3 Online Winners: Best Valentine’s Day Wine Offers

Despite the marketing opportunity, most online retailers stuck with the latest cult Cabernet or some under the radar wine from Italy or Spain. A few rose to the occasion and actually put effort into curating.

And the winner is a pleasant surprise, a longshot I wouldn’t have bet on but a great website: 

www.sommselect.com

The special offer was creative and, best of all, consisted of these two excellent wines:

Henriet-Bazin, Grand Cru Brut Rosé, Verzy & Verzenay, Champagne, France 

2018 Pierre-Marie Chermette, Saint-Amour “Les Champs Grillés,” Cru Beaujolais, Burgundy

A beautiful Rose Champagne and a delicious red certain to put the “amour” in the day.

Price for the pack: $95.  

Another winner reflecting solid effort is http://www.wineaccess.com with its “Luxe Valentine” 4 bottle package. 

led by the 2007 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée Louis Salmon Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne and included the 2015 Château Tronquoy-Lalande St.-Estèphe. For these and a 2013 Wade Napa Valley Cab and French Burgundy, the price for this terrific selection was $374.00, probably over budget for many people.

www.wine.com made an effort, albeit a slight 10% discount, on its amazing selection of Champagne and other bubblies. The best to me was the Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose for $79 or the Veuve Clicquot Brut Rose for $69.

For more info about these 3 see my detailed reviews at http://www.winereviewonline.com

As for wineries selling direct, one stood out:

www.clos.com 

While a few wineries offered discount shipping for Valentine’s Day, one winery went out of its way with a special dinner for locals and two special wines. 

Clos LaChance explains it has “two romantic options available now; a case of our brand new 2020 Colibri Rosé and a bottle of our new Sparkling Rosé – both are a perfect way to show your love!”  The case of bubbly was offered at $180. A savings of $84.

Otherwise, it was not much of a marketing show for selling wines direct. Valentine’s Day created as much excitement as Groundhog’s Day. In fact, even the Super Bowl brought out as many special deals. 

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Author: robywine, norm roby

My career as a wine journalist/critic began in 1975 when my article about California Petite Sirah was published. My focus remained on California as I edited a monthly wine magazine and then moved on to The Wine Spectator in 1982. Over the following years, my column appeared under the banner of “Stormin’ Norman, and I also wrote articles about wine collectors and wine auctions. Without getting into a year by year bio, let me try to summarize here. During my time with The Spectator which I enjoyed immensely, I taught wine classes at a culinary school and at other venues in San Francisco. Before venturing into wine, teaching was my thing, English Lit and Rhetoric. After The Spectator I was the U.S. Contributor to Decanter Magazine, writing mostly about California, but also expanding into Washington State and Oregon. My Decanter years began in 1992 and after buying a summer home in France in 2000, I traveled throughout France and eventually published articles about St. Emilion, Castillon, Bergerac, Minervois, Roussillon, Luberon, Provence, and Alsace. Also, around 2000, my wife began working for Cousino-Macul in Chile, so we tasted and traveled our way through Chile and, of course, managed to fly over the Andes and explore and taste our way through Argentina. As travel lovers, we have also spent many interesting days visiting the wine regions of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Scicily, Greece, and New Zealand. And to come to a close, I was Director of Winesong, a Charity Wine Auction for 20 years, 1992-2000 that benefitted a local hospital. That brought me in contact with wine collectors and to the auction scene. And finally, I co-authored a book, The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine published by Alfred A. Knopf. It went through 4 editions and sold over 500.000 copies.

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