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Dry Farm Wines: Overhyped Or Love At First Sip?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please consider clicking through them if you choose to make a purchase; this helps support my ability to run this blog. Thank you! All reviews are based on my honest opinion.

I’ll start with a full disclosure: I discovered Dry Farm Wines myself last year, when I was looking for a fun birthday present for my husband. We’re low-key oenophiles that have vacationed in the Loire Valley and Burgundy in France, and have bopped around Spain, sipping our way through the vino in each city we visited. During the pandemic I was looking to recreate that sense of excitement, discovery, and intimate feeling that the wines we were drinking were being produced on a small scale, with love for the craft and the earth.

After a little research, I bought a one-time Dry Farm Wines gift box for us to try, and was super excited when it came in the mail. We had a blast opening our box and trying each one, a mix of rounded cabs, crisp sauv blancs, and toasty chardonnays. It was so much fun that we decided to make a habit of it, and signed up for an every-other-month subscription of 12 bottles that we continue to thoroughly enjoy. All this to say that I was enjoying Dry Farm Wines and telling people they needed to try it months before I got my affiliate link/promo code . . . which I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention 🙂

Try Dry Farm Wines for yourself + use this link to get an extra bottle for a penny

With that out of the way, here is an honest review and complete rundown of everything you’ll want to know before buying. Let’s cut through the hype and get to it.

But I hate subscriptions

The first question people always ask me is, “Do I have to commit to a recurring order?” The answer is no. Like I mentioned earlier, you can buy a one-time gift box (for yourself or someone else). The subheading says it all; I usually hate subscriptions. Canceling them can be such a pain, but thankfully, Dry Farm Wines makes it easy to change your mind. Plus I love the flexibility they give you to build your own membership. You can do (almost) anything, from 12 red wines a month, to 3 rosés a quarter. 

Is Dry Farm Wines really a healthier choice?

Ok, now to the hype. Any company that promotes itself as a healthier option of an inherently not-healthy product is going to invite some skepticism. Drinking alcohol is like cake, not kale–it’s not doing my body any favors, but it does taste lovely and make me feel darn good, and so I enjoy it in moderation. What makes Dry Farm Wines “healthier” in my book is that they stick to lower ABVs (between 10-12.5%), which means I can enjoy more delicious wine within my happy window (before I feel overserved), and they source wines that have no additives – from sulfites and stabilizers, to sugar and high-fructose corn syrup – none of which get disclosed on U.S. wine labels. (More on additives here, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.) Overall, Dry Farm Wines helps me sip intentionally while I support a craft that’s being done sustainably. That brings me to…

What is “dry farming” anyway?

The dry farming method simply means that crops are grown without irrigation, letting the vines find their own sources of water. Dry Farm Wines estimates that their growers save roughly 1.4 billion gallons of water annually by not irrigating.

In addition, Dry Farm Wines only sources from growers who focus on regenerative and sustainable (biodynamic) practices. While these producers follow organic farming practices (no fertilizers or pesticides), they may not all have gone the extra step to secure a USDA organic label on their bottles, which is why Dry Farm Wines says their wines are “organic/biodynamic.”

I love supporting any kind of food production that is ecologically responsible and supports small producers who are practicing and advocating for regenerative farming; it makes me feel good about where my dollars are going.

Are any of their wines from the U.S.?

Nope. Sad to say, the American wine industrial complex is just too big. Even when grapes are planted organically, they can be contaminated from soil runoff, rain, and wind from neighboring vineyards, so even organic wines produced in the U.S. too often test positive for pesticides and/or herbicides such as glyphosate. Dry Farm Wines lab tests ALL their wines to ensure the bottles they curate live up to their promises.

Ok, now tell me how the wine tastes!

As I mentioned, every other month we get a box of 12 mixed red and white wines that arrive via UPS [unboxing video coming soon]. Most are European, and most are young vintages from 2017/2018. In general, these are dry wines with good minerality, since they are mostly European. If you like sweet wines, Dry Farm Wines is probably not for you. But if you love French, Spanish, Italian, and Austrian wines, cheers! You will probably be thrilled with your bottles. I’ve been slacking a bit, but I’m on the Delectable app and will try to do a better job posting tasting notes and ratings for all my Dry Farm Wines.

Over the nine months we’ve been Dry Farm Wines customers, I’d estimate that 90% of our bottles were delightful, easy drinking, with 10% just ok. We’ve only had one bottle that was a dud, but never fear, Dry Farm Wines has excellent customer service. Every bottle they send is protected by their 100% Happiness Promise. If you don’t like a wine for any reason, Dry Farm Wines will either replace the bottle or refund you in full, whichever you prefer. All I had to do was send them an email asking for a replacement, and no questions asked – I quickly had confirmation for a new bottle on its way.

Bottom line: these are tasty, dry, minerally, mostly European wines that are great to have on hand for casual sipping.

What’s the cost and is it worth it?

Our 12 bottles come to $300 which shakes out to $25 each – completely reasonable for a good bottle of wine. Plus, since my neighborhood wine store only offers about four different organic wines, it takes away the time and effort I would have to spend searching for my own dozen bottles. Perfect for when you know you want to keep good wine on hand throughout the month (hint: they’re great for picnics!). The initial gift box I purchased came out to about $27 for six bottles, so as with most things, buying in bulk saves a little on cost.

To sum up, I’m very happy with Dry Farm Wines and highly recommend them to other low-key oenophiles looking for a way to keep good wines on hand, while supporting small, sustainably-minded producers.

Try Dry Farm Wines for yourself + use this link to get an extra bottle for a penny

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Leave a Comment

4 Comments

  1. Marli wrote:

    You nailed this entire description and made me want to keep my subscription! Haha I had to reassure myself about this wine and it’s all here in this blog. Thank you! I do love this new taste of wine and believe I prefer it now over most that are sold here where I live.

    Posted 3.4.24 Reply
    • Vanessa wrote:

      My pleasure; I’m glad you enjoyed the post! I love that DFW takes the guesswork out of always having delicious, high-quality bottles on hand!

      Posted 3.30.24 Reply
  2. Ene wrote:

    Excellent article! Dry Farm Wines selects and evaluates the wines they offer very carefully indeed!
    We also produce biodynamic wines in Italy using the dry farming method, and we are waiting to see if our wines meet their established criteria.

    Posted 3.18.24 Reply
    • Vanessa wrote:

      That’s wonderful, I hope you make it through their vetting process!

      Posted 3.30.24 Reply