Bright Cellars vs Winc Comparison 2022

About Bright Cellars

Bright Cellars is the brainchild of Richard Yau and Joe Laurendi, two MIT graduates who had a passion for the beverage space and wanted to incorporate their impressive tech savvy into a wine club. In 2013, Bright Cellars was born with in-built tasting technology for tailored cases of wine.

About Winc

Winc opened its doors in 2012 when three wine aficionados decided it was time to share the best Californian artisanal wineries had to offer with fellow fans of the grape. While it showcases the best from the Golden State, Winc’s portfolio also includes labels from other iconic world regions.

Bright Cellars Main Benefits Overall

The stand-out benefit of Bright Cellars is its plate technology that, through a quick quiz, delves into what you like in a glass and comes up with a personalized profile that informs what goes into each of your cases. You also get to rate each bottle as you go along which automatically updates your profile meaning that your next shipment will be just as tailored to your tastes.

The wines your receive cover al the major regions, varietals, and styles and go through a stringent tasting process. Only one in 12 are deemed good enough for Bright Cellars’ portfolio – and you.

Winc Main Benefits Overall 

Winc has homed in on one region and found the best it has to offer in the boutique winery landscape. It’s a great find for anyone who’s a fan of California wines and an even better discovery for those who are new to the region and want a reliable guide to help explore it.

Wines from artisanal Golden State wineries are in the spotlight but Winc recognizes that context is king when it comes to wine, so a slice of its portfolio is dedicated to other classic Old and New World regions for a bit of spice.

Overall Winner

Bright Cellars

Bright Cellars Wine Selection

Bright Cellars takes in all the superb regions across the globe offering subscribers a vast array of Old and New World expressions of favorite varietals making it a great white wine club and excellent for reds too. It has a specialized team that is not only looking for high quality for its portfolio but variety as well.

Alongside famed areas, they explore obscure regions and ferret out new expressions of popular grapes and lesser-known varietals that deserve more exposure. The value here is having someone who knows what they’re doing, traveling the world one glass at a time, and bringing back the best for your cases.

Winc Wine Selection 

Since the better part of its range comes from sunny California, you’d think Winc would be ideal for oenophiles looking for the perfect red wine club – and it is! It’s also got a full range of splendid whites all treated with the iconic approaches you see across the Golden State.

Its range covers diverse local styles and also welcomes classic takes from France, Italy, Argentinian, and a host of other famous regions. A stand-out feature of Winc’s range is its selection of environmentally-friendly and healthy labels. It covers vegan, low-alcohol/ sugar, organic, and natural wines if that’s our thing.

Wine Selection Winner:

Winc

Bright Cellars Subscription Plans

In each shipment, you get four bottles for $80 all tailored to your tastes thanks to Bright Cellars’ nifty algorithm. You have a choice of delivery frequencies depending on what flow of wine suits you best. You can also skip a month any time if you need a break.

There’s a monthly shipment if you like to have fresh wine regularly or bi-monthly and quarterly options to space it all out. You’re free to change the frequency as you wish. You can also take advantage of member rewards like bonus bottles for rating your wines and referring friends.

Winc Subscription Plans 

With a Winc subscription, you get three or four bottles on a monthly basis. Your subscription fee is $59.95, and you can choose what to exchange it for each month. The club offers a fairly flexible approach to membership meaning you can choose your own bottles recommended to you based on the results of your palate quiz.

With four bottles or more, you can take advantage of free shipping costing and you can skip a delivery for as long as you want without any penalty and no questions asked.

Subscription Plans Winner:

Bright Cellars

Bright Cellars Pricing and Shipping

Wine is a fragile item to transport and with the four bottles you receive in your Bright Cellars shipment for $80, the delicacy is quadrupled! This club only uses reputable carriers like UPS and FedEx so you can be confident that your shipment is being handled with care.

If you miss your delivery (and you get three tries), your case is returned to Bright Cellars as “undeliverable”. You can get a refund but minus the return shipping fee incurred by Bright Cellars. In extreme weather, Bright Cellars may hold off delivering for a day or two so your bottles don’t get too hot or cold in transit.

Winc Pricing and Shipping 

As already detailed, your membership fee is $59.95 every month, and enjoy a $20 discount off your first delivery. If you have four bottles or more, shipping is complimentary and with an order of 12 or more, Winc’ll give you a 10% discount so you might as well stock up!

Winc also offers a range of extra delivery services to suit your needs. Regular shipping takes three to seven days so if you need your wine yesterday, for an extra fee you can get them overnight. If you’re not in a mad rush but don’t want to wait too long, there’s also a two-day delivery option for an extra charge. 

Pricing and Shipping Winner:

Winc

Bright Cellars Customer Service and Guarantee

Bright Cellars has different ways of making things right if you’re not satisfied with your delivery. If you simply don’t like the wine you’ve received, contact the concierge team and they will add a complimentary bottle to your next shipment suited to your tastes to make up for the “dud”.

If it’s a matter of your case arriving with damaged or defective bottles you need to let Bright Cellars know within 30 days and they may offer a refund at their discretion. You can’t claim a refund on gift cards. The customer service team is available by phone during office hours or by email.

Winc Customer Service and Guarantee

If you want to reach Winc, you have the options of live chat and phone during office hours plus email which it’ll respond to as soon as it can. This club is big on making sure you’re satisfied so if something is off – whether a bottle is damaged or isn’t your thing – contact the Winc team and it’ll do what it can to make you whole.

What happens is Winc credits you for the problem label and you can use it towards a new bottle that ticks your boxes. What’s more, its concierge team is at hand to discuss your choice, so you’ll be satisfied.

Customer Service and Guarantee Winner:

Winc

Bright Cellars Cancellation Terms  

You can cancel your Bright Cellars subscription anytime, but you have to go through a request system. As with many of its fellow clubs, its customer service team will want to talk to you about why you’re leaving.

It’ll want to know if there’s anything it could have done differently and do its best to make the membership a better fit for your needs. This is fair enough as any dissatisfaction you have may be down to you not using the wine rating system or other facilities that give you a good experience properly. However, if you’re’ sure it’s time to say goodbye, Bright Cellars won’t stop you.

Winc Cancellation Terms  

Canceling your Winc membership is easy-peasy. You get in touch using one of its contact options (phone, chat, or email) and the team will take you through the process.

As is common, it will find out why you’re leaving and point out that staying may be a better experience if you use options at your disposal. For example, if it’s down to cash flow, there’s the “skip a month” policy. If you don’t like your wines, there’s its rating facility to finetune your cases. This all being said, if your mind's made up, cancellation is straightforward.

Cancellation Terms Winner:

Winc

Bright Cellars Gifts 

If you know someone who would enjoy a Bright Cellars subscription, the club has a special gift card program in place. You can select anything from one to 12 months’ worth of wine with monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, and annual frequency options available.

Each month is $100 and gives your recipient six bottles. If you choose to send the gift card, you have the standard option or, for $10, you can send a card with a personal message all packed up in a gift box with a Bright Cellars corkscrew. There’s also the choice of sending your card via email.

Winc Gifts 

If you love your experience of all the Californian wine Winc offers and you know a friend or relative would appreciate a taste, the club offers a couple of ways to make a present of its superb range. You can arrange to send a gift card with some flexibility about the amount of cash you put on it.

If it covers the monthly memberships fee, your loved one can try Winc out for a month or so. If not, they can always trade it for some of the club’s wines. You can also send your card by mail or electronically.

Buy as a Gift Winner:

Bright Cellars