BOTTLENOTES FAQs
What is Bottlenotes?
Bottlenotes is a customized wine club service tailored to consumers’ personal taste preferences, and a retail wine website offering wines from small and boutique producers around the world. We use cutting-edge matching technology (an algorithm) to help people learn and keep track of what styles of wine, varieties, and regions they truly like.
Why join a Bottlenotes wine club?
Bottlenotes makes it easy for you to discover which wines are perfectly suited to your personal tastes. Bottlenotes will also provide you with easy access to wines from some of the best producers around the world with the click of a mouse.
How do you determine someone’s personal taste preferences?
Initially, the answers a club member gives in their personal taste profile provide a snapshot of their “personal taste preferences.” The answers to these questions tell Bottlenotes enough about what they like to send the club member their first shipment of wines. Next, members are reminded to rate the wines they receive on their “My Cellar” page, which keeps track of the wines they have received. Like Netflix, Bottlenotes uses the ratings to further hone customers’ taste preferences and make better recommendations of wines they will like. We would like to be the Netflix of wine. (To that end, we are fortunate to have Jim Cook, the Co-Founder of Netflix, on our Board of Directors to lend expertise in achieving this goal.)
How does someone sign up for a wine club?
To sign up for a Bottlenotes wine club, consumers go to www.bottlenotes.com and choose from the selection of clubs (see attached list). Consumers’ interests, experience, and budget will influence which club(s) they join. Regardless of which specific club they join, a club member first selects how many bottles of wine they would like to receive in each shipment (2, 4, 6, or 12), how often they would like to receive wine (monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly) and whether they would like all red, all white, or a mix of red, white, and perhaps rosé, dessert wine, or sparkling wine. Next, a new club member completes a personal taste profile, which asks questions about what types of wine and food they like, but also some unexpected questions like “How do you salt your food?” and “How do you take your coffee?” which relate to people’s bitterness sensitivity. Based upon this information, Bottlenotes will send members their first wine club shipments. We then will follow up and ask consumers to rate the wine that they received on their personal “My Cellar” page. As they rate their wines, we offer further recommendations of wines they might like on their “My Cellar” page next to their “personal taste profile.” Club members can also switch to a different Bottlenotes club at any time.
Do I sign any type of contract?
NO! There is no commitment. Your membership will automatically renew each month, but you can can cancel at any time.
Can I add wines that I’ve tried in other places (a friend’s house, or at a restaurant, etc.) to My Bottlenotes (Virtual) Wine Cellar?
Not only can they keep track of how they have rated wines and what their comments were on Bottlenotes wines, members can also add tasting notes and ratings on any wine ever tasted to their Wine Library. Members can even maintain a “Wish List” of wines they would like to receive.
Will I be able to share my wine tasting notes and recommendations with friends?
Yes. Club members can give permission to friends to access their “My Cellar” page so that they can see what wines friends have tried and enjoyed, and also learn from what wines are on friends’ wish lists what to buy them as a birthday or anniversary present.
Who chooses the wines for each of my shipments?
Wines are chosen based on your personal taste preferences. Initial recommendations will be made based upon your answers from the questionnaire you complete when you sign up for a club. As you input ratings on the wines you try, your personal taste profile will be updated. Our Taste Preference Engine will use the information to recommend exciting, new wines to you.
I am already in a wine club. What makes a Bottlenotes wine club unique or different?
• The wines sent to you from Bottlenotes are totally customized to your personal taste, as opposed to other clubs that send every member the same wine
• Personalized recommendations - Bottlenotes can serve as your “personalized” sommelier service
• Bottlenotes can recommend the perfect cheeses/foods to serve at a wine tasting or dinner party
• Bottlenotes provides tasting mats and notes to make tastings easy!
Will you have rare wines?
Limited Addictions Club Members will have access to rare and highly allocated wines from around the world. And soon Bottlenotes will add older vintages of wines, including rare older Bordeaux.
If my wife and I join a Bottlenotes club, can we have two separate records of what we’ve tried and how we liked them?
Soon!
How am I billed as a Bottlenotes club member?
Your credit card will be automatically charged each month that your wine is shipped - no fuss, zero hassle! Again, no commitment is required: you can cancel at any time.
Can I pre-pay my membership?
Yes, if you would like to pre-pay your membership, please email customerservice@bottlenotes.com and we will process the desired length of your membership for you.
To which states does Bottlenotes ship?
Botttlenotes currently ships to the following states (we will add states as they open up): Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
What if someone does not want to join a club?
Non-wine club members can sign up for our “virtual cellar technology,” which keeps track online of the wines they have and the wines they have tried along with their personal tasting notes. They can also buy gift certificates, gift subscriptions, or simply go to the Bottlenotes Wine Shop and purchase dozens of boutique wines from around the world! Each wine listed on the website comes with the wine’s details, history, and our Bottlenotes’ tasting notes.
How does Bottlenotes choose the wines it features in clubs and the online retail store?
We do a great deal of research on small and boutique wine producers in both the “new” and “old” worlds. We also try to find regions of countries that are less well known, yet offer fabulous wines, such as Jumilla, Spain, or Santa Barbara, California. Bottlenotes also offers stellar wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Napa and other well known regions.
Does Bottlenotes have a return policy?
Unfortunately it is illegal for U.S. consumers to ship wine in the United States. Nonetheless, your satisfaction is our first priority. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with your order, please contact us within 30 days of receipt of your shipment at customerservice@bottlenotes.com. We will resend all defective bottles on good faith for the first request. Following the wine trade tradition, all bottles ten years or older are purchased at the buyer's risk.
Will Bottlenotes keep my information private?
Absolutely. Click here for important information on how we use the personal information we ask you to submit. As we update and expand our services, this policy may change, so please refer back to it periodically. If you use any of Bottlenotes' services, you agree to these terms.
What other features do you offer?
• Bottlenotes club members have access to the Bottlenotes WinecyclopediaTM, a comprehensive guide of general information on wine terms, varieties, regions, and more! www.winecyclopedia.com
• Bottlenotes hosts wine tastings and winemaker dinners around the country, such as our “Around the World in 80 Sips” tasting events that we introduced with our launches in New York and Chicago. There are members-only events and other events that are open to the public and are excellent opportunities for wine lovers to meet each other and to connect with industry experts.
• Chefsnotes (launching in 2007) will be a section of the website that features interviews with famous chefs and sommeliers, including their recipes and food and wine pairing suggestions. There will also be original food and wine articles written by other luminaries in the field. Starting in 2007 members will be able to type in a specific food and see what wine pairs well with it, or vice versa, what foods pair well with that fabulous bottle they have been saving since last year.