The Original Wine of the Month Club in a Nutshell

I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of Wine of the Month Club, Paul Kalemkiarian Jr.

WOTMC is one of the oldest, if not the original mail order wine delivering service establishments in the country.

Originally opened as a pharmacy and drugstore back in 1972, WOTMC didn’t start out as a wine supplier. Oddly enough, they hardly even carried wine until the mid 70s.

By then, the drugstore became Palos Verdes Wines and Spirits which notably became the place for wine in the Los Angeles area. Slowly, the wine inventory grew and so did business, but this idea was short lived.

In 1979, the owner, Paul Kalemkiarian Sr. grew tired of the retail business and sold his pharmacies including the wine business. It wasn’t until 1989 when the young Paul Kalemkiarian Jr. decided to make a drastic career change from sales in a completely different industry and bought back the wine business.

Today, the Wine of the Month Club has more than 12,000 different wines in stock and growing, with more customers than ever before, and thriving even during this tough economy.

Part of the success is their unparalleled diversity of wine selections and their wine club membership. Paul and a panel of extremely qualified critics taste and select each and every wine for the wine of the month. Each month, this panel taste in upwards of 200 wines every month. Once these wines are decided upon, Paul then creates a weekly videocast and newsletter for each membership series, so everyone gets a change to learn about what they are about to receive in the mail.

At WOFTMC there are three membership categories to choose from, the Classic Series, the Limited Series, and the Vintner Series. Each tier represents a class of wine which are determined by pricing. While all the selected vintages are of superiority for its class, no member is felt left out. Each month, a member will receive two bottles of exceptional wine. A member can choose to receive all red, all white, or a combination. And, each membership comes with a monthly newsletter written by the cellermaster himself which he details each vintage and its origin.

That is Wine of the Month Club in a nutshell. If you want to learn more about this exceptional service, check out their website or come by and visit Wine of the Month Club in person.

Contact information:
Wine of the Month Club®
Phone 1-800-949-WINE (1-800-949-9463) 8am-5pm PST M-F Fax (626) 303-2597907 S Magnolia Ave, Monrovia. CA 91016 Postal: P.O. Box 660220 Arcadia, CA 91066