SIGN ME UP ( Download Form )

There are a couple of ways you can sign up for the Bergamot Back Alley Wine Club. All of them require that we gather your shipping, billing and membership information:

• Call us and we will fill in the information for you (phone: 707.433.8720)
  
• Fax us the filled in form  (fax: 707.433.8726)
• Email us back the filled in form ( wineclub@bergamotalley.com )  
• Visit us at the bar and fill in the info in person (328A Healdsburg Avenue)

No matter which way you choose to sign up, we will be calling you to confirm the details. We do not gather credit card information online, or over email, so when we call you back we will verify all the particulars of your membership and secure your payment information at that time.

Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see tasting/terroir notes for January 2013′s three wines of the month.

ALL ABOUT BACK ALLEY WINE CLUB:

ROOTS

In the heart of California Wine Country we heard the call. The call for a challenge. For homage to winemaking roots. For inspiration. We saw a need to bring the Old World onto the menu, to highlight it’s little known regions, viticulture and winemaking practices. Our answer? Bergamot Alley Wine Bar and Merchants, in little ‘ole Healdsburg, California.

Owner Kevin Wardell’s passion is geeky, delicious wine. The name “Bergamot Alley” was inspired by the essence of Wardell’s favorite obscure grape variety, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, in tribute to it’s  exquisite bergamot and rose petal bouquet. The name invokes experience, and adoration for the obscure, a path which Wardell has tread well for many years.

WHO THE WHAT

Wardell’s decade plus of tutelage started with 5 years at SF’s Italian mothership restaurant A16, a path which led directly to a Sommelier certification and extensive travel in Europe, Asia and Down Under. He peppered in 5 years as a cellar rat in California’s Dry Creek Valley (Unti Vineyards) and New Zealand (Mt. Difficulty) and was then called to the position of Wine Director for flour+water restaurant, the Bay Area beauty of Italian culinary miracles. A series of Dry Creek crushes, a growing penchant for country living, and a keen eye for the missing link inspired Wardell to move up and on. Healdsburg became the place, and Bergamot Alley is the dream come true.

Through each professional and personal jig there were exclusive opportunities for Wardell to meet the producers, their families, tour the terroir, and intimately understand the wines he was bringing to his own State-side wine programs. Many years, tastes and tours later, his focus at Bergamot Alley is terroir-driven wines from emerging Mediterranean wine regions that fly under the radar and present excellent value. They all have a story, of people and place, time and tradition. Within our Wine Club the goal is simple- to share these stories and an Old World education through a healthy dose of geeky, delicious wines.

MAP QUIZ

Do you know your Bugey & your Bouzy from your Buzet & your Bonnezeaux? Or could you draw a route from Salice Salento to Enfer D’Arvier with a quick stop off, naturally, for some Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone? The world is shrinking and wine regions you’ve never heard of are creeping into the world’s wine conversations. It’s been the focus of wine educators and enthusiasts alike to discover the roots and history of our favorite wines as well new grapes to fall in love with.

You come to us to find this wow in wine. Now we want to bring it to your doorstep, one custom delivery at a time. With each box of bottles from our Back Alley Wine Club you will delve deeper into these pocket places of the Mediterranean, stacking up your knowledge cards. This is what Wardell does best, what he loves to do, and what the Bergamot Back Alley Wine Club is all about.

DING DONG

Every month a new triplet of wines will arrive at your door. If you are a local Healdsburgian we kindly suggest that you come pick up your box of bottles at the bar. Standard FedEx Ground delivery rates apply. So do local laws and regulations on booze. Somebody 21 or older must be available to sign for the shipment, and FedEx will email you confirmation of your day of delivery.

Your three monthly Wine Club wines will be boxed up and shipped on the 3rd Wednesday of every month (unless you are local and picking them up). Tastings of each month’s wines will be held the evening of shipping day, from 6pm to 8pm at Bergamot Alley. Wardell will be presenting detailed dialogue and stories about each wine on tasting nights (Kevin’s notes will accompany every box of bottles via email too). If you like what you taste, and want to purchase more, you receive 20% off all re-orders of any featured month’s wines, during that month.

BOTTOM LINE

We look forward to extending friendship rates and exclusive deals to all of our Wine Club members. As a member of the Bergamot Alley Back Alley Wine Club you will receive:

• 20% off all Wine Club wine re-orders during their featured month.
• 10% off all retail purchases every day of the year.
• Free tasting on the day of shipment/pick up (3rd Wednesday of every month, from 6-8pm)
• Exclusive deals and promotions for in-house tasting events and products.
• A hearty and sincere thank you for supporting our small, family owned business.

with love, from Kevin Wardell and Sarah Johnson