Shopping for Wine Online

    From Amazon to EBay, there are hundreds of sites where one can shop for wine online.  The problem is not the availability, it is weeding through the masses in order to determine the best fit for the need. What site offers the most robust variety? What site or sites has prices that are conducive to my budget? How can I avoid paying $100 for a bottle that is only worth $10?

    Find yourself asking these questions and running to your local store for a wine that no longer excites your pallet?  Retail stores do account for the vast majority of wine sales, but that is due to the ignorance surrounding shopping for wine online coupled with the lack of trust in online retailers (this is due in part to most have only been in business for less than 10 years).

     Just as with a brick and mortar wine retailer, cheap is not always the best choice; nor are flashy bells and whistles.  Do not allow yourself to be drawn into purchase simply because a sight is plastered with seals, symbols and crests.  The vast majority of these have disclaimers at the bottom informing you that they are not approved, recommended, by etc.  It is just an eye-catching form of advertising.  The very best in the industry are viewed as such due to a perfect combination of personal touch, variety of inventory and pricing.

Top Online Wine Retailers

Tasting Room à Known for their low pricing as well as their ability to sell full sized and sample sized (the precise amount that would be enjoyed at a wine tasting) bottled and sampler packs.  The sampler packs are of mixed variety and allow wine lovers to explore new tastes at the leisure from home. 

Half Wit Wines à Offers 1200 wines in half bottles.  This site is not pretty to look at, but is perfect for those that only desire (or need) half bottles of wine.

Accidental Wine Company à Think of them as the scratch and dent online retailer of wine.  Smudge on the label? Vintage of 1 or 2 years? Accidental will sell it to you.  It’s not what they bottle looks like, it’s what is inside; and a great bottle of wine exceeds any aesthetic. 

Monger Wines à Dedicated to the sale of artisanal wines, Monger is the perfect place for the discerning and highly evolved pallet.  The company began as an Australian wine retailer and has since expanded to include Italy and a subset of Californian vineyards. 

Bottle Rocket à Offers incredible customer service as well as wine tips.  Need to know what wine will properly compliment a meal? Bottle Rocket can tell you.  This is a very out-of-the-box site.  Offering customers a unique voyage as they browse for their perfect bottle.

      Shopping for wine online can be a delightful but daunting journey; but at the end of the day, you will have what your heart desires…wine.  There will be no standing in long lines, no engaging in tastings that you would prefer to bypass, simply a wine that you chose in your hands.  Rather on your own or with the help of tools that assist in finding the best wine for you, shopping for wine online will bring the perfect wine straight to your door.