Celebrating the Deal of the Day at Wine.com

If you're following us on Twitter or Facebook, you've probably noticed that there seems to be a new deal from Wine.com popping up every day. Did the holidays come early this year? This is like day after day after day of cool presents! The holidays didn't actually come early, but we wanted to make sure you know about the best deals on Wine.com so you have time to ship your wine and gifts before the holidays.

Every day until December 19th, we'll be offering a special "Deal of the Day" on Wine.com, along with other special prices and "Today's Hot Pick." Today, for instance, you can save 15% when you buy six or more bottles. There are only nine days left for standard shipping rates if you want to make it before Christmas, so make sure to check back often. You never know what might pop up tomorrow!

For a persistent link to the Deal of the Day, click here

For a persistent link to Today's Hot Pick, click here

Announcing The Wine.com 100 List

When choosing the right wine to quench your indelible thirst, who do you turn to for advice? While it's always great to get tips from the experts who make a living out of studying this sort of thing, we've found over the years that our community at Wine.com has some great insights too. Just browsing the thousands of community reviews and wine lists can really help to narrow down that perfect wine for the occasion. That's why for the second year in a row, we chose to honor our sharp customers with the Wine.com 100 list. This list is unique because it's based entirely on community preferences. The rankings reflect the top 1% of wine sold nationally on Wine.com during 2008.

So what have the people decided? The biggest trend we've seen this year is that people are looking for highly rated wines at lower prices. The #1 ranked wine, Veramonte Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2006, for instance, keeps people coming back for more with its very reasonable price and a 92 point ranking from the Wine News. We also saw that the community has very "international" tastes. Besides the many domestic wines on the list, Wine.com 100 wines hail from eight other countries, including a larger percentage than last year from Australia and South America.

Interested to dig into the list and learn more? Here are a few great choices that have the backing of a great community!

#1 Veramonte Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva 2006
Deep, dark ruby red. Concentrated blackberry and black cherry aromas with well-integrated oak. Juicy red and black fruit highlighted with earthy notes and elegant oak that lend a creamy mouth feel. Plush with soft, rich tannins, this wine is concentrated, round and luxurious with a long finish.

#17 Conundrum 2006
Conundrum 2006 exhibits soft tropical notes of guava and cherimoya, also peach and honeysuckle. The rich perfume is supported by concentrated and focused layers of peach and apricot nectar, pear and green melon with spicy vanilla notes. The creamy texture and balanced acidity carries through the palate for a long finish.

#44 Chateau Souverain Alexander Valley Merlot 2005
Deep ruby in color, this concentrated Alexander Valley Merlot offers classic aromas of ripe black plum, blueberry and currant. The core of vibrant fruit balances nicely with the soft, round tannins creating a lush and juicy mouthfeel. Notes of cinnamon and nutmeg, which come from aging in oak barrels, meld nicely with the rich fruit and lead to a long, velvety finish.

Cyber Monday!

We had a pretty good time during Black Friday last week and thought we'd extend the cheer this week for Cyber Monday. How many of you rolled into the office this morning, all puffed out from the Thanksgiving turkey, and all you wanted to do was check out the online shopping deals? We did!

So here is our promo for Cyber Monday - we're offering 1 cent shipping on any order, no matter how big or small. You can order 1 bottle of wine or you can order 50 and you will still receive 1 cent shipping. Check here to learn more and start shopping to your heart's content!

We gave some suggestions for great wine gifts and gift baskets in our last post, but there are so many more to choose from to take advantage of this best shipping offer of the year. Our gift selections - from Godiva chocolate and wine pairings to gourmet food and wine baskets - are perfect for family and friends looking to celebrate the holidays and bring in the new year. Here are some more top picks:

Warres Otima Port & 8-Piece Godiva Chocolates
Is there a better combination than tawny Port and chocolate? From the renowned Port house Warres, Otima is a 10 year tawny Port made in a lighter, more contemporary style. Beautifully packaged and incredible when paired with Godiva's 8-piece ballotin of assorted creamy milk, white and dark chocolates.

California Wine Tour Gift Basket
Celebrate wine country living with three top shelf wines and assorted gourmet foods in a wicker picnic basket. Intense aromas of cherries and black raspberries define this full-bodied Kenwood Pinot Noir from the Russian River, while Wente's Sandstone Merlot delivers flavors of blackberry and spice, accented by hints of licorice and tobacco. DeLoach Chardonnay is rich and clean with a smooth, long-lasting finish.

Enjoy these wines with scrumptious treats such as Napa Valley mustard, Ghirardelli chocolates, lemon almond biscotti, California pistachios and much, much more.

At checkout, remember to use the code CYBERMON. Have a Happy Cyber Monday!

Black Friday!

Whew! We all made it through the big Thanksgiving feast! Not sure about you, but I was certainly too tired to wake up at 4 a.m. this morning in time for the big sales. Too much turkey and pecan pie last night! I will be one of the many who does most of my holiday shopping online this year though. At Wine.com we are featuring a special promo for Black Friday - 25% off any gift basket or wine gift set. All you have to do to take advantage of this offer is enter "FRIDAY25" at checkout - you can find all the details here.

In order to make your shopping even more easier, I thought I would point out some of the best wine gift baskets and gift sets. Or maybe these are just the ones my family and friends will be receiving this holiday season :)

Wine Gift Sets:

Quintessential Reds
This gift is the quintessential red wine sampler of six wines from the most famous winegrowing regions in the world. For the wine adventurer in search of bold flavors, taste these wines against one another to see how they compare. Each bottle has been chosen to represent the best example of red wine made in its particular region. You'll receive a French Bordeaux, Spanish Rioja Reserva, Super Tuscan blend, California Zinfandel, Chilean Malbec and Aussie Shiraz.

Silver Oak Trophy Reds
Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars are two of the most prestigious and renowned wineries in California. Under the leadership of the Duncan Family, both wineries have achieved their vision of attaining superior quality with a single grape variety. Silver Oak produces uniquely complex and elegant Cabernet Sauvignon from the Alexander Valley, while Twomey creates exquisite Merlot. Both have consistently reaped praise from critics and consumers alike. This gift is sure to impress even the most discriminating wine connoisseur.

Viva Italia!
Our most popular collection, Viva Italia, combines six bottles representing the best winegrowing regions and varieties from Italy. Completing the gift set is the definitive "wine first" cookbook: The Wine Lover's Cookbook ($25 value). Using color-coding, select recipes and ample photographs, author Goldstein leads readers through food and wine pairing in a systematic fashion. With beautiful photography, creative recipes and wine pairings, plan the Italian culinary adventure of your dreams.


Or maybe a wine gift basket is a better option for you? Check out our Gourmet Wine & Cheese Board Gift Set or Executive Selection Cabernet Quartet.

New Shipping in Time for the Holidays

This week we announced a bunch of new shipping options right in time for the hectic holiday season. We are very excited to let you know that Wine.com is now the first and only wine retailer in the US to offer evening, Saturday, date-specific and by appointment delivery options. Since the wine industry is required by law to get an adult signature at the time of delivery, these new shipping options should give you a little more flexibility in your ordering. No need to endure the glares of your coworkers when your very large holiday wine orders arrive at the office or have your cubemate call you a wino! Just have it arrive after work or on Saturday!

We are also proud to introduce our new Wine.com Steward-Ship™ Program, which offers frequent buyers one year of free delivery on every order, regardless of size, for just $49. And as always, shipping is fast! Most customers will receive their orders the next day or in two days, at no additional charge, due to the proximity of Wine.com's wine warehouses across the country.

For more details on the new shipping options, please check out our press release.

For some good holiday wine recommendations, check out our list of great bottles to give.

Uncovering Wine Spectator's 2008 #1 Wine

In its Top 100 Wines of 2008, Wine Spectator recently announced they had chosen Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta 2005 as the #1 Wine of the Year. In recent days, there has been a ton of buzz about this spectacular red blend from Chile, but we'd like to take this opportunity to uncover a few more details on the people behind the wine - the Marnier-Lapostalle family, the founders and owners of Casa Lapostolle.

Does the name ring a bell? Indeed, Alexandra Marnier Lapostolle is the granddaughter of the founder of the famous Grand Marnier liqueur. The family also owns Chateau de Sancerre in the Loire valley. When searching for the best place to start a new winery, Alexandra discovered that old, ungrafted vines, which had originally been brought from France, were still growing in the vineyards of Colchagua, Chile. She and her husband combined with the Chilean Rabat family to found Casa Lapostalle there in 1994.

Today, Casa Lapostalle is owned solely by the Marnier Lapostolle family, and its vineyards cover about 350 hectares, producing Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Carmenere and Syrah. The well-renowned French oenologist Michel Rollan has remained as a key consultant for the winery since Alexandra hired him to work exclusively within Chile for Casa Lapostalle.

Visit our site to learn more about Clos Apalta 2005.

To read more history of Casa Lapostolle and the Marnier Lapostolle family, please visit their website.


Sources:
Casa Lapostolle website, www.casalapostolle.com
Thewinedoctor.com

Thanksgiving: The Best Wines for Every Course

For many, wine is an essential component in the Thanksgiving feast. But with so many varieties of flavorful foods and multiple courses on Thanksgiving, choosing the best wines to match your guests' tastes can be a difficult prospect. You may have happened upon that exact red you wanted for the main course, but what about appetizers and desert? What about finding the sparkling wine to kick off the evening just right?

Our Thanksgiving wine list may be just what you need to plan your dinner masterfully. Our experts at Wine.com have not only compiled a great list of wines to fit the holiday, but they've also recommended specific choices for every course of the Thanksgiving meal!

In general, we recommend fruity wines with lower tannin levels such as Zinfandel, Riesling, and Pinot Noir - they'll match better with the plethora of flavors that Thanksgiving brings.

More specifically, you'll need bubbly for toasting, brightly flavored whites for starters, fruity reds for the main course, and dessert wine for an impressive finish.

And to make sure that deliveries are more convenient for your schedule, we've introduced new delivery options, including date-specific, evening, Saturday, and by-appointment deliveries. Make sure to look at the options available to you at checkout. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!