Too busy to buy wine?

By Richard Saxton on Jan 26, 12 04:32 PM in Lifestyle

A great many people these days resort to buying wine in supermarkets. With our ever increasingly hectic lifestyles it's a convenient way of going about wine buying, but it's also easy to fall into the trap of buying wines which are reduced in dubious discounts, or to just end up drinking relatively uninspiring wines produced at a price imposed by the supermarkets and made by winemakers who are not exactly inspired to produce their best work.

There is of course another way; that of the online wine store or online wine clubs. I've set out below some that I'd recommend.

Tanners

Tanners are a long established wine merchant based in Shrewsbury who deservedly won the Decanter Magazine Regional Wine Merchant of the Year Award in 2011. Make no mistake, Tanners are a "proper" wine merchant combining years of history with a willingness to offer some genuinely modern and interesting wines. Tanners run a "Wine in Time" scheme which allows you to purchase cases at either a Silver level (costing £90 per case) or a Gold level (costing £120 per case). You are in control as to how often you'd like to receive these and you get 2 bottles each of 6 different wines. It's up to you whether you want a mixed case, just whites or just reds. You can cancel at any time and you get a free gift on joining. Simple! http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk

Naked Wines

Strictly this is not a wine club as such, buy you get a discount if you agree to pay in a minimum of £20 into your account. You can ask for this amount back if you change your mind and can withdraw at any point. The money you pay in is yours to spend on wine. As a result of making these payments and becoming "an Angel" you qualify for the Angel discount, usually around 25% to 33% off the usual price of the wine on the website. This is to reward you for making monthly payments which allows Naked Wines to invest in new winemakers. To be honest, if you don't buy wine every month and like the idea of once every three month finding yourself with £60 in your account to spend on wine then this might be a good option for you. There are some interesting wines on the site and you won't find any of them in your local supermarket! http://www.nakedwines.com/

The Wine Society

Whether you're a complete newcomer to wine or a seasoned veteran, the Wine Society is a superb place to buy your wine. Their range is staggering, and given they are not run to make a profit their prices remain very competitive. Coupled with their very comprehensive guidance materials and first class service there are few better places to buy wine. It costs £40 to buy a share in the Wine Society and gain lifetime membership, though you do then get £20 put into your account. They have a great selection of ready mixed cases, have great value "own brand" wine made for the Wine Society by top winemakers and provide a fantastic online wine buying experience. I highly recommend them. http://www.thewinesociety.com/

So there you go. No excuse for lazily adding a few random bottles to your supermarket trolley as your sole wine buying routine. So put down that carton of "value" Pinot Grigio and go home and log on to your computer! If the above options don't take your fancy then I encourage you to see if your local wine merchant have a website. Most will and no doubt will be happy to accept on line orders.