I’ll admit I don’t have many wine shipping seasons under my belt. I’m still small fish overall as far as order/shipment size goes. But this shipping season has illustrated to me that I probably need to keep the total number of retailers I use low instead of utilizing a “spread the wealth” policy and just ordering on a whim from whichever retailer I happen to see a wine at first.
So my question is, if you could only continue to order from 3 online retailers (or retailers with an online presence), who would you continue to use?
JJBuckley has always been my largest shipment of the season (until I joined Enjoyer’s list this year) and I think I would keep them mostly because I really enjoy my interactions with the person who handles all my orders and because their private client prices can be pretty good deals (dont look now but 2011 Produttori Ovello is $39)
I’ve only started buying online in the last calendar year, so my list is rather thin.
Grand Vin Wine Merchants
Winex
Chambers
The original appeal of GVWM and Winex was their compatibility with PayPal. I’ve since come to appreciate their deep inventories and competitive pricing.
Honestly, I used them when I just started out. My cellar is now 500 bottles plus. I am in no need of finding wines with some age on them anymore nor do I feel that I get any bargains from online retailers. I really like the interaction I have with the wineries directly. I buy mostly from allocations and a little bit at my brick and mortar store for french wines.