Wine Awesomeness is a monthly wine subscription that specializes in rare and unusual wines. They seek out "the coolest, craveworthiest wines" with plenty of crowd-pleasing appeal. The curatorial team includes a Food & Wine Sommelier of the Year!
Each Wine Awesomeness box comes with three wines. You choose whether you'd like the "All Red", "All White" (with a chance of rosé or bubbly), or the "Variety" (with a chance of rosé or bubbly) plan—they're all $45.00 per month. (This is the "Variety" plan.) If you're a more frequent wine drinker, or if you just want to grow your collection a little faster, Wine Awesomeness does offer all of their monthly selections for $75.00 per shipment in a plan called "The Six Pack."
Want to change your Wine Awesomeness preferences, skip a shipment, or cancel altogether? You can do all of the above via your online account at any time.
The wines arrive in a giant, nondescript cardboard box. Inside, the bottles were safely sitting in specially made cardboard trays, which keep 'em still and crack-free.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
This review is for the Variety plan, which is $45.00 per monthly box.
About Wine Awesomeness, a Wine of the Month Club
The Subscription Box: Wine Awesomeness
The Cost: $45 a month for 3 bottles of all red, all white, or a variety of red and white wines. $75.00 per month to receive all 6 monthly selections (of reds and whites).
ACTIVE DEAL: get 20% off
CODE: MSA20
The Products: Three bottles of wine “curated for adventurous souls.”
Ships to: US (including states most other alcohol subscriptions don’t ship to, like PA and OK) for free!
Wine Awesomeness "A Return to South Africa" December 2017 Box Review
This subscription box always comes with a mini-magazine called The Back Label. Inside, you'll find unique content like articles, infographics, and cocktails. They also do an amazing job describing each of the featured wines of the month. There are descriptions, suggested recipes to complement the flavors, and even song recommendations!
2017 Lekker White Wine - Estimated Value $17.00
I thought this label looked familiar I received a different style of Lekker in one of my first Wine Awesomeness boxes. It was delicious, so I was excited to try another version. This white wine has a strong mineral flavor to it that makes it earthy (the booklet says "sandy and clean", which sounds weird, but is absolutely deliciously on point), but it's got a fresh, crisp fruitiness to it, too. It's got a zip to it (I'm learning that's called "acidity") that I didn't expect. Actually, every bit of this white wine is a little unexpected. The flavors are all sort of beachy in a way—like a fruity sea breeze. Haha! The booklet more artfully describes it as having a "delightful mouthfeel, like licking early morning sunshine when it's pouring through your windows with a vengeance. Warm beams touching your cool, supple skin. Smells of lightly bruised golden pears and baked yellow apples." Mouth watering yet?
FYI, I'm estimating the price of this bottle based on a similar one on the Wine Awesomeness site, since this white one wasn't available!
2016 Lekker Red Wine - Estimated Value $17.00
Whoa, this other version of Lekker is even more surprising than the first. I couldn't put my finger on what the overwhelming flavor was here... some kind of raisin? Maybe an herb? It's fruity, yet dry and mineral-ish, almost like rosemary... Aha! The label of the bottle explains what I'm getting at: black pepper! I love black pepper (I go wild garnishing every lunch and dinner I can with the stuff), but I never thought I'd taste notes of it in a wine. Amazing! I love the lightness of this wine and the dark berry notes behind it. The booklet describes the flavor as "crunchy, deep brown soil and dried bay leaves, the fruit that is present is very dark with notes of black plums and black cherry." Earthy, rich, and delicious.
2016 Eikendal Shiraz Petit Verdot - Retail Value $68.00
Wow, buying this bottle online would cost you $68.00! That's more than this whole box cost! To be fair, it is a lovely bottle of wine. The flavor is more of the berry or raisin flavor that I think of when I imagine red wine, but with a lot more complexity that made it taste really sophisticated. The booklet describes the flavor as having hints of nutmeg, cinnamon, and even tea, which I can totally pick up on. They're sort of earthier complements to the rich fruitiness that comes forward first. The booklet also mentions that this is the kind of wine to "keep you warm when the snow is falling." I can see where they're coming from. I also tried this wine for the first time on one of the warmest winter days we've had this year, and I can attest that it was just as delicious, haha!
The Verdict: I really enjoyed this month's Wine Awesomeness box! I do kind of wish that I had gotten to try three different brands (rather than getting two Lekker wines), but being that the two wines from the same label were different varieties made that less of a concern. I was really impressed with these South African wines—the unexpected flavors they're able to develop are so unique and taste fantastic. Oh, and I know there are different camps when it comes to this issue, but I LOVE that all three bottles had twist-off caps! It makes them so much easier to crack into, particularly when you're on the go/bringing them over to someone's house or a BYOB dinner. No need to worry about remembering (or having to share) the bottle opener!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Every Wine Awesomeness box is curated specifically to the recipient's tastes. What's in the box depends on your responses to their easy questionnaire and also what's available at the time. It's likely you won't end up with the exact same wines that I did, but you might get something even better suited to your palate!
Coupon - Get your first box for $29! No coupon required, just use this link
Value Breakdown: This box of three wines cost $45.00 (shipping is free), but I estimate that I got about $102.00 in value! I did have to guess at the values for the two Lekker wines, so you could also look at it this way—the average cost I paid for each of these hard-to-find wines via this subscription was just $15.00.
Check out all of our Wine Awesomeness Reviews and all Wine of the Month Club reviews!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wish list!
Have you tried Wine Awesomeness? What do you think?
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.