The Little House of Concrete Stage One was complete and the budget was more or less under control (or as close to under control as such matters get) when an advertisement in The Weekend Australian Magazine Food & Wine issue prompted me to clip out a coupon, add the relevant financial details and become a member of The Wine Society. The process involved the purchase of $50 worth of shares in the co-operative, a procedure I repeated when 'Er Indoors appeared on the scene. At the time it seemed like a reasonable Christmas present and there were a couple of free bottles of bubbles - there are regular new member offers through the year - and though Madam eventually decided wo memberships was one too many, there's not much chance I'll be cancelling my own membership in the immediate future.
Over the next decade, the Society's Best Value selection (one of a number of regular tasting dozens, four deliveries per year $115 each time) was a vital element in Hughesy's long-term average $10-a-bottle strategy. The 15% discount when you reorder certainly helps in that regard, and, along with the occasional visit to the Lolly Shop, I've been able to maintain a long-term average of between $8 and $9 per bottle.
Circumstances change, and while there's not much chance I'll be wandering away any time soon, discoveries like the Tahbilk Everyday Drinking range and offers from places we've visited has meant the quantity of wine I've been sourcing from TWS has declined, which brings with it a slightly thorny problem.
Over the intervening decade various freight-free arrangements have come into play. Working to a budget when your location adds a couple of dollars to the per bottle price, freight-free is an important consideration. At first, the threshold was $1000 in the preceding financial year, but the dollar amount has crept up, and while they're currently offering to cover the cost for orders over three cartons, that doesn't seem likely to apply to the regular tasting dozens and the Red of the Year that lob on my doorstep in the middle of each year. Until recently I was happy to take the tasting packs, the change from $200/dozen Best in Society red and the odd reorder, but come the end of each financial year it'll be time to check what's on offer and see where we go from there. If, at some point in the future, continued membership ceases to be an option there'll be more than a slight twinge of regret.
There are a number of similar organisations out there. The Wine Society has been around longer than most, and if there are others out there that offer better value or a wider range the experience of the past ten years hasn't prompted me to go out seeking them.