Is joining a wine club worth it?

There’s a particular kind of joy that comes from finding your people. The ones who get genuinely excited about what’s in the glass, who want to know the story behind the wine, who love spending a Saturday afternoon at a cellar door discovering new wines to share with friends at their next get together.

That’s who the Convivial Club is for.

When Declan and Danielle started McCaffrey’s Estate back in 2014, the idea was always about more than just making wine. It was about building something that felt like a community, a group of people who cared about where their wine came from and who made it. The Convivial Club grew from that, and has become one of the best parts of running the estate.

Here’s what it actually means to be a member…..

You get the wines before anyone else does

When a new release comes off the bottling line, our Convivial Club members are the first to know about it. Limited releases, small-batch varietals, wines we’ve only made a few dozen cases of, members get first pick before we open it up to anyone else.

In a boutique winery like ours, that matters. We don’t make enormous quantities of anything. When something sells out, it sells out. Being a member means you’re at the front of the queue.

The pricing makes a real difference

We offer members exclusive pricing across our entire range, and it adds up over time. Whether you’re buying a single bottle to take to dinner or stocking up on a case of our Shiraz for the year ahead, you’re paying less than the general public every single time.

It’s one of those things that feels like a small perk until you do the maths and realise how much you’ve saved across a year of buying wine you were going to buy anyway, and don’t forget your free shipping, that’s definitely a benefit.

Someone else thinks about your wine for you

One of the most common things we hear at the cellar door is “I loved that wine we had last time, but I can’t remember which one it was.” Sound familiar?

As a member you can choose your own bottles each delivery, but you can also hand that decision to Declan entirely. His seasonal Winemaker’s selection is a curated mixed dozen that reflects what’s drinking beautifully right now, a mix of varieties.

It arrives at your door. You open it. You drink it. That’s the whole process.

The member events are something else entirely

This is the part that members talk about most.

A few times a year we open the estate for Convivial Club events that aren’t advertised publicly. Long lunches on the property, with live music, and delicious food. The kind of thing where you arrive not knowing anyone and leave having made proper friends, because the thing you all have in common is a love of good wine and a good time, and it turns out that’s enough to make great friends!

These events have a different feeling to a regular cellar door visit. There’s no rush, no turnover, no sense that the next group is waiting.

And for those not able to make it to the estate the interstate wine dinners are a great night out filled with conviviality at some of the best restaurants, and a chance to catch up with Danielle & Declan and plenty of other Convivial Club members.

What our members say

We’ve had members tell us the Convivial Club is the gift they buy themselves every year. We’ve had couples join after their first cellar door visit and come back season after season. We regularly have members travel from interstate for the events. And we’ve had more than a few people tell us the club made them fall back in love with wine after years of just grabbing whatever was on sale at the bottle shop.

That last one is our favourite.

How to join the Convivial Club

Joining is straightforward. You choose your membership, decide whether you’d like to select your own wines or leave it to Declan, and we handle everything from there. Deliveries go Australia-wide, and you’ll always get member pricing on anything you buy directly through us.

If you’ve been to the cellar door and thought about joining, this is your nudge. And if you haven’t visited yet, come in and say hello first. We’re open every day from 10am to 5pm at 614 Hermitage Road, Pokolbin, and we’d love to introduce you to the wines before you commit to anything.

The Convivial Club is open. The wine is good. And your people are already here.

Join us at McCaffrey’s Estate Convivial Club