I love wine shops. I love to select a bottle because of its label design or just fondle bottles I can never afford. But we do have restrictions because of how our state liquor laws work. Many, many producers will never reach this beautiful corner of the least populated state. Enter e-commerce. We use the Internet everyday to buy things we can’t find locally. Why not wine? Traditional websites abound for ordering wine, but I’ve found one that matches my sense of adventure with a sensible approach.
Let’s talk about WTSO, Wines Til Sold Out. In this gear-obsessed town, many of you may have heard of Steep and Cheap’s website, where one item is featured at a great price until it is gone. Same idea is used here. The website presents one wine until they sell out, along with information on the best available on-line deals to compare, reviews, tasting notes and details from the winery. Usually the price offered is at least 30 percent off yesterday’s price. Once it sells out, you have to wait for it to reappear, sometimes months later.
Oh, and delivery is free. The catch? You have to order four bottles for the free delivery, at least for the non-expensive wines. As the price goes up, the quantity goes down to qualify to have bottles of locally unavailable wine brought to your front door, for free. Buying four bottles isn’t necessarily a downside; it encourages you to develop a relationship with the wine. Try it one night, design dinner around it the next. Lay down a bottle you love for a special occasion.
The site is also very user friendly. It includes a My Cellar page where you can keep track of what you’ve bought and how you rate it. I’ve also received a few bottles that were definitely corked. I contacted the company, and they credited my account, no questions asked.
Novel wine, great prices, free shipping. Could I want anything more? My only warning: Beware the WTSO app unless you’re good at turning off notifications on your phone or you are better than I am at resisting temptation.
