Do the names Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir titillate your taste buds? Are you familiar with red, white, chilled rose, still and sparkly? Do you wish you could know more about these and get them delivered to your home? Then probably it is time that you apply for a membership to a wine club.

Wine clubs are the best things to happen to wine-lovers across the world after the invention of the corkscrew. Wine clubs are specialist interest clubs made up of members with a common interest - wine. It is a fun and convenient way for wine lovers of all kinds to experience the world of wine. Wine clubs also cater for those looking to either develop their knowledge of fine wines or those that want to enjoy sampling a range of wines from around the globe.

With the popularity of wine clubs increasing, wine clubs of different types have come up - from subscription wine clubs offering a variety of membership schemes to social, discount and free wine clubs. Subscription wine clubs are the most professional of all, with experts on board making available the best of wines to their members. Social wine clubs can be a closer affair formed of friends and family members who create a yearly fund to acquire wine for satisfying their taste buds. Discount wine clubs offer money saving benefits where you can have the best wines at a discounted price while free wine clubs send free samples and make you pay for only those that you want to keep.

Whatever the type of wine club, the foremost benefit offered is to make available to the members a variety of wines from across the globe. Wine clubs give you the opportunity to try wines that you may never otherwise get the chance to sample, which is a treat indeed for wine connoisseurs. Bottles are sent to members, along with tasting notes and matching food advice, on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis depending on the type of subscription opted for. Invitations to wine tasting sessions, special wine events, trips to wine-making regions are also some of the benefits you can enjoy. Before joining a wine club it is important to decide what benefits you want to derive from your club and whether the club offers those. And don't lose heart if there are no wine clubs in your area, you can apply for your chosen wine club online.