Cheese and Wine Unlimited Review

Cheese and Wine Unlimited...
Home of Creative Gifts

Cheese and wine is probably the best food and drink combination ever discovered by man (and woman). I don't know about you, but the name of this gift basket club already sells me.

The nature of this Ohio-based club goes far beyond wine and cheese, though; it also includes food, chocolate, coffee, and tea.

Baskets Galore

Their 42 different wine basket options begin with a basic wine chest for $39.95, with a single wine bottle in an elegant chest, and go up to their Desperate Husbands...Happy Wives basket, featuring a bottle of Dom Perignon surrounded by gourmet snacks and chocolates in a beautiful arrangement for $425.

If you are a wine enthusiast, one of the best options has to be the Fine Wines, California Wines basket, which includes a Grgich Chardonnay, a Chandon Champagne, and an Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon.

Of course, the wines are paired with olive oil, wine biscuits for each type of wine, plus other snacks, a corkscrew, and, my favorite, the Wine Spectator's guide to the California wine country. All of this for a price of $242.

A Question of Value

To check the value for money of the Fine Wines basket, I performed a little experiment, by adding the individual prices of the wine, to see how much one would be paying for the snacks, etc.

Now, the excellent Grgich Chardonnay's market value is around $30. The Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon is between $15 and $20, depending on the vintage, while the Chandon is about $14. That adds up to a maximum of $64, based on snooth.com's reliable price lists, implying that you would be paying $180 for the basket's non-wine contents.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't very impressed with the results of my little experiment. I think the most appealing thing about Wine and Cheese Unlimited is the fun and the creativity of their gift basket choices.

I would totally recommend it for a gift, but if you are looking for wine and snack selections for yourself, unless you really have to have the basket, they seem a bit too pricey.

Originality is Key

Speaking of creativity, I absolutely have to tell you about one of my favorite among Cheese and Wine Unlimited's gift baskets. I think picnics are underrated, so I have to go with "The Picnic" too. It is a beautiful reusable basket full of everything you need for a perfect Chardonnay picnic.

Featuring a $15 Forest Glen Chardonnay, accompanied by must-have acrylic wine glasses (drinking wine from paper cups is something you should avoid at all costs!) a cheese knife, cheese board, napkins, and other utensils. Of course, no picnic is a picnic without some Brie, olives, chocolate, and even a disposable camera to capture the moment!

The $225 price may be a bit steep, but this basket has that rare quality that once you have used up all of its contents, some things will remain, like the wine glasses, the basket itself, the napkins, etc. In a way, it is a promise of more pleasurable moments to come, and, for this, I would say it is a good investment, especially for someone who loves picnics and wine.

Building Your Own

Looking at the numbers, it would seem that the "Build your own basket" option would be the best choice. Nevertheless, the flexibility of the selection points is not great, since you can only choose between 4 wines, 4 cheeses, about ten different snacks, 4 tea/coffee options, plus 2 different wine snacks.

There are two "Build your own basket" options at Cheese and Wine Unlimited. One costs $75 and the other one $125.

The latter offers a choice of 4 x $15-20 wine bottles, such as the BV Cabernet Sauvignon. The items' arrangement and packaging is, as always impeccable.

One thing to be said about the wine selections included in the baskets is that they are some of the best affordable California wines in the market; while they are sometimes under $20, they typically have great ratings and reviews.

Shipping & Extras

Cheese and Wine Unlimited also runs a Bonus Rewards Club Member program. You can join free of charge to start getting discounts on your upcoming purchases and other benefits.

Baskets are shipped by UPS, and they are delivered no later than 4 business days after the day of shipping, which will be the day you ordered if you do it before 12:00 PM EST. The regular shipping cost is $5 in the Continental US. Same day shipping is also available for a higher fee.

Reputation

Though there is not much information available as far as customer reviews are concerned, Wine and Cheese Unlimited enjoys a 96% ranking from the respected Safe Shopping Network.

Our Rating

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