Tag: buying wine

Rating eBay’s New Wine Dept.

 

The highly anticipated expansion of eBay into online wine sales took place a few months ago. This was in fact the second major effort to ramp up eBay Wine, so it seemed timely to look closely at what eBay now has to offer wine lovers.

Through a partnership with mobile app Drync and its retail partners, eBay Wine greatly increased its wine focus and now claims it is able to deliver wine to 45 of the 50 US states.

The Drync-eBay platform offers real inventory from large and small retailers throughout the US. So none of the pay now, and take delivery sometime in the future stuff which is far too common in this online world.

But that real inventory situation applies primarily to the Drync partners.

And according to Decanter Magazine,  eBay has stepped up its presence in wine by joining forces with mail order merchant Laithwaite’s in the UK. “eBay said that ‘a wide selection’ of Laithwaite’s red, white, rosé and sparkling wines, plus mixed cases, were now available on its UK site. That brings its total number of wine listings to more than 3,500.”

That all sounded like this time around eBay was ready to blow away the online competition, so I subscribed to see how the planned  attack would unfold.

And waited for a few days.  Every now and then subscribers are notified of new wine matches which range from 30 to 48 in number. The emphasis is on either 6 or 12 bottle deals with free shipping.

What’s new is that many of the featured wines are presented by a company called “The Wine Spies” which has been in business since 2007. It says it is not a retail outlet and offers new wines to eBay in the 20-60% discount range. This partner is based in Sonoma County and there are probably other similar retail partners in other states.

Today on eBay there are 36 wines offered by The Wine Spies, mainly from California.  Napa Valley is well-represented. And most are well-known , mainstream names such as Grgich Hills, Beringer, Flora Springs, Clos Pegase, Frank Family, St. Supery, and Saddleback. Hahn Family Central Coast Pinot was another match, and an Aussie Chardonnay was the only import when I last checked.

Except for Saddleback’s Albarino which I tasted last month and is wonderful,  the offerings are mainstream varietals from Cabernet to Zinfandel. So for those who like to stay within their comfort zone, these wines are from reliable wine producers.

With free shipping on six bottles or more and discounts of 25% or more, the deals are more than decent.

So, the new eBay wine section has improved, but in an oddly limited way. Continue reading “Rating eBay’s New Wine Dept.”

Good Wines, Good Neighbors

Attention all wine lovers: Here’s a genuine “insider tip” about two fabulous wine collections soon to be available. Why am I alerting others? Well, stupid me, I truly believe that wine is something meant to be shared.

And maybe I’m hoping to be invited to share a bottle by the new owners.

So hoarders, brand collectors who never enjoy the wine in their cellars but display them on tours, and hedonists who babble on about how great a wine was that they drank last night, and tell you about its point scores… this tip isn’t for you.

But back to my insider tips. The first collection is a 24-bottle vertical of Chateau de Beaucastel featuring the best vintages from 1978 to 2010. Yes, the great Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Collection #2 is another 24 bottle vertical, this time of the Joseph Phelps Insignia, 1990-2013.

While both verticals contain the best vintages what brings us to the “insider tip” is the provenance of these wines. They have been cellared under truly ideal conditions and the older vintages have been babied over all the years.

The labels are all in excellent conditions and the level of fill is high on all bottle, confirming the perfect cellaring.

I know these things because the owners are my neighbors, and like the best of neighbors, they share fine wines. Yes, the 78 Beaucastel is alive and well, and you can enjoy the other great like the 83, 89, 90, 95, 97, 2001 and on and on.

As a longtime Chateauneuf-du-Pape fan who visited Beaucastel and other estates, I’ve tasted and enjoyed an ungodly number of CNP and can verify that the finest vintages are included in this collection.

Not to be overshadowed, only the finest vintages are included in the Insignias. I’m not teasing…it too has all of the great, long-lasting vintages of Insignia from 90, 94, 95, 97,2000, 02, and on and on. The just released 2013 Insignia is a perfect finale.

So now you are asking, “Where are these too-good-to-be-true wine collections available?” The answer is they will be headliners at a charity wine auction on September 10th. Winesong is the auction held on the Mendocino Coast town of Ft. Bragg. You don’t have to be present to bid.

Check out www.winesong.org

And yes, full disclosure, I was closely involved in this auction, but have not been since 2010.

Winesong benefits the Mendocino Coast District Hospital.

A Real Happening App

How is it that two guys from Denmark created the world’s most popular wine App, Vivino, now headquarted in San Francisco?

 

 

Vivino.com,  now the most popular wine App, began simply as a resource tool and has evolved quickly into an all-purpose site.  

It caught my attention about 3 years ago as a clever, useful App that allows you to take a photo of a wine label and get instant feedback and reviews of that wine.

The App is free to download on the apple store, google play, and windows phone. Other sites now have a similar app but these guys started it.

Headed by a couple of techies from Denmark, Vivino is the brainchild of Heini Zachariassen who was joined by co-founder Theis Søndergaard in 2010. The Founding Fathers, as they call themselves, simply saw a need for making information readily available to wine consumers.

Et Voila Vivino! Or whatever they say in Copenhagen.

Vivino now employ 80 people and even have an office in San Francisco to help it deal with its over 18 million subscribers. Yes, 18 million!

As it fine-tunes its own direct wine sales department, Vivino offers wines no other site has. Many are from California, and it is now featuring the 2013 T-Vine Grenache, 2012 Elizabeth Spencer “GPS,” 2012 Seltzer Stags Leap Cabernet,  2012 Lateral Napa Red, and Marietta Cellars Arme.

