A working plan, not a contract
What follows lists the clauses needed for the wine club membership terms, in the order they should be drafted. It is not final text: it must be written by a French lawyer and, for its US-facing part, by a lawyer specialised in alcohol beverage law.
Clauses to be drafted
- Nature of the membership. What the member is actually buying: a number of bottles, at a given rarity level, over a given period. Not named bottles.
- Selection and substitutions. The publisher's right to replace an unavailable wine with an equivalent of at least the same level, with the member informed.
- Term. A one-year membership, one case of twelve bottles a year, shipped in November, February or May at the member's choice.
- Geographic eligibility. The countries and states where the membership can be fulfilled, stating that membership is refused or refunded where delivery proves impossible.
- Age and receipt. Legal drinking age, adult signature required, delivery refused where there is any doubt.
- Renewal. See below.
- Transfer and gifting. Conditions under which a membership may be given to someone else.
- Suspension and termination by the publisher. Cases of non-payment, invalid address, fraud, or a legal inability to deliver.
- Force majeure and allocation risk. A clause specific to wine: what happens if a domaine fails to deliver.
Renewal
Policy retained: tacit renewal, with written notice one month before. One month before the term, a letter announces the coming charge, asks the member to confirm, and offers to change collection, split or shipping window. The renewal can be stopped at any time before the charge is taken.
Two points for counsel. French law (loi Chatel, article L. 215-1 of the Consumer Code) governs tacit renewal for French consumers: the notice must land inside a defined window before the term, and sending it exactly thirty days out leaves little margin. Separately, with American customers, chargebacks on recurring charges of €890 to €1,990 are frequent and costly: proof of consent to the recurring charge must be kept.
Cancellation during a membership
Policy retained: fourteen days from payment to change your mind, refunded in full. No case is prepared or shipped before that period has passed. After the fourteen days, once the case has left, that year is committed. The following renewal can be stopped at any time before it is charged.