Don't invite American Cellars Wine Club to the party

A luscious Dublin Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from American Wine Cellars Club, but this is one club I won't be joining.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss a bad experience with one of those online wine clubs, and the newfound pleasure of shopping at Costco Wholesale after 5 p.m.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Some of the best values in wine are found by accepting the introductory discount offers of clubs that send bottles right to your door.

For as little as about $5 a bottle, I have enjoyed delicious, drinkable wines from around the world, with no obligation to buy more at regular prices.

So, I gladly accepted an offer from United Airlines -- six bottles of California wine from the American Cellars Wine Club for $41.95, including shipping ($6.99 a bottle).

And my first two shipments also would earn frequent-flier miles.

But American Cellars Wine Club sent out my first shipment of six bottles and then, without notice, another six that cost me $127.26, according to my credit card statement ($21.21 a bottle).

Unlike other wine clubs, including those sponsored by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Zagat, I wasn't given the opportunity to turn down the wine or cancel my American Cellars membership. 

What followed were a series of calls to customer service at American Cellars -- just one of the clubs operating under the banner of vinesse.com -- and exchanges of e-mails.

I didn't want to return the second six bottles at my expense, so I offered $41.95, what I paid for the first six, and my offer was accepted.

On Feb. 7, a credit of $85.31 showed up in my card account.

Shopping at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack is a pleasure after 5 p.m., as it was on Friday, when only one other shopper was ahead of me in the checkout line, above. I bought salt-free raw almonds, organic baby spinach, fresh blueberries and more.

I use another Costco item, whole peeled garlic cloves from the Christopher Ranch in California, when boiling skin-on sweet potatoes and Kabucha Squash to mash with extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt and Kirkland Signature Organic No-Seasoning.

Liquid egg whites

On Friday, I bought a six-pack of Kirkland Signature Egg Whites for $8.79 or about $1.47 for each 16-ounce carton.

That's about half of what you'd pay for liquid egg whites with coloring or with such additions as diced sweet peppers.

An 18-ounce package of fresh blueberries from Chile were $6.99 and pleasantly sweet. A 1-pound package of organic baby spinach was $4.29, up from $3.99.

A package of Rabbits -- hard, chewy organic granola bars with oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruit -- were $12.74 or about 85 cents each after an instant $4.25 discount.

The product is called 18 Rabbits, but contains only 15 bars.

H Mart coupons, kosher food, wine clubs

Seaweed rolls with vegetables, fish and egg from H Mart in Englewood.

I got a thick H Mart Coupon Book in the mail the other day, recalling the discount booklets the Korean supermarket chain issued for about 6 months in 2011.

Don't get your hopes up for the resumption of regular coupon books. This one is to celebrate the chain's 30th year in America.

H Mart has stores in 9 states.

A marketing employee at H Mart's New Jersey headquarters said another coupon book may be issued at the end of the year.

The coupon book was sent to shoppers like me who have an H Mart 1% cash-rebate card. 

The coupons are good from Aug. 25 through Sept. 7 at stores in Fort Lee, Englewood, Little Ferry, Ridgefield and Edison.

Some but not all of the coupons list the regular price for comparison to the discounted price.

 

A Glatt kosher turkey (Wikipedia)

'Kosher' fruit salad

I witnessed the kosher food scam at the Paramus ShopRite this morning.

An African-American woman distracted by her two young sons did a double take when a small container of fruit salad rang up at $3.49.

The African-American clerk explained the fruit salad came from the kosher food section.

When the woman asked how kosher is different than regular food, the clerk explained kosher food is prepared by "kosher people."

I tried to explain some of the rules of kosher food to the woman -- such as the prohibition against mixing meat and dairy -- but said I couldn't understand how fruit salad could be made "kosher."

I said kosher food is just like regular food, but costs more.

The poor woman was a victim of the kosher food scam, whereby conventional food is labeled kosher and the price is hiked accordingly.

Kosher food doesn't guarantee it was raised or grown naturally unless it says so on the package.

With dinner, I drank Italian Sangiovese di Romagna Superiore from a wine club.

Join the club

One of the few ways to get around high wine prices in restaurants and liquor stores is to take advantage of introductory offers from wine clubs.

In recent years, I've bought several cases of award-winning wine from clubs sponsored by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Zagat.

The introductory cases often include a bonus, such as the Rabbit corkscrew and other accessories that came in a beautiful wood case or a Riedel wine carafe.

Now, WSJ Wine is offering 15 bottles of "superb reds" worth $229.99 for only $69.99, plus $19.99 for shipping and tax. 

That's about $6 a bottle, and you're under no obligation to buy any more wine.

I'll drink to that.