Vivino is also the only website offering wines from the cult-like Alpha Omega and other hard-to-find wines such as Sbragia  Home Ranch Chardonnay.

Imports, when offered, are equally fascinating, such as a Pomerol, the 2010 Gombaude-Guillot, and the 2013 Ornellaia Serre Nuove.

You also know how many bottles remain for each wine offered and how much time is left before the deal is removed.

New wines are added daily.

As A Search Engine

In the early days,  it occasionally failed to deliver reviews of older vintages or under the radar wines.  But recently, it had reviews of every Cabernet, Pinot or French wine I could think of because it now elicits reviews from its members as well as published reviews from experts.

These reviews from members follow the Tripadvisor 5-star format, and some reviewers are then followed by other reviewers on Facebook.  Several subscribers, mainly sommeliers, have reviewed over 1,000 wines.

According to the Founders, its “users contribute ratings for millions of wines from around the globe, and collectively, this database makes up the largest wine library in the world.”

To make your decision-making easier in this social media world, Vivino now lists the top wines rated by subscribers in specific states. So you can see the top 25 wines from $20 to $40  from Texas or Mass. Washington State, or whatever state you live in.

But the list of lists continues with 11 Malbecs, 10 New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs or 2 California Syrahs. Or maybe that was two turtle doves.

Well, the point is these people like compiling lists.

Admittedly, I was intrigued by the top ten wines sold at Safeway and Whole Foods. Seriously, do people buy Opus One and Dom at a Safeway?  There’s also a top 100 wines list.

As an Online Merchant

Recently, Vivino ratcheted up its own list of wines for sale using a third party retailer for fulfillment.  This exciting development is spearheaded by Peter Ekman who judging from the selections, knows where to find excellent wines at good discounts. Shipping is normally free for 4 or 6 bottles and the discounts range from 25% to 60%.

These wines are offered through a local retailer, Vintage Berkeley which ships out of San Leandro.

Flash Sale Sites

 Of the several active flash sales websites, I’ve found lastbottlewines to be rapidly improving in its wine selections and to be the most fun to follow on a daily basis. 

www.lastbottlewines.com

Rating: 41/2 stars

trending up

 

Based upon the flash sale model, http://www.lastbottlewines.com is headquartered in Napa Valley and has been gaining momentum and clients since its humble beginning in 2011. Its Three partners (Cory Wagner, Stefan Blicker and Brent Pierce) are young-ish with good connections in the wine world.

Each day, one wine is offered, and the site gives you 3 prices: the current retail price, best web price of the day, and their buy it now price. Discounts vary with each wine, but are usually deep.  If your order is too late, you get an empty wine case image with its not so subtle snooze you lose message.

Most of the wines are from California, but recently they have expanded their scope and are coming up with many wines from France and elsewhere.Two finds in April were great deals in Cotes du Rhone reds. Sometimes a magnum or double magnum of wine pops up. A double magnum of Grgich Hill Cab was the star of a Leap Year mini-marathon. That was preceded by an excellent Bordeaux from the Fronsac appellation and an exciting 2012 Spanish red from Elias Mora.

Earlier, Zinfandel lovers pounced upon an offering of 2011 Elyse, Napa Valley, Morisoli Vineyard for $16.00. The site  also recently featured a  2013 Luna Merlot for $13, a super Russian River Syrah, the 2011 Martinelli for $22, an Oregon Pinot Noir, the 2011 Et Fille, and somehow the guys wrangled some of Sterling Vineyards’ 50th Anniversary Red. And talk about creativity, they found the Rangeland “Mistletoe” Red, a blend of Paso Robles Cab and Syrah,  to offer at Christmas.

Suffice it to say, you never know what’s coming next from these guys and, well, that makes you wait for the net offering, doesn’t it? Last Bottle makes no effort to disguise its appeal to an audience that grew up  on social media.  The comments are obviously aimed at millennials with an overuse of CAPS, preponderance of buzz words from awesome, bang, boom, wow, and “killer Vintage” or killer wine” along with more exclamation marks and 3 dots than your English teacher ever thought possible in one paragraph.

However, I like the fact that they don’t rely too much on reviewers’ point scores, reinforcing the feeling that they know what they are doing. Some people may not be comfortable without reviews from the pros or their peers. But you will still enjoy the sheer enthusiasm conveyed here and the fact that these folks enjoy what they are doing. Nothing wrong with having fun while you make a buck, is there?

Seeming to enjoy surprises, lastbottlewiness.com broke the daily pattern and offered 6 attractive wines on Black Friday.They also has fun with several Leap Day offerings on February 29th. And no surprise, there was an April Fool prank. There will likely be other surprises in the months ahead to keep you guessing. You can download their app to keep informed.  

Last bottle shipped about 1 million bottles in 2015 or close to 300 cases a day. Local buyers in Napa and Sonoma enjoy free shipping, and that is as cool as the refrigerated delivery van they use.

lastbottlewines.com  is an emerging KILLER online wine seller. (BOOM! I nailed it!!!!)

Pros: Shipping is free for 4 bottles or more. Good discounts.  Checkout is simple and clean. Delivery was on time. Free local deliveries.

Cons:  Wines are offered at different times of the day so you have to be on alert and some disappear quickly.

Styrofoam shippers, really?