The internet has revolutionized the wine industry just like
many other businesses. In the last decade or so, wineries have improved their
websites, embraced blogging, Facebook, and even new platforms like Twitter and
Pinterest.
Around the time of the 2007-08 economic downturn wine flash
sales sites exploded onto the scene often offering premium wines at heavily
discounted prices. Many of the sites have come and gone but some have become
very successful. Earlier this year, Forbes reported Lot18 hauling in an average
of $2 million a month in revenue.
A standard bottle, TR bottle, wine from the TR bottle |
One of my personal favorites is Wine Till Sold Out or
wtso.com. These flash companies approach wineries and buy inventory that was
over produced, or not moving quickly enough to meet the demands of the winery’s
cash flow expectations.
The upside to such sites is consumers have the ability to
buy much better wine at discounts consistently around 30-40 percent and often
up to 50-60 percent.
But there is another internet wine site that has gotten lots
of press and causing a buzz bringing sampling to your living room. TastingRoom.com sells six-packs samplers of wine in 50ml or 1.7 oz. bottles. While
that sounds like a dribble it is enough wine for two or three tastes to
determine if you like the wine.
Then you can buy a full bottle from the site at near regular
prices. The novelty here is you can taste before you buy much like a tasting
room. The six packs are packaged by the wine type or region or by celebrity
endorsement. The six packs range from $19.95 to just over $30. You can sample
wines by the grape, region, celebrity picks, a single winery and more.
Tasting Room.com was the brain child of Tim Bucher. He
started developing a system to sell the 50ml bottles for trade and press
samples. He was never interested in the discounted flash site approach. He told Wines & Vines he had no interest
in selling normal sized bottles for less calling that “a race to the bottom.”
He developed a proprietary system to transfer wine from the
traditional 750ml bottle to the smaller samples.
The small bottle provides a reasonable pour for tasting. |
Wines are sold individually in the Wines by the Glass format
or in boxes of four single servings. So in other words you can buy wines from
this internet site three different ways – in samples, by the glass, or in full
size bottles. The business model is different because they are not selling
discounted wine but a chance to taste before you buy.
My personal experience was with a six-pack sampler – the
Michael Chiarello (celebrity chef) Holiday Pinots selection. The six wines were
all from California. The labels were Domaine Carneros, Fess Parker, Papapietro
Perry, Patz & Hall, Laetitia, and Lucas & Lewellen. I was able to taste
the six different wines for less than any single bottle would have cost. The
six wines I sampled ranged from $23.99 to $53.99. They were well preserved and
tasted great.
The real beauty of a site like this is a chance to expand
your palate. To taste the six wines above you’d have to travel to California or
shell out more than $225 to buy the six 750ml bottles.
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