(WSJ) - WINE LOVERS often act in irrational ways. They chase after wines they’ve never tasted based entirely on numerical scores, spend vast sums of money to store those very same bottles and, at a time when great wine can be purchased in almost every part of the world, they join a wine club.

I’ve never considered joining a wine club. I like to choose my own wine, or to consult retailers whom I know and trust. But I love a great surprise and a good deal even more. Could there possibly be a wine club that delivers both?

Some wine clubs are small operations owned by one or two people, or a single winery or retail store. Others are offshoots of large corporations, such as Virgin Enterprises (which operates Virgin airlines) or Forbes magazine, with no direct connection to the wine business. (The Wall Street Journal offers a wine club that has no connection to the newspaper’s news staff, including myself.)

Clubs might send members one or two bottles every so often, or one or two cases a month. The wines may be available at other outlets, or exclusively through the organization. Some clubs allow members to choose their own bottles, but often the wine-club director or directors are calling the shots.

My friend Tom loved being a member of the Italian Wine Merchants’ Club. He quit during the 2008 recession but recalled receiving two reds every month (“nicely packaged with a printed brochure,” he noted) for $185 per month. Now that both the economy and his own fortunes have improved, Tom hopes to rejoin his club.

Tom liked that someone else was choosing his wines. He figured they knew more about Italian wines than he did. He was familiar with Barolo and Brunello and wanted to discover other Italian wines. With his club membership, he found some other great wines he thought were also good deals. The only downside for Tom came when he received a wine he particularly enjoyed but couldn’t buy a second bottle because the club had sold out.

There was only one way to ascertain if I was missing out. I needed to join a wine club. I joined five of various sorts, starting with Club W, which is oriented to a younger generation of drinkers. My 27-year-old friend Leah had joined it to learn more about wine. She has already discovered more about her own tastes regarding regions and grapes, by choosing selections such as Cabernets from three different regions—so she could “taste the difference” of the grape grown in three places.