Online Wine Bottle Shops

Buying wine online seems like a confusing process, with random sites promising great wines at discount prices.  Let’s take a short trip into the adventure of buying wine online, with some recommended do’s and dont’s.

So what are the best online wine bottle shops? 

Do - Your research.  It depends on what you are looking for and what your price point is.  Wine-searcher (wine-searcher.com) is a great place to start but it can be a bit overwhelming with so many shops linked to that site.

Don't - Fall for promises of "free shipping" . While some of the less reputable sites will advertise things like " online wine bottle shops free shipping " , " best online wine store free shipping " or " buy wine online free delivery " , the main selling point they offer is free shipping.  Free shipping is clearly a powerful selling tool, but with shipping costs going up across the industry its usually only reserved for high overall purchase amounts or by big box companies.  

Do - Shop local.  If shipping is the primary motivating issue for you, then shopping at local stores is probably your best bet, as there are no shipping issues and you can find better prices.  Bottom line, shipping wine is expensive!

Don't - Be afraid to buy wine online to discover harder to find bottles or to venture out of your comfort zone.  What you should be looking for are shops with well curated collections, harder to find bottles, and attention to detail.  Some of my favorites are shops like crushwineco.com , chambersstwines.com , flatiron-wines.com . All of these have fun collections and fair prices.  Of course you should also check out my bottle shop here. :)

In the end, try to avoid cheap online wine bottle shops or companies marketing themselves with something like “ free online wine bottle shops “.  Lastly, if you live in the US, probably stick to searches such as " online wine bottle shops usa ".  As international shipping and wine is whole other hurdle.