Best Websites for Savvy Wine Shoppers in 2022

Let the Countdown Begin

Now that Spring has arrived and we can look back on all those wild sales from Thanksgiving to St. Patrick’s Day, this an ideal time to review what has happened over the last year in the fast-changing world of online wine sellers. 

It’s also Academy Awards time, with its ongoing chatter and debate about the best of this and that sets the tone for this post. I’ll be shining the spotlight on several wine webites that stood out and performed well over the last year.

As most of you know, I’m not a fan of subscription boxes since you can find better wines at better prices if you do a little research. Nakedwine, Vinesse, and Firstleaf seem to make many people content. But those are not my kind of  wine-loving people.

Much like the selections for best movies, actors, and whatever, selecting the best sites for serious wine shopping also has to be broken down into categories. 

For one stop shopping, the big retail guys like wine.com, wineExpress.com and cinderellawines.com maintained their positions over the last year as reliable and only occasionally exciting. 

Taking our cue from the Oscars, we are spotlighting the best websites in specific categories.

In the Best of “Curated Selection” category, the nomination for the best website for red wines is invino.com. Since the present partners took over in 2019, it is often my go to place for red wines. 

www.invino.com 

“Curated” is overused by so many others, but it applies perfectly to the wines offered at this site. Based in the town of Napa, it lists around 100 wines at any one time. But they reflect excellent choices that are not available elsewhere.  

If you prefer red wines, then this is the site for you. It is particularly good with Napa reds and carries such proven Cabernet wineries as Luna, Von Strasser, and Clark-Claudon. From Bordeaux, it now has very attractive red Graves for around $20 and a lovely 2018 Bordeaux for $9.95. Then there’s the rarely seen red wines from Betz Family, Ken Wright and School House Vineyard. The selections from Argentina, Spain, and Italy are also inviting and unusual.

An exciting list of red blends confirm these guys work hard to offer values, and many good deals are priced below $25 a bottle. A highly rated Dolum Estate Napa Cabernet was offered recently at 60% off and a Sonoma Coast Pinot for $23.95.  

If you buy wines based on ratings, then even here you can look over a collection of 94+ rated wines under $40. Many exciting wines and several are deeply discounted, such as a first rate 2016 Chateauneuf-du-Pape and 2016 Pomerol Château Croix-des-Rouzes. 

While a few other sites have recently offered Frisson Napa Cabernet, invino.com came up with a special deal on Frisson magnums at 50% off and free shipping on orders of 2 or more.

Pros:

Authentic wines, not custom made, private labels

Strengths are in wines from Napa, Spain, France, and Argentina with frequent surprises from other California regions..

No crazy BS write ups about the latest cult wine from icons and  rockstar winemakers

And, best of all, discounts of 50%-60%

 Shipping rates vary but always seem fair and based upon sales price.

Cons:

Not really a negative, but it is somewhat limited by appealing primarily to serious, well-informed, and somewhat adventurous wine lovers.

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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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