches to its extensive inventory for perfect bottles.

Firstleaf is super-fussy about what it passes for its range and ultimately, your shipments. Its expert tasting team samples about 10,000 labels annually and only 2% are regarded as good enough to make it into your cases.

Overall Winner

Firstleaf

Bright Cellars Wine Selection

Bright Cellars covers favorites like Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot Gris so is a great white wine club. It also has an equally extensive selection of reds from all the classic Old and New World regions so you can count on enjoying a wide expression of favorite varietals.

It stocks the occasional sweet wine, and it touches on labels produced with sustainable and biodynamic farming methods if the environment is important to you.Its wine tasting team searches for quality and variety so digs out lesser-known grapes alongside popular varietals. Only one in 12 of wines tasted is given the green light.

Firstleaf Wine Selection 

Firstleaf is a fantastic red wine club featuring all the grapes we know and love like Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Malbec. It’s equally dedicated to sourcing fine whites, rosés, and fizz so has all your bases covered. Its tasting team tirelessly finds labels from every corner of the globe, so you get a lot of variety.

What’s more, its range includes a high number of award winners – the figure is 92%. Finally, a slice of Firstleaf portfolio boasts organically produced reds and whites free from any production chemicals plus a few biodynamic names too.

Wine Selection Winner:

Firstleaf

Bright Cellars Subscription Plans

Bright Cellars subscription covers monthly for serious sippers, bi-monthly if you like an easier pace, and quarterly if you just want to stock up once in a while. Whatever you choose, the fee is $80 per shipment and bottles are matched to your palate profile.

You have the freedom of changing the delivery frequency as it suits you depending on the flow of wine you want. There are also a few benefits you can take advantage of like member rewards for bonus bottles every time you rate your wines and refer friends. 

Firstleaf Subscription Plans 

The regular Firstleaf subscription comprises six bottles every month for $90. There may be times when you need a few more labels so, if this is the case, you simply double up on your “six-pack” and stock up your wine rack. Delivery frequencies are monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly and you have the flexibility to change to a new schedule whenever it suits.

This may be handy around celebration times for instance. If you only want a handful of extras, as a Firstleaf subscriber, you can always go on  a shopping spree at the club store and take advantage of a 10% discount.

Subscription Plans Winner:

Firstleaf

Bright Cellars Pricing and Shipping

Bright Cellars only uses reputable companies like UPS and FedEx to transport you wines because wine is a delicate product to ship. You can sleep at night in the knowledge that your beautiful bottles will arrive safely.

In the heat of high summer and freezing depths of winter, Bright Cellars may hold on for a day or two, so your bottles don’t get affected by extreme temperatures in transit. You might miss a delivery in which case the courier will try three times before the shipment is returned to the club.

Firstleaf Pricing and Shipping 

Firstleaf has an amazing introductory offer of six wines for $39.95 which includes shipping. After this, it’s $79.98 plus shipping which brings it to the $90 detailed above. It’ll also offer $10 off for rating your first three wines and if you get a friend on board, you’ll both get $40 in credit.

If you double up your shipment, shipping is free. It’s flexible about delivery, allowing you to have your case sent to a holding location for up to seven days. This is useful during the summer and winter months when you don’t want to leave your bottles outdoors on your steps for too long.

Pricing and Shipping Winner:

Firstleaf

Bright Cellars Customer Service and Guarantee

Bright Cellars has different ways of fixing things if you’re not happy with your delivery. If it’s a matter of not liking the wine in your case, get in touch with the concierge team to discuss the problem and they’ll add a free bottle next time around that’s suited to your tastes to make up for it.

On the other hand, if your case arrives with damaged or defective bottles, you’re obliged to inform Bright Cellars within 30 days to be eligible for a refund. Note that you can’t get a refund on gift cards. The customer service team is available by phone or by email during office hours.

Firstleaf Customer Service and Guarantee

You can get in touch with First Leaf’s customer service team by phone during office hours seven days a week and anytime by email. You’re covered with this club because it boasts a 100% satisfaction guarantee with every single bottle in your case.

If something isn’t to your taste or a bottle arrives damaged, Firstleaf credits you to the value of the label for you to use when and where you want in the club (remember, it has a store!). There are very unusual cases where it’s not permitted to because of alcohol legal restrictions but normally they’ll work it out. 

Customer Service and Guarantee Winner:

Bright Cellars and Firstleaf both come up trumps here because they’re both serious about customer satisfaction.

Bright Cellars Cancellation Terms  

You’re free to end your Bright Cellars membership whenever you want but you have to go through an online request system. The customer service team will find out why you want to leave because it may be something that can be fixed. It could be down to you not using the club’s great facilities properly like rating your wine for tailored shipments or such.

The club’ll check if there’s anything it could do differently and find out how to make the membership a better fit for your needs. However, if you’re sure you want to cancel, Bright Cellars will make the process easy for you.

Firstleaf Cancellation Terms  

You can cancel your Firstleaf membership whenever you want without restrictions with a call to a dedicated number where its customer service team will go through the options. This is because you may discover it's not cancellation you want but simply a change or two in your membership package.

Perhaps you need to change your frequencies, preferences, or bottle quantities in each case. Naturally, if you decide in the end you really want to draw a line under your subscription, Firstleaf will make the procedure as smooth as possible.

Cancellation Terms Winner:

Again, both clubs are strong on their cancellation processes so it’s a draw.

Bright Cellars Gifts 

Know someone who’d get a lot out of a Bright Cellars subscription? The club has a gift card program in place that’s just the ticket. You have the option of choosing anything from one to 12 months’ worth of wine with monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, and annual frequency choices on offer.

Each month costs $100 and entitles your recipient to six bottles. If you go for a physical gift card, for an extra $10, you can send a card with a message you’ve prepared yourself all nicely packaged up in a gift box with a Bright Cellars corkscrew. There’s an email gift card option too.

Firstleaf Gifts 

If you love Firstleaf so much that you want to share the joy with fellow wine lovers, there’s a gift membership with their name on it. If you know enough about what your recipient likes, you can input their preferences and their surprise shipment will arrive full of favorites.

Think they’d enjoy using the algorithm themselves? You have the option of buying a gift certificate for your friend or loved one so they can have a go with First Leaf’s palate profile quiz themselves. For someone who’d like a good bottle once in a while rather than a full case, there’s a good old gift card.

Buy as a Gift Winner:

Firstleaf