Is there really a credit card for wine lovers? I was happy to find out the answer is yes. In fact, there are a few great credit card options now. Our favorite credit card that offers discounts on wine is the Grand Reserve Card. If you are into wine country travel, you should consider the Visa Signature card for it's wine tasting benefits.
These credit cards offer great benefits for wine lovers, but they are also just great all-around cards to keep in your wallet. We go into detail about each card's benefits below.
[note] This post about the best wine credit cards contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and decide you love what they have to offer, we will be compensated.
The Grand Reserve Card
- Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $3,000 or more in the first 90 days with no annual fee for the first year
- Receive a free set of Grassl Glass European handblown stemware on signup (no spend)
- Spend $250 at any Grand Reserve partner within 90 days and earn an additional 5,000 bonus points
Our top credit card for wine lovers is the Grand Reserve card.
With this credit card, you will receive 5x points whenever you purchase wine at one of the 400 participating wineries. Imagine earning all those points buying something you love! That's just one of the wine-inspired benefits of this card.
Here are a few more advantages we love:
- 3x points on any other wine purchase outside the 400 partners.
- 3x points on purchases at restaurants and bars.
- The first-year membership fee is waived if you sign up before the end of the year.
- Complimentary Priority Wine Pass. You can learn more about the Priority Wine Pass here.
- 50,000 points if you spend $3,000 in your first three months.
- Complimentary wine magazine subscription.
The Visa Signature Card
We love to bring you great wine tasting deals. We've already told you about the Priority Wine Pass, the free tasting rooms in Napa, and how to get free tastings from your wine country hotel. Now we are introducing the perfect credit card for wine lovers. We all carry credit cards, right? Cash is on its way out and Bitcoin, we won't even go there. How about carrying a card that rewards you in wine country or a credit card that gives you extra points when you buy wine?
If you are reading this, I bet you enjoy wine tasting. The challenge these days are the high tasting fees. We keep track of tasting fees at a few thousand wineries. We feel your pain. The average tasting fee is around $25 in Sonoma and that doesn't include any freebies. Many wineries don't even comp your tastings when you buy a few bottles. So how can a credit card solve this issue?
We'd like to present the Visa Signature card! The brilliant people at Visa got together with the Sonoma Vintners and hatched a plan. They decided to give anyone who carries a Visa Signature Card gets some free wine tasting. They also extend the gratis wine pours to Visa Infinite cardholders.
You are thinking, how many wineries offer the signature Visa discount?
Great question! The answer is 49 Sonoma wineries offer discounts for credit cardholders. That's enough tasting rooms to keep you busy for a while. We suggest a max of five tasting rooms a day. Limiting yourself to five stops gives you a chance of tasting the wine at your last stop.
Combine this deal with your Priority Wine Pass savings and you may never pay full price in Napa or Sonoma again.
Credit Card For Wine Lovers Benefits
Here are the specific benefits of this wine lover friendly credit card:
- Purchase 1 standard tasting using a Visa Signature or Visa Infinite card and receive 1 complimentary tasting of equal or lesser value.
- Preferred pricing on non-wine purchases over $50, where applicable.
- Savings on wine purchased same-day in the Tasting Room.
- Savings on Reserve tasting or special wine and food pairings.
We suggest you check on any deals in advance. Call the wineries and let them know you have a Visa Signature credit card. Ask them whether they are still part of the program and what their current discount offer is. You don't want to show up at a tasting room and find out you are paying full price!
On top of the discounted tasting fee, it's nice that you can save a few bottles to take home with you. But there are even more savings! A local wine tour company also got in on the deal.
Pure Luxury is offering credit card holding wine lovers a 15% discount on tours. We always recommend letting someone else drive when you are hitting the tasting rooms. It makes for a much more relaxing day.
Wineries That Accept The Credit Card For Wine Lovers
I bet you are ready to see a few of the wineries that are part of this credit card deal. You can follow this link to see the full list.
Here are a few that we really enjoy:
Ferrari Carano
This is a grand winery and tasting room. You feel like you've been transported back to the Old-Country. Sip wines on their expansive tasting terrace or hang out in the Villa Fiore tasting bar and wine shop. Ferrari Carano makes remarkably consistent wines that highlight the best of their Sonoma county estate vineyards.
Make sure you try their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. These are the wines that keep Ferrari Carano a top destination for wine travelers in Sonoma.
La Follette
We recently had an amazing Pinot Noir from La Follette as part of our Gold Medal Wine Club membership. Their wines, especially Pinot Noirs, consistently score above 90 pts. with top wine critics like Vinuous.
Make sure you book in advance at La Follette as reservations are required for tastings here. As we said before, contact the winery to find out what deals they offer to Visa Signature credit card holders.
Mutt Lynch
The logo says it all. We featured this winery on our list of dog-friendly wineries because it's a fun winery with a great mission. We didn't realize at the time that they honor the credit card for wine lovers.
Mutt Lynch donates some of their proceeds to protecting animals. We love any winery that gives back to causes they believe in. They also run a very unpretentious winery. That can be a nice break from some of the more formal tasting rooms.
Conclusion
If you love wine and you already carry a Visa Signature credit card, you are in luck. You can save money at a bunch of Sonoma County wineries. You'll be happy to know this benefit extends to some Washington State Wineries also. You can get winery savings in Woodinville with the credit card.
We will be back soon with the best car for wine lovers. That's right, there is both a credit card for wine lovers and a car for wine lovers. There is a lot of love out there.
