Misfits Market Wine Shop Review

Since the pandemic started, many of us have gotten used to staying home while all of our desired products—booze, included—came to us. And even as restrictions lift and a new normal emerges, it doesn’t look like that tendency toward at-home convenience is going away any time soon.

That’s why more and more brands are getting in on the action, like Misfits Market’s new Wine Shop, which streamlines sustainable grocery and booze delivery from one place. When we first tested this “ugly” produce service, we loved how customizable the subscription could be—especially with the launch of the Misfits Marketplace, which widened the scope from produce-only to all groceries. And after the recent launch of dairy products on the site as well, Misfits is becoming a one-stop-shop for all your meal prep needs.

About Misfits Markets Wine Shop

Launched in early February (the perfect goodbye to Dry January), the Wine Shop at Misfits Market features curated bottles that come from both established and up-and-coming regions across the globe—from Sicily to South Africa. The company describes many of the featured wines as reflecting Misfits’ ethos of minimizing food waste and prioritizing sustainability, by being made from eco-friendly practices, low sulfites, or low winemaking intervention. Plus, all bottles are sourced directly from wine suppliers, which means there are fewer resources being used to get the products to you, compared to picking up some bottles from the liquor store.

How does it work?

The Wine Shop is listed as an “aisle” on the Misfits Market website, accessible once you activate your subscription and start shopping. The wines are available via bundles of three or six—some curated by wine type (white, red, rosé, or sparkling), region (like California and the Mediterranean), or suggested pairings (i.e. cheese or seafood). You can also purchase a pack of a singular wine type, if you prefer.

While browsing the shop, you can learn more about the bottles featured—like where they come from, tasting notes, where they fall on the dry-to-sweet scale, and pairing suggestions. The goal is to make the shop as accessible for wine experts as it is for novices.

Prices for wine bundles start at $35.99 and can go as high as $115.99. Once they get added to your weekly grocery order, there’s an alcohol service fee that applies to your bill (unless you buy six bottles, in which case that gets waived). Misfits allows you to pick a weekday for delivery—which you’ll want to make sure to monitor, since they’ll need to check ID before dropping off any wine.

What we tried

To absolutely no one’s surprise, I decided to feed my cheese addiction and go for the curated Cheese Board Companion pack, which includes three European bottles—two reds and a white—that are described on the site as especially fragrant and ideal for pairing with salty cheeses. This consisted of a 2018 Georges Vigouroux Hommage Malbec, a 2020 Pierofosco Sangiovese di Toscana I.G.T., and a 2019 Ca’ Gregorie Soave D.O.C.

I also opted to go for the full Misfits Market experience and order some of the featured cheeses and charcuterie to go along with my wine bundle, which included a selection of Alpine cheeses, herbed chèvre, parmesan, and prosciutto.

Overall, all the wines I tried were tasty and the featured cheeses didn't disappoint, but there were a few details that I felt were lacking—like the customization of wine purchases and the connection to sustainability.

What we like about Misfits Wine Shop

It’s convenient

Similar to Blue Apron’s wine club, there’s definitely an appeal to having a one-stop-shop aspect for wine and food together, without having to sign up for a separate wine subscription service. When you’re able to grab a full grocery haul plus a few bottles of wine from one site, it’s a much more convenient experience for consumers.

There’s also an appeal to having food-friendly curated bundles—like Cheese Board Companions, Picks for Pasta Night, and Bottles for Brunch—so that you can grab all the ingredients you need for hosting a dinner party in one go, without worrying about which wines will suit your meals best.

It’s accessible for wine beginners

It’s easy to learn about what to expect from a bottle by reading Misfit Market’s descriptions on the site, which is a helpful tool for beginners in the wine world. They guide you through everything from flavor profiles to suggested food pairings so that you don’t have to do much research before adding some to your cart.

And the wine education doesn’t stop there: Along with the bottles, each package comes with paper guides on wine tasting, which explain the difference between dry and sweet wines (along with varietal examples at each point on the scale), and how to properly taste test.

It’s a tool for discovering new wines

Misfits Market describes its selection as being curated by “searching high and low to find quality wines in places where others don’t often look.” So ordering a bundle from the site means exploring new producers that you may not find at your local grocer or liquor store. Plus, this technique translates into a cheaper price tag for consumers who are looking for high-quality wines on a budget.

All of the wines I tried were delicious—and good enough to share with my fussy wine-loving family members. The descriptions provided for each bottle were spot on, and all of the wines served as complementary partners to the cheese board that accompanied them.

What we don’t like

The three-bottle minimum

Three bottles of wine is quite a commitment—especially if you’re living alone or with one other person—or just aren’t sure which bottles you’ll actually like. Currently, it’s not possible to order a singular bottle (or two bottles, for that matter) from the Misfits Market wine shop, which I thought was especially inconvenient given that the rest of their site functions just like a traditional grocery store and offers a myriad of customizations.

That said, once you find something you like, stocking up on it all at once is definitely not a bad thing. But until you reach that point, paying for three at once might feel like a gamble.

The pairing suggestions could be better

When I ordered my bundle of wine that was specially curated for cheese boards, I expected to have specific cheese pairing suggestions that would make my experience seamless and unique from other wine delivery services. Instead, I realized that only two of the three bottles actually had cheese-related suggestions in the pairings list (other suggestions included steak and veggies, for example), and one of which was a cheese I couldn’t even buy from Misfits.

The one suggestion I could enjoy together (the 2019 Ca’ Gregorie Soave D.O.C. with organic sharp cheddar), worked really well though—making me wish there was more specific pairing guidance to elevate my wine drinking experience.

The connection to sustainability sometimes gets lost

As I said earlier, Misfits describes its selection of wines as “made with sustainable practices, low sulfites, or low winemaking intervention (i.e. natural wines).” But most of the time, these specific sustainable practices aren't laid out in the wine descriptions, leaving me to wonder how many of the bottles are actually consistent with the brand’s ethos.

There’s also no way to filter a search for wine preferences—like natural wines or sulfite-free wines—which made the wine hunt more of a challenge, and again had me questioning the shop’s claims of sustainability. The company has mentioned that they plan to add more varieties going forward, though, which may result in a more streamlined search process and more natural and organic options.

Is ordering wine from Misfits worth it?

Yes, if you’re not fussy about the particulars

If you’re already a Misfits Market member, and love the convenience of getting sustainably sourced produce and groceries to your door, adding the occasional wine bundle to your order could very well be the cherry on top of your experience. All of the wines I sampled were delicious, and as long as you don’t have an issue getting three-to-six bottles at a time (that you may have never seen before), this is a great way to get wine delivered.

If you’re more particular about wine—like only reaching for natural or organic options, for example—you might want to get your wine fill elsewhere. Mysa Natural Wine, for example, offers singular bottle purchases and only features selections from small growers that produce wine sustainably with specific winemaking methods. But keep in mind that that kind of curation comes with a steeper price tag, and doesn’t streamline delivery pricing with your groceries, like Misfits does.

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