Wine box · subscription gift sets · supplier
Wine boxes and subscription gift sets: a Bordeaux wine merchant as your supplier
A monthly box lives on its regularity: three wines a month, for hundreds of subscribers, with an accurate tasting card and a wine that does not run out when it is time to ship. The calculation below prices your needs over the year: bottles per month, bottles per wine, purchasing budget. That is what you need to know before choosing a supplier, and what to send them.
Your needs over the year
Nothing is sent until you click on the quote. Prices are purchase prices excl. VAT per bottle, excluding transport.
What Transvins can supply
- Mostly Bordeaux, from the regional appellation to classified growths, with second wines from great châteaux that make a “premium” box at a workable price; champagne, and a selection from other regions.
- Older vintages, for a special edition or a “year of birth” gift set: see the vintage chart.
- A label or gift box with your brand: on request, with a minimum quantity and a lead time to be set in the quote.
- Delivery to your warehouse or packing workshop, in cases. Direct shipping to each subscriber can be requested in the quote.
The price is excl. VAT and depends on volume, set out in the quote with the named wines and their vintages. Each quote is a snapshot: a wine available in September is not necessarily available in March. Hence the value of reserving a quarter's wines in one go.
A year of Bordeaux boxes: an example
Twelve months without serving the same appellation twice in a row, with two highlights in the year.
| Period | Theme | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| January to March | The Left Bank: Pauillac, Saint-Julien, Margaux, one second wine per box | Pauillac wines |
| April to June | Dry whites from Graves and Pessac-Léognan, rosé and clairet | In the quote |
| September, October | The Right Bank: Saint-Émilion, Pomerol, their satellites | Saint-Émilion wines |
| November | A vertical: the same château across three vintages | Vertical |
| December | Champagne and Sauternes for the festive season | Sauternes wines |
Each wine's card has to hold up: château, appellation, classification, vintage, when to drink it. The Bordeaux classifications page explains what “cru bourgeois” or “grand cru classé” means, so you do not get it wrong in print.
What volume do you need to work with a wine merchant?
From a few cases a month, a wine merchant becomes worthwhile; below that, a local wine shop does just as well. Beyond a few hundred bottles of the same wine, availability decides: check it before announcing the wine to your subscribers, not after.
Can the wines be reserved several months ahead?
It is the safest way: a quarter reserved in one go, delivered in one or several drops, avoids discovering at the end of the month that a wine has sold out. The terms (deposit, delivery dates) are set in the quote.
Do you need a licence to sell wine by subscription?
Yes: distance selling of alcohol counts as a takeaway sale, which requires a takeaway licence (licence à emporter), declared at the town hall (mairie). Check your situation before the first shipment; it is not the supplier who holds it for you.
How is this different from corporate gift boxes?
The rhythm. A monthly box buys all year, in steady quantities; a corporate gift box buys once, in November. For those, see works council (CSE) gift boxes and year-end client gifts.