Friday, November 28, 2008

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.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

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.

Monday, November 17, 2008

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

Friday, November 14, 2008

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!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

A Big Birthday Thanks to Our Wine.com Community!

One of the reasons why shoppers at Wine.com find it so easy and fun to discover and buy wine is the wealth of information available in our community. Since we started the community, contributors have exchanged thousands of wine reviews and lists and their valuable insights have helped to make the wine selection process for customers a truly interactive one.

On our 10th birthday, it's important to recognize the amazing contributions of community members over the years. You all add richness and vitality to Wine.com, and with your help, this continues to be the best place to shop for wine online. As a way of saying thanks, we're highlighting recent reviews from a few of our top contributors:

Diane Foushée
Langmeil Barossa Valley Floor Shiraz 2006
Love Those Barossa Valley Wines! 11/5/08
"As you have probably noticed, I love the Australian reds, and am particularly partial to the Barossa Valley. This is an excellent example of the very best the Barossa Valley has to offer, and at the price, I can't help but suggest you buy several bottles if at all possible. Very fruity with more than a hint of spice, it has a full-bodied and earthy backbone. You'll enjoy this from start to fine, fine finish!"

Erol
Hess Mount Veeder Collection 19 Block Cuvee 2005
May Seem Expensive but Well Worth It! 10/8/2008
"Most people don't associate Hess with expensive, first rate wines, but this is one of the better young California's I have had. It has beautiful dark fruit at the onset, but is by no means a 'fruit bomb'. It then unveils some terrific yet subtle tannins and has a long finish. That is the extent of my memory of it but I truly enjoyed this wine. I did not decant it, but it developed in the glass so maybe decanting for 15 minutes would start you off on the right foot. Enjoy!"

Carbonellous
Hope Shiraz Malbec 2005
Deep Red Blend from Aus – 8/9/2008
"The first thing I noticed when pouring out this glass was just how deep and thick it was. The Malbec and Shiraz combo has produced a very intense red here. I loved every sip of it though. A really tasty and inky wine with a blueberry and plum flavor. I would recommend to anyone who can appreciate a 'real' wine!"


There are countless other fantastic reviews on the site, and we look forward to many more to come from the community.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Wine.com Celebrates our 10th Birthday!

Today we are breaking out the bubbly in celebration of our 10th birthday (we're drinking the '98 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blanc, in case you were wondering)! The past decade has been quite amazing and in order to thank all of our loyal customers we're reducing the prices on thousands of great wines! To make the celebration even sweeter, we're ushering in this second decade with new pricing on some of our most popular lists - 90 Point Rated Wines Under $20 and our Collectibles and Top Rated Wines are among the mix.

Maybe it's all the Champagne we've been drinking, but we've all been reminiscing on the past ten years in the office this past week. In 1998, we set up shop as eVineyard.com and then rebranded as Wine.com in 2001. Our focus has remained on providing consumers access to premium and ultra-premium wine and wine-inspired gifts. Here are a couple highlights from the years past:

10 Years of Wine.com:

1998 Launched as eVineyard.com in Portland, Oregon, serving customers in 12 states.

1999
Opened warehouses in Miami and Houston to serve Florida and Texas.

2000 Opened warehouses in New York, New Jersey, California, Virginia, Massachusetts, and North Carolina with capability to service 80% of U.S. wine consumers.

2001 Acquired domain names Wine.com and WineShopper.com from failed businesses and adopted the name Wine.com. Shipped one millionth bottle.

2002 Relocated corporate office to San Francisco and adopted "green" packaging for all shipments.

2003 Acquired leading gift basket design & manufacturing business.

2004
Wine.com becomes most visited wine website in world (and every year since).

2005
Wine.com ranked the #1 online wine store in revenues by Internet Retailer Magazine (and every year since).

2006
Offers one of the world’s largest selections of critically acclaimed wines, citing ratings and pedigree from 8 independent wine periodicals. Pioneers the popular wine list “90+ point rated wines under $20.”

2007
Rated best wine website by Bordeaux Business School. Retail stores opened in Berkeley, California and East Hampton, Connecticut.

November 2008 In celebration of 10 years of growth and market leadership, we’re leveraging our purchasing scale and passing on the savings to our customers, reducing prices on thousands of items to our best prices ever.

Come celebrate with us!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Election Day Celebration (or Blues)

A good American wine may hit the right spot tonight while you are watching results from Election Day - whether you're celebrating your candidate's victory in your state or mourning over a loss. It could even help all you undecideds gain a reflective moment of clarity.

Yesterday we mentioned the All American Wines promo we are running this week and the mini election poll we are also running among wine drinkers. So far the results are pretty close:

Obama: 47%
McCain: 40%
Undecided: 13%

We encourage you to participate! Not only in the national election, but our fun community election too! Our community has been reviewing up a storm with the American wines and we wanted to highlight some of the best reviews from New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California:

New Mexico:
Gruet Demi-Sec
The subtle fruity aromas and the freshness of the Demi-Sec drives the character of this light bodied, semi-dry sparkling wine. The palate carries through with a creamy sensation and vivid flavor of green apples, ripe pears, pineapple and a hint of mineral. It is delicate, lively and elegant!

Oregon:
Anne Amie Riesling 2007
Tropical aromas along with notes of Meyer lemons, white peaches, and honeydew melons. On the palate, this wine offers bright acidity and a mouthwatering finish highlighted by notes of mandarin orange, stone fruit, crisp apples, and Asian pears.

Washington:
Hogue Genesis Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
"Firm in texture, but open in style, with ripe currant and smoke flavors, lingering well. Drink now through 2012."
Wine Spectator

California:
Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
"Knights Valley is a very special place for us at Beringer. As you drive over the mountain from St. Helena, the valley opens up before your eyes and you immediately feel transported to another time, where things are slower and more rustic. This wine captures that place with great intensity of black fruit aromas and flavors that continue to a long satisfying finish."
—Laurie Hook, Winemaker

Monday, November 3, 2008

All American Wine for Obama and McCain

We sure hope that everyone who is getting prepared for Election Day tomorrow has found their polling place and read through all the proposition literature. Here at Wine.com we thought it would be fun to run our own little polling contest. We are featuring specials on all American wines - ranging from California to Washington to Oregon. Our shipping promo this week allows you to cast your vote for Obama, McCain or Undecided when you check out.

It will be interesting to see if the Wine.com poll comes out with the same results as the national election. Stay tuned for our results!