10 Best Online Wine Shops | Food & Wine |
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Despite years of shopping for wine on the internet, I still can't quite get used to the idea. Wine, after all, isn't like a book or CD. ...more
10 Best Online Wine Shops | Food & Wine
My F&W:
From mega-Web sites to tiny, quirky specialists, these e-merchants can procure great wines in top condition.
By
Jon Bonné
Despite years of shopping for wine on the internet, I still can't quite get used to the idea. Wine, after all, isn't like a book or CD. Holding a bottle, inspecting its label—you just can't replicate that experience inside a browser window. Yet I do most of my wine buying online. Why? For starters, the comparison shopping is unbeatable. With search engines like Wine-searcher.com and Google (which most retailers love), you no longer have to go to the Montrachet; the Montrachet will come to you. Cross-referencing the latest scores and top recommendations is blissfully easy, and especially pleasurable when you can do it at home in your bathrobe on a Saturday morning. Certain things separate the top Web sites from the also-rans. Ease of use and good customer service matter, for a start; so does price. But ultimately, what really counts is selection. Maybe that's why so many of the 10 terrific sites below are established retailers with online divisions: They have the best access to a wide range of wonderful wines. appellationamerica.comThis is the ultimate source for obscure American wines—Merlot from North Yuba, California, say, or Ohio River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It also offers wines directly from more than 120 wineries. One to try: the appealing Bowers Harbor Vineyards Semi-Dry Riesling from Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula. Tip: A search tool parses each state's shipping laws to determine which wines shoppers can buy. avalonwine.comRun out of a modest Corvallis, Oregon, wine shop of the same name, this is a comprehensive source of top Washington and Oregon wines from producers like Beaux Frères and Leonetti Cellar—though it sells great wines from obscure producers, too. Tip: Avalon's wine clubs, like the Northwest Big Reds Club and the Reserve Pinot Noir Club (membership costs $80 per month), are a great way to access up-and-coming stars, like Oregon's Daedalus Cellars and Washington's O-S Winery. bountyhunterwine.comMark Pope's Bounty Hunter is a restaurant in downtown Napa, as well as a catalog and Web site featuring top Napa and Sonoma wines. One recent find: the rare 2002 Mount Veeder Progeny Cabernet Sauvignon from Marco DiGiulio, who also made the cult Lokoya wines. Tip: Download the catalog; it's an always-enjoyable read. brownderby.comGreat deals in Missouri on California wines? Brown Derby owner Ron Junge uses his long-standing connections to bring great California wines like Copain Syrah home to the Show-Me State. He also offers hard-to-find gems such as the Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Champagne. Tip: Many, but not all, of the wines here have low markups. Low inventory numbers ("Only 6 left!!") are often a guide to bottles that are going fast. chambersstwine.comOwners David Lillie and Jamie Wolff are consummate wine geeks who have assembled an impressively esoteric inventory in their Manhattan store, and on their Web site, which includes lots of Loire valley wines and biodynamically grown Bordeaux, like Château Peybonhomme-Les-Tours Premières Côtes de Blaye. Tip: Check out the "Pre-Arrivals" section for Lillie and Wolff's latest finds. klwines.comSerious wine lovers have been turning to this California retailer for more than 30 years. K&L's wine buyers not only hunt down the best from nearly every region in the world, but also sell hundreds of direct-import wines at great prices. The Web site shows real-time inventory of just how many bottles of a given wine are still available. Tip: Direct-import sparkling wines include terrific bargains such as Tarlant Brut Zéro Champagne. wine-club-central.comThis no-frills site isn't actually in Napa but Chino, a small city between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Owners Tom and Kris De Grezia have access to highly allocated wines, which they offer at excellent prices. These include famous names like Ridge Monte Bello, as well as lesser-known ones like Rusack Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. Tip: Check out the "90+ Under $20" section for bargains. 2020wines.comLos Angeles-based owner Bob Golbahar specializes in hunting down impossible- to-find wines for impossible- to-reach clients like Jack Nicholson and Sandra Bullock. The informative and easy- to-use site includes prestige bottles like Cabernet from Harlan Estate and the 1995 Denis Mortet Clos de Vougeot, but also great deals. Tip: The site contains lists of 99- and 100-point wines for those buying bottles to fill out their collections. vinfolio.comThis California wine-storage company's recently launched Web store is packed with more than 1,500 hard-to-find wines, like Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis, along with scores and average retail prices based on online data and recent auction sales. Specialists offer to help anyone looking to build a killer collection—and buy at least $10,000 worth of wine. Tip: The site lists great older bottles, like the sought-after 1994 Dominus Estate. winecommune.comThis is eBay for wine lovers, where frenzied bidders vie for wines like a 1979 Château Pétrus or a 1999 Screaming Eagle. Modest bidders can score bargains, too—there's a no-minimum section where lots open at just a buck. Handling charges nudge up the total but are still quite reasonable. Tip: Watch auctions in the "Closing Today" section and pounce on them, eBay-style. Jon Bonné is the wine editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Updated October 2010. © Peter Arkle
Published
June 2007
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Buying Wine Online - Discount Shops & Guides |
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Your guide to the best sites for buying wine online.more
Buying Wine Online - Discount Shops & Guides
var addthis_pub = 'jchiff';
MAIN
Home
Life Shopping
Wine Discover
general information on wine, wine storage, reviews and other helpful
information, along with tips and advice on just what wine you
want to buy. Once you find
what you're looking for, you can make the purchase online or a
visit to your local wine shop should take care of getting your
wine - even if you live in an area that restricts consumer access
to buying alcohol online. If you are,
or aspire to be, a "wine geek" the info here is a good
start. If you need more detailed information on wines, the regions
that produce wines or any wine related subject... click over to
our World
of Wine Guide where you'll find more detailed pages on ordering,
shopping, choosing, buying, storing and serving wines ... Buying wine online:
The Wine Institute - A public policy advocacy group representing
645 California wineries and affiliated businesses. Check out legal
issues involved with ordering wine online, and to see which states
restrict direct purchasing by consumers. If this bothers you -
a letter to your state politicians may be a good idea! Wine-Searcher
- Searchable by keyword or by category with links to the top
50 wine sites online. Excellent resource for wines from all
over the world. IntoWine
- This site is a treasure of wine information. Like wandering
through Paris, where every turn brings a new delight. Lists of
links bring you to territory that they don't cover themselves.
The
WineEnthusiast - No wines for sale here, but if you're
looking for stemware, cellars, corkscrews, bars... or even a trip
to visit your favorite wine region, you'll have a good reason
to visit. Tom
Cannavan Wine Pages Online Magazine - Tom hails from Scotland
so prices and shops may not be relevant to those outside the UK,
but the site is chock full of bits of interest to wine lovers
no matter where they live. Be sure to check the section on matching
wines with foods. Wines.com
- Not to be confused with wine.com,
this more sedate site focuses on information rather than wine
selling, although it does have links to buy wine. If it's just
shopping you want - drop the 's'. Wine.com is information poor
but has a good wine selection for online shopping if you already
know what you want.
also see in
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Wine Shopping Online |
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Shop online for great prices on wine! Find hand-selected, award-winning fine wines and specials like buy 6 bottles of wine & get 6 free.more
Wine Shopping Online Wine is consistently becoming the beverage of choice for more and more Australians. Not only is wine becoming increasingly popular as a beverage but the demand for wine tours has skyrocketed. Wine tours reportedly generated 2.5 billion in revenue in 2008, just in Europe alone. Contributing to the popularity of wine tours are the associated activities that local governments and municipalities are continuously developing to attract more tourists. Visitors not only want to see where and how the wine is made but they enjoy taking in the atmosphere and learning more about the culture and lifestyles of those who live in the areas. For centuries the benefits of wine have been touted by health officials and everyday connoisseurs alike. There are literally thousands and thousands of wines that are available on the market today. If you don't know where to begin in your pursuit of the perfect wine, then you may benefit from taking a wine appreciation course. These courses can help you learn the proper way to pick, taste, smell, and even store wines. They also commonly allow you to partake in Australian wine and wines from countries around the world, and can advise you on where the most popular vineyards and vineyard tours are both locally and abroad. Red wine-Red wine contains the skins, seeds, and stems of grapes, which makes them generally heavier and may also, be the reason they have more antioxidants than white wine. Red wines are often selected to be drank with red meats. White wine- White wines are lighter wines that are often drank with fish, chicken, and pork. White wines are also normally introduced at the beginning of meals and are a great wine for those who are new to wine drinking, since they tend to be sweeter than red wines. Sparkling wine and champagne are also two very popular alcoholic beverages that are also growing in popularity. Get in on the trend and learn more about the art of wine appreciation.
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