Page 54 - Wine Spectator (January 2020)

Cyber Cellar
ONLINE

The Internet is your oyster for midpriced wines, hard- BY EMMA

to-find vintages and just plain convenience BALTER

he rapid expansion of the Internet has dra- READER POLL finding through these searches are reliable, Wark
matically changed the landscape of com- suggests looking up how long they’ve been around,
T merce, including that of wine. Nowadays, Buying Wine Online and if there are mentions of them on other sites.

you can easily find, order and get wine shipped to If you have your heart set on a particular wine but
your door from the comfort of your own home. can’t find it immediately, you can create a Google
22%
However, there are certain ways to go about it, and 25% alert for it; you will receive an email if it becomes
obstacles you will face, notably due to state ship- available somewhere.
ping regulations. Here’s a guide to the web of on- This will also allow you to shop around for the
line retailing. 26% 27% best price on that special wine. “I think wine lov-

ers have a great advantage now that there’s real
When to buy online price transparency. You can easily comparison

Shopping for wine online is best suited to buying shop,” says Jamie Wolff, owner of Chambers Street
Q FREQUENTLY Q SOMETIMES Q RARELY Q NEVER
fine wine and bottles that are a little harder to Wines in New York.
find. “If you’re looking for $8, $9, $10 bottles of wine, it doesn’t If you’re browsing more generally, start with a specific retailer

make as much sense to buy online,” says Tom Wark, executive di- that has a selection that matches your taste. Perhaps you already
rector of the National Association of Wine Retailers. “However, have your favorites from previous shopping experiences, or recom-

if you’re looking more along the lines of $30, $40, $50, $100 a bot- mendations from friends and family. The vast majority of online
tle, then the price of shipping becomes a smaller percentage of your retailers actually have brick-and-mortar stores, and most keep their
overall purchase.” Wark adds that shipping wine is expensive, be- online inventory up to date in real time. Use the facets on the web-

cause it’s heavy, so it’s rare to find free or discounted shipping deals site to narrow down your search. Are you looking for wines from a
the way you might with other commerce transactions. certain country? Region? Grape variety? Vintage? Chances are, the

Another reason to buy online is if
you’re looking for a specific wine—say,
one from your spouse’s birth year to give

as a gift. Odds are, you won’t be able to
find that locally. The Internet is your oys-

ter for this scenario. For example, Vinfolio
.com, which specializes in fine wines
sourced directly from producers, offers

6,000 to 9,000 selections spanning blue-
chips from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italy,

Champagne and California.

Search tips

Start with outlining your goals. Are you
looking for something specific or are you
just browsing? If the former, the first

thing to do is a simple Google search for
the wine you want. This will bring up
results from retailers that carry the prod-

uct. WineSearcher.com is also handy as
an aggregator, as you can search for wines

that are available at retailers in your state
or area. To make sure the retailers you’re

50 WINE SPECTATOR • JAN. 31 – FEB. 29, 2